Our DS Y7 has started High School, part of a large Multi Academy trust (Delta, as it happens). It's generally going well, but the booking/ payment system seems very haphazard. Items for payment appear on the app before they're announced/ explained in school or parents are messaged. I'm wondering whether one school trip was booked up before it was even announced at school because the deposit may have appeared for payment on the app even before the start of term...and the letter when it came out seemed very muddled about how to book your place. Some items (eg locker deposits) are not announced at all, but appear in items for payment...I discovered the hard way that there are limited locker numbers - by being told, after payment, that we were too late and our payment was being refunded. No message or warning beforehand. There are other items (eg aprons for DT) that sit on the 'items for payment' part of the app without explanation.
I know 'if you snooze you lose', but this seems very confused, frustrating and unfair. Taking these types of bookings should be bread and butter for every school but at the moment it's feels like a mess.
I'm wanting to start a discussion with the school, but wanting to do my homework. My question is - will the MAT have a standard policy/ protocol procedure for taking bookings/ payments - especially where there are limited places - that the school will be expected to follow?