OFF TO KINDERGARTEN: Stephen Wright is glad to have his mum Charlie all to himself when his sister Lily goes to school next week. Photo: STEVE GOSCH 0124sgbonus
MOTHER of two, Charlie Wright had no idea why $200 appeared in her account last week and it wasn’t until she received a letter from the government a few days later she realised she was eligible for the schoolkids bonus.
However by the time Mrs Wright worked out the money was hers she had already bought uniforms, school books and shoes for her five-year-old daughter Lily’s first day of kindergarten.
Parents received the bonus last week, it was worth $410 for each child in primary school and $820 a year for each high school student paid in two instalments in January and July.
As Mrs Wright did not need the bonus to get her child to school she got creative.
“Catherine McAuley have this reading program called Reading Eggs that Lil just loves,” she said.
“We tried the trial program and she loved it so we bought it.”
Mrs Wright said the money would have been of more use if she had received it before she bought school supplies but said she believed people might not use it for school supplies if it was given out before Christmas.
“In the grand scheme of things it didn’t help very much but it was still a great little bonus,” she said.