At New York Primary School we believe the children benefit greatly from outside visits, journeys, visitors in and extra curricular activities in sport and the creative arts.

We follow government regulations on charging. When an event takes place during school time, we ask the parents of the children benefiting to share the cost. We request voluntary contributions to help us and always subsidise costs to keep them as low as possible. We specifically fund raise to help us keep costs as low as possible and we never charge more than the actual costs. However if we do not receive enough to cover the basic costs of running the activity, sometimes the event may not be able to go ahead.

Remission of charges

No child is barred from attending because his/her parents have not contributed. Families eligible for benefits, and others the headteacher believes are experiencing financial hardship, are not expected or pressured to pay, or are given extended periods to pay over time. We keep such information confidential and handle situations discreetly.

Parents who are in receipt of the following benefits are exempt from paying charges:

• Universal credit in prescribed circumstances (the government plans to prescribe these circumstances when universal credit is fully rolled out).
• Income support.
• Income-based jobseekers allowance (IBJSA).
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
• Child tax credit, provided that working tax credit is not also received and the family’s income as assessed by HMRC does not exceed certain limits.
• The guarantee element of state pension credit.
• An income-related employment and support allowance.

Activities covered

If a child’s parent wishes him/her to own books, instruments or materials used at school, then an appropriate charge will be made.

In years 4, 5 and 6, children go on school trips and spend two to four nights away within the school
week. Government regulations allow us to charge the cost of board and lodging for children, providing
support for those families in receipt of certain benefits.

Class visits/visitors

We do not want any child to miss these valuable experiences. The school voluntary fund subsidises the cost, if necessary, so that the entire class can benefit.

Payment

All payments, including dinner money, should go into an envelope which states the child’s name, year group and what the money is for. The pupil should take the envelope to the school office first thing in the morning.

Queries

If you have a query about a charge, members of the office staff or the Headteacher are available between 8.00am and 3.30pm.

Monitoring and evaluation

This policy will be monitored and evaluated in the light of changes to legislation and comments received from parents and other interested parties.

Reviewing

This policy will be reviewed by a committee of the governing body annually.