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What's New? Changes to the Our Policies Website July - September 2008
This notification is intended to provide a brief and helpful summary of changes to Department of Education and Training policy. It is published quarterly on the Notifications page of the Our Policies website.
D08/0251807
WHAT’S NEW? CHANGES TO THE OUR POLICIES
WEBSITE JULY - SEPTEMBER
2008
This notification is intended to provide a brief and helpful summary of changes to
Department of Education and Training (Department) policy. It will be published quarterly on the
Notifications page of the Our Policies website.
NEW POLICIES
The following policies have been added:
- Password and User ID
REVISED POLICIES
The following policies have been revised:
- Advertising and Logo Use
- Central Office Vehicle Parking
- Community Use of School Facilities and Resources
- Curriculum Assessment and Reporting K-10: Policy and Guidelines
- Delegations Under the School Education Act 1999 and School Education Regulations 2000
- Enrolment
- Financial Management in Schools: Assets and Resources
- Motor Vehicles: Motor Cars and Buses Leased/Purchased by Schools
- Official Opening of School Buildings
- Smoking in the Workplace
- VET Fees and Charges in 2008
NEW GUIDELINES
The following Guidelines have been added:
- Condolence Letter Guidelines
- Guidelines for Clients Requesting Legal Advice
REVISED GUIDELINES
The following Guidelines have been revised:
- Correspondence Protocols (replaces the Style Guide)
OVERVIEW OF CHANGES – NEW POLICIES
The Password and User ID procedures detail the procedures to be followed by all authorised individuals assigned a user ID and password and granted access to the Department's ICT infrastructure, and how they are to be managed. The procedures must be read in conjunction with the overarching Information and Communication Technologies Security policy.
OVERVIEW OF CHANGES – REVISED POLICIES
The Advertising and Logo Use policy was published in July 2008: It was developed to ensure requirements of the Western Australian Government and the Department are met in relation to communications and marketing, specifically campaign advertising, non-campaign advertising and use of the Department logo. In August 2008 the policy was updated to incorporate new details for the Master Media Agencies.
CENTRAL OFFICE VEHICLE PARKING
The Central Office Vehicle Parking policy was updated in September 2008. The major change in the policy is that acting Level 7 PSA (or equivalent) officers will no longer be eligible for parking bays at Central Office.
COMMUNITY USE OF SCHOOL RESOURCES AND FACILITIES
Section 6.2 of the Community Use of School Facilities and Resources policy has been revised to update information relating to advertising and promotion.
CURRICULUM, ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING K-10: POLICY AND GUIDELINES
The Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting: K-10 Policy and Guidelines have been updated to incorporate references to the National Assessment Program. Specifically, references to ‘Monitoring Standards in Education and Western Australian Literacy and Numeracy Assessments’ have been replaced with the words ‘prescribed system assessments’.
DELEGATIONS UNDER THE SCHOOL EDUCATION ACT 1999 AND SCHOOL EDUCATION REGULATIONS 2000
The Delegations Under the School Education Act 1999 and School Education Regulations 2000 have been updated to reflect the current organisational structure of the Department.
Section 6.4.2 of the Enrolment policy, which relates to Hospital School Services, has been streamlined and updated to reflect current practice.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN SCHOOLS: ASSETS AND RESOURCES
The Assets and Resources in Schools policy has been replaced with the Financial Management in Schools: Assets and Resources policy.
The main changes to the policy include:
- Recording of Assets and Resources
- Capitalisation threshold policy for software has changed from $5 000 to $50 000.
- Internally generated software must be recognised and valued according to the Australian Accounting Standards.
- Library collection is capitalised as a single asset item using a rolling method of depreciation.
- Library collection must be posted to the mandatory general ledger account twice a year.
- Policy for the recording of resource items is changed to include only those items that meet the following criteria:
- with a value of between $1 000 to $4 999;
- portable and attractive; and
- within the prescribed categories.
- Stocktake
- Change in the frequency of stocktake. Stocktake of assets and resources is to be performed once every two years instead of once every year.
- Property write-off
- Principals have been given the authority to provisionally write-off property with a value of up to $5 000.
- A new set of Excel based write-off application forms is to be used.
- New write-off guidelines are introduced.
- Disposal of property
- Methods of disposal have been amended by the State Supply Commission.
- A new School Property Disposal Form is to be used.
MOTOR VEHICLES – MOTOR CARS AND BUSES LEASED/PURCHASED BY SCHOOLS
Section 5.1.4 of the Motor Vehicles – Motor Cars and Buses Leased/Purchased by Schools policy, which relates to how vehicles are to be recorded in the assets register, has been updated. The term ‘buses’ has been replaced by ‘motor vehicles’ in this section.
OFFICIAL OPENING OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS
The Official Opening of School Buildings policy replaces the Official School Openings policy. The revised policy reflects the current roles of the Ministerial Services Unit and the Facilities Program Delivery Branch in the organisation of official openings of school buildings.
The Smoking in the Workplace policy has been reviewed by the Employee Support Bureau. The review resulted in some minor changes:
- The Relevant Legislation or Authority section has been updated.
- The text “Smoking is permitted in private residences on departmental property, as long as the residence is separate from student accommodation and facilities” has been removed from the policy.
The VET Fees and Charges in 2008 policy has been updated and secondary holders of temporary visas of sub-class 457 are now to be treated as Australian residents for fee charging purposes. They are also eligible for fee waivers and concessions.
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