A message from the Principal

As we move further into the 2026 school year, I would like to sincerely thank the many families who have already paid their 2026 Parent Payment contributions via Compass. Your support genuinely makes a huge difference and has allowed us to begin the year strongly with a wide range of engaging classroom activities, art projects, excursions, incursions and learning experiences that help make SKiPPS the vibrant and creative school that it is.

At SKiPPS, we work very hard to keep parent payments as low as possible and understand that many families are continuing to face significant financial pressures. Our Parent Payment structure is designed to reduce the need for constant requests for additional money throughout the year. 

The core Curriculum Contributions component covers the materials and resources students use every day including books, stationery, art supplies, classroom resources and online learning subscriptions. It also includes the cost of many excursions, incursions and special activities that students participate in across the year.

In addition, families are invited to make optional contributions which help us provide important extras including first aid support, maintaining our beautiful gardens and grounds, and contributions to our tax-deductible Library and Building Fund.

We don't feel great about this. In an ideal world, school funding would not lean so heavily on these parental contributions.

This year we have noticed a drop in the number of families making payments by this point in the year. Typically, we would have received contributions from around 70% of families by now, however this year that figure is currently closer to 55%. 

We completely understand why. Cost of living pressures are impacting everyone, our Year 5/6 families have just returned from an expensive Canberra camp, and many families also generously supported our recent school fete.

For families who are able to contribute, we are incredibly grateful. Even if paying the full amount is not currently possible, we would greatly appreciate families considering payment of the Activities and Curriculum Contributions component where they can, as this directly supports the classroom materials, learning resources and activities that all children benefit from every day. 

We completely understand that some of the additional optional contributions may not be achievable for some families at this time.

Compass also allows families to enter a smaller payment amount if that is more manageable. 

As always, we thank our community for your ongoing support, generosity and partnership in helping us provide the rich educational experiences that our students deserve and families value so highly.

Neil Scott

Principal