2022 Parent Payments

Last Thursday you would have received a white envelope in your child's school bag containing details of our 2022 Parent Financial Contributions (otherwise known as school fees).

Whilst all government schools are obliged to provide free instruction to students to fulfill the standard Victorian Curriculum, we all require and request an annual contribution to cover the cost of essential learning items. 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. 

Receiving financial contributions from families in this way allows us to provide the rich and varied program that our school is so proud of. The fees charged to parents each year allow us to go above and beyond the bare minimum and pays for class requisites (pens, pencils, paper, books) and also to allow us to buy new and engaging learning materials, provide activities, excursions, and incursions and all of the other things that will make your child's time at our school so wonderful. 

Without parents making these payments, we would not be able to provide any of these things and school would start to look a lot more basic and a lot less fun. The level of funding provided by the government sadly only allows us to cover the bare minimum and so we (like all schools) seek a parent contribution to go beyond this,

It is worth noting that the level of fees charged at SKiPPS are hundreds of dollars less than almost all of our neighboring schools and we are mindful to only request parents make payment for things that we see as being important.

The letter sent home breaks down the requested contribution into different parts and explains these in more detail. Put simply, the contribution we are requesting covers;

 1. A Curriculum Contribution which pays for your child's pens, pencils, exercise books, art materials, and other 'consumable' materials and equipment (please note that SKiPPS does not issue a book list or expect parents to spend hours in Officeworks each summer - instead we buy these materials in bulk to make things easier and cheaper for everyone). This contribution also pays for the online subscriptions and memberships that your child makes use of at school each year. It also covers all excursions and incursions and other activities that help our teachers to bring learning to life throughout the school year.

2. Other Contributions which consists of a general contribution to help fund new learning materials, equipment, works, and upgrades across the school - updated furniture and technology, building works, and grounds developments to help add more to your child's education and to ensure they can access the best learning in the best surroundings.

For the first time in 2022, this Other Contribution also includes a contribution to our tax-deductible Building Fund and Library. These payments go into specific Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) funds which allow the school to spend this money on our buildings, grounds, and school library but are also classed as tax-deductible payments by the Australian Tax Office (ATO). Families making payments made into these funds on Compass will be emailed a receipt once the funds are received, which can then be given to your accountant at tax time and so serve to reduce your taxable income. 

Whilst a suggested amount of $200 has been provided for these Other Contributions, we welcome those families willing and able to pay more, especially into the Building and Library funds.

Please note that throughout the year there will also be other extra-curricular activities. If your child takes part in these then extra payments will be required. These activities include school camps, school swimming,  entry into competitions and other extra-curricular activities such as music tuition, basketball teams, orchestra, etc 

If you did not receive the fees letter sent home, these can be accessed on the links below.

Our preferred method of payment for all families is via Compass School Manager and, when you log in, a reminder notification will be present on the home screen to pay your child's fees (see below)  Please note, you will need your Compass username and password to access this platform.

Payments can also be made directly to the office in person or over the phone.