Charging and Remissions

We are proud to be part of Dartmoor Multi Academy trust and as such the Trust recognises the valuable contribution that the wide range of additional activities, including trips, clubs and residential experiences can make towards pupils' education. The Trust aims to promote and provide such activities both as part of a broad and balanced curriculum for the pupils of the schools and as additional optional activities.

In overview, no charges will be made for Education provided during school hours or outside school hours if it is part of the National Curriculum or part of the school’s basic curriculum for religious education. However, whenever activities, including educational visits are undertaken, and the individual academy is unable to fully fund such activities, it is intended that voluntary contributions will be invited from our parent/carers.

You can read all the details on this process in our Charging and Remissions Policy here.

Payment and Childcare Vouchers

To keep your child/ren safe and ensure their well-being, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our links with you and keep everyone up-to-date and well informed. School Gateway, an electronic school communication system has been running for a few years now. This enables you to receive all your information from school quickly and reliably. We can send letters by email to your inbox and short messages directly to your mobile phone as a text message, or if you have an Apple or Android mobile phone, by app message. This can only be done once your child has been admitted into our school.

Online Payments

As you will be aware from the news, school budgets are under significant pressure and in a school as large as Okehampton Primary, managing payments for school meals and trips is a significant task! Our priority is to spend as much of our time and resources in the classroom, supporting our pupils. We hope that you will support us in achieving this. We no longer accept cash or cheque payments in school for dinners, trips and events and you can access the Gateway at any time, track how much you have paid, what is outstanding and make payments directly to us using your debit or credit card or by a bank transfer.

School Gateway

School Gateway is a secure, online payments system for all payments of school meals, consents for trips and events. It is also our text messaging system for urgent text messages e.g. if clubs or fixtures are cancelled, and our email application for notification of payment/consent requests and all school news.
To register, you will need to sign up for a School Gateway account by visiting  www.schoolgateway.com. Enter your current email address and mobile number (these must match the primary contact details you have registered with the school) and select the “Send PIN” button. A PIN will be sent to your mobile phone. Use this to log into your new School Gateway account. With your School Gateway account, you will be able to view payments made, see when your child has had a school meal, and check your balance. 

Payment requests

When there is money owing to school by you, we set up payment requests and notify you by text or email that the request is ‘live’. Simply log in using your email address and your PIN number, select the payment request(s) you wish to make payment for and follow the Wizard through to pay. It’s just as easy as buying something online. School Dinner Payments ~ The minimum online payment is £6.90, (£2.30 per meal). Online payments can be made via School Gateway and balances will be reduced as and when your child consumes a school dinner.

Convenient

Parents are asked to give their consent for trips online via School Gateway, therefore reducing the need to complete permission slips. When a trip is due you will be sent a text or an email to let you know that you need to log in to the school gateway and give your consent, and it’s as easy as that. You can see a record of the payments that you have made and receipts are sent to your registered email address for all transactions you make. Depending on your school you will be able to see what meals have been taken by your child and your current meal balance and receive reminders to top up when you are getting low. The system reduces the need to send money into school with your child, removing the chance of money going astray, making it convenient for you to pay when it suits you, from anywhere at any time of day or night.

Secure

Your card details are not visible or stored in the Schoolcomms or school system. All card information is processed by Barclaycard. If you have any questions about this, please contact us at the school on 01837 52866, or email us: admin@okehamptonprimary.org.uk

Childcare Vouchers Please contact the school office for more information on childcare vouchers, either call 01837 52866 or email: admin@okehamptonprimary.org.uk