Student Bursary

The bursary fund has been introduced for the purpose of removing specific barriers for students who wish to continue with their learning at Homewood Sixth Form. It is aimed at those students who may otherwise struggle with the financial costs associated with participating in learning. Therefore, it should be spent in such a way that it removes specific barriers – for example, cost of lunches, equipment, books etc.

There are two specific types of bursary, a bursary available for vulnerable young people and discretionary bursaries.

Bursaries for vulnerable young people

Students defined as ‘vulnerable’ using the criteria below can be awarded a full £1200 bursary

• Young person is in care (looked after)
• Young person is a care leaver
• Young person is in receipt of income support
• Young person is in receipt of both Employment Support Allowance and Disability Living Allowance

Discretionary bursaries

Discretionary bursaries can be awarded for the following categories;

• Transport
• Other specified purposes such as books, meals, equipment, exam re-sit Fees
• For an unspecified purpose (this could be a cash amount awarded to support a student generally but not for a specified purpose)

Eligibility

To be eligible to receive a bursary the young person must be aged under 19 on 31 August in the academic year in which they start their programme of study. Where a young person turns 19 during their programme of study, they can continue to be supported to the end of the academic year in which they turn 19, or to the end of the programme of study, whichever is sooner.

Application

Application forms will be available for collection from the KS5 Office on Registration Day and at the start of term.

KENT 16+ TRAVEL CARD

Kent County Council has recently announced new arrangements for travel to and from school. Students wishing to travel by bus will be able to apply for a ‘Kent 16+ Travel Card.’

The card will provide universal subsidised bus travel in Kent (and single stop journeys to neighbouring Local Authorities), 365 days a year, at any time of the day.

Eligibility

To apply for a Kent 16+ Travel Card to use between 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2013 you must be:

• a resident of Kent (you live in a house that pays Council Tax to a Kent district council for Kent County Council services)
• attending a participating school, college or work-based learning provider. In this case Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre.

Applications

All applications for September must be received by the school by 20 July 2012. The school requires the student’s details, a passport sized photograph, and a cheque for £520 made payable to Homewood School.

Application forms are available from the KS5 Office and should be returned to the school’s Finance Office. Cards will be issued at the beginning of the September term.

If you apply after this date, the cost of part-year cards is based on the date it's applied for. The latest you can apply for a card is Friday 31 May 2013.

Travel Bursary

The school does have a 16-19 bursary fund which may provide some financial assistance in meeting the cost of the card. Bursary application forms are available for collection from the KS5 office on registration day and at the start of term and information about the bursary can be found on the Sixth Form area of the school website. Awards of the bursary are not made until the end of September to allow for the applications to be reviewed, so all travel pass applications must be accompanied by a cheque for the full amount.

Should the single payment of £520 be problematical for any families, please contact the school Finance Office to discuss whether an individual arrangement can be considered.