School Fee Structure

To maintain our excellent Catholic Education system at St Joseph's Primary School, school fees are an unavoidable necessity. The Government subsidies which apply to your child/children are applied to providing the teaching establishment in our school as well as specialist services. Building costs and the day to day running costs of our school are the responsibility of the Parish.

The bulk of this must be met from school fees.

With the benefit of long experience, a benchmark fee has been established that is reasonable and relative to a normal household. This fee is adjusted annually to meet increasing costs and extraordinary items such as information technology, higher insurance premiums, new curricula etc.

Tuition Fees – Secretarial, cleaner's and groundsman's salaries (full award wages), insurance (very considerable for a school), electricity, Council rates and charges, telephone, paper, printing, photocopying materials, cleaning materials, stationery and office supplies, furniture, fittings, appliances, educational requisites and resources, textbooks, teaching aids, postage, maintenance and repairs of fittings, freight and subscriptions.

Resource Fees – Basically these cover items are directly for the use of the children in the classroom, e.g. paper, exercise books, workbooks, art supplies, some textbooks, crayons, pastels, tape, paint, cardboard, craft materials, paintbrushes, clay, graph paper and digital devices.

Grounds & Maintenance – This fee makes is towards the funding of the serving of school loans, capital purchases within the school, depreciation on school equipment, school maintenance, the use of parish buildings, insurance, depreciation on maintenance equipment.

An account will be sent out during Terms 1, 2 and 3 and will have a due date included. Instalment plans are available, and if any parent has difficulty with payments, please discuss the matter with the Principal. Any amount may be paid at any time.

Payment options available include cash, cheque, direct debit and internet banking.

This may be paid:

• Annually in advance;
• Term 1, 2, 3 and 4 instalments;
• Internet banking – weekly, fortnightly, monthly, per Term, annual in advance.

N.B. The School Budget is formulated in October/November each year. As a result, Tuition Fees, Grounds & Maintenance and/or Resource Fees may be subject to a slight increase based on the Parish Finance Committee's budgetary figures and recommendations.

 
FAMILY ENROLMENT FEE

There is a one-off charge of $150 levied on all families at the time of enrolment application.

FEE GUIDELINES

1. All families are expected to pay the full prescribed fee as determined by the Parish Finance Committee.

2. No Catholic child will be deprived of a Catholic Education at our school solely due to genuine financial difficulties.

3. If your family is experiencing difficulties or extraordinary circumstances affecting your capacity to pay fees, PLEASE make an appointment to speak with the Principal.

4. In the case of difficulties, our policy is that we expect all families to contribute something. The Principal will discuss with genuine cases a reduction in fees that is realistic and fair.  In so doing, you are assured of the strictest confidence.

5. Cases of School Fee Reduction are reviewed annually.