Hillsborough Castle & Gardens Schools' travel bursary

1 - Eligibility 

To be eligible for the Hillsborough Castle & Gardens Travel Bursary Scheme, your school must be: a state funded primary, secondary or special school or unit based in the UK or RoI. Applications for the fund from schools who have not previously applied, and who have both of the following characteristics will be prioritised: at least 35% of students eligible for Free School Meals, and at least 15% of students with special educational needs (these characteristics will not be considered in relation to Special Schools and units). For schools in the RoI, priority will be given to schools that are part of the DEIS scheme.

2 - Allocating Travel Bursaries

Assuming applications meet the eligibility criteria, travel bursaries will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, based on the date your application was submitted, as this is the fairest way to administer them.  We therefore encourage you to apply early. HRP will not enter into correspondence with applicants regarding eligibility criteria or the application outcome, other than for the purpose of arranging a visit. 

Please be aware that failure to provide an accurate quote for travel at the time of submitting your application will result in a delay processing your application and may prevent you from being awarded a bursary.  

3 - Notification of successful and unsuccessful applicants 

The closing date for applications is midnight on Sunday 13 October 2024. HRP will email all applicants by Monday 11 November 2024 to let them know the outcome of their application.

4 - Booking your visit & session

Once you have been notified that you have successfully been awarded a travel bursary it is your responsibility to book your own visit date and session(s). This must be done by midnight on Monday 3 February 2025 otherwise you may forfeit your travel bursary.  

Individual schools may book up to 3 sessions, which in the case of primary schools, would equate to 96 pupils. For secondary schools, student capacities vary by session, please see our website for more information. Sessions may be spread over more than one day if necessary.

5 - Site familiarisation  

An essential information pack will be available to all successful schools to help with planning their visit. Teachers will be able to request a Teacher’s Planning Pass with their booking confirmation to enable them to visit the site in advance to conduct their own risk assessment and site familiarisation visit. It is your responsibility to ensure that this takes place. 

6 - Student/teacher ratios 

We would like to remind you that if you choose to bring any additional adults on the school visit above the stated ratios of: 1:5 for KS1, 1:10 for KS2-4 and 1:15 for KS5, you will be charged for them and an invoice will be sent to the school once your numbers are confirmed. Additional adults are charged at the adult group rate of £18.60 per person.

7 - Sessions 

A large number of facilitated sessions are available onsite at Hillsborough Castle & Gardens for KS1 – KS5 students and you are required to attend one of these sessions as part of your visit.  If you are successful in applying for a travel bursary, every pupil in your group must participate in the session that you choose. Primary sessions run three times a day on select days, and secondary sessions twice a day. The number of SEND sessions delivered in any one day varies depending on the needs of the group, but does not exceed a maximum of 3. More information can be found on our website. 

8 - Late arrivals 

Due to the number of sessions presenters deliver during the day, and other tours and events taking place in the castle, please be aware that if you are between 15 and 30 minutes late you will receive a shortened session. Groups who are more than 30 minutes late may forfeit their session in its entirety.

9 - Receiving your Travel Bursary 

In order to ensure your travel bursary is paid in a timely manner, please follow the steps below:

1. Once you have received confirmation of your successful application for a travel bursary, submit the Travel Bursary Session Booking Form. Be sure to complete the section at the bottom of the form outlining your financial details.
2. Submit your invoice/receipt for travel, along with a paying in slip, detailing the schools’ bank account details to hillsboroughlearning@hrp.org.uk Please write the following in the email subject line: SCHOOL NAME: Travel Bursary Invoice, VISIT DATE
3. You can submit the above for payment, up to 6 weeks before the date of your visit.
4. If your total cost of travel is more than the maximum amount we agreed to award based on your application form, please submit the total invoice/receipt and we will pay up to the maximum eligible amount.
5. If you are using your own school bus for transport, please include an itemised invoice for petrol & driver costs.
6. Turnaround time for payment is approximately 3 weeks from receipt of all required documents.
7. Be sure that you have submitted all invoices/receipts and requests for payment by Friday 14 February 2025, to ensure all bursaries are actioned and paid before the end of the financial year.

10 - Cancelling or amending bookings

Your deadline for cancelling or amending your booking is 42 days (6 weeks) prior to your visit date.  If you need to make any amendments to your booking (including reducing or increasing numbers) or need to cancel for any reason, you must let us know by email before this date.  

If you inform us of a cancellation less than 42 days prior to your visit or if you fail to attend on the day of your visit, we will do our best to facilitate a rescheduled visit date.  If you cannot attend at another date, and you have already been paid your travel bursary, we will ask you to return this payment to us. If you fail to attend, or reschedule your visit and incur extra travel costs, no further travel bursary will be paid. 

If HRP have to cancel or reschedule your visit due to unforeseen circumstances, we would encourage you to contact your transport provider to see if you can move any pre-booked travel.  Should this not be possible, and extra costs are incurred, in this instance only, HRP would pay an additional travel bursary to ensure schools are not out of pocket.

11 - Evaluation 

In order for HRP to fully understand the impact a visit and travel bursary has on your school and to ensure that we can raise more money to support the scheme in the future, we will ask the lead teacher to complete and return an evaluation form on the day of the visit. We may also ask you to take part in a more in-depth evaluation project.

12 - Photography 

From time to time, HRP undertakes professional photography of our school sessions to be used for a range of purposes. Should HRP be taking any photos on the day of your visit, photography permission forms will be sent to the lead teacher in advance.  We ask that these are completed and returned on the day of your visit.

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