Operations (Admin, HR, Finance, IT & Facilities/OHS) Update

HR Update

Staff Personal Details on eduPay

It is vital that all staff ensure their personal details, including mailing/contact details and emergency contacts, are correct and up to date on eduPay.

These details flow into various systems and are used in emergency situations.

Please review the personal details menu item (Located on the left-hand side menu) on your Xuno Staff Dashboard. If any of your details are incorrect, please log in to eduPay and update your personal information, including emergency contacts. 

For vehicle registration number changes, please email Kristina Kamenar with the new details.

Please use this quick reference guide to assist you in verifying/updating your personal details in eduPay.

Please see Kristina Kamenar (HR Manager) if you require further assistance.

VIT and WWCC details in eduPay.

It is a requirement of employment that all staff ensure their VIT or WWCC details are correct and updated in eduPay, including attaching a copy of their latest VIT/WWCC card.

If you have yet to update & upload your latest VIT/WWCC details in eduPay, can you please do this as a matter of urgency.

Staff Absences

A reminder to all staff: If you are going to be absent from work, please ensure you complete the Staff Absence Form on the portal and call the staff absence line (03 9366 4322; Option 2) by no later than 7:00 am on the morning you are going to be absent. 

Your leave must be entered on eduPay within five business days, and any medical/carer certificates or stat decs must be either uploaded to eduPay as a photo or .pdf file or handed to the general office. 

Required Document for Personal Leave

In the case of an application for personal leave (illness or injury), when you have chosen to use sick pay with a certificate, a required document is either a medical certificate or, if it is not reasonably practicable to provide a medical certificate, a statutory declaration. 

A Medical certificate is a certificate issued by a registered health practitioner, other than a registered student, within the meaning of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Victoria) Act 2009 (Vic).

The medical certificate or statutory declaration must clearly state that you are unfit for work and have a date range outlining the period that you are unfit for work.

Attendance certificates from external healthcare providers are not a valid form of a medical certificate and will no longer be accepted as a required document. If you are absent due to a medical appointment and a doctor cannot provide a valid medical certificate, please use a statutory declaration as the required document.

In instances of carers leave where you choose to use carers pay with a certificate, the required document (medical certificate or statutory declaration) must state that the person needing care and support is suffering from an illness that requires care by another or requires care or support due to an unexpected emergency.

Long Service Leave and Leave without Pay

When applying for either Long Service Leave (LSL) or Leave without Pay (LWOP), all requests must be made directly to Bernadette in the form of a personal conversation with sufficient notice, but no sooner than two terms before the intended commencement of leave. Please also confirm in writing (email) to Bernadette and carbon copy (CC) Matt and Kristina.

Where possible (with respect to the operational requirements of our school), we will make every attempt to support the request of LSL or LWOP; however, there may be instances when LSL or LWOP requests are denied. Where long service leave has not been granted, arrangements will be made to support the leave to be taken at an alternative date in the future.

If Bernadette/Anthony has approved your LSL or LWOP request (approval will be communicated in email by Anthony/Bernadette), please log the request on eduPay as soon as practicable.

Time-in-Lieu

For all TIL requests, prior approval (conversation and email) must be agreed upon with the Principal before TIL is submitted in eduPay for approval. 

Any TIL that has not been required or agreed to prior may not be approved in eduPay. 

Unfortunately, staff voluntarily working overtime from their contracted hours is not considered TIL. 

Staff may also agree with the Principal to acquit their TIL instead of using their personal leave, provided this can be accommodated.

Time in Lieu Processing on eduPay

Gabi M., Kristina and Matt will manage time in lieu of whole school-managed events (e.g. SSG meetings), and staff do not need to log this TIL on eduPay. 

Staff will receive details of their time in lieu acquittal via email after the event has occurred.

Finance Update

Purchasing Reminder

For all purchases of goods and services, an itemised purchase order must be completed and signed off by the budget leader (for most staff, this will be your PLT leader) and Matt, Anthony, Bernadette or Julie before ordering all goods and services.

When completing your purchase order, all creditors must have a valid ABN, and all items attract GST unless you purchase fresh food. Please select the attracts GST button and enter the cost in the ITEM Cost (inc GST) field. If your item does not attract GST, enter the unit cost in the ITEM Cost (ex GST) field.

Please refer to the GST guide below to determine whether fresh food items have GST.

 As mentioned in Term 1, orders can no longer be raised where the creditor's ABN cannot be sought, except in overseas instances. 

Please refrain from ordering from places like Amazon Marketplace, eBay, and Etsy, as these resellers/suppliers usually do not have an ABN.

To assist staff with understanding the cash budgets, what general ledger codes to use on the purchase order system and how to use Xuno BPOS (purchase order system), the SRP Reference Book has been updated. It is available to view by clicking the button below.

Any invoices without a purchase order being completed first will not be paid, and Virtual Purchasing Cards will not be issued to staff without a purchase order being completed first.

We are continuing to be paperless where possible with our accounts processes. 

When you have ordered your goods and services and you receive the invoice, if it is in an email rather than printing it out, please forward it to accounts@jacksons.vic.edu.au. Please just let us know the purchase order number in the email.

If you receive a physical invoice, write the purchase order number on the invoice and either hand it to the office or email us a copy (photo or scan). You are no longer required to print out purchase orders.

Please see Anna Jusup if you need any further assistance with ordering goods and services.

Virtual Purchasing Cards - Finally Here!

After waiting over 18 months, Jackson School is finally the first school in the state to have the NAB virtual purchasing cards pilot deployed. 

Since the initial go-live on Thursday, 20th February, there have been 152 transactions made on the virtual purchasing cards, totalling $41,903.

For those staff who have not used a virtual purchasing card, please refer to the quick reference guide below on how to request, use, and acquit a virtual purchasing card.

Our annual budget professional learning session, which will include details on how to request, use, and acquit a virtual purchasing card, has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in week 2 for teachers and is optional for any ES's who want to attend.

Anna has begun to close down our credit facility with some of our suppliers, including Woolworths at Work, Kmart, Bunnings, WEX Fuel Cards and Officeworks. 

If you wish to purchase goods and/or services from any of the above creditors (once we have the virtual purchasing card facility available), you will have to use a virtual purchasing card.

Lorenda will now complete the buses' fueling centrally before/after school as part of her full-time ES role.

Additionally, now that the virtual purchasing cards are in place, we will no longer process reimbursements to staff. 

Please see Matt or Anna if you need any further assistance with the virtual purchasing cards.

Loyalty Rewards Programs 

Just a reminder to staff: as per the department's Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality policy, staff cannot use their loyalty rewards program membership (e.g. FlyBuys, Everyday Rewards, etc.) when purchasing goods or services for work purchases, including when using a virtual purchasing card.

Procurement Policy

To ensure we comply with the department's procurement policy, please follow the below when ordering goods and services:

● If you plan to order a good or service that totals above $2,500, please see Anna, Karen or Matt first, as additional paperwork and contracts need to be completed before ordering the good or service.

A formal written quote must also be obtained as part of this process.

● We have moved to DE-managed suppliers to order goods and services as part of the Procurement Policy.

For most staff, the significant change you will notice as part of the move to DE-managed supplier will be:

• Any stationery supplies, including paper, books, pens/pencils and any other classroom resources, must be ordered through Complete Office Supplies or Officeworks.

Please refer to the 2025 SRP Reference Guide for information about which suppliers can be used to order goods or services and the login details and or process to purchase the goods or services.

Karen Hamilton will now look after the whole school purchasing and procurement processes, including those related to facilities, and ensure OHS compliance with all purchases made.

Fundraising

A fundraising request form has been developed to assist us in meeting the requirements of the department's fundraising policy.

Under the obligations of the fundraising policy, any fundraising activity for the school must be approved by the school council and any fundraising activity for non-school-related purposes, the principal must approve charitable purposes.

Should you wish to organise and run a school-related fundraising event, please use the fundraising request form below.

All submitted request forms will be presented at the next school council meeting (which can take up to two months), and you will be notified via email of the outcome of the request.

No school-related fundraising can proceed without getting school council approval first. 

Please see Matt if you have any further queries or need assistance completing the form.

IT Update

FileDrive Archiving

As mentioned in the Term 1 bulletin, starting in Week 3, the IT Team will move FileDrive Archive to our external backup storage and remove it from within FileDrive. If you require access to a file from FileDrive Archive (once FileDrive Archive is removed) or if you require a file/folder moved from FileDrive Archive, please log an IT help desk call.

PaperCut Account Pop-Up Issues

Thank you to all staff for their patience whilst we worked with our vendor, PaperCut, to identify and resolve the issues staff faced whilst trying to print.

Due to a device naming requirement that DE enforced within Intune, PaperCut was not able to clearly match the request to the correct computer client.

As per PaperCut's recommendation, as a workaround, we have disabled the account selection pop-up on all devices, and staff will need to select the account on the MFD.

We will continue testing additional configurations to restore the original functionality.

IT Support

If you experience an issue with any IT system or peripheral, please log a help desk call on the portal and Pushp or Andy will resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

For urgent IT support, please call extension 215.

IT Security

We must practice and model eSafety behaviour.  All students have their own devices allocated to them, and security settings for their devices are stringently set. 

Staff devices have different settings and, as such, are a risk to students' online safety. IT IS VITAL that staff, under NO circumstances, allow students to use staff devices. Staff must also use lock codes on their devices in case students inadvertently obtain their devices. 

Additionally, department email addresses should not be used to subscribe to private subscriptions and other like services (for example, social media (unless prior approved), online ticket services and bill payments) and should never be used as 'recovery email' addresses for any other services. 

Subscribing to mailing lists and other similar services using Department ICT resources must be for Department purposes or professional development reasons only, and a different password must be used for all such purposes.

Staff should refer to the Acceptable Use Policy Acceptable Use Policy for ICT Resources: Overview | education.vic.gov.au for more details.

Facilities/OHS Update

Building/Grounds/OHS Issues

If you notice an issue with any of our facilities and or grounds, including any OHS issues, you must log these issues on the portal using the OHS/Maintenance Request Form. 

The facilities team (Dan, Graeme and or Lyle) will action your request as soon as possible and provide updates where possible.

If you believe your request has not been actioned in either quick or satisfactory manner, please raise your concern directly with either Matt or Helen P. (Health and Safety Representative (HSR))

OHS - Chemical Register, Inspections, Spill Kits & Reminders 

Chemical Register

The OHS management team has overhauled our school's chemical register. 

The overhaul included standardising the chemicals (including but not limited to whiteboard markers and whiteboard cleaning solution, hand sanitiser, hand soap, textas, glue and glue sticks, paint, and surface cleaning solution) staff will have access to in learning spaces throughout the school, ensuring all chemicals are stored and labelled correctly in each learning/communal space, and each chemical has an MSDS.

Please find below our standardised chemicals list.

Should you need to purchase any chemicals (items listed above), please only purchase items from this list using the recommended supplier (COS/Zart Art). 

No variations/alternatives will be allowed to be ordered from other suppliers. 

Please see Helen in the first instance if you need to purchase any chemicals that are not listed/outside this list.

Any additional chemicals that staff may have in their rooms that are not on the standardised list must be removed as soon as possible. 

Helen will be visiting classes periodically to ensure chemical compliance in each room. 

Please see Helen or Matt if you require further assistance or guidance about the chemical register or the standardised chemicals list.

OHS Inspections

After feedback from staff and OHS consultants, Helen will complete most of the OHS inspections throughout the school.

Several staff members (Cam E., Dan M. and Paul C.) will have to complete inspections for their workspaces due to the specialised equipment in the space.

OHS inspections using an online form in eduSafe Plus.

Please refer to this quick reference guide to help you complete your room inspection.

Helen will complete the inspections during the first three weeks of each term.

Please see Helen or Matt if you require further assistance completing your OHS inspection form.

Spill Kits

Spill kits were deployed in centralised areas in each block to assist staff with quickly cleaning up a spill and reducing reliance on our facilities team.

The kits contain various items to help either mop up and clean a spill (water/urine) or cover a spill (vomit/feces) until an emergency clean can be organised.

When using the spill kits, please follow the safe work procedure and remember to use PPE equipment.

Please call the office if you require an emergency clean-up of vomit or feces or if you need any other related cleaning that can't be done using the spill kits.

The facilities team will regularly check the spill kits to ensure adequate supplies are available.

Please see Helen if you require further assistance or guidance using the spill kits.

Electrical Management Reminder

• All electrical equipment in the school must be tested and tagged. 
• No equipment should be brought into the school unless it is tested and tagged.
• If you bring a new electrical item into the school, please see Dan McCarthy in the first instance so he can add it to the Electrical Equipment Register and ensure it is tested in the next round. (New items can be used for 12 months)
• Any faulty equipment must be reported as a hazard immediately. Do NOT use faulty items.

Working at Heights Reminder 

Reminder to staff that no staff are to put their feet more than 2 metres above the ground unless qualified. 

Any work at a height of less than 2 meters must be done using a stepladder (not a chair or table!). A step ladder has been placed in a communal area in each building, and when using the step ladder, please follow the SWP – Safe Work Procedure.

Manual Handling Reminder

Please use the S.M.A.R.T. lifting method when staff need to handle an item manually.

Hand trolleys are to be used when moving any load weighing more than 5 kg.

Mandatory eLearning Modules

Please ensure you have completed all mandatory eLearn modules, including OHS, on eduPay as soon as possible.

Time was allocated in 2024 to complete the modules.

Staff will receive an email during the term outlining the mandatory eLearn modules that have not yet been completed.

2025 Building Projects

The facilities management team is currently planning a range of building projects that will take place throughout the year as part of our Capital Management Plan.

Some of the building projects include:

• Renovation of the Hall & Cafe in Block 4
• Major Landscaping Projects
• Plastered ceilings and walls, and painting classrooms in Blocks 2 and 3
• Replacing Windows in Blocks 1, 2 & 3

We anticipate the work for these projects will take place during the term vacation periods, and we will keep staff informed when these projects are anticipated to commence and any impact these projects may have.