FINANCIAL AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT POLICY

St Johns Convent School is a Catholic school and in accordance with its ethos it puts structures and strategies in place to ensure that its resources are well utilized and that they are adequately insured and safeguarded. It also has the necessary structures in place to safeguard the financial viability of the school.

It should be noted that its only source of revenue is generated from its fee-base and that it is an independent school which receives no government subsidy.

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES:

• The Principal is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school.
• The Deputy Principal assists the Principal with the day-to-day management of the school and is directly accountable to her. The senior management team is comprised of the Principal and Deputy Principal.
• The Bursar is responsible for the day-to-day financial management of the school. He reports directly to the Principal.
• The school’s finances are audited annually by the external auditing firm.
• The Principal and Deputy Principal are responsible for approving and signing the Annual Financial Statements once these have been presented to the Finance Committee.
• Signed copies of the Annual Financial Statements are filed and kept for interested parties.
• The Finance Committee reviews the budget annually.
• Once the budget has been approved, the Finance Committee sets the fees for the following year.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

The Finance Committee is comprised of:

Principal

Deputy Principal

Bursar

Secretary

Finance Officer

FUNCTION OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE

The primary function of the Finance Committee is to oversee the financial management of the school:

• The Principal reports directly to the Finance Committee on all expenditure and is responsible for ensuring that the running costs of the school remain within budget. She needs to apply for approval from the Finance Committee for any extraordinary expenditure.
• The Bursar controls debt and presents the debtors age analysis and monthly financial statements at the monthly Finance Meeting.
• Prior to each meeting the Finance Chair makes a random selection of expenditures and queries these with the Bursar. At each meeting the Bursar presents a breakdown of these expenditures and produces a print-out of expenditure for perusal. 
• Decisions as to how to follow up on debtors is made at each Finance Meeting. The follow-up is done by the Bursar after each Finance Meeting.
• Minutes of the Finance Meetings are taken and these are included with copies of the Quarterly Financial Statements.

PROCEDURES FOR ACCOUNT PAYMENTS:

The Principal authorizes all payments and checks the uploading of all EFT payments prior to their release. In order to release payments, the Finance Officer as the Operator needs to upload these and the Principal and Mother Superior need to electronically authorize each release. Both the Operator and the Principal Operator are prompted on a regular basis to change their passwords and electronic key-codes are required before each release.

All money received and all payments made are accurately recorded by the Bursar. This information is available to the Principal at any time and random checks are made regularly.

This information is made available to the auditors annually.

DRAWING UP OF THE ANNUAL BUDGET    

Each Head of Department is responsible for drawing up a budget for his/her department annually and presenting it to the Principal. These are forwarded to the Bursar who draws up the Draft Budget which she and the Principal go through thoroughly prior to the Draft Budget being presented to the Finance Committee.

APPROVAL OF THE BUDGET

Once the Finance Committee has approved the draft budget the Finance Committee Chair presents this to the Board for its approval.

 Once the budget has been approved by the Board, the fee increase for the following year is set.

A letter of notification of the following year’s fees is distributed to parents.

INTERNAL CONTROL OF EXPENDITURE:

All requirements for the following year are budgeted for and need to be reflected in the Annual Budget. Payments are loaded onto the Bank and authorized by the Principal and Mother Superior.

CASH CONTROL:

Wherever possible, St John’s endeavors to be a cash-free school but there are occasions where cash money is collected. The control of cash is governed by the following policies:

• Money Collections Policy
• Loss Control Policy [See policies included]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

• Management of Assets
• Human Resources

ASSETS:

The school is adequately insured for damage to and theft of its resources. The Insurance Schedule is re-visited annually and the Insurance Broker conducts an audit annually to ensure that all the school’s resources are adequately covered. During the course of the year as new purchases are made, the Bursar notifies the Insurance Company of these in writing.

Computers which have been purchased by the school are insured under the school’s Electronic Equipment insurance.

The school’s Asset Register is updated annually. Each member of staff is required to submit a detailed inventory of all equipment and items within the space for which he/she is responsible. The Asset Register is made available to the auditors when they are conducting their audit and it is also supplied to our Insurance Broker for the audit of the school’s assets prior to the annual revision of the Insurance Schedule. As part of their function, the auditors also make a random selection of items which are reflected in the Asset Register and items which have been purchased for which a Requisition Form has been filled in and ask to see these items.

HUMAN RESOURCES

All staff members have signed contracts and Job Descriptions, copies of which are kept on their Personal Files.

All teachers are required to be registered with SACE and copies of SACE certificates are kept on-file. 

The Finance Officer is responsible for the paying of salaries. Salaries are paid by the 25^th of each month or before the 25^th when this falls over a weekend. He is also responsible for ensuring that all mandatory deductions are made at source.

All staff members are registered with UIF

In keeping with the school’s ethos, there are internal structures in place to safeguard the physical and emotional wellbeing of all staff members.

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MONEY COLLECTIONS POLICY

St John’s Convent School endeavors to function as a cash-free school. However, there are specific occasions when cash-money is handled on the premises and it is on these occasions that the following structures have been put in place. These need to be adhered to at all times:

CLASSROOM:

1. Money should not be left on a desk or freely visible in a classroom.
2. When dealing with money, attention needs to be given to completing the collection and recording it as quickly as possible.
3. All money-collection should be completed early in the school day so that children do not carry money with them or store money in their suitcases for any length of time. All money collected should be locked away in a lock-up cupboard or sent down to the school office without delay.
4. If a teacher is requested to collect money for an event, this should be recorded on a Class List, packed into an envelope, and sent immediately to the School Office.
5. All payments, such as for camps and tours, photographs, carnival or sponsorship money, should be sent by parents in a clearly marked, sealed envelope. Teachers should not break the seal. Receipt of the envelope should be recorded on a Class List. All money should be directed daily to the School Office where it can be stored in the safe by the bursar.
6. Teachers should avoid having lose money in classrooms at all times, and should avoid temptation by ensuring that they do not leave money that is accessible to students or any person who may casually enter the room.
7. Money which is collected by educators belongs to the school. It may not be taken off the premises by an educator or any member of staff without the prior permission of the Principal, and no member of staff may use money collected for his/her own gain, or utilize it as bridging finance or a short-term loan.
8. Classrooms should be kept locked when there is no lesson being conducted in the room.

CLUBS, VOLUNTARY EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

All Clubs and extra-curricular activities, which are organized and run by permanent, salaried employees, fall within the gambit of the school’s authority. As such, they are subject to all policies and structures which are put in place. The person responsible for the management and organization of the specific Club or activity is required to adhere to all aspects of the “Money Collections Policy.”

MONEY COLLECTION AT EVENTS:

There are a number of occasions when money may need to be handled. As the handling of cash-money needs to be strictly controlled, this is covered by a specific policy. [Refer to: Policy to improve loss control on the premises of St John’s Convent School]

Over and above these, the following will also apply:

1. The event must be overseen at all times by a minimum of two people who accept accountability. At a school event, two members of management must oversee the event and a minimum of two people should oversee the handling of money at all times.
2. All money needs to be removed from the venue, directly after the conclusion of the event. The money must be brought up to the Bursar’s Office and it must be accompanied at all times by two people. All money should be counted directly after the event and counting should be overseen by the Bursar or member of the administrative staff assigned to this function. A minimum of two people should count the money. Amounts collected should be recorded by the Bursar or a member of the administrative staff assigned to this function. All money that is collected on the school premises and money collected for the school needs to be reflected in the school’s accounts. No money should be paid over directly to any member of staff unless this is done in the presence of another staff member. Any money paid to a staff member, such as the fees needs to be recorded and a receipt needs to be generated. All cash-money of this nature is paid in to the Bursar on a daily basis and this is recorded.
3. The money which is collected and counted after an event may be stored in the school’s safe for an interim period. Access to the safe is strictly controlled. Safe keys are kept by the Principal, the Bursar and the member of the administrative staff who is assigned to deal with money. In order to access the safe, the person needing to store the money will be accompanied by either the Principal, or the Bursar, who will open the safe, check that the money is adequately stored, and re- lock the safe in the presence of the other party. Under no circumstances should any member of staff access the safe without there being another authorized person present.
4. Records of all money collected should be kept by the Bursar.
5. On no account may any person request to borrow money that has been collected.
6. The safe needs to be cleared regularly and all cash-money should be banked on a regular basis. The only money which should remain in the safe is a collection of    “float-money” in coins, and change, for functions and for small cash payments and should not exceed the amount of R1 000.
7. Any money which is stored in the safe must be clearly marked so that, at a glance, the Principal is able to identify to whom it belongs. The safe may not be used for the safe-keeping of personal items or money, and is strictly for the use of the school.
8. No money belonging to the school may be removed from the school premises by any party unless this is authorized by the Principal. All money which is raised at any school function must be stored for safe-keeping in the school’s safe. When money is removed for banking purposes the amount to be banked must be clearly recorded by two parties and the deposit slip must be filed along with the recorded amount. This rule applies to all fundraising functions and to all bodies which undertake fundraising for the school.

It is essential that the rules set out above are adhered to at all times and by all people who need to deal with money on the premises.

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SCHOOL POLICY ON DRUGS AND ITS RELATED COMPONENTS

                                                                                                                 Date: 23/01/2021- Revised

“Parents do not overlook the education of your children regarding the love of Jesus and

Mary if you want them to be the peace of your heart”.

 St. Alphonso Maria Fusco

Drugs and alcohol abuse can be devastated to a person’s health and academic performance. The school strives to serve the pupils and the community in partnership with parents and guardians.  It is not allowed for a learner to attend school under the influence of drugs and alcohol. To safeguard the school standards, St. John Convent School does not condone the inappropriate use of drugs and has maintained as a zero tolerance approach to drugs. This policy is the product of parents and learners and teachers of St. John Convent School. Therefore any learner or persons mentioned above found guilty of non – compliance will be summoned accordingly.

ADMINISTRATIVE:

The school strictly prohibits the use, possession and/or sale of illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia or unsanctioned use of alcohol aboard school vessel(s) or property. The school will cooperate fully with public authorities in the prosecution of anyone in violation of the said prohibition.

1. The jurisdiction of St. John Convent School Drug Policy includes the following;

In terms of the Code of Conduct, pupils are not permitted,

1. The smoking of tobacco. (cigarettes)
2. The use of drugs.
3. The consumption of alcohol
4. The inappropriate use of medicines (sniffing, glue and other substances)
5. The inappropriate use of solvents, inhalants and / or other chemical agents.
6. To be under the influence of alcohol and drugs,
7. The possession of drug related paraphernalia such as cigarette papers, pipes and matches or lighters.
8. The jurisdiction of St. John Convent School Drug Policy includes the following;

The purpose of this policy is to ensure a school healthy environment, and productive school environment for all learners, educators and other employees by preventing accidents or other dangerous incidents that may result from drug or alcohol use.

1. Learners are forbidden from sniffing glue, taking drugs, of any kind, such as dagga, marijuana, cigarettes, alcohol, solvents, cannabis in and around our institution.
2. Learners are not allowed to bring even the content of any of these substances to school.
3. According to the Code of Conduct, the possession of drugs, use of drugs or dealing with drugs is not permitted while a learner is in school uniform, participating in an activity sanctioned by the school.
4. No form of transaction is allowed in the campus with regards to drugs.

5. The possession, use or sale of alcohol on the school premises is strictly prohibited. Further, the possession, use or sale of illegal drugs is prohibited at any time.
6. Learners are prohibited from reporting to school under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A learner who is taking a prescription drug is required to present to the school a statement from the prescribing physician that the prescription drug will not impair the learners academic work performance, or affect his/her peers in any negative way upon its application.
7. In the interest of the safety and health of our learners the school reserves the right to inspect and search, at random, unannounced times, all packages, bags, clothing or any personal belongings carried on or off school property.
8. DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS:
9. In addition to the punishment, the consequences may include corrective action. Such as, suspension with a view to expulsion.
10. Learners found to be in violation of this policy by either directly possessing or using alcohol or drugs, as described above, or through a verified positive drug test or by court conviction, will be subject to immediate dismissal.
11. If a learner in school uniform is recognized as a pupil at the above mentioned school, and found dealing with drugs, he / she shall be with immediate effect dismissed from school.
12. Any learner who fails to cooperate with the requirements set forth in this policy, including refusal to test, failure to provide a specimen within a reasonable time, failure to report for a scheduled appointment to provide a specimen or adulteration of a specimen, will be subject to disciplinary action which may include immediate dismissal from school.

PROCEDURES;

The following procedures will be serving as the primary guidelines for dealing with issues related to drug and drug abuse.

1. If there is a suspicion that a learner is using drugs or is under the influence of drugs, the case will be referred to the SMT.
2. This group will take all the necessary steps to investigate the seriousness of the mater; the steps will include investigation, interview and random search. Written or recorded records will be taken.
3. Verbal warning to the learner involved. Followed by a written warning inviting the parents to the school, and lastly a learner will be dismissed from school.
4. All information will be treated as confidential.

CONFIDENTIALITY;

1. Information concerning drug and/or alcohol test results and information concerning violations of this policy will be treated as confidential information.
2. Confidentiality of parents and learners who are involved with drugs will be safe guarded. Such information will be released only to management representatives who have a need to know.
3. Every case will be dealt with confidentiality and in consultation with parents and guardians.

ALCOHOL AND DRUG POLICY ACKNOWLEDGMENT I, __________________________, acknowledge that I have read the school alcohol/drug policy, and that I fully understand that violation of this policy will be grounds for immediate dismissal from school. Signature________________________________________________________ Date_________________________________

This policy was compiled by all school committee members and it shall be reviewed by all school committee members at the start of each academic year.

Signatures;

_______________________

Sr. Mavies Chibwe

School Principal

_________________________

Mr. Ntsimane Sello

Deputy Principal

_________________________

Mr. Inusa Mamah

Head of Disciplinary committee

___________________________________________________________

ADMISSION POLICY AND OTHER RELATED INFORMATION

Following the teaching of Jesus of Nazarene and the example of St. Alfonso Maria Fusco, the founder of the sisters of St. John the Baptist, St. Johns Convent School is the Catholic School that bases all its activities on Catholic principles.

It the aim of the school to assist pupils in developing the entire body, soul and mind. Pupils are therefore expected to take part in all school activities and programs which are scheduled for them. 

1. Admissions for the year.

The whole procedure on how to get admission into St. John’s Convent School is indicated in the application form. It includes detail information of learners seeking admission and that of parents and guardians. School fees details and banking details of the school.

Kindly prepare and email the following documents to the school administration office. (sjcschool@gmail.com)

To begin the admission process; the following must be submitted.

1. Certified proof of residential address
2. Certified copy of parents/guardians ID
3. Pay slip / proof of employment or proof of income.
4. If self-employed; please send the most recent bank statements for the previous three months. 
5. Proof of payment from the Bank
6. Certified copy of persons responsible for school fees/cell number
7. Certified birth certificate of the child
8. Most recent report card of a learner from the current school
9. 2 pass port photos of a learner
10. Transfer letter from the current school
11. Financial clearance letter from the current school.

It should be noted that after submitting these documents, parents need to come with hard copies of the same documents to get the application form to facilitate the admission process.

If not South African please provides the following documents in addition to the above documents. They are as follows,

• Certified copies of both the parents and learner
• Certified copies of Visas for both learner and parents
• Study permit for learner
• Certified copied of residential permits for both parents
• Most recent bank statement for the previous three months.

NB: Bring these documents with you in January along with your child’s term 4 report card.

1. Interviews.

1. The school will conduct interviews for the potential candidate to be admitted in our school. Interview sheet (attached). We encourage parents to cooperate by being honest.
2. You can down load the form from our website.
3. The results shall be sent tour email, please provide us with the correct email address and other personal contacts should we have questions or other queries that require further information.
4. The school shall notify you about the results of your application, via email/ phone or whatsApp.
5. Should your child be accepted at St. John Convent School for the academic year, parents should bear in mind that, a  R1,000 non – refundable fee will be made payable within  14 days of notification of acceptance in order to secure a place for your child at our school. St. John Convent School is a fee paying institution. It is the obligation of each parent/ guardian to make sure that school fees and other applicable fees are paid on time. During (school holidays). If fees are not settled on time, at the beginning of a term, the child should not report for school until payment is made within the first two weeks, after two weeks, your child’s place shall be forfeited.
6. Text books; Text books for foundation, intermediate and senior phase are purchased by the school. Learners are advised to buy text books from school. Parents take charge of the stationery, and uniform. Uniforms can be bought at Antex uniform shop in Bronkhorstspruit next to Erasmus School. Every learner is charge a maintenance fee of R100 at the beginning of every term.

1. Admission policy;

• St. John Convent School is committed to quality education with in a Catholic environment. We do not discriminate against our learners in admission or participate in any school program or activity on the basis of race, ethnic origin, sex or handicap which is unrelated to the student’s ability to utilize and benefit from the education opportunities, programs and facilities offered by the school.
• The fact that the schools Catholic in philosophy and practice, learners must participate in all school activities including Religious education courses offered by the school, that is; participate in the celebration of Holy Mass, recitation of Catholic prayers and agree to act in a manner consistent with Christian values. All students are expected to participate in all instructional programs offered by the school.
• Education of learners at our school is a partnership between parents and the school, therefore, parents are expected to support and cooperate with all the school policies. Parents who are disruptive in their actions and not ready to abide to the school policies may be asked to withdrew their children from our school.
• In respect of a learner admitted to grade 1, preference will be given to a learner turning 7 in the year of acceptance.
• All learners wanting to enroll in the intermediate and senior phase must write English and Mathematical assessments. The purpose is to determine whether the learner is able to read and write or acquire the mathematical skills.
• All learners who wish to enroll at our school will participate in the aptitude tests of which academic acceptance is based on the English and Mathematic assessment results, and must at least achieve the maximum requirement of 40%.
• If a learner achieves the required standards, the parents will be informed through the email, whatsApp or through the phone.

Admission is considered incomplete until all these criteria have been met.

(D) Structure of the School;

The school operates from grade R to grade 9. That is systematically structured as follows;

A pre – school grade R,

A Foundation phase,

An intermediate phase,

And a senior phase respectively.

1. The Pre – School Grade R; Children in their childhood enjoy the company of teachers; the environment created for them to excel instigates them constantly to want to evolve in some form of artistic experiment. Their quick sense of adaptation; (despite their skeptical attitudes at the inception) makes their evolutions faster and effective.
2. The Foundation phase. This is an elevation of the Pre – School from grade 1 to grade 3. They both dwell mostly on the physical and creative buildup of the child before evolving the academic aspect on a larger scale. They deal practically with numerical factors, Life skills, formative writing, the Religious aspect, Computer literacy at an introductory stage and their language build up. Physical exercises also are incorporated to learning sporadically as children like playing a lot.
3. The Intermediate phase; each phase comprises of 3 classes to be completed in 3 years. They run from grade 4 to 6. At this stage they do the following subjects.
   1. Languages (English home language) and Afrikaans), Natural sciences and technology science. Mathematics, Life skills, Religious education and Computer practice. In this phase children learn to adapt to more subjects and a variety of teachers unlike in the previous phase where they were exposed to a single teacher all day. It is usually difficult for some of them as they are slow to copy from the board, considering that periods change with subjects and teachers. It’s a challenge to most of them at the initial stages, but mostly gets to cope as they go along. Some form exercise in the guise of extra mural activities (quiz, debates, sketches, singing etc.) helps to spice the curriculum.
4. Senior phase; the number of subjects in this phase increases to 9 hard core subjects and 3 subsidiaries. They include, L.O., C, A, Mathematics, English, Afrikaans, Natural science, Social science and E.M.S. The other 3 are R.E, Computer practice and sports activities. In Life Orientation. The school end at this phase. When learners leave grade 9, they graduate out of St. John Convent School in grade style, before Covid – 19 interrupted such events. N.B. the learners who attend in St. Johns Convent School are mixed gender. Boys and girls of the departments prescribed ages.
5. It should also be noted that in the senior phase, the grade 8 and 9s uniform is different from that of the primary section. They wear blazers of Navy blue, white shirts and Navy blue trousers respectively for girls and boys.