From the office
Financial News
With a new year comes all of the stress of having to pay for books, uniforms and camps on top of your regular bills and living expenses. We understand that finding the funds can get tough for families no matter your income and want to be sure you are aware of all of the options available to you and that you are fully informed as to what you are being charged for. Please take the time to have a read through the information below and if you still have questions please pop in to see the ladies in the office.
Payment Plans
We welcome payment plans and many families utilise this service. Payment plans have some conditions:
* Payment plans are to be arranged when notification of the event or charge is received, this
ensures regular payments to be finalised before the event happens. Payment plans cannot be
entered into at the last minute.
* Payment Plan terms must be met to be offered again, this is a service we offer voluntarily.
What am I paying for?
CSEF, NILS, CONVEYANCE & CENTREPAY
There are a lot of options available to you:
CSEF is the Camps, Sports & Excursions Funds for families with valid Health Care Cards, worth $225 for Secondary Students - https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/csef.aspx
CENTREPAY A voluntary service to pay bills and expenses as regular deductions from your
Centrelink payments. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/centrepay
CONVEYANCE - Families in rural and regional Victoria can get help with the cost of transporting their children to their nearest school. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/transport/Pages/conveyance.aspx
NILS LOANS - Loans for low income families (less than $45,000 after tax) or have a Health Care or Pension card. https://nils.com.au/
Event Approval and Payment in Compass
Now you can approve and pay for events (camps, excursions, in school events) and pay for them in the Compass App or the portal via your computer. The App gives you access to everything re your children, we highly recommend downloading it. If you have trouble with your password please call us and we will fix you up, alternatively you can change your password in Compass with self management.
Student Absences
Compass have updated their app recently and accounting for attendance is easier than ever, please be sure to account for your child's absences when they are not at school. You will receive an SMS to prompt you to enter absences if you have forgotten to, please be sure your mobile and email are also up to date so that this function can benefit you.
PUSH notifications in the app are also recommended. SMS communication is costly to the school so we respectfully request that if you have a smart phone that you install the app and enable push notifications for news to land in your pocket with a friendly "ding". If you have no idea what we have just talked about please ask your child to help you.
Message from the Department re Coronavirus
Parents seeking further information regarding the Coronavirus can read the following bulletin issued from the Department.