Our full Charging and Remissions Policy is attached at the end of this page. Below are key elements of this document concerning educational visits, instrumental music lessons, exams and materials.

Policy

The Trustees believe that students should be entitled to equal access to curriculum opportunities and to public examinations. Where activities are voluntary the school will always seek to support those students who are financially disadvantaged. The school will follow the guidance in the NCC Charging and Remissions Policy.

Procedures

• Trustees will be responsible for approval of all foreign and residential trips. The Principal will approve all other activities.
• Trip organisers will carefully calculate the costs to cover all expenditure, but not make any profit.
• Parents will be advised of the cost of trips/activities and offered access to financial support from the Trustees' Hardship Fund where appropriate. See Remissions section at the end of this policy.
• Sixth form students who are eligible for the 16 – 18 Bursary Fund can apply for trips to be funded
• Where educational visits take place mainly or wholly outside normal school hours and an optional extra activity, parents will be asked to pay the full cost.
• Participation in any Optional Extra Activity will be on the basis of parental choice and a willingness to meet the charges. Parental agreement is therefore a necessary pre-requisite for the provision of an optional extra where charges will be made.
• Where visits take place mainly or wholly within school hours and are regarded as desirable, but are an optional additional activity, rather than essential, parents will be asked to make a voluntary contribution, without which the visit may not be able to take place.
• Where visits take place mainly or wholly within normal school hours and are an essential part of the curriculum, no charge will be made. However, in some circumstances, in order to provide a better quality experience, a voluntary contribution may be requested. This may occur in the case of Geography and Biology 'A' level courses in the Sixth Form where field work is essential but residential visits to more distant locations provide better opportunities. In such cases financial support may be available from the Hardship Fund.

Policy

The Trustees seek to encourage the learning of musical instruments and support the provision of music both within the curriculum and as an extra-curricular activity. All students are entitled to equal access to instrumental tuition and support is available from the Hardship Fund.

Procedures

• The level of subsidy from the main budget, towards the cost of purchasing tuition from NMPAT Music Services is reviewed annually in February. It is proposed that this remains at £2,000 for 2023/24
• The school will endeavour to purchase from Northamptonshire Music Services sufficient tuition time to allow groups of two or three students of similar standard to be taught together.
• The cost of musical instrument tuition for students in small groups is reviewed annually in February, taking into account charges made by the NMPAT Music Service. The cost per term, per instrument for the academic year is £85 per term for single (10-minute) lesson and £170 per term for double (20-mintue) lesson, each term being 11 weeks. 
• A deposit is paid on registration and invoices are raised at the start of each term. The deposit is non-refundable and is offset against the fees for the summer term.
• Lessons will cease if fees are not paid.
• One term's notice must be given by parents to cease lessons.
• Students who are registered as Pupil Premium/Ever 6, which includes all students eligible for Free School Meals currently, or in the previous 6 years are entitled to remission from the full cost of music fees for one instrument per child.
• Students are expected to take part in the various bands/orchestras and attend rehearsals regularly.
• All music exam fees and teaching books will be paid by parents.

Policy

• Fees for public examinations which form part of the curriculum will be paid by the school when taken for the first time.
• Charges will normally be made for re-sitting public examinations, except in exceptional circumstances when a decision will be made by the Headteacher.
• Examination entry fees will be recovered from parents if a pupil, without good reason, fails to sit the examination or fails to complete the necessary requirements. "Good reason" will include circumstances beyond the control of the pupil. Individual cases will be considered by the Headteacher.

Procedures

• The Examinations Officer or his/her Assistant will be responsible for establishing a system to recover charges where appropriate.

Policy

Parents will normally be required to pay for, or supply, any materials used in producing articles in school, (e.g. in craft subjects) where the parent has indicated before the requirement is made that he/she wishes the article(s) to be owned by them or the pupil.

• Textbooks are provided free of charge, but in some subjects, additional revision guides are available, for which a charge is made through parentpay.

Procedures

• The subject teacher will be responsible for collecting monies due as appropriate and ensuring that they are paid into the Department Budget to reimburse the cost of the materials.

A charge will be levied in respect of wilful damage, neglect or loss of school property (including premises, furniture, equipment books or materials), the charge to be the cost of replacement or repair, or such lower cost as the Headteacher may decide.National Association for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY)
It was agreed that the school will contribute 50% or up to a maximum of £150 per student per academic year. This will be met from the Mainstream Funding.

The Trustees have introduced a system to help families on low income and have used the Local Education Authority's criteria for Free School Meals as the requirements to qualify. This means that all applications can be assessed on the same basis and in a fair manner.

Further information regarding Free School Meals eligibility is available from West Northamptonshire County Council on their website westnorthants.gov.uk or by contacting them on 0300 126 7000.
Where parents are on low income and wish to request financial support towards the cost of a trip or activity, they are required to write to the Headteacher who will consider each case individually. Normally, if the financial conditions above are met, then 50% of the cost of the trip/activity is met from the Hardship Fund. However, it is unlikely that this support will be available for optional, expensive, residential trips e.g. skiing or PGL activities holidays, except in exceptional circumstances.

A copy of the Charging and Remissions Policy is available below.