Learn more about financial contributions and assistance at Stanmore Public School.
Introduction
There are some costs associated with going to Stanmore Public School that families may find helpful to plan and budget for.
These include:
- uniforms
- school books and equipment
- excursions
- co-curricular activities.
Contribution fund
Like all NSW public schools, Stanmore Public School can request contributions to enhance our educational and sporting programs including elective subjects. School contributions help provide additional educational resources for the benefit of students.
The school requests that families make a voluntary donation to the School Contribution Fund each year.
This fund has replaced many of the fundraising activities the school used to run.
The fund is used to support the school’s educational programs with quality, current resources. These resources benefit all children and the school greatly appreciates the support of families.
For more information, visit the Voluntary School Contribution policy.
Activities statements
Every term the school issues families with an activities statement for each student. The activities statement covers excursions, incursions, resources such as workbooks and stationery, as well as voluntary payments such as the voluntary school contribution and levies for additional learning programs.
Payments
It is now possible for parents to make online payments to the school for amounts owing for students, via a secure payment page hosted by Westpac. Payments can be made using either a Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card.
If you wish to pay by cash or cheque, all money and permission notes sent to school should be placed in a sealed envelope clearly marked with the student’s name and class. The purpose and amount of money enclosed also needs to be written clearly on the front of the envelope. This greatly assists school staff to process money and saves valuable teaching and learning time.
The school prefers online payments or cheques in preference to cash. This improves overall security for everyone.
Mostly, there is one money collection each term for the whole term’s activities and the school asks parents to pay in one lump sum before the date of the first activity for the term. To help make this achievable, the school notifies parents of costs for the coming term and allows three weeks for payments.
Building fund
The school’s Building Fund allows families to make donations that are fully tax deductible.
Money donated to the Building Fund can only be used for buildings and fixtures to buildings but may be used for both short and long term projects.
The Fund is administered by the P&C. Over time, all students will benefit greatly from the generous support of our families.
Performing arts levy
The Performing Arts Levy is included as part of the Term Activities for each term.
Some years ago, the school began employing trained specialist teachers to develop a successful creative and performing arts programs. These programs included Drama, Music and Visual Arts.
The school provides most of the staffing for these programs from within the school’s staffing allocation, however, a weekly parental contribution enables all classes to have a lesson every week in each of these areas.
This contribution is included in the once‐per‐term collection of money for all excursions, performances and other school activities for the term.
Kitchen Garden Program levy
The school provides the opportunity for all students to participate in the Kitchen Garden Program.
Following a grant from the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation the school created a kitchen garden and converted the old school library into a stunning kitchen with five cooking bays.
A levy for students in Years 3-6 contributes to covering weekly lessons in both the garden, with a garden specialist, and the kitchen, with a kitchen specialist, so they have the experience of growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing nutritious food.
The gardening program includes composting and worm farming, as well as chickens for eggs. A number of other curriculum areas are integrated into the kitchen garden program.
Financial assistance
The school plans a number of activities each year, such as sport, excursions and camps to enrich learning.
The cost of these activities is passed on to parents. Stanmore provides early advice on these activities so parents can put funds aside for these costs.
In addition, some limited funds are available through the Student Assistance Scheme (SAS) to assist eligible families with 10–50% of these school related expenses.
The principal will assist with enquiries on a confidential basis. Because funds are limited, priority is given to families where neither parent is in paid employment.