News Item

What’s New? Changes to the Our Policies Website February – April 2009

[ 18.05.2009 ]

NEW STRATEGIC PLANS
The following new strategic plans have been added:
·    Women in Leadership Strategy 2009-2010

REVISED STRATEGIC PLANS
The following strategic plans have been revised:
·    Equity and Diversity Management Plan 2009-2010

REVISED POLICIES
The following policies have been revised:
·    Child Protection
·    Corruption, Prevention and Detection
·    Discipline
·    Enrolment
·    Family Court Orders in Schools
·    Financial Management In Schools: Finance and Accounting
·    Policy Development, Approval, Publication and Implementation
·    Public Interest Disclosure
·    Redeployment of Principals
·    Research Conducted on Department of Education and Training Sites by External Parties
·    School Improvement and Accountability
·    Visitors and Intruders on School Premises

REMOVED POLICIES
The following policies have been removed:
·    Alternative Education Programs

NEW GUIDELINES
The following Guidelines have been added:
·    An Employee Guide to the Department’s Disciplinary Process
·    Emergency and Critical Incident Management Plan
·    Guidelines for Preparing Valedictory Letters
·    Implementation Guidelines and Explanatory Notes for School Education Act Employee’s (Teacher and Administrators) General Agreement 2008 and Teachers (Public Sector Primary and Secondary Education) Award 1993
·    Reporting Misconduct
·    Support Material for Research Conducted on Department of Education and Training Sites by External Parties – Information Letter and Consent Form Templates
·    Talking to Your School

REVISED GUIDELINES
The following Guidelines have been revised:
·    Complaints Management Toolkit
·    Publications Writing Style Guide

REMOVED GUIDELINES
The following Guidelines have been removed:
·    Competency Framework for Teachers Update
·    School Based Traineeships in Western Australia Guidelines and Working Principles
·    Troubleshooting Guide: Competency Based Assessment

OVERVIEW OF CHANGES – NEW STRATEGIC PLANS

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP STRATEGY 2009-2010

The Women in Leadership Strategy 2009-2010 is an initiative within the Department’s Equity and Diversity Management Plan 2009-2010 to increase the representation of women at senior levels in the workforce. The strategy specifically targets the development of leadership capabilities for women employees.

OVERVIEW OF CHANGES – REVISED STRATEGIC PLANS

EQUITY AND DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PLAN 2009-2010

The Equity and Diversity Management Plan 2009-2010 demonstrates the Department’s commitment to creating a workforce reflective of the diversity of our students and their communities. It identifies the Department’s equity group employment targets and details strategies to achieve them.

OVERVIEW OF CHANGES – REVISED POLICIES

CHILD PROTECTION

All staff have a vital role to play in creating a safe and protective school environment through the identification and support of children affected by abuse. This policy assists staff to respond appropriately where there is a concern for a child’s wellbeing or a disclosure of abuse. The best interests of the child will be met through an understanding of the processes and requirements for reporting child abuse to agencies who share this responsibility.  Section 6.3 has been updated to the effect that allegations of abuse involving a staff member must be reported consistent with sections 6.1 and 6.2, and immediately reported to the principal.


CORRUPTION, PREVENTION AND DETECTION

The information under section 5.4 and 6.1 of the Corruption, Prevention and Detection policy has been updated and throughout the policy contact information has been updated.


DISCIPLINE

The Discipline policy has been amended to include a reference to the An Employee Guide to the Department’s Disciplinary Process brochure.


DISPUTES AND COMPLAINTS

The Disputes and Complaints policy has been amended to include a reference to the Talking to Your School brochure.


EMERGENCY AND CRITICAL INCIDENT MANAGEMENT

The policy replaces the Emergency Management Policy, and directs school, district and central planning and actions for the prevention of, preparedness for, response to and recovery from emergencies and critical incidents. As a result of these management processes the safety and health and wellbeing of students, staff, visitors and the broader school community is prioritised and preserved/restored. Further, disruption to student learning and school operations is minimised.


ENROLMENT

The forms in appendices F1 and G have been updated.


FAMILY COURT ORDERS IN SCHOOLS

This policy replaces the Family Law Issues in Schools policy.  A principal will allow each parent access to a student and his or her information, unless there is a court order to the contrary. The principal, in allowing such access, will have due regard to the student’s safety and welfare, educational needs, and the proper management of the school.


FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN SCHOOLS: FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING

Financial Services and Support has advised that section 5.5.4 – Returned, Uncollected and Stale Cheques in the Financial Management in Schools: Finance and Accounting policy needs to be amended as a result of the change to the Unclaimed Money Act 1990 procedures on the notification and remittance of unclaimed monies to the Treasury.


POLICY DEVELOPMENT, APPROVAL, PUBLICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

A new section titled Summary of Changes has been added to the Policy Reference Group Policy Submission Form (Appendix B). This section requests a summary of the substantial changes to a revised policy and a rationale for the changes.

The effective dating of policies has been updated to reflect best practice and the Australian Standard for metadata (AS5044.2 – 2002).  

When a policy is published for the first time, it will be given an effective date which is usually the date it becomes accessible on the Our Policies website, for example, Date effective 24 March 2006 v1.0 Final.

When the policy author makes a minor revision, version number of the policy is changed rather than the effective date, for example, Date effective 24 March 2006 v1.1 Final.

When the policy author makes a major revision or undertakes a full review and both the effective date and the version numbers are changed, for example, Date effective 24 March 2009 v2.0 Final.


PUBLIC INTEREST DISCLOSURE

The Public Interest Disclosure policy has been amended to include a reference to the Reporting Misconduct brochure and contact information has been updated.


REDEPLOYMENT OF PRINCIPALS

The Redeployment of Level 4, 5, and 6 Principals policy has been replaced with the Redeployment of Principals policy with only the scope changing to include all principals.


RESEARCH CONDUCTED ON DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING SITES BY EXTERNAL PARTIES

External parties wishing to conduct research on Department sites are required to seek central office approval before requesting participation from site managers.  This policy contains the approval process that must be followed, and information requirements regarding consent, participation, withdrawal, Working With Children checks, and confidentiality.  

The revised policy resolves a number of issues, such as requirements for obtaining consent, that have arisen in the implementation of the previous version.  The clarification of this and other policy issues will provide better support for principals in deciding whether to participate in research projects.  The revision also streamlines the application process to create an efficient, viable research pathway for prospective researchers.  


SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Section 7.4 – Reporting of the School Improvement and Accountability policy has been revised.


VISITORS AND INTRUDERS ON SCHOOL PREMISES

This policy replaces the Visitors on School Premises policy.  The principal has primary responsibility for the day-to-day management and control of a school, including all persons on the school premises, and are to provide for the safety and welfare of students and staff on the school premises.


OVERVIEW OF CHANGES – REMOVED POLICIES

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS
The Alternative Education Programs policy has been removed as it no longer has currency. The accreditation side of this policy is now managed by the Department of Education Services and the process for managing attendance at such programs has now been subsumed into the Enrolment policy.