Minimum Standards and School Registration

Policy

This policy sets out the requirements for all government schools to be correctly registered with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority and to comply with the Minimum Standards for school registration.

Summary

• All schools must be registered with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) and must comply with the Minimum Standards and other requirements for school registration (including the Child Safe Standards) to obtain and maintain their registration.
• All schools’ registration details are published on the VRQA State Register.
• All Victorian government schools are assessed for continuing compliance with the Minimum Standards on a cyclical basis, at least once every 4 to 5 years.
• The VRQA may also commence a review of a school’s compliance at any time if it considers it appropriate to do so or may request the department, as a review body, to conduct a specific or general review of a government school’s compliance with the Minimum Standards.
• The department has published a Minimum Standards self-assessment checklist and a detailed accompanying Minimum Standards requirements guide for schools to explain the requirements for their Minimum and Child Safe Standards compliance assessments that will be undertaken ahead of their quadrennial school review – refer to the Resources tab to access these key documents.
• The School Policy Templates Portal (staff login required) contains templates of local school policies and implementation information for Victorian government schools to assist with understanding compliance requirements.

Details

Under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic) (the Act) all providers of school education must ensure that:

• the VRQA has granted registration before the school begins operating
• they meet Minimum Standards for school registration set out in the Act, the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic) and Ministerial Orders, including the Child Safe Standards (Minimum Standards) both upon registration and on a continuing basis throughout their operation as a school.

New and amended school registration

The department is responsible for applying to the VRQA for:

• new government school registration
• amendments to existing government school registration.

Registration categories

Schools must operate consistently with their category of registration, noting that schools and their campuses can be registered in one or more of the following:

• primary
• secondary
• co-educational
• single sex
• specific purpose (for schools that provide an alternative educational program or educational focus)
• specialist (for schools that cater mainly for students with disabilities or with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties).

All schools’ registration details are published on the VRQA State Register.

Applying to register government schools or amend registration

The department is required to apply to the VRQA in relation to the following situations:

• opening a new school
• creating a new school through the merger of existing schools
• opening an additional campus
• relocating a school to a new site
• offering additional year levels
• changing a school’s registration type, such as from primary to specialist.

Applications to the VRQA are made by the Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services, and individual schools are not able to make applications directly to the VRQA.

Schools should connect with their senior education improvement leader to discuss any proposal relating to the above situations. If a proposal is approved at the regional and department level, the region and School Registration Unit will support the school to quality assure the evidence used in the application.

The department is required to submit applications to the VRQA by 31 August annually, the year prior to commencement.

Senior secondary registration

The department is required to ensure that any government school planning to deliver the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) inclusive of the VCE Vocational Major and/or the Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) is:

• authorised by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) to deliver the relevant qualification (VCE, VCE Vocational Major and/or VPC)
• registered with the VRQA to add the additional year levels and/or qualifications.

Government schools must notify the School Registration Unit of their intention to seek authorisation for delivery of senior secondary qualifications by no later than 15 February in the year prior to delivery.

Applications to the VCAA and the VRQA are made by the Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services, and individual schools are not able to make applications directly to these bodies. The department is required to submit applications to add additional year levels and/or qualifications the VRQA by 30 June annually in the year prior to delivery.

The School Registration Unit supports schools to quality assure the evidence used in applications.

For information on authorisation to offer the VCE or VCAL refer to VCAA – Schools.

Ongoing compliance with the Minimum Standards

All Victorian schools (government and non-government) must comply with the Minimum Standards which are designed to provide a foundation for high quality education. The VRQA publishes guidelines that detail the requirements of the Minimum Standards for registration of schools and other requirements under the Act – refer to the Resources tab for the VRQA Guidelines to the Minimum Standards and Requirements for School Registration.

The Minimum Standards cover a range of areas, including curriculum and student learning and the care, safety and welfare of students (which includes anaphylaxis management, emergency bushfire management and compliance with the Child Safe Standards).

A Memorandum of Understanding (PDF) between the VRQA and the department establishes the department as the review body for Victorian government schools (including government school boarding premises). Refer to the VRQA website for more information.

As the review body for government schools, the department is responsible for monitoring government schools’ ongoing compliance with the Minimum Standards, supporting schools to comply and reporting to the VRQA on government schools’ compliance.

Department staff in the Operational Policy, School Engagement and Compliance division assess government schools’ compliance with the Minimum Standards on a cyclical basis once every 4 to 5 years (Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment). The Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment will generally take place one or two terms before the school’s review term. A small number of standards related to curriculum, assessment and reporting are still assessed by the school reviewer during the school review – refer to School Review for more information about the school review process.

In addition to cyclical reviews, an out-of-cycle compliance review may be conducted on request from the VRQA or when the department becomes aware of incidents that indicate possible non-compliance with the Minimum Standards.

Department staff support government schools to help address any areas of non-compliance identified through a Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment.

Policy templates that assist government schools to develop local policy documents required under the Minimum Standards are available on the School Policy Templates Portal (staff login required).

More information on the Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment process and the actions schools can take to prepare for a Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment is provided in the Guidance tab.

Contact

For advice and support with registering a new government school or amending an existing registration of a government school, contact the department’s School Registration Unit: school.registration@education.vic.gov.au

For assistance with understanding and implementing the Minimum Standards and for further information on the Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment contact the department’s School Compliance Unit:

• Phone: 03 9084 8788
• Email: school.compliance@education.vic.gov.au

Related policies

• Anaphylaxis
• Annual Implementation Plan (AIP)
• Annual Report to the School Community
• Bushfire and Grassfire Preparedness
• Child Safe Standards
• Home Schooling and Partial Enrolments
• School and Campus Naming
• School Review
• School Strategic Plan

Relevant legislation

• Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic)
• Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic)
• The legislation is supported by the VRQA Guidelines to the Minimum Standards and Requirements for School Registration
• Ministerial Order 706 – Anaphylaxis Management in Victorian Schools and school boarding premises (PDF)
• Ministerial Order 1359 – Implementing the Child Safe Standards – Managing the risk of child abuse in schools and school boarding premises (PDF)

Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment process

The Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment process involves the following key stages:

1. Schools are notified via email that they have been scheduled for a Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment. This notification email is sent to the school at least one term before the compliance evidence submission date. In this initial notification email, schools are:
   • allocated a dedicated senior advisor in the School Compliance Unit who will conduct the school’s compliance assessment and is available to provide pre-assessment advice to the schools as well as supporting the school after assessment to rectify any areas of non-compliance identified
   • invited to a pre-assessment briefing to find out more about the assessment process and the resources and guidance available to support schools to prepare for the assessment (register on ARC Events)
   • provided a self-assessment checklist to complete and submit to their senior advisor, including links to, or copies of, all relevant documentary evidence to be assessed (see link in Resources tab)
   • provided with an optional detailed guidance document, which explains how the senior advisor will be assessing the documentary evidence submitted (see link in Resources tab).
2. The school returns their completed self-assessment checklist and documentary evidence to their allocated senior advisor.
3. The senior advisor conducts a desktop assessment of the documentary evidence submitted.
4. The senior advisor attends an onsite or virtual school visit to the school to learn more about the school’s practical implementation of their policies and processes and to sight further compliance evidence where required.
5. The school receives an initial compliance assessment report setting out the school’s compliance with each sub-element of the Minimum Standards, the reasons for each compliance finding, and clear advice on the rectification actions the school must take to address any areas of non-compliance identified.
6. The school is asked to provide rectification evidence within 6 weeks of receiving the initial compliance assessment report, and is provided with rectification support from their senior advisor where required.
7. The senior advisor assesses the rectification evidence submitted by the school, seeks further evidence where required, and provides a final compliance assessment report to the school confirming that the school is now fully compliant. Under the MoU between the department and the VRQA, schools must reach full compliance within 3 months of receiving the initial compliance assessment report.

In preparation for their Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment, it is recommended that schools:

• check that they have up-to-date local school policies on all topics required for school registration (see list of required policies on the School Policy Templates Portal(staff login required) and/or the Minimum Standards self-assessment checklist in the Resources tab)
• check that their local school policies include all required content to meet the Minimum Standards requirements (see Minimum Standards requirements guide in the Resources tab). The template policies available on the School Policy Templates Portal have been drafted to meet these requirements provided they are contextualised to the unique school setting, where indicated in the template policy’s drafting guidance
• ensure that local policies have been approved by either the school principal or school council (as required) and that this is noted in the policy. See the spreadsheet of all policies on the School Policy Templates Portal and/or the Minimum Standards self-assessment checklist in the Resources tab for an overview of the approval requirements that apply to each of the policies
• where required, ensure that local school policies have been made publicly available (ideally via the school’s website). See the spreadsheet of all policies on the School Policy Templates Portal and/or the Minimum Standards self-assessment checklist in the Resources tab for required communication methods
• ensure the school community has been consulted on child safety policies. See the Child Safe Standards page on the School Policy Templates Portal and/or the Minimum Standards self-assessment checklist in the Resources tab for an overview of consultation requirements. Sample newsletter and website text schools can use to consult with the school community is available on the Child Safe Standards page on the School Policy Templates Portal
• ensure that staff, volunteers and school council members have undertaken child safety training and, where required, anaphylaxis training and staff briefings
• ensure that the school’s Child Safety Risk Register has been reviewed and approved by the principal within the last 12 months and has been tailored to reflect the school’s particular environment and activities and the needs of students and the school community.

Actions schools can take to maintain ongoing Minimum Standards compliance

To embed ongoing compliance outside of the cyclical Minimum Standards Compliance Assessment process, it is recommended that schools:

• schedule mandatory training (for example, child safety and anaphylaxis training) at the beginning of each school year
• use the policy templates available on the School Policy Templates Portal (staff login required) and maintain a schedule of required review dates for all local school policies and diarise review dates
• subscribe to receive updates (staff login required) on changes to the policy templates available on the School Policy Templates Portal. An article is also published in School Update in the second last week of each term summarising any changes made to local school policy templates on the School Policy Templates Portal and any updates made to department policies on the Policy and Advisory Library that term
• use the School Operations Forward Planner (staff login required) to schedule those compliance tasks that generally fall in each term at a time that best suits the school
• record actions taken to implement the Minimum Standards requirements on an ongoing basis (for example, document the review of the Child Safety Risk Register, the delivery of child safety training to staff, volunteers and school council members, and discussions of the effectiveness of child safety strategies with staff and school council) and save these records
• keep a log of child safety related complaints, concerns and incidents to inform the periodic review of child safety policies and practices
• review the guidance published on PROTECT for actions to take to maintain compliance with the Child Safe Standards.

Resources

Resources to support schools undertaking the Minimum Standards Assessment process

• Minimum Standards self-assessment checklist (DOCX) (staff login required)
• Minimum Standards requirements guide (DOCX) (staff login required)

Guidelines to the Minimum Standards Requirements for School Registration

Registered schools and applicants for registration must comply with the updated Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority's Guidelines to the Minimum Standards and Requirements for School Registration, which commenced for registered schools on 1 July 2021.

The guidelines support schools to become registered and to remain compliant with the regulations in order to maintain registration.

Resources to support VRQA registration applications

Application forms

The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) provides the following forms for applying for new or amended school registration:

• New government school application form (DOCX) (staff login required)
• Amend registration application form (DOCX) (staff login required)

The department’s School Registration Unit supports schools to complete these application forms.

Checklists

The VRQA provides the following checklists to support the application process for new or amended registration:

• Additional campus evidence checklist (DOCX) (staff login required)
• Relocation evidence checklist (DOCX) (staff login required)
• Additional year level evidence checklist (DOCX) (staff login required)