Charges & Remissions

Lea Forest is committed to providing quality education based on equality of opportunity, access and outcomes.  In practice, this means the children have an entitlement to benefit from all educational activities and to:

• Participate fully in school curriculum;

• Contribute to all aspects of school life;

• Be a valued partner in the process of education.

These objectives must be seen to inform educational activities, whether in or outside the school and are therefore integral to the process of charging for school activities and to the remission which is available to parents/guardians who are on low income.  We aim:

• To make school activities accessible to all students regardless of family income;

• To encourage and promote external activities which give added value to the curriculum;

• To provide a process which allows activities to take place at a minimum cost to parents, pupils and the school;

• To respond to the wide variations in family income while not adding additional unexpected burdens to the school budget.

The development of a range of activities forms part of the school’s forward planning process and is linked to the annual budget cycle with a particular emphasis on the identification of specific resources to support such activities.  It includes a number of key factors:

• The value of certain activities in relation to age/needs of pupils;

• The cost of activity set against their educational value;

• How the activity will be paid for;

• The appropriate process for raising funding;

• An assessment of whether the educational aims can be met in any other way;

• An understanding of the various types of activities involved – for example, education visits, music tuition, materials for practical work;

• An assessment of local facilities.

Please contact the school office for details of our current charges for trips, visits and resources.