Operations (Admin, HR, Finance & IT) Update

Administration Update

Updated Staff List

To reflect the recent changes in our staffing, please find below the link to the updated staff list with room and extension numbers

2023 Staff List with Room and Phone Extensions

School-owned Bus Accreditation

Jackson School is now officially an accredited bus operator under the Bus Safety Act 2009.

We can resume using our school-owned buses for excursions and offsite programs.

To comply with the Bus Safety Act and related DE policy, there are a number of changes that we have had to enact. A summary of the relevant changes that impact the majority of staff is outlined below:

Bus Journey, & Pre-Trip Inspection and Safety Checklist Form
Under the requirement of the Bus Safety Act, All accredited bus drivers must complete a Bus Journey, & Pre-Trip Inspection and Safety Checklist Form for every trip that is taken when using one of our school-owned buses.

The Bus Journey, & Pre-Trip Inspection and Safety Checklist Form replaces the old manual bus log form.

The Pre-Trip Inspection and Safety Checklist has 48 questions and may take some time to complete.

To streamline this requirement and cut down on manual paper usage, we have developed an online form for everyone to complete when using a bus. The form can be accessed by clicking the link - https://forms.office.com/r/eCPK6Nzv66

A QR Code will be placed on every bus that links to the form mentioned above.
Bus Defects
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.

To streamline this requirement, we have developed an online form which can be accessed by clicking the link - https://forms.office.com/r/Z4QktwjzcG

When we received the bus defect form(s), we will centrally organise a contractor (usually St Albans Complete Car Care) to make the necessary repairs to the bus(es) and once completed, a clearance report will be issued and the bus can resume being used.

Outside of the two changes listed above, I would encourage the accredited bus drivers to review the following documents/policies which outline the expectations of a bus driver at Jackson School and DE.

In the event that a Jackson School bus is pulled over by a Transport Safety Victoria compliance officer, please show the compliance officer the following webpage that outlines our compliance (use of Management Information and Maintenance Management Systems) as an accredited bus operator - Webpage: Buses (sharepoint.com)

Just a reminder of the general housekeeping requirements whilst using the buses:

All buses must be booked through Xuno prior to taking them out. In addition, please only take out the bus you have booked
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
All rubbish must be removed from the bus after use

On Monday we will be running a professional learning session for all our registered accredited bus drivers to review the new processes that all registered bus drivers are required to have completed and finalise the additional required documentation.

If you have any queries about the new bus processes, please do not hesitate to contact Lorenda or Matt.

HR Update

It’s Tax Time!

As you might have been aware, DE has finalised our pay for the 2022/23 financial year and your income statement (new PAYG) should now be available in the ATO portal of MyGov.

To support all employees with the validity of your tax return, if you are claiming the use of either your mobile phone, car usage, generic letters have been developed which will support your tax return claim if audited by the ATO.

These letters can be found below:

Please only claim the use of your mobile or car usage if you actually used them for work purposes.

Jackson School and DE will not be held responsible if you have claimed use of any of the above and it is found not to be factually true. Any related penalties will not be paid by DE or Jackson School.

Notes for use of the letters:

For each letter, change <Insert Staff Member's Name> to your name
Mobile phone use can only be claimed if you used your phone to make work-related calls. Checking emails and teams messages is not claimable
Car usage can not be claimed whilst driving to and from work.

Should you have any further queries or require any assistance with your income statements, please see Kristina or Matt.

Teachers and education professionals – income and work-related deductions

https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Content/IND/Downloads/teacher.pdf

Staff Absences

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 7:00am on the morning you are going to be absent.

Your leave must be entered on eduPay within 5 business days and when required (If using sick/carers pay with a certificate), the required document 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 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 chosen to use carers pay with a certificate, the required document (medical certificate or statutory declaration) must state that the person requiring care and support is suffering from an illness which 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 2 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 your LSL or LWOP request has been approved in writing (email) by Anthony, please log the request on eduPay as soon as practicable.

Time-in-Lieu

The Fair Work Commission has issued a determination in relation to the application of time-in-lieu arrangements that apply to Victorian government school camps schools (clauses 24(8) and 24(9) of the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022).

Victorian and interstate camps: Time in lieu will apply to staff attendance at Victorian and interstate camps in the way that it applies to all other school activities where teachers and education support class employees are required to attend in addition to the 38 hours of duty per week. Where a teacher or education support class employee’s attendance is required by the principal, time in lieu will be calculated on the basis of 100% time in lieu for the time the employee is performing duties, and 50% for the time the employee is on-call in addition to normal work hours up until 11 pm. For the overnight on-call period (11 pm to 7 am), teachers and education support class employees will receive an overnight payment equal to 4 hours pay (calculated as 8 hours on-call at 50%) for each night an employee attends a school camp. These arrangements will be backdated to 1 January 2023 for all teachers and education support staff who have attended Victorian and interstate camps and not already had accrued time in lieu acquitted.

International camps: International camps are treated the same as domestic camps except in relation to the overnight payment. This is because of the wide variety of supervision arrangements that apply on overseas camps that do not typically apply to domestic camps; for example, where accommodation is a homestay arrangement. For this reason, the overnight payment of 8 hours on-call (at 50%) does not apply to international camps.

Camps during the school holidays: Where a teacher or education support class employee attends a school camp that occurs in whole or in part during a school holiday period, the principal and the employee should agree on the approach to recognise the employee's time for that part of the camp falling within the school holiday period. Where the approach is not agreed between the employee and the principal, the employee is not required to attend the camp.

Funding support: The Victorian Government has allocated additional funding of $29 million per year ongoing to support the running of camps in schools. This funding is guaranteed, regardless of the specific camps program provided by an individual school. The design of a school’s camps program remains the responsibility of the school. The funding is calculated to ensure that primary schools have sufficient funding to cover the overnight on-call payment for, on average, a 3-day camp for all students in all year levels from Grade 2 to Grade 6; and secondary schools have sufficient funding to cover the overnight on-call payments for, on average, a 3-day camp for all students in every year level from Year 7 to Year 12. Schools have full flexibility to determine the appropriate allocation of the funding across their individual school camp program.

On average our camps run over two nights. This is equivalent to 26 hours of time in lieu (TIL) for teachers and 27 hours for ESS.

This totals $2318.27 for a teacher and ES to attend camp under the Department's minimum ratio of 1 staff to 10 students.

At Jackson School we typically have a higher ratio of staff to students due to the higher needs of our students (1:5). For every ten students this equates to $231.83 /student.

The Government have provided funding for the 4 hours overnight, per day. This is equivalent to $453.20 for teachers and $250.48 for ESS.

This reduction in costs from the government funding, will reduce staffing camp costs to $161.46 per student.

We understand there will be a change in ratio for special schools at a ratio of 1:3 but this has not yet been confirmed.

We will invest $22,000 per year to ensure that our students can continue to attend camp as a valuable learning and social opportunity.

As discussed with the Consultative Committee, our preferences will be to pay out TIL for the time staff have accrued whilst on camp, where this is not individually approved by the staff member, this TIL acquittal in time will have to be uncovered due to the current staffing challenges.

This will be backdated since January 2023 for any staff who have attended camps this year.

For all other TIL, this must be agreed with the Principal prior to TIL being 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 in place of using their personal leave providing this can be accommodated.

Finance Update

Reminder: Please ensure that purchase orders are raised and approved prior to purchasing your goods/service.

Procurement Policy

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

● If you plan to order a good or service which totals above $2,500, please see Anna or Matt first as there is additional paperwork and contracts which needs to be completed prior to ordering the good or service.

A formal written quote will also need to be obtained as part of this process.

● We will be moving to DE-managed suppliers to order goods and services through as part of the Procurement Policy.

For most staff, the major change you will notice as part of the move to DET 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.
Fuel for school buses will shortly only be allowed to be purchased through BP service stations. * We will notify staff when this change occurs.

Please refer to the 2023 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.

Fundraising

As a reminder to meet the requirements of DE's fundraising policy, a new fundraising request form has been developed.

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

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

Fundraising Request Form

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

Xuno and Accelerus moving to the Cloud

During term 3, the IT team will be working with our service provider Semaphore Consulting to migrate Xuno and Accelerus to the cloud (Microsoft Azure).

The migration of these platforms to the cloud will improve performance and reliability and introduce a range of new features to Xuno.

A new version of the purchase order system (Xuno BPOS) will also be rolled out during the term. We are in the final stages of testing the new version and once some issues have been rectified we will migrate our data across to the new version.

A great new feature of the new purchase order system is the ability to email your order directly to the supplier.

We will notify staff when the migration to the new purchase order system occurs and provide applicable training.

Intune Issue During the Holidays

TheDepartment of Education Intune Tenant has experienced an issue over the school holidays that has impacted our Apple devices (iPads and Macs).

The issue has caused iPad and Mac devices to be deleted from Azure AD. As a result of a device being deleted out of Azure AD, any assignments (Apps, Policies, Wifi Profile) have been unassigned.

Microsoft has been working around to clock to rectify the issue and as of Friday, a solution has been developed to remedy the issue.

On Monday, Pushp will work with each staff member to re-connect their iPads and Macs to the Intune platform.

Prior to the reconnection to Intune, your iPad will not have access to the WiFi network at work.

We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.

1:1 Device Program Housekeeping

Just a reminder to all staff, 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.

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 214.

Please log IT help desk calls by clicking the button on the portal, rather than catching Andy or Pushp and notifying them of your issues verbally and be patient whilst Andy and Pushp work through the outstanding IT help desk calls.

IT Security

It is very important that we 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 student 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. Staff should refer to the Acceptable Use Policy Acceptable Use Policy for ICT Resources: Overview | education.vic.gov.au for more details.

Xuno 2-Factor Authentication

Cyber security and the protection of student information is a critical issue for all schools.

In line with the Securing Connected Learners Program, from Monday 14th of August we will be enforcing multi-factor authentication for staff when using Xuno.

Once activated, you will be asked to verify your identity via a secondary method when you log into Xuno. Secondary methods of identity check are email authentication or an authenticator app such as Microsoft Authenticator.

The IT team will work with staff prior to Monday 14th August to enable 2-factor authentication on Xuno.

Should you wish to participate as an early adopter, please see Pushp.