& LEVIES 2025

School Fees & Levies for 2025

I am writing to provide you details of changes in tuition fees for the 2025 academic year.

Any decision to adjust tuition fees is never made lightly, nor without careful and thorough consideration of our students’ needs and our school’s capacity to provide an education experience that supports every student to flourish.  We are also cognisant of the financial pressures that many families have experienced this year. 

St Anne’s, too, is facing increasing costs in multiple areas of school operations, including WorkCover premiums, Child Safety compliance, risk management, teacher resources and professional learning, and higher central system costs. 

Our tuition fees at St Anne’s are also influenced by the Commonwealth Department of Education’s calculation of our community’s ability to financially contribute to the operating costs of our school, known as the Capacity to Contribute, or CTC, which is reviewed annually.

School funding is complex, so I have included with this letter a simple school funding “explainer” which I hope will support your understanding of how government funds Catholic (and other non-government) schools and how tuition fees support our school. 

To ensure that we can continue to deliver a personalised, high-quality education that is responsive to the diverse interests and academic, social and emotional needs of our students, it is necessary to adjust our fees in 2025.

The School Family Fee for 2025 will be $2,105 per year, composed of a Recurrent Family Fee $2,005 and a Capital Fee of $100. The School Family Fee will be payable in three instalments of ($702, $702 & $701) over the first three terms of the school year. 

The student Levy for all students for the 2025 school year will be $585. To provide better transparency as to how the school finances and income received by parents is utilised, we have again this year broken down the Student Levy to identify what contributes to the levy and how it is spent.

In 2025 there will be a Swimming Levy of $60.00 for every year 3-6 student (Foundation – 2 will not be having swimming lessons). This levy is required to help offset the considerable cost to the school. It is a government requirement that all students can swim 50 metres by the end of their Grade 6 year. 

The Grade 5 & 6 School Camp will be held in 2025 with a cost of the camp being $380.00. The camp fee must be paid no later than one week prior to the date of the camp. 

Families who are currently in arrears for the 2024 school year and have not made an arrangement with the school, we ask that you attend to your account as soon as possible or to contact the office. Direct EFT payment details are : BSB 083-347 Account Number 644898266 (Please use family name as reference)

Families in arears will be asked to enter into a payment plan to ensure the arrears do not become unmanageable. Please note that we do everything we can to hold costs down whilst providing the best education opportunities possible for your child. 

Statements, Direct Debit forms and information will be sent out at the beginning of Term 1 2025 in hard copy. To start a payment plan for 2025 please complete the Direct Debit form and return to the School Office.

School Fee Concession 2025

With the change in parish school governance to MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools) there has been a change to assist school families experiencing financial hardship in accessing a Catholic primary education for their child/children. There is now the opportunity to apply for a School Fee Concession in 2025. 

At all times, the dignity and privacy of those seeking a fee concession will be respected. School office staff can advise applicants of the concessional fee to be charged. This concessional fee is fixed annually by Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS). Approved applicants will be charged only the annual concessional fee, which will cover all standard school fees and levies. If the applicant has become eligible under one of the eligibility criteria listed below throughout the year, a pro-rata concession will be granted from the time the application is made. In this instance, standard school fees and levies will be incurred for the portion of the year whereby the applicant was not eligible. To be eligible for the concession, the family must agree to a fortnightly direct debit.

Application for School fee Concessions will be available to families under the following categories: 

• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage
• Services Australia Health Care Card holder
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card holder
• Department of Home Affairs ImmiCard (proof of identity card) holder
• Refugee, where the child has attended a school in Australia for less than five years 

Please do not hesitate to contact the Office for further information in regard to the concessional fee application. 

May I also take this opportunity to thank the many parents who have supported the school in a non-financial way through their participation in classroom activities and parent groups such as the School Advisory Board and P &F Committee. Our community as a whole has gained greatly from the gift of their time, effort and support. 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the fee increase, or wish to discuss your individual circumstances, please do not hesitate to contact me.  We remain committed to keeping tuition fees as low and affordable as possible, and to working closely with our community to make this transition as smooth as possible. 

Thank you for your understanding.  I am grateful for your ongoing support and trust in our school.

Yours sincerely,

Rod Shaw

PRINCIPAL

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