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

Administration Update

Stationery Packs

Staff and student stationery packs have been ordered for 2025 from Complete Office Supplies (COS) and have been delivered ready for collection from the staffroom on the 29th January 2025.

We understand some items that your students may require are not included in these packs. 

For these items, please check with Karen to see if there are any surplus supplies in the archive room; otherwise, please raise a purchase order and place an order through Complete Office Supplies (COS) for the items your students/classes require.

Excursion Guidelines & Processes

A guide covering excursions (including overnight excursions (camps)), guidelines, processes, and associated templates have been developed to assist us in meeting the requirements of DE's excursions policy.

Please click the below button to access the excursion guide.

We will continue to use Xuno to manage all our day and overnight excursions. All relevant information on using Xuno to manage excursions can be found in the above guide.

Jo Garofalo will continue to review and authorise all excursions, including swimming, through Xuno before the principal team's approval. 

Previously, Xuno did not have the capability to create recurring events. However, you can now easily set up recurring events in Xuno. 

This feature allows users to streamline the event planning process by easily setting up events that occur regularly. 

For further information on how to create recurring events, please visit https://docs.xuno.com.au/how-to-create-recurring-events 

Online Training

Staff with primary responsibility for planning and organising an excursion or school camp must have completed the new mandatory excursions eLearn module in eduPay.

Staff are encouraged to complete the module annually. 

The excursions eLearnmodule aims to increase awareness and understanding of the Excursions policy and guidelines, including how to do risk assessments to keep students safe.

School-owned Buses

Just a reminder to staff: when using the school-owned bus fleet, you must:

• Ensure the bus is booked prior through Xuno
• Complete Bus Journey, & Pre-Trip Inspection and Safety Checklist Form before departing - https://forms.office.com/r/eCPK6Nzv66 
• If you discover a defect (by answering no to any of the questions in the Bus Pre-Trip Inspection and Safety Checklist Form) on any of our buses, the bus in question cannot be used in any circumstances, and the defect must be logged by filling out a Bus Defect Form - https://forms.office.com/r/Z4QktwjzcG 
• Follow these housekeeping requirements:
  • Food cannot be consumed on any of the buses
  • All buses must be returned with no less than half a tank of fuel in the tank, and receipts given promptly to the office.
  • All rubbish must be removed from the bus after use

The fueling of buses will completed centrally by Lorenda each day after school as part of her full-time responsibilities.

Further vehicles, including replacement 22-seater buses and a Toyota hybrid RAV4, have been approved by  School Council and the Department and will be procured during 2025. The school vehicle will be available for staff use for outreach services, home visits and external offsite meetings. 

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 details, 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.

Should you still require assistance, please see Kristina Kamenar (HR Manager).

VIT and WWCC details in eduPay.

It is a requirement of employment that all staff are required to 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 5 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 Anthony 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 Anthony 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 is not granted, arrangements will be made to support the leave to be taken at an alternative date in the future.

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

Time-in-Lieu

For all TIL requests, a 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, providing 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.

Defer / Payout Time in Lieu

Per the VGSA 2022, any TIL accrued in 2024 and any deferred in 2023 will automatically be paid out on Friday 1st March 2025.

Action: 

If you have a TIL balance and should you wish for your TIL to be deferred into 2025 and not automatically paid out, staff will have to action the following in eduPay by no later than Friday, 28th February 2025:

Navigate to: 

1. Employee homepage > My Time > Time in Lieu  
2. Click Defer Automatic TIL Payout 
3. `tick' the check box to confirm `...I have discussed taking my Time in Lieu balance after 1 March with my Principal and we have agreed to extend my deadline for using the Time in Lieu until after 1 March. Please do not pay out my last years' Time in Lieu balance on 1 March.'
4. Then click on the blue `submit' button.

Else, If you have a TIL balance and should you wish for your TIL to be paid out, staff will have to action the following in eduPay by no later than Friday 28th February 2025:

Navigate to: 

1. Employee homepage > My Time > Time in Lieu  
2. Click Request TIL Payout 
3. Use the slider to nominate whether or not to pay out all the current remaining balance. If you select no, you are required to enter in the requested amount manually.
4. Then click on the blue `submit' button.

Please refer to this quick reference guide for further support with either entering your TIL request, acquitting TIL or requesting your TIL to be paid out or deferred.

Should you still require further assistance, please see Kristina.

Induction

For those new staff members commencing with us in 2025, please ensure you complete your onboarding tasks before starting with us and the induction program by no later than week 3.

Once you have completed all sections in the induction program, please complete the self-certification form.

Please see Gabrielle Maher, Matt Gravatt or Rebecca McGann if you require further assistance with the induction program.

Finance Update

2025 Cash Budgets

Our 2025 cash budgets will be open to all staff from Tuesday, 28th January 2025.

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.

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 either Matt, Anthony, Bernadette or Julie before ordering all goods and services.

Any invoices without a purchase order being completed first will not be paid, and Virtual Purchasing Cards requests will not be approved without a purchase order being completed first.

When completing your purchase order, 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 field (ex GST).

Please refer to the GST guide below to assist you with determining whether fresh food items have GST

This year, we continue to be paperless with our accounts processes. 

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

If you receive a physical invoice, write the purchase order number on it and either hand it to the office or send us a copy (photo or scan) via email. 

There is no longer the requirement to print out purchase orders.

Please see Matt or Anna if you need any assistance with the budgets or ordering goods and services.

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 and can no longer be ordered through Officeworks or PaperChase.

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 for 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, 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.

Virtual Purchasing Cards

Jackson School has been selected to pilot virtual purchasing cards in collaboration between NAB, VISA and the Department of Education.

Virtual purchasing cards will be a landscape changer and allow us to further streamline our procurement processes by allowing any staff to request a purchase card (no longer will you need to hunt Anthony or Matt down to use their cards) with a requested dollar amount (up to $15,000) through an app called FlexiPurchase and once approved, staff will instantly receive the purchase cards which they can then use online or with Apple Pay/Google Wallet.

We were hoping we could roll out the virtual purchasing cards last year; however, NAB, VISA and DE kept pushing the rollout date further and further. 

Finalised training and setup activities have been planned to occur during the week of 3rd February.

Once we have access to FlexiPurchase, have completed our setup tasks, and completed acceptance testing, we will roll out FlexiPurchase to staff and release a quick reference guide.

Reimbursements will no longer be accepted or processed to staff in 2025. 

Anna will work in Term 2 to close down our credit facility with some of our suppliers, including Woolworths at Work, Kmart, Bunnings, WEX Fuel Cards and Officeworks. 

You must use a virtual purchasing card to purchase goods and/or services from any of the above creditors once the virtual purchasing cards have been released.

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, Everday Rewards, etc.) when purchasing goods or services for work purchases.

IT Update

System Rollovers and Student Login Details 

All our internal and external IT systems and applications have been rolled over into 2025, and are now available to access.

To assist students in logging in to our various IT systems and applications, we have added the student login details to each student's dashboard on Xuno. In addition, the one-page sheet containing the student's usernames and passwords for the various systems can be generated using the ILPs, Reports & Letters menu item on each student's Xuno Dashboard.

To further support the ease of use in our IT systems, you will notice we have standardised the students' usernames and passwords across our systems where possible.

For Mathletics, Mathseeds, Makers Empire, Oliver, Reading Eggs, SeeSaw and Xuno, please instruct students to first click/tap 'Sign In with Microsoft/Office 365' and then type their email address and password. Similarly, for PBIS Rewards, instruct students to first click/tap 'Sign In with Google' and then type their email address and password.

For our other IT systems, Essential Assessments and Wushka, students will type their email address and password to authenticate.

In 2025, all students in prep-year 10 will now have access to Mathletics, Mathseeds, Reading Eggs and a new application called Writing Legends under a new package called 3 Essentials.

If you experience any issues with accessing your new 2025 classes or if students are missing or incorrectly allocated, please log an IT help desk call.

SeeSaw 

To support our new families at Jackson School in 2025, can classroom teachers print off parent invites in SeeSaw for families not yet connected.

Families connected in 2024 will automatically be rolled into their child's new 2025 class.

Teachers are also asked to send a private message to all parents to introduce themselves and send home their classroom visual timetable. This message will open the communication line so parents can message you directly through Seesaw.

Again, we aim to have 100% of our families connected to SeeSaw and Xuno in 2025.

All official school communication will be published centrally in both SeeSaw and Xuno.

Please continue to use Xuno or SeeSaw to communicate with parents. 

If you need assistance printing your family invites, please review this article or contact Pushp.

1:1 Device Program 

Your student's 1:1 device will be available for them to use by Wednesday, 30th January 2025.

Please ensure your device storage/charging cabinet is locked at the end of each day, and please do not provide the combination of the padlock to students. Should you require the current combination and/or would like the combination changed, please see Pushp.

Over the term 4 holidays, we have refreshed all the student laptops with new Acer laptops.

Changes to Portal List Forms

Over the term 4 holidays, the IT team have changed the front-facing forms for the Staff Absence Form, IT Help Desk Form and OHS/Maintenance Request Form.

The forms were changed due to the recent enhancements to Sharepoint and the removal of reliance on using additional platforms.

Staff won't notice any functionality changes with the new forms. The only difference is the background image/colour.

FileDrive Security Enhancements & Archiving

To stop the accidental moving or deleting of other PLT folders, all staff can no longer access all the PLT folders within FileDrive. Staff will only see the PLT folder(s), which they can access in Microsoft Teams. For example, if you are a member of the Foundation PLT team on Microsoft Teams, you will now only see the Foundation PLT folder within FileDrive.

The Whole School folder in FileDrive has been made read-only to all staff, except for Leadership and Administration staff members. 

There are a select number of folders in Whole School where staff are required to save files into these folders (e.g. CRT Folder, Newsletters, Meeting Agendas and Minutes). Staff have been given editing access to these select folders.

All previous years' data (including 2024) stored within FileDrive has been archived into the FileDrive Archive Folder, including data stored within Microsoft Teams. At the end of Term 1, FileDrive Archive will be moved across to our external backup system and removed 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.

If you are experiencing any issues with these changes on FileDrive or need editing access in a folder within Whole School on FileDrive, please log an IT help desk call. 

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.

During Term 1, we anticipate a higher demand for IT support across the school.

During this time, we ask that you please log an IT help desk call by clicking the log IT service call button on the portal rather than catching Andy or Pushp and notifying them of your issues verbally. 

Please be patient whilst Andy and Pushp work through the outstanding IT help desk calls.

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. It is also vital that staff use lock codes on their devices should 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 like 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 (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 quickly enough or satisfactorily, please raise your concern directly with either Matt, or Helen P. (Health and Safety Representative (HSR))

Classroom Furniture

Over the holidays, the facilities team worked through standardising the furniture in each classroom.

Each classroom now has the following furniture:

4 x rectangle tables (Prep classrooms do not have rectangle tables; instead, they have half-circle tables)

2 x half-circle tables

1 x teacher instruction/huddle table

1 x teacher ergonomic chair

1 x ES motion work stool (For classes where there are two ES staff members, a second chair will be placed in the class) ** Currently on backorder and will arrive mid-February **

12 x student chairs

Tess and the facilities team will work early in the term to ensure each student has the correct size chair.

Please do not add, remove or swap/change any of the furniture in your classroom. If you require any additional furniture or need to be removed, please raise a Building and Grounds helpdesk ticket, and the facilities team will action the request when approved by the teaching and learning team.

Additional supplementary furniture will be ordered for each classroom in Block 2 (9-12 Building), Block 3 (Specialists & 4-5, 7/8 Classrooms) & Block 5 (Year 1-4 classrooms) throughout the year to complete our furniture refresh program.

Emergency Management Refresher

In the event of an emergency situation occurring, Jackson School will enact our emergency management plan (EMP).

When the EMP is enacted, you will hear the following announcement: 

"Attention, Attention, this is a red announcement. Please assemble where you are and await further instructions. All staff not in the act of teaching, please report to the Emergency Control Point (ECP)." 

The alert tone (BEEP BEEP) will sound at this point.

When you hear this announcement, please turn off any equipment and await further instructions from the chief warden/emergency management team. Please do not evacuate your room during this time.

If there is a need to Evacuate, you will hear the following announcement:

"Attention, this is an red emergency announcement. Could all teachers and students please calmly move to the Evacuation Assembly Area (name area). Please avoid (identify specific location). Follow the directions of the Wardens"

You will then hear the evacuation tone (Whoop Whoop). When you hear this announcement and tone, please evacuate your classroom immediately and proceed to the emergency evacuation point (Oval / Hall / Front Carpark / Offsite)

New evacuation diagrams have been created and placed throughout the school, depicting the primary and alternate evacuation routes.

Emergency Annoucncements/Codes

Jackson School has five emergency annuouncements/code

• Green Announcement /  Green Lockdown - Medical Emergency
• Orange Announcement /  Orange Lockdown - Major Student Behaviour
• Yellow Announcement - Missing Student
• Mr Lock White - External Risk Localised Onsite
• Mr Lock Black - External Risk Moving Throughout the School.

Please refer to the emergency management annoucements poster/evacuation diagrams to familiarise yourself with the actions required when one of the emergency annoucements has been called.

Drill and Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP)

As part of our OHS requirements, we will have our first emergency management drill on Tuesday 4th March. 

Please review your student's personal evacuation plans (If they have one) on Xuno under the Individual Education Plan left-hand menu item on the student's dashboard. If you believe one of your students needs a PEEP and they currently do not have one, please create the plan on Xuno and fill out the required sections.

If you need any support filling out a PEEP, please see Helen or Matt.

OHS - Chemical Register, Inspections, Spill Kits & Reminders 

Chemical Register

The OHS management team has worked to overhaul 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., Graeme C./Lyle C. 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 in 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 Graeme in the first instance so they 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 more than 5 kg in weight.

Mandatory eLearning Modules

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

Time was allocated during 2024 to complete the modules.

Staff will receive an email early each 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 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.