Our school does not qualify to opt into the government donations scheme. As such, we do not receive additional funding for camps, trips, swimming, programmes and courses, ICT or resources. Instead, we seek donations toward the cost of core learning programmes (curriculum).

We seek both general and specific contributions / donations. It is standard practice for schools to charge annual fees early in the year to allow parents the option of setting up payment plans to manage costs over time.

General Donation

• The general donation supports the day-to-day school operations and core learning opportunities (curriculum) provided at our school. The annual amount we request from parents is $150 for one child and $200 for two or more children. Donations are voluntary payments which are tax deductible and a receipt can be issued for tax purposes. If you pay your annual donation before 1 April each year, you can claim it back on your tax return. To claim the tax credit, you need to fill out a claim form (IR526), attach your donation receipt and send it to the Inland Revenue. For more information, or to download a tax credit claim form, go to www.ird.govt.nz.

Specific Contributions

• We also seek parent and whānau contributions to allow us to take students on specific camps, trips, or Education Outside Education (EOTC) opportunities or offer particular enrichment programmes. We do our best to keep requests for costs to a minimum for parents and whānau. This will be communicated to you prior to the specific camp, trip, requirement, or EOTC opportunity.

• Some specific contributions are charged annually to support additional learning programmes, home learning or online safety management, particularly in Years 3-8. This includes setting filters for home/school device management to keep students safe online and home/school learning programmes such as Steps Web, Reading Plus and Lexia.

• Your child will not be restricted from attending or engaging in these opportunities if you have not contributed. However, without seeking specific contributions/donations, we may not be able to offer these learning opportunities, as the school would have to cover too much of the shortfall. We are simply not funded enough money through our Annual Operations Grant to provide these kinds of experiences or opportunities for tamariki. These specific contributions are scheduled and planned annually to limit cost implications.

Activity Fees

• There are a number of optional extra activities, resources, materials and programmes available to students throughout their time at Marshland School. These require payment, as they are extra programmes that are outside of the core learning programme (curriculum).

• Unless regular payments are occurring, we ask that your Activity Fees account be paid in full each term. Please note, this does not include the school or specific contributions, as these are voluntary.

• We also require all Activities Fees accounts to be paid in full by the end of each year. Activities fees are invoiced costs for services that incur charges and can be followed up by the school with debtors. If there are outstanding Activity Fees owing, two forms of formal communication will be sent prior to seeking payment through debtors. 

Receipts will be issued for school donations and any other payments if requested. These can also be obtained through the Student Management System App Hero where parents and whānau have full access to financial statements for their children while at Marshland School - Te Rito Harakeke.

Parents and whānau are welcome to set up automatic payments or arrange regular payments. If you would like to consider setting up an automatic payment with your bank. Our bank account details are ASB, Northlands Branch, Papanui – 12-3149-0243776-00.