A message from the Principal

At School Council this evening we will discuss our 2025 Parent Payment arrangements and, in next week's newsletter we will communicate our requested payment for next year. 

Schools provide students with free instruction to fulfil the standard Victorian Curriculum and we want to assure you that all payments are voluntary. Nevertheless, each year, all government schools request an annual Parent Payment (previously known as school fees) to cover the cost of essential learning items. The requests are sent home at the start of the year and are made via Compass. We appreciate the ongoing support of our families in making this payment to ensure that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. 

How these payments are structured, managed and spent differs from school to school. Most government schools request a parent payment but also send home a booklist each year asking families to purchase their own classroom materials such as books, pens, pencils, glue sticks, rulers and other stationery which are then sent into school at the start of the year.

At St Kilda Park we recognise how time-consuming and inconvenient this process is over the summer holidays and so we take the approach of including the cost of classroom materials in our parent payments, something which then allows us to buy materials in bulk. This means that the money requested is used for the items that your child uses in their classroom on a daily basis.

Other schools also regularly ask families to pay for school excursions and incursions throughout the year on top of the parent payment. Again at SKiPPS, we include all of these event costs in the requested payment, something that reduces stress and workload for parents and carers by not requiring them to log in to Compass and make multiple payments during the year.

2024

So far this year, roughly 79% of our families have made their parent payment. We appreciate the support of these families to ensure that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. 

As we approach the end of the year, we are now requesting that the remaining 21% of families to login to Compass and make this payment to cover the costs for your child's education this year.  

Whilst we try to keep these parent payments as low as possible and affordable for most, the income received is a large and important part of our school budget. 

The payments are used to cover expenditure not covered by Government funding and allow us to provide the resources, materials and experiences to our students that would otherwise be impossible.

Whilst these parent payments are voluntary, we rely on them to cover roughly 30% of our entire school budget each year.

Without this funding, our school would be a far less active and engaging place and we would not be able to provide the range of enriching learning that we feel our students deserve.

To put this into context, the remainder of the school's budget each year is roughly made up of the following;

• 45%: money received by the school directly from the government 
• 10%: Parent and community fundraising activities
• 15%: Other income streams (Team Kids, Grand Prix, etc) 

How do I check whether I have paid my 2024 Parent Payment and make payment?

Doing this is easy - you can login to Compass and, if you have not yet made payment, you will see the below icon on your homepage. By clicking on the icon, you can make an online payment in a couple of easy steps. 

If you would prefer to make payment in person or over the phone or have any questions, please contact the school office who are happy to facilitate a cash or card payment.

Further details of our Parent Payments at SKiPPS can be found at https://www.skipps.vic.edu.au/community/school-documents/ 

Neil Scott

Principal