Charges & Contributions

Compulsory Charges and Voluntary Contributions

The government provides a comprehensive education that satisfies the requirements of the Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline for all students throughout Western Australia. The operating, education support, administration and property costs associated with the education of students is met largely by Western Australian and Australian Government funding.

A substantial portion of the school’s budget goes towards: salaries of teaching and administrative staff; school buildings and facilities, equipment and course materials. Additional funding such as special grants and local fund raising can be used to support these costs. Compulsory charges and voluntary contributions must not be used to fund these costs.

Costs for course materials, services and facilities for educational programs are met jointly from school grants, compulsory charges and voluntary contributions paid by parents, fundraising and other external sources. Financial support by parents provides resources that extend the school’s capacity to add value to your child’s learning experiences at Lesmurdie Senior High School. Your valuable contribution to your child’s education supports purchases of printed and electronic materials such as text books, library resources, materials in art and crafts, design and technology, science activities.

We encourage our parents to support the payment of compulsory charges, voluntary contributions and extra cost optional components for courses and activities. Parents will receive an itemised statement of charges and contributions at least 2 months before the start of the school year, usually at the end of October or early November. The school will however, communicate the charges and contributions payable at the time of subject/course selection for:

Lower School subjects with a compulsory charge
compulsory charges applicable to Year 11 and 12 courses

Compulsory charges are expected to be paid in full by the end of term one. Payment by instalments can be arranged if you require more time to finalise charges and contributions and can commence at any time.

Voluntary Contributions – Years 7 to 10

The maximum contribution that can be requested of parents/carers towards the cost of a standard educational program which satisfies the requirements of the WA curriculum in Years 7-10 is $235.00.

Compulsory Charges – Years 7 to 10

Whilst the standard educational program is available ($235.00) throughout Years 7 – 10, there is an increasing choice of subjects/courses (termed high-cost which will incur a compulsory charge). The cost associated in providing certain subjects/courses range from approximately $10.00 to $150.00 per subject. Where high-cost subjects/courses are chosen, combined charges and voluntary contributions will be greater than $235.00 as additional compulsory charges will apply. Students usually commence subject/course selections for the following school year during Term 2 and 50% must be paid towards any high-cost subjects/courses at the time of selection.

Compulsory Charges – Years 11 & 12

In Years 11 and 12 all course charges are compulsory. Courses range in cost from approximately $50.00 – $300.00 per course.

Our school community is grateful for the financial support received by parents which enables our staff to continue to offer quality educational programs.

Approved Funding – Other Optional Costs

Education Perfect

Years 7 & 8 English, Maths and Italian – $70.50
Year 9 Maths – $23.50

Education Perfect is a fun and engaging educational software built to make home education easier. Content is aligned to various curricula ensuring every question answered is putting your child another step in the right direction. Aligned at both state and country level, take comfort that your child is learning what is directly related to their education.

Stile

Years 7 – 10 Science – $18.00

Stile is an online classroom resource that blends interactive science lessons, science news stories and hands-on investigations to empower students to observe, think, write and argue like real scientists and engineers. In Stile lessons students work through self-paced or group based lessons to explore a topic. The lesson sequence for each topic begins with a contemporary science context or issue to stimulate student interest and challenge their prior knowledge. Then, after some prior knowledge assessment, students explore the topic through a series of videos, simulations, interactive textbook readings, workbook exercises and experiments. As students complete these online learning tasks they are regularly assessed to check for understanding. With the help of this live data collection teachers can address areas of need as they arise before students complete the end of topic task. Through the use of this online resource, teachers can more effectively differentiate their lessons to cater for individual needs and efficiently measure student progress. For more information please visit the Stile website at stileeducation.com.

Mathspace

Year 10 students and Years 11 & 12 General Maths students – $19.00

Mathspace was created over a decade ago with the vision of using technology to replicate the benefits of one-to-one teaching. Our step-by-step support helps students at the exact moment of misconception, helping them to learn and ultimately develop a growth mindset.

Atomi

ATAR Maths students – $25.00

Atomi is an online platform that will give students questions for revision and exam preparation. Teachers are able to set tasks from Atomi but students can also search Atomi for useful video tutorials and questions for study. In the past we have asked students to purchase study guides, which are costly. We have trialled Atomi and found it useful so this will replace the study, has more features and is less than half the cost.

Consumables

Due to increasing costs, this contribution will assist in the purchasing of consumables in:

Visual Arts – Years 7 & 8 – $5.00
Home Ec /D&T – Year 7 – $5.00
Home Ec /D&T – Year 8 – $25.00

Voluntary Approved Requests

Library Fund

All years – $20.00

Though the school library is also a community library, the school is required to purchase resources and equipment for the benefit of all students. To enable the library to continue to purchase relevant and current resources we are requesting a contribution to our library fund.

Parent & Citizens (P&C) Association Membership

All years, once per family – $25.00

Parents & Citizens’ Associations (P&Cs) are established under the School Education Act 1999 for the purpose of supporting a strong government school system for the benefit of the students. The P&C Association is a school-based organisation with a membership consisting of parents, some teachers and interested community members to give parents/carers an opportunity to learn about school policies and programs and involve them in shaping the school community. All parents/carers are invited to join the Lesmurdie Senior High School P&C, which is one of 630 such associations in Western Australia. If you would like to join the P&C, please visit our website for further information or email parent_citizenLSHS@outlook.com .

The P&C does not fundraise and earnestly seeks your continued support by appealing to parents/carers for a contribution of $25.00 per family. This amount appears on the school charges and contributions sheet for all students but will be deducted accordingly if you have more than one child at the school.

Extra-cost Options (Years 7 – 12)

The extra-cost options list details activities which may occur throughout next year to allow parents/carers to budget for these expenses. Extra-cost options refer to:

Enrichment activities in any subject/course for which there is a high-cost associated with their provision, such as excursions and camps
Other optional school-based activities which address broad learning outcomes and for which there is a high cost, such as school and social events

Participation in extra-cost options is voluntary but a compulsory charge is payable if the student participates.

Communication will be sent home with further details requesting parent/carer consent as required and advising when payment is due.