Wednesday 23rd November 2016 Dear Parents and Carers, A follow ...
Wednesday 23rd November 2016
Dear Parents and Carers, A follow up to the recent trip letter I would like to thank those parents who have taken the time to write to me or speak with me about the recent letter I sent out regarding non-payment of trips. I fully appreciate the high level of feeling regarding this issue, and felt it would be useful to clarify a few points. Parents who have paid for their child’s trips feel it is unfair for trips to be cancelled, rather than the trip to go ahead only for those children who have paid. Whilst this may seem a logical step to take, unfortunately, I am prevented from doing so by law. The law clearly states that any request for funds for in-school trips is voluntary and that any pupil who does not pay must not be excluded. It does go on to say though that any trip may be cancelled if not enough voluntary payments are received. If a parent receives certain types of benefit, your child may be entitled to free school meals. Being awarded entitlement to free school meals, also entitles you to claim £100 credit through Wisepay which can be used towards uniform and trip costs. Please check with the school office if you are eligible for this benefit. If you are a family that is facing financial difficulty, please speak with myself or my Heads of School directly – we would absolutely never exclude a child from an activity because of genuine financial hardship – you can make an arrangement with us to pay £1 per week if this would help. Unfortunately, the school has to take a hard line on this particular issue. From my school budget, I allocate tens of thousands of pounds in subsidy for school trips. This is a choice I make, because I want to make trips as affordable and as accessible to all pupils as possible. However, there comes a point where if adequate contributions are not received, there is no money left in the pot to make further subsidies – and therefore trips must be cancelled. Trips and experiences have always played a big part in the curriculum of our schools. The decision to charge a flat fee per child this year came through a great deal of discussion and feedback from parents last year. I can absolutely guarantee that every year group will be going on trips that would have cost significantly more to parents last year – by charging a “fixed” fee, parents are put back in budgeting control, and are therefore not being asked continuously for money from the school for trips and experiences. ANY year group that makes the 90% target Garry Ratcliffe: Executive Headteacher Claire Misy: Director of Business & Finance Noel Lake: Chair of Governors Oakfield Primary Academy, Oakfield Lane, Dartford, Kent, DA1 2SW Tel: 01322 220831 Temple Hill Primary Academy, St Edmund's Road, Temple Hill, Dartford, DA1 5ND Tel: 01322 224600
will have their trips go ahead – this issue will affect specific year groups where contributions are not received. Parents have also asked whether we could go back to the old system from term 3, if the current system isn’t working. This isn’t possible I’m afraid – and I would suggest that parents who do not pay the fixed fee, will be inclined to not pay the fees for individual trips, and therefore we would be in the same position for every year group, every term. Parents of our schools are hugely supportive, very committed to their children and have played a very large part in improving the provision in our schools. I hope now that I have explained a bit more about the trips issue that parents will opt to pay their contributions. If any parent continues to have an issue, I would always welcome a conversation with them, but as I stated in my original letter, if payments are not received, we will be left with no option but to cancel future experiences for our children – and what a shame that would be! I look forward to hearing from you if you would like to discuss this with me further. Kind regards,
Garry Ratcliffe Executive Headteacher
Garry Ratcliffe: Executive Headteacher Claire Misy: Director of Business & Finance Noel Lake: Chair of Governors Oakfield Primary Academy, Oakfield Lane, Dartford, Kent, DA1 2SW Tel: 01322 220831 Temple Hill Primary Academy, St Edmund's Road, Temple Hill, Dartford, DA1 5ND Tel: 01322 224600
Dear Parents and Carers, A follow up to the recent trip letter I would like to thank those parents who have taken the time to write to me or speak with me about the recent letter I sent out regarding non-payment of trips. I fully appreciate the high level of feeling regarding this issue, and felt it would be useful to clarify a few points. Parents who have paid for their child’s trips feel it is unfair for trips to be cancelled, rather than the trip to go ahead only for those children who have paid. Whilst this may seem a logical step to take, unfortunately, I am prevented from doing so by law. The law clearly states that any request for funds for in-school trips is voluntary and that any pupil who does not pay must not be excluded. It does go on to say though that any trip may be cancelled if not enough voluntary payments are received. If a parent receives certain types of benefit, your child may be entitled to free school meals. Being awarded entitlement to free school meals, also entitles you to claim £100 credit through Wisepay which can be used towards uniform and trip costs. Please check with the school office if you are eligible for this benefit. If you are a family that is facing financial difficulty, please speak with myself or my Heads of School directly – we would absolutely never exclude a child from an activity because of genuine financial hardship – you can make an arrangement with us to pay £1 per week if this would help. Unfortunately, the school has to take a hard line on this particular issue. From my school budget, I allocate tens of thousands of pounds in subsidy for school trips. This is a choice I make, because I want to make trips as affordable and as accessible to all pupils as possible. However, there comes a point where if adequate contributions are not received, there is no money left in the pot to make further subsidies – and therefore trips must be cancelled. Trips and experiences have always played a big part in the curriculum of our schools. The decision to charge a flat fee per child this year came through a great deal of discussion and feedback from parents last year. I can absolutely guarantee that every year group will be going on trips that would have cost significantly more to parents last year – by charging a “fixed” fee, parents are put back in budgeting control, and are therefore not being asked continuously for money from the school for trips and experiences. ANY year group that makes the 90% target Garry Ratcliffe: Executive Headteacher Claire Misy: Director of Business & Finance Noel Lake: Chair of Governors Oakfield Primary Academy, Oakfield Lane, Dartford, Kent, DA1 2SW Tel: 01322 220831 Temple Hill Primary Academy, St Edmund's Road, Temple Hill, Dartford, DA1 5ND Tel: 01322 224600
will have their trips go ahead – this issue will affect specific year groups where contributions are not received. Parents have also asked whether we could go back to the old system from term 3, if the current system isn’t working. This isn’t possible I’m afraid – and I would suggest that parents who do not pay the fixed fee, will be inclined to not pay the fees for individual trips, and therefore we would be in the same position for every year group, every term. Parents of our schools are hugely supportive, very committed to their children and have played a very large part in improving the provision in our schools. I hope now that I have explained a bit more about the trips issue that parents will opt to pay their contributions. If any parent continues to have an issue, I would always welcome a conversation with them, but as I stated in my original letter, if payments are not received, we will be left with no option but to cancel future experiences for our children – and what a shame that would be! I look forward to hearing from you if you would like to discuss this with me further. Kind regards,
Garry Ratcliffe Executive Headteacher
Garry Ratcliffe: Executive Headteacher Claire Misy: Director of Business & Finance Noel Lake: Chair of Governors Oakfield Primary Academy, Oakfield Lane, Dartford, Kent, DA1 2SW Tel: 01322 220831 Temple Hill Primary Academy, St Edmund's Road, Temple Hill, Dartford, DA1 5ND Tel: 01322 224600
