Visits and Charging Policy for School Activities
Situated as we are on in the heart of Yorkshire, we take full advantage of the surrounding areas to enrich your child's education. These visits are always directly linked to a topic or subject being studied and all children are expected to participate. For many of these local visits there are no costs involved, but when there is a charge for admission or transport we ask parents to make a voluntary contribution to cover the cost.
A parent's inability or unwillingness to pay does not prevent a child from taking part in the activity, but if there are insufficient contributions the activity may be cancelled. (school brochure)
The Law
Aspects of charging for school activities are covered by the following statutes
- Education Act, 1996 Sections 449-462
- Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (part VI)
- Education (Residential Trips)(Prescribed Tax Credits)(England)Regulations 2003 (SI 200 3/381)
- The LEA or governing body may not charge for anything unless it has drawn up a statement of general policy on charging (see above)
- Guidance
- The Guide to the Law for School Governors, Chapter 16 (see Background Reading below) provides guidance for all schools on charging for School Activities.
- Responsibility
No charge can be made for admitting pupils to maintained schools. Education provided during school hours (the time when school is in session) must be free (with one exception relating to musical instrument tuition )
Key Responsibilities/Facts include:
- all 3 and 4 year-olds are entitled to two and a half free hours of education per day
- charges may be made for teaching an individual or groups of up to four, to play a musical instrument if the teaching is not part of the National Curriculum or a public examination syllabus being followed by the pupil
- schools can ask for voluntary contributions to make school funds go further. Requests must make it quite clear that contributions are voluntary and governing bodies should make it clear that children of parents who do not contribute will not be treated any differently. No pupil may be left out of an activity because their parents cannot or will not make a contribution of any kind. However if insu
- children whose parents are in receipt of certain benefits are entitled to the remission of charges for board and lodging costs during school residential trips.
- special rules apply to a range of situations including:
- activities not run by the school or LEA
- education outside school hours
- education partly during school hours
- residential activities
- entering pupils for and charging for public examinations.
Out-of-school activities
1. Out-of-school activities for the purpose of this policy are those activities for school pupils and their families taking place outside the school curriculum but during the times that the school is normally open (generally up until 5.30 p.m. on school days).
2. Activities delivered outside the school curriculum will be self-financing, in that the additional costs of offering the activity will not be borne by the school’s delegated budget.
3. Exceptions to this will be those activities deemed to be part of study support or considered to be part of the National Curriculum.
4. Sufficient resources to cover the additional costs of setting up and delivering activities will be raised by whichever is the most appropriate of:
• A fixed charge of up to £4 per session levied on all participants;
• Voluntary contributions from parents to cover the costs of delivery;
• External funding raised for the specific purpose of enabling such activities.
5. Fixed charges may be waived in individual cases where the headteacher is aware of hardship which would prevent a pupil taking part in an activity which is of benefit to that pupil.
6. Any profits from charged activities will be reinvested in the school or activities