Well the Summer Holidays are nearly over and the Manor is shaping up nicely.

The main structural work to the building is complete. The Manor now has a new roof, new windows and newly re-pointed walls.

Inside the building a transformation has taken place knocking down walls and opening up lovely large rooms which are going to be Art rooms. With the new windows the light is excellent and the head of art is delighted.

The final stages are now upon us with flooring being laid and final decorating.

Outside we have transformed the area with a decorative walkway and a balcony area overlooking the old tennis court and rear gardens.

Coincidentally our planning application is in at present looking forward to allowing us to introduce 2 new tennis courts in this area to replace the old tennis court.

These are some pictures of the manor in various stages of the refurbishment showing how great the improvements are.

August 2010

Dear Parent                                                                                            20 April 2010

PARENT PAY

From the beginning of this term you now have a more convenient way to pay for school meals, trips, photographs and much more.  The school is now using a new service called ParentPay and we are sure you will want to help us implement this cashless payment system.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND CASH OR CHEQUES TO SCHOOL

 TO PAY FOR SCHOOL ITEMS UNLESS YOU HAVE NO ACCESS TO THE INTERNET

Online using your Credit or Debit Card

The system has been tested extensively and went live in October 2009.  ParentPay offers you the freedom to make payments whenever you like 24 hours a day 7 days a week, safe in the knowledge that the technology used is the highest internet security available.  Your family has a secure online account, which can be accessed with a unique user ID and password for each student.  You can change these to something you will easily remember.  ParentPay enables you to view all items available to each of your children along with relevant costs and details.

For your convenience you will find a series of Frequently Asked Questions listed overleaf.

Making a payment is easy, simply select the item to pay and follow the instructions to complete your payment.  You can pay for multiple items during a single online session.  ParentPay holds an electronic record of your payments to view at a later date should you wish.  No card details are stored in any part of the system.

Payments can be made for:

Yours sincerely

Andrew S Medhurst

School Business Manager

‘

Torquay Boys’ Grammar School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I use ParentPay?

Your child’s school will issue you with a unique username and password.  Just go to www.parentpay.com and login with these details.  Go to ‘Profile’ and change your password and username to something memorable.  Also, register your email address here so we can send receipts of payments and the school can notify you easily when payments need to be made.  That’s it, now you can start making hassle free, secure payments to your child’s school whenever you like.

What do I do if I have forgotten/lost my username/password?

You can request replacement details from Mrs J Bennett who can be contacted through the school reception.

What cards can I use?

ParentPay accepts MasterCard and Visa credit cards and Maestro, Switch, Delta, Electron, Solo and Visa debit cards.  Some schools may limit the use of credit cards for some transactions; you will be informed directly of any such restrictions.

Is it safe to make payments on the internet?

YES.  In fact, it’s as safe to pay online with ParentPay as it is to use your credit card in a shop or over the phone!  ParentPay uses leading technology to process your credit/debit card transactions securely.  All communication with the bank is encrypted (jumbled up so no one else can read it).  Neither ParentPay nor the school have access to your card details and your card details are never kept by ParentPay or the school.

How can I check that it’s secure?

Standard website addresses begin with ‘http’ whereas the address for a secure site will always begin with ‘https’.  You will also see a padlock at the bottom right of the screen.  Never enter your card details or personal data on any web page whose address does not start with ‘https’.

What about our personal information?

ParentPay uses a very limited amount of information about you and your child solely for the purpose of administering your account; we do not share or give information to any other organisations.  We operate under strict guidelines set out by the Data Protection Act 1998, which ensures the protection and care of personal information.  This means that any information you give us electronically will only be used for the purpose that you intended.

ParentPay will NEVER contact you by phone, email or mail and ask you to divulge confidential information like passwords or card numbers.  If you are ever contacted by someone claiming to be ParentPay, please contact us immediately on 08700 420550. 

I don’t have a home PC so I can’t use ParentPay.

Actually you can. Try visiting your local library internet café, see if you can get access to a computer at work or ask if you can use your schools computes.  TBGS lone computers available for parents and will even be happy to show you how to use them.

For more information visit www.parentpay.com

Shiphay Manor.                                                                         (posted Feb 2010)

Those of you who have visited the school over the years cannot have missed the Manor House at the end of our drive. Shiphay Manor is an iconic building with a colourful history.

Built in 1883 the building was originally the home of the Kitson family. 

In 1929 the local council bought the manor and from the 1930s it was a popular hotel before becoming in the 1970s a night club of some notoriety a period which included a murder in the grounds. 

In 1980 the council gave the manor over to Torquay Girls' Grammar school who used it for their 6^th form centre for many years, sharing some of the facilities with TBGS 6^th Form. 

When in 2008 the girl's school built a new 6^th form centre within their own site  the manor lay empty and unused and inevitably started to deteriorate and become the target of vandalism. 

In late 2008 TBGS succeeded in acquiring the manor and the school considered the huge task of renovation.

Firstly we had to establish what needed doing. A number of surveys were carried out and it was decided that the manor needed:

A new roof,

New windows,

Re-pointing all of the walls,

Rewiring throughout and upgrading the plumbing,

Remodelling of the inside area.

All of this at an estimated cost of around £750 000! Nevertheless the governors resolved to carry out the necessary works. 

Working closely with our architects, LSN of Newton Abbot, the school put together a design for the new interior and it was decided by the governing body that the building would be converted into an 'Arts and Media' centre for the school that could also be used by the local community.

Work finally started in September 2009 and is on target to be completed in time for the new school year commencing September 2010.

Work is progressing well at time of writing and the picture shows the re roofing in progress. 

Funding for the renovation is as ever an issue. The sale of a small area of unused land at the back of the school raised £500 000 which has made the project viable with the school resolved to raise the additional £250 000 over the next few years to carry out the interior adjustments. 

If anybody wishes to help with the renovation project please contact me at amedhurst@tbgs.torbay.sch.uk

PARENTPAY                                                                                               (posted Feb 2010)

Many of the banking institutions have stated that in the near future they would cease using cheque books, moving instead to ‘chip and pin’ technology with debit cards. The school receives tens of thousands of pounds in cheque payments from parents each year for items such as school dinners, paying for trips, exam re-sits etc.

It was therefore decided last year to trial ‘Parentpay’ an internet based payment system whereby parents can log on to the school website, www.tbgs.co.uk, and make payment safely and securely from their debit or credit card direct to the school.

The trial was successful and we now hope to convince ‘All Parents’ that Parentpay is the way forward.

All parents will have been assigned a unique ‘log in’ and password to the system. Letters were sent home in the autumn term 2009 with the details but if you have lost the copy please email me at amedhurst@tbgs.torbay.sch.uk and I will send you another copy.

The take up to date has been very good and the reduction in cash and cheques has already produced savings in efficiency as well as possibly saving a few trees!

Ideally we would now like to move forward to a ‘cashless’ system in the school so I ask you to please consider using Parentpay next time you go to write a cheque to the school..

There are great advantages to using Parentpay as the money is credited direct to the school rather than sit in a student’s pocket until he remembers to hand it in!

For ‘Dinner Money’ this means it is credited direct to students’ powercards within 24hours of entering the detail on the Parentpay website!

When you pay for a trip you can instantly see that the Parentpay software displays to you;

How much you have paid,

When you last paid,

What any outstanding balance is for the trip.

.