Wellington College has set and achieved standards for the provision of education and facilities equal to the best offered by any New Zealand school. Our students’ high level of achievement and participation in all spheres of education – academic, sporting and cultural activities – and the strong demand for entry to the College is ample evidence of its success.
Staff give a great deal of their personal time outside normal College hours to support and maintain this achievement. Much support and time is also freely provided by parents, and every effort is made to keep costs as low as possible. Nevertheless, achieving and maintaining these standards requires a level of funding that is regrettably well beyond that provided by the state. Financial support by parents is therefore vital if students are to participate in a truly broad and challenging education.
Fees and contributions paid by parents cover the following areas for which there is either inadequate or no government funding:
Textbook Deposit (payable annually by all students, and refunded when the student leaves College), and Student Diary.
Learning Materials contribution – this helps cover costs such as photocopying and teaching resources. (Tax deductible)
Co-curricular contribution – this covers equipment, facilities hire, co-curricular activities and various student competitions. The objective is to encourage wide participation in these activities by partially subsidising them, while retaining a user-pays content for specialised activities with higher per-person costs. (Tax deductible)
The ‘Wellingtonian’ Yearbook - the College magazine.
Major Projects Fund contribution. By contributing, parents are able to support the funding of amenities currently being used by their sons and to bring forward future developments. (Tax deductible)
Parents' Association ICT and Equipment contribution – for equipment and special projects such as classroom audiovisual and computing equipment, specialist laboratory, technical and musical equipment and one major project in the College not funded by the Operations grant. This is administered by the Parents’ Association. (Tax deductible)
These annual fees and contributions are necessary to meet the costs of areas which are inadequately covered by state funding. There has been considerable publicity concerning the inadequate operational funding of schools and in reality, only approximately 50% of Wellington College’s income comes from Government grants. To meet the demands of school life the College must find alternative sources of funding, and so the fees and contributions paid by parents are essential to its ongoing successful operation.
The annual fees and contributions requested for 2010 are:
$615 for one student;
$825 for two students; and
$1030 for three students.
This amount reduces for students who start during the year.