Outside School Hours Care – Decision Making Regarding the Provision of OSHC

Policy

This policy outlines school council responsibilities regarding the decision to operate or establish an Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service.

Summary

• The school council is responsible for decision making regarding establishing or operating an OSHC service.
• School councils determine the operating model of the OSHC service, that is, whether the school council or a third-party provider will operate the Outside School Hours Care.
• School councils are encouraged to establish an OSHC subcommittee to support community engagement, decision making and monitoring or management of the service.
• School councils seeking a third-party provider for an OSHC service are required to use the department’s templates for expression of interest (DOCX) (staff login required) and OSHC licence agreement (staff login required) to ensure all requirements are considered.
• Detailed guidance (in the Guidance tab) has been developed by the department to support school councils to provide an OSHC service. This guidance includes OSHC operation by both school council and a third-party provider.

Details

It is a school council decision to establish an OSHC service, and whether the service is school council managed and operated or delivered by a third-party provider. Regardless of the operating model, school council have legal responsibilities and oversight of the OSHC service.

If a school council is establishing, engaging or changing an OSHC provider, it is expected that the school council consults with the school community.

It is recommended that school council establish an OSHC subcommittee to:

• undertake initial scoping work and needs analysis, coordinate the collecting of information and address the interests and concerns of all stakeholders
• understand the roles and responsibilities of operating an OSHC service
• report back to the school council for decision making.

Regardless of the operating model, if the school council decides to provide an OSHC service, it is recommended that the OSHC subcommittee remain in place to assist with the establishment and ongoing management or monitoring of the service.

If selecting a third-party provider, school councils must comply with the Procurement Policy for Victorian Government Schools (PDF) (staff login required) and use the department’s OSHC expression of interest template (DOCX) (staff login required).

Once school council selects a preferred provider, school councils are required to use the department's OSHC licence agreement to engage the third-party provider (staff login required). This ensures relevant legal aspects are considered.

Guidelines

Detailed guidance (in the Guidance tab) has been developed by the department to support school councils to provide an OSHC service. This guidance includes OSHC operation by both school council and a third-party provider. This guidance outlines the processes, roles and responsibilities and includes:

• both school council managed and third-party operating models
• the requirements when transferring service providers or changing operating models
• draft OSHC subcommittee terms of reference and meeting templates for schools to adapt and use.

Definitions

National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care
The National Quality Framework (NQF) provides a national approach to regulation, assessment and quality improvement for early childhood education services (including OSHC) across Australia. The NQF includes:

• national law and national regulations
• National Quality Standard
• assessment and quality rating process
• national learning frameworks
• a regulatory authority in each state and territory responsible for the approval, monitoring and quality assessment of services in their state or territory
• a national body, the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), which guides the implementation of the NQF and works with regulatory authorities.

National regulations require early childhood education services (including OSHC) to develop and follow a range of operational policies and procedures.

Outside School Hours Care
An Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service provides education and care for children (generally ages 5 to 12 years) outside of scheduled school hours and during school holidays. OSHC services may also provide education and care to children on student-free days. OSHC services are usually located at or close to primary schools. They may also be offered in locations such as community centres, halls, neighbourhood houses or recreation centres.

Related policies

• Child Safe Standards
• Finance Manual – Section 12 Trading Operations
• Procurement Policy for Victorian Government Schools (PDF) (staff login required)
• School Council – Powers and Functions
• School Council – Subcommittees

Relevant legislation

• Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (Vic)
• Education and Care Services National Regulations 2019
• Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic)
• Worker Screening Act 2020 (Vic)

Guidance – Providing an OSHC service

This guidance has been developed by the department to support school councils to provide an Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service. It includes OSHC operation by both school council and a third party provider. It outlines the processes and roles and responsibilities and includes:

• both school council managed and third party operating models
• the requirements when transferring service providers or changing operating models
• draft OSHC subcommittee terms of reference and meeting templates for schools to adapt and use.

This guidance contains the following chapters:

1. About outside school hours care
2. Decide if you need a service
3. OSHC establishment grants
4. Plan to start a service — school council managed service
5. Plan to start a service — third-party managed service
6. Legal requirements
7. Run a service operated by your school
8. Change the operating model or provider of your service

About Outside School Hours Care

The hours, locations, benefits and different operating models

An Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service provides education and care for primary school-age children (generally ages 5 to 12 years) outside school hours and during school holidays. OSHC services also often provide education and care on student-free days.

OSHC services are usually located at or close to primary schools. They may also be offered in locations such as:

• community centres
• halls
• neighbourhood houses
• recreation centres.

Hours and locations

Hours and locations will vary depending on community needs, generally operating on weekdays:

• before school care 7:00 am to 8:45 am (or until school start time)
• after school care (including early school finish) 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm (or from school finish time)
• vacation care (during school holidays) 7:00 am to 6:00 pm.

OSHC is an education and care service that supports children to:

• engage in play and leisure activities
• learn new skills to further their development
• build relationships with educators in a community that is connected to, but separate from, the school community.

The benefits of OSHC

An OSHC service provides a range of benefits for the school community that support children’s learning, achievement, engagement and wellbeing.

Strengthening relationships

A quality OSHC service establishes and fosters partnerships with families by encouraging their feedback and involvement. Educators build, strengthen and maintain positive relationships between the school community and the OSHC service by:

• providing education opportunities in a multi-age environment to develop happy, healthy and resilient children
• increasing school attractiveness for parents and carers who are in the process of selecting a school for their child or children
• supporting families in managing their work, training and study responsibilities by providing an education and care service outside school hours.

Learning experiences

OSHC services provide a range of learning experiences, which may include:

• indoor and outdoor play activities planned with and for children
• a range of developmentally appropriate options that cater for the needs and interests of all children, including construction, drama, dress-ups, art and craft, cooking, quiet reading and games
• incursions and programs delivered by external educators and organisations coming into the service such as language or music sessions.

Continuity of early learning

The before and after care service at a school has an important role in supporting children and their families to successfully transition into the first year of school.

When a parent or carer gives consent for the kindergarten teacher to share the child’s Transition Learning and Development Statement, it can be shared with the OSHC service as well as the child’s school teachers to enable a positive school experience.

Some OSHC services operate during school holidays. During these times, services will often plan excursions such as a trip to the zoo, museum or a park. These learning experiences are an opportunity for building stronger connections and partnerships between the OSHC service, the child, the child’s family and the wider community.

Operating models of OSHCs

An OSHC service can be:

• school council managed, or
• third-party managed.

A third-party provider may be a community based, not-for-profit organisation such as a parent incorporated body, local government, or a private for-profit provider.

Important: It is a school council’s decision to establish an OSHC service and to decide whether that service will be school council managed and operated or outsourced to a third-party provider.

School council training video: An introduction to OSHC

For further school council information and interactive online training refer to School Council – Overview.

For access to online training modules for school councillors including OSHC modules, refer to the online school council training portal (staff login required).

Decide if you need a service

A best practice approach to setting up an Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service.

There are 6 steps you should take:

1. form a working group
2. conduct a needs analysis
3. assess venue against requirements
4. consider operating models for delivering an OSHC service
5. assess fees and costs
6. report to school council based on working group findings.

Although this is set out as a progressive process, in practice the process can be flexible, and some steps may be considered at the same time or in a different sequence. For example, venue availability may influence the feasibility of establishing an OSHC service and therefore also the conduct of a needs analysis.

1. Form a working group

Forming a working group enables your school council to delegate the initial scoping work for an OSHC services to a dedicated group that reports back to your school council for decision making.

The working group members may include parents, school councillors and teachers.

Setting up a working group may be a short-term alternative to a school council subcommittee. Short-term working parties may oversee the implementation of tasks while allowing school councils to keep the number of subcommittees to a practical size. The working group coordinates the task of collecting information and assists with addressing the interests and concerns of all stakeholders.

The scope of work and the reporting expectations of the working group should be agreed with the school council before any work is undertaken.

If a working group is not established, the principal, or a school council nominee such as a parent volunteer, may be responsible to research whether to establish an OSHC service.

2. Conduct a needs analysis

It is important to understand the level of demand for an OSHC service. Look at the estimated enrolments of the service by surveying families at the school (and possibly neighbouring schools) to determine:

• if before school care, after school care or school holiday programs are needed
• the preferred hours and days of operation to give families access to care for their children when they need it most.

Determine the target population

To determine the number of families who may need an OSHC service, you may do the following:

• analyse school enrolment data (current school enrolments, past enrolment trends and projected enrolments)
• identify any services currently operating locally that are providing an OSHC service or alternative for school-age children
• determine the current capacity and waiting lists of any nearby existing OSHC services
• enquire if other schools within close proximity have a need for an OSHC service
• survey the target population.

To identify services operating locally that are providing an OSHC service or alternative education and care services for school-age children, you can contact:

• the local government area
• other schools in the area, including non-government schools
• nearby kindergartens or early childhood services
• sporting or leisure facilities.

This may present opportunities for you to collaborate with existing services, where schools can share services or facilities to meet community needs.

You can also use the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) national register to identify existing nearby education and care services and view their quality rating. You can view the Victorian register online or export it to a .csv file, which you can filter by suburb, contact details, capacity, and recent quality ratings. You can also use a portal such as Starting Blocks to search the same information.

Note: The type of operating model can be determined by looking at the name of the service’s approved provider. A service run by a school council will have that council as the approved provider’s name, for example, Beaumaris North Primary School Council.

Surveying parents and carers

You can establish the number of potential users of the service to inform service delivery by surveying parents and carers of the target population.

Information gathered through a survey may include:

• families' current before school care, after school care and vacation care arrangements
• current age of each child or children in each family/carer group
• likelihood that a family will use each component of care (before school care, after school care or vacation care)
• days in the week that families are likely to use each component of care
• preferred operating times (open and close times of each component of care)
• whether any children who would use the service have disabilities or additional needs, or if there are any other demographic considerations
• parent and carer interest in joining an OSHC subcommittee (if appropriate).

Your school may wish to adapt the Template OSHC School Survey (DOCX) for use when surveying parents and the school community about the need for OSHC.

Analyse the data

Through analysing this data, you will be able to determine the type and frequency of OSHC service required and prepare a report outlining your findings and recommendations to the school council.

When you are analysing the demand for hours of a potential OSHC service, be aware that OSHC services must meet certain operational requirements to be approved for Child Care Subsidy (CCS).

Your service must:

• operate in at least 7 weeks per year for any of before school care, after school care or vacation care
• operate mostly for the purpose of providing care to children attending school.

For more information on the CCS, refer to the Child Care Subsidy website.

Insufficient demand and other options

If your needs analysis identifies that there is not sufficient demand for an OSHC service, your report to the school council should include the reasons for this finding.

In this situation, you could arrange to share services with an existing local OSHC service or consider establishing an OSHC service in partnership with a nearby school or schools.

Alternatively, if you have found that there is demand for a service, your report to the school council should include a summary of the data upon which you have relied to make that finding, including identifying the components of care that are in demand (before school care, after school care, vacation care or any combination of these).

3. Assess potential venue against requirements

The National Quality Standard (NQS) sets out ‘physical environment’ requirements for the operation of a service. If there is more than one suitable venue option, the pros and cons of each venue can be reported to the school council, against the requirements in the national regulations.

The National Regulations include specifications relevant to the venue that must be in place, including:

• 3.25 square meters of unencumbered indoor space per child (r.107)
• 7 square metres of unencumbered outdoor space per child. Under the National Regulations, indoor space may be used is outdoor space with permission from the Regulatory Authority, but this permission is generally only granted for vacation care, and not for before or after school care.
• outdoor spaces which provide adequate shade and allow children to explore the natural environment (r.113/114)
• areas in which children can rest, if needed (r.81)
• accessible toilets (r.109)
• adequate heating, cooling, ventilation and natural light (r.110)
• administration space and space for conducting private conversations (r.111)
• that the area promotes visibility and facilitates effective supervision (r.115)
• the cleanliness and safety of the premises, furniture and equipment (r.103).

The NQS Quality Area 3 — physical environment requires a physical environment that:

• is safe
• is suitable
• provides a rich and diverse range of experiences promoting children’s learning and development.

In addition to complying with the national law and national regulations, any venue must comply with the building code of Australia and applicable Australian standards. For example, a venue must also comply with the Food Safety Standards in areas where food is being prepared.

Use of school facilities – buildings and grounds

School councils must comply with the information set out by the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) in the Schools Policy and Advisory Library (PAL) including:

• school councils’ financial delegation to enter into contracts to carry out self-funded building works or improvements including minor capital works
• requirements at each stage of the school assets lifecycle including the planning stage
• delivering co-located facilities in established schools.

Schools must comply with these requirements irrespective of:

• if the school council is considering a licence agreement for the non-exclusive use of an area of the school by a third party, or
• planning to use, modify or build a facility for a school council managed OSHC service.

Schools must ensure facilities comply with:

• the Building Code of Australia (BCA)
• any applicable Australian standards
• ministerial directions
• the Building Quality Standards Handbook (PDF) produced by the VSBA.

4. Consider operating models for running an OSHC

Selecting an operating model is a decision for school council. An OSHC service is a school trading operation for which school council approval is required.

There are 2 possible operating models for Victorian government schools seeking to establish an OSHC service:

1. school council managed
2. third party provider managed.

This means that your school council may:

• operate the service, or
• enter into a licence agreement with an approved provider to operate the service.

The service may be either on:

• the school premises, or
• premises under the control of the Minister
• another premises that is conveniently located to the school, such as a community hall. This is a less common arrangement generally only used where the school does not provide a suitable space for OSHC.

Your school council is responsible for regulating and facilitating the after hours use of your school’s premises and grounds.

For more information see:

• the Finance Manual – Section 12 Trading Operations
• school council constituting orders.

Regardless of which option you pursue, your school council is responsible for choosing an operating model that:

• is sustainable and efficient
• is suited to the community’s needs
• is reflective of the needs analysis
• is delivered by a provider that has an appropriate governance structure and management arrangements, and that these provide for ongoing and regular review.

Two or more schools may work together to deliver joint services on-site or at a local community venue. If you have an off-site venue you must consider child transportation to and from the service. Note that in a joint service arrangement, only one school, or one provider, operates the OSHC service, but the other school(s) have access on an equal basis.

Governance structure and financial management

Your school council has governance and financial oversight in relation to their key functions outlined in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic). Refer to the department's policy on School Council – Power and Functions for further information on the key functions of a school council.

School council managed service

If your school council decides to become the approved provider of an OSHC service, they are responsible for all aspects of the service. Your school council can:

• form an OSHC subcommittee to assist with management and decision making in relation to the service (recommended), or
• assume direct management of the service.

School councils may form a subcommittee to assist the council for a particular purpose, such as overseeing the implementation of the OSHC at the school:

• School councils must decide the purpose and terms of reference of subcommittees.
• As with all subcommittees, the sub-committee must consist of at least 1 member of the school council and be at least 3 members overall.
• A subcommittee meets as directed by the school council and reports in writing to school council.
• The OSHC subcommittee cannot make decisions on behalf of your school council. In schools where there is no OSHC subcommittee, the school principal or assistant principal may take on the management of the service together with the OSHC coordinator.
• A staff member must be nominated who will have responsibility for the day-to-day management of the service. Under the National Law this person is usually the Nominated Supervisor of the service, however they may be referred to in other contexts as the OSHC Coordinator or OSHC Manager.

Sample terms of reference for a school council managed sub-committee are available. For further information about school council subcommittees, refer to School Council – Subcommittees.

School councils have legal responsibilities when running an OSHC service as the approved provider. The school council (as an entity), person with management and control, and nominated supervisor may be liable for offences under the National Law.

Where the school council manages the service as the approved provider, its key responsibilities include:

• quality and compliance of the service as required by the NQF including the development and implementation of the quality improvement plan for the service
• all financial management (revenue sits within school budget)
• determining fee structure, which includes setting and adjusting fees and imposing fines (for example, a fine for late pick up by parents and carers)
• all management responsibilities, which may involve an OSHC subcommittee
• promotion or raising awareness of the service in the community to increase enrolments, for example, advertising
• record keeping
• policy development and review
• developing and upholding a vision, philosophy and goals for the service
• staff recruitment, training, retention and staff replacement
• staff professional development, support and supervision
• sharing of resources and facilities between the school and the OSHC service as required, including developing suitable tracking systems to support equipment sharing, maintenance and replacement.

These responsibilities may be shared between the school council, an OSHC subcommittee, the OSHC co-ordinator and OSHC staff. This will vary depending on the school context as will the involvement of the school leadership and administration teams. Regular meetings may assist in ensuring these key responsibilities are met.

Meeting agenda templates (DOCX) are available for school council managed services.

Third party managed service

Where school council decides to engage a third party provider to operate the OSHC service, the third party is the approved provider with the relevant legal responsibilities for the service. However, the school council is responsible for:

• selecting and engaging a third party provider via an Expression of Interest (EOI) process (see category-specific tools and EOI template) and the use of the OSHC licence agreement (login required)
• accessing the department’s schools' procurement advice on the use of the EOI template
• accessing the department’s Legal Services (login required) for advice on the terms of the licence agreement, including additions to the special conditions section around quality and value for money service delivery
• negotiating the terms of the licence agreement, including fees and any special conditions, and executing this agreement
• agreeing to any school-specific context or conditions, and incorporating these into a Memorandum of Understanding to cover elements not included in the licence agreement
• ongoing management of the licence agreement with the third party provider, including monitoring compliance with the National Law, compliance with the terms of the licence agreement and how the provider engages with children and families and responds to the needs of the community
• monitoring the service provision and, if unsatisfactory, determining whether changing the provider (either to another third party provider or to the school council) is required.

Even if a third party is managing the service, the functions of a school council ,detailed in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006, still apply:

• to regulate and facilitate the after hours use of the school premises and grounds
• to exercise a general oversight of the school buildings and grounds, and ensure that they are kept in good order and condition.

To assist your school council to meet their ongoing responsibilities with the third party-provider, there are templates for:

• third party managed sub-committee terms of reference
• third party managed meeting agendas.

These templates support you to work together with the third party provider to benefit children’s wellbeing, learning and development. For example, the process for sharing children’s transition learning and development statements with the OSHC service can be overseen by the OSHC subcommittee to support a positive start to school for children and their families.

Types of third party providers

Third party providers can operate under various ownership structures such as community-based, not-for-profit, local government or private-for-profit. In all cases, the third party provider takes on all legal responsibilities for the operation of the service and is responsible for following relevant legislation and ensuring the safety of children is protected.

Not-for-profit encompasses a number of types of provider that would operate a service with no aim to make a profit, with any profit made invested back into the service. The approved provider may include a parent incorporated body or another community or charitable organisation.

Incorporated body — this is a type of non-profit, where a group of volunteers (typically parents who will use the service) become an incorporated body that takes on the legal responsibility for the OSHC service. Members are usually voted in annually and oversee the governance of the service. Day-to-day operations are generally managed by an OSHC coordinator employed by the incorporated body. For more information about incorporated associations refer to Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Community-based organisation(s) range from small to large in size and are another type of not-for-profit provider. These organisations generally focus on charity, youth work or community development. Examples include churches and community health organisations. These organisations may provide services on school premises, but may also use their own facilities.

Local government is when the service is managed by local government as the approved provider. Many, though not all, local government councils operate one or more types of children’s services, which will sometimes include outside school hours care. In this model, responsibility for the operation of a service, or multiple services in the municipality, rests with a team leader or manager, including budget management, recruitment and policy development. Coordinators are often also employed for each service to manage staff and the day-to-day operations.

Private-for-profit providers own and manage services privately. This is usually done through a company structure but may also be a sole trader or partnership. The provider may be a small owner-operated business with one service, or a large provider with multiple services in Victoria or nationally, and provides the service for the purpose of making a profit.

Choosing third party providers

School councils are strongly encouraged to approach multiple third party providers through an EOI process based on the school’s service requirements and preferences before putting the OSHC licence agreement in place. Before choosing a third party provider, school council should consider the third party provider’s:

• experience
• quality ratings
• size (number of existing services under their management)
• fees charged to parents for care.

Quality ratings are available at Starting Blocks for quality ratings of existing services. Large providers (managing and operating multiple OSHC services) may:

• offer efficiencies through economies of scale such as professional development and career progression opportunities for staff, but
• be less able to tailor the service to a specific school and their community.

Engagement of a third party OSHC provider is not a departmental procurement activity. It is a licence agreement enabling the shared use of school facilities and premises.

5. Assess fees and costs

Costs for establishing an OSHC service will vary for each school according to the operating model, and in the case of a third party managed service, are subject to specifications in the licence agreement.

It is recommended that you, as the working group, undertake a cost-benefit analysis of both operating models when deciding on the most appropriate model. This analysis should consider any in-kind contributions. For example, the time it takes for school staff, including the principal, to manage issues and follow up complaints, concerns and fee payments from families. Cost considerations include:

• Establishment:
  • application fees for provider approval (a third party provider usually already has provider approval)
  • application fees for service approval (to be submitted by the approved provider)
  • business establishment fees (ABN/ACN, bank account).
• Venue preparation:
  • rent (if using an off-site facility)
  • maintenance and modification
  • utilities
  • information communications technology (ICT) equipment
  • materials for program set up.
• Staffing:
  • wages of regular staff
  • wages for casual relief educators
  • staff induction, training and professional development, such as ensuring staff have the relevant qualifications and meet first aid requirements, and are aware of the school and service policies
  • costs associated with staff recruitment such as advertising positions.
• Administration costs:
  • book-keeping
  • annual regulatory fees
  • auditing accounts
  • advertising of the service
  • any additional insurance required.
• Service delivery:
  • food and beverages
  • resources
  • activities, excursions, incursions.

Third party provider service costs

Your school council should review and agree to the third party costs before finalising the licence agreement and engaging the provider. Third party providers have different cost structures:

• service costs may change over the life of the licence agreement
• third party providers may charge a flat fee per term in addition to other costs
• third party providers’ approaches to service delivery will vary including how fees for parents and carers are set, complaints and grievances processed and how agreements are terminated.

School councils should use the OSHC licence agreement rather than a third party provider’s own contract to manage the risk of school council bearing additional costs. For example, the OSHC licence agreement (login required) prevents schools bearing the cost of low enrolment numbers or any legal proceedings. If a third party insists on using its own contract or would like to change a clause or add special conditions to the OSHC licence agreement, it is recommended that the principal contacts Legal Services for advice.

Note: When assessing the options, it should be considered that while a third party provider generally is a source of income as they licence part of the school to deliver the service, the benefit of this may be reduced by the fact that the provider may have to charge parents a higher fee for the service.

6. Report to school council based on working group findings

When deciding whether to establish an OSHC service and its operating model, your working group should present a report to school council. It should include:

• data on the demand for the OSHC service as determined by the needs analysis
• options for a venue (and any improvement or ongoing maintenance works that may be required to ensure the venue is suitable)
• an analysis of operating models
• associated costs of the operating models including a cost-benefit analysis of each model
• recommendations about establishing an OSHC service and the preferred operating model.

After the working group presents their recommendations, your school council will need to decide if they will establish a service.

In accordance with the department's school council guidance, the school council, by law, is a unit, a body corporate. This means decisions made by the council must be those of the group rather than of an individual. As a school councillor, you must adhere to the school council code of conduct in your decision making regarding OSHC, including:

• acting in good faith in the best interests of the school
• acting fairly and impartially
• using information appropriately.

Your overriding commitment must be to a shared vision and plan reflecting the broad values of the school community. For more information read School Council – Overview or download Managing School Council Conduct.

Documenting the decision

You must document the decision of your school council in meeting minutes. The minutes must include a summary of the reasons for the final decision.

If the school council decides not to establish an OSHC service, no further action is required. The school council may wish to re-visit this decision if the needs of the school community change or new information becomes available.

If the school council decides to establish an OSHC service, the school council should also record the decision. Information that should be captured includes:

• the preferred operating model
• the location or venue for the service
• care components to be offered
• the budget available to deliver the service.

If your school council is planning to establish a service they may include this decision in their school strategic plan and annual implementation plan, including identifying links to the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO) improvement model, showing how the service contributes to improving student outcomes. The below summary details the state-wide priorities and the improvement initiatives that may be relevant to planning to set up a service or improving service quality.

FISO state-wide priority

• Professional leadership

Improvement initiatives

• Not applicable

Other dimensions

• Vision, values and culture
• Strategic resource management

FISO state-wide priority

• Positive climate for learning

Improvement initiatives

• Empowering students and building school pride
• Setting expectations and promoting inclusion

Other dimensions

• Health and wellbeing

FISO state-wide priority

• Community engagement in learning

Improvement initiatives

• Building communities

Other dimensions

• Parents and carers as partners
• Networks with schools, services and agencies

The extent to which establishing an OSHC service authentically links to the FISO dimensions will depend on the school’s unique context, circumstances and needs.

OSHC establishment grants

The Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) Establishment Grants Initiative provided grant funding to Victorian government schools delivering primary aged education without an existing OSHC program. The initiative aimed to improve the availability of OSHC services across Victoria, ensuring that all children and families are able to access programs on their school site or in their local area.

The initiative had 4 application rounds between 2021 and 2023. Round 1 closed in February 2021, Round 2 closed in September 2021, Round 3 closed in July 2022 and Round 4 in August 2023.

For enquiries or information about what resources and assistance are available to schools establishing OSHC, please contact the OSHC Central team at oshc.central@education.vic.gov.au

Find out how the OSHC Establishment Grants Initiative has helped 4 different schools: OSHC Establishment Grants Initiative.

Additional funding for small and regional schools

The 2024-25 Victorian Budget included a commitment to further support outside school hours care (OSHC) services at small and rural/regional schools funded by the OSHC Establishment Grants Initiative.

The following funding is available:

• up to $40,000 annually (for up to 4 years) to support an on-site OSHC service
• up to $10,000 annually (for up to 4 years) to support the cost of transport to an off-site OSHC service
• $5,000 one-off payment to support the cost of changing from on-site to transport, or from a third-party delivered service to school council.

Schools are eligible to apply if they received funding for a new OSHC service, or transport, from the OSHC Establishment Grants Initiative and:

• the school or campus has a full-time equivalent enrolment of 200 or fewer or
• the school or campus is located in one of the department’s 9 non-metropolitan areas or
• the school has specific challenges or barriers to maintaining a viable OSHC service.

Applications will be open from Wednesday 18 September to midnight (end of day) Sunday 20 October 2024.

Click here to access the application guidelines (DOCX).

Click here to access the submission page on SmartyGrants.

For any questions about this Initiative, please contact the OSHC Central Team at oshc.central@education.vic.gov.au

Plan to start a service – school council managed service

The planning and preparation needed to set up a school council managed service includes the following steps:

1. apply to set up a service (required approvals)
2. prepare your venue (venue regulations and food and drink requirements)
3. start your service.

1. Apply to set up a service

As a school council you must have the required approvals to legally operate your outside school hours care service.

Before applying to set up a service

In order to commence trading as a service, the following are generally required:

• An Australian business number (ABN) and business name. Information regarding ABNs and business names is available from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
• Official school council bank account. An OSHC service must operate from within an official school council bank account and meet the same financial management obligations of any other program in the school. These obligations are outlined in the Finance Manual for Victorian government schools.
• Postal address. An OSHC service should have a physical mailing address to receive correspondence. If needed, applications for a post office box can be made at Australia Post.
• Email address. An OSHC service should have an email address or use the school’s generic email address, to ensure the department can contact the OSHC directly
• connected utilities. School council will need to confirm and (or) connect the utilities required for the OSHC service, such as electricity and water.
• Insurance. OSHC services may require some additional cover outside the school’s existing coverage with the VMIA. For questions about insurance, schools may contact Michael Roleff on Michael.Roleff@education.vic.gov.au
  The following may require additional cover:
  • building insurance – school buildings are covered as long as they are within the school’s entitlement
  • contents – a school’s contents are covered if they are not excluded under the School Equipment Coverage Scheme (SECS)
  • workers’ compensation – for any locally employed staff, such as for OSHC employees.

Prior to starting the service, the school should also determine how much involvement the school administration and support staff will have in supporting the service.

Provider and service approval

To operate a service, the school council will need to apply for:

• provider approval, and
• service approval.

These approvals are granted by the Quality of Assessment and Regulation Division (QARD), who are the Regulatory Authority for children’s services in Victoria. They are granted under the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (National Law). A provider may hold more than one service approval, but service approval is specific to the site on which the service will operate.

You must apply for both provider and service approval online via the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQA ITS). In order to lodge an application, you will need to register for an NQA ITS account, which is used to lodge approval applications and provide supporting documents and is also used to lodge information to QARD once the service is operating.

Both provider and service approval applications may be submitted at the same time and QARD will work through them together.

Refer to information on the regulation and quality assessment of OSHC.

Information for provider approval

To apply for provider approval, you will need to submit form PA01 through the NQA ITS portal, and provide the following key pieces of information about the school council:

• the correct name of the school council (this should be in the form ' Council', not ' OSHC service' or similar)
• the name of the person who will be in management or control (the school principal)
• documents evidencing that person’s fitness and propriety:
  • Form PA02 – Declaration of Fitness and Propriety – print out, complete and sign, scan and upload
  • Working With Children Clearance or VIT Registration
  • a criminal history record check dated within the last 6 months
  • photo ID such as a driver licence or passport.

Information for service approval

To apply for OSHC service approval, you will need to submit form SA01 through the NQA ITS portal, and provide the following key operational information:

• proposed days and hours of operation
• proposed maximum number of children attending the service
• age of children attending the service (school age or inclusive of preschool ages)
• plans/maps of the indoor and outdoor space along with measurements (in square metres) available for OSHC use
• a soil assessment or evidence that one has previously been undertaken, or a statement from the person with management or control stating that the service is not likely to pose a risk to children’s safety
• a copy of the OSHC service’s policies and procedures as required by the National Regulations (note: these are not the same as the policies used for the school itself, but as much as possible, they should align with the school policies)
• evidence of the written consent of the service’s Nominated Supervisor (see below).

Your school’s indoor space can be identified via your school’s School Asset Management System (SAMS) plan and cleaning schedule. Your school principal can access the SAMS plan via the School Facilities Profile website – accessed via logging in to the department’s intranet.

This information should have been identified by the needs analysis survey and confirmed by your school council, in its decision to establish a service. When completing the application, your school council must be aware of the implications of this operational information on:

• budget
• eligibility for Commonwealth funding
• meeting regulatory requirements such as educator to child ratios.

Timing of approvals

Applicants need to allow for plenty of time for the application process. Provider approval can take up to 60 days from the date of a complete application being received by the QARD, and a service approval can take up to 90 days.

Nominated supervisors

Approved providers must advise the department of at least one nominated supervisor per service. A nominated supervisor must:

• be 18 years or older
• have adequate knowledge and understanding about providing education and care to children
• have an ability to effectively supervise and manage an education and care service
• have completed child protection training.

Approved providers are responsible for determining if a person is suitable to be a nominated supervisor, before nominating the person. As an approved provider, you must not nominate or engage a person as a nominated supervisor, if you know or could reasonably have known, that the person was prohibited from being nominated under the National Law.

In deciding if a person is suitable to be a nominated supervisor, you must consider:

• the person’s history of compliance with the National Law and other relevant laws
• any decision under the law to refuse, suspend, refuse to renew or cancel a licence, approval, registration, certification or other authorisation granted to the person under the National Law and other relevant laws.

Further, you should consider the person’s qualifications, skills and work experience in determining if the person has adequate knowledge and understanding of the provision of education and care of children and supervision and management abilities.

Reasonable steps to ensure you do not nominate or engage a prohibited person include:

• reviewing the candidate’s references, including previous employers
• when undertaking reference checks, asking each referee if they are aware of any compliance action under the National Law or any other law in relation to the candidate, and keeping referee responses on file
• asking the candidate to complete and sign a declaration stating they are not prohibited that is then kept on file. ACECQA provide a prohibition notice declaration template.

If after taking reasonable steps, you are still concerned about the candidate’s compliance history, you may contact the QARD (licensed.childrens.services@education.vic.gov.au) and enquire if the person is subject to a prohibition notice in any state or territory.

If you become aware of a matter or an incident which affects the ability of the nominated supervisor to meet the minimum requirements, you must consider if it is appropriate to remove them as nominated supervisor. For example, if you become aware that the nominated supervisor has had compliance action against them, you must reassess if that person is suitable to be in the position.

You can ask potential nominated persons to complete and sign a compliance history statement template and then keep it on file. The template is not mandatory but can help make informed decisions about a person’s suitability to be the nominated supervisor or to be placed in day-to-day charge of the service.

You must provide QARD with the written consent of any individuals appointed as a nominated supervisor, both when applying for service approval, and if the nominee changes at any time. This can be included in your application for service approval or by submitting a nominated supervisor consent form to amend this as an attachment to a notification, if the change occurs after the service is approved.

A school that is applying for service approval and has not yet appointed an individual to be the Nominated Supervisor may nominate the principal at first, and change this prior to the service operating.

2. Prepare your venue

When setting up your service, you must comply with several regulations around venue and food and drink requirements.

School council managed OSHC services operate in school-funded facilities, which usually involve the existing buildings and grounds on a school site.

Policies available that may provide information on venue preparation and compliance include:

• Accessible Buildings Program
• School-Funded Capital Projects
• Shade Sails.

Your school council must ensure your venue complies with:

• the Building Code of Australia
• Food Safety Standards (for kitchen and food preparation areas being used by the service). You should contact your local council (LGA) to see if there are any specific requirements or any approvals are required.
• other Australian standards as relevant (for example, those relating to pool safety, playground equipment, indoor equipment and furniture, or disability)
• Ministerial directions
• the Building Quality Standards Handbook.

Food and drink at the service

You must decide if you will supply food at your service or require families to supply food from home:

• Before and after school services usually supply food, so that children have breakfast or afternoon tea upon arrival at each session.
• Vacation care services tend to require that families supply all food for children to eat (other than food prepared during cooking activities).

The availability of kitchen facilities at a venue may influence whether you provide food at your service.

Whether or not the service provides food, your service must have practices and procedures in place about the safe handling, preparation, consumption and service of food (r.90). These may include:

• clear communication to parents about suitable foods to bring into the service
• clear signage at the service so that staff know which children have allergies
• inclusive menus that meet the needs of all children (as far as possible).

You are responsible for ensuring that your staff implement safe food storage and handling practices [r.77(1)(b)], including following your school’s policy.

You must also provide safe drinking water for children at all times of service operation. You must also offer food and drink on a regular basis – whether supplied by the service or from the child’s home (r.78). If your service decides to supply food and drinks, these must be:

• nutritious
• in adequate quantity
• take into account the child’s growth and developmental needs and cultural, religious and health requirements (r.79).

An accurate weekly menu must also be displayed (r.80).

Before your service can operate, your school council should also ensure that any of its employees are:

• properly inducted to the school premises, through Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Induction and Training
• aware of your school’s Emergency and Critical Incident Management Planning and Emergency Management Plan requirements.

3. Start your service

In a school council managed service, responsibility for the operation and compliance of the service rests with the school council as the approved provider.

The most important steps to be taken once the service is approved and has children in care is to make sure that the physical environment meets requirements and that the right people are in attendance at the service

Responsible persons on duty

As an approved provider, you must ensure that a responsible person is present at a centre-based service at all times that the service is educating and caring for children.

A responsible person can be:

• the approved provider or a person with management or control themselves
• a nominated supervisor
• a person in day-to-day charge of the service.

Persons in day-to-day charge of a service

If the approved provider or nominated supervisor is not in attendance at the service, the approved provider or nominated supervisor must appoint a person in day-to-day charge of the service in their absence. The person must give written consent.

Appointing a person in day-to-day charge enables you to have a responsible person at the centre-based service at all times the service is educating and caring for children. Being in day-to-day charge of a service does not place any additional legal responsibilities under the National Law. The responsibilities relevant to educators under the National Law continue to apply. A person in day-to-day charge must:

• be 18 years or older
• have adequate knowledge and understanding of the provision of education and care to children
• have an ability to effectively manage and supervise an education and care service.

In appointing a person in day-to-day charge, you or the nominated supervisor must have regard to:

• the person’s history of compliance with the National Law and other relevant laws
• any decision under the law to refuse, suspend, refuse to renew or cancel a licence, approval, registration, certification or other authorisation granted to the person under the National Law and other relevant laws.

For information about employing staff, refer to School Council Employment.

Further information about set up tasks is included in the Legal requirements chapter of this guidance.

Plan to start and monitor a third party-managed service

The planning and preparation needed to set up a third party managed service includes the following steps, some of which are the responsibility of the school, and some of which are the responsibility of the third party provider:

1. select and appoint an approved provider (school)
2. application for service approval (provider)
3. set up a third party managed service (provider, may be supported by school)
4. monitor the operation of the service (school) third party.

1. Select and appoint an approved provider

Expression of interest

If your school council is engaging or changing an OSHC provider, it is expected that the school council consults with the school community. To assist in this selection and consultation process, schools are encouraged to use the customised Expression of Interest (EOI) template (staff login required).

Using this template will help your school run a best practice process to select a third party provider that meets the needs and values of your school community. For advice about the use of the EOI template, email schools.procurement@education.vic.gov.au

Considering the quality of potential providers

The EOI process for selecting a third party provider requires consideration for quality service provision. Consideration includes:

• compliance history and assessment rating of other similar services operated by the provider (see compliance history and details of Enforcement actions and Starting Blocks)
• provider experience in education and care, specifically OSHC services
• references or feedback on existing OSHC services
• education program planning, delivery and monitoring process
• staffing procedures (appointment, backfill, retention, qualification level or experience, professional development for staff)
• the process for the development of the quality improvement plan and ensuring continuous improvement
• program fit with community needs and values
• process for setting and revising parent and carer fees
• cost to families and carers including the proposed fee and billing structure.

Value for money for your school

The EOI template and OSHC licence agreement emphasise value for money for your school community by setting out costs for families. These documents enable consideration for:

• income shortfall resolution processes, for example, where projected enrolment demand is not met
• how service expenses are managed, for example, costs associated with advertising, utilities and maintenance and who is responsible for them, or whether these items are covered by the licence fee (these can be formalised in a Memorandum of Understanding after the provider has been selected)
• licence fee payable by the provider to the school for use of the premises, noting that the quality and affordability of the service should be a higher priority in decision making.

Financial viability and reporting

In using the EOI template and licence agreement, there should be consideration for:

• financial performance reporting and review periods
• the current financial position of the provider
• the provider’s plans to ensure the service is financially viable over time.

Policies and processes

Selecting and engaging a third party provider should include consideration of:

• the provider’s policies and associated review process
• the risk management framework of the organisation, which would include financial, legal and health and safety
• the privacy policy details regarding sharing information between the OSHC service and the school itself
• consultation opportunities identified for community, school and parents
• the strategic direction of the organisation, for example, a planned growth in the number of services and how this might negatively or positively affect the service to the school.

Identifying potential third party providers

Your school council or school community members might know of nearby providers that you could approach for inclusion in the EOI process. You should consider advertising, at minimum on your school’s website, but you could also advertise on through local channels such as newspapers, or with the local council.

You can also use the Victorian register of education and care services to identify existing providers to approach directly. The register provides:

• contact details for existing providers
• quality ratings for their existing services.

Your school council should invite potential providers to participate in the EOI process at the same time, and set a closing date for responses, after which the subcommittee should evaluate each provider against the established evaluation criteria to help reach an agreement about the preferred provider. The minimum period of time for the EOI is 10 business days. You can schedule meetings with potential providers to:

• discuss their response to the EOI
• answer any further questions the subcommittee might have
• gauge their suitability for the role and your school.

A template evaluation matrix (XLS) (staff login required) available to help school councils make this decision.

Executing a licence agreement

You need to have a licence agreement arrangement with your third party provider.

Your school council is strongly encouraged to use the OSHC licence agreement (staff login required) when engaging a third party provider:

• The OSHC licence agreement authorises the non-exclusive use of an area of the school by the third party provider.
• Schedule 1 of the template enables specification of a range of details, including the licensed area.
• Schedule 2 of the template enables the fees to be detailed, to support value for money for the school community.
• Schedule 3 details the third party's reporting requirement to encourage information sharing between the third party and the school.
• The length of the agreement is 2 years with the option for school council to extend the term for 1 further year.

A Guide to completing the OSHC licence agreement (staff login required) is also available to assist school council to adapt the licence template for the particular needs of the school.

Schools may also wish to complete a Memorandum of Understanding with the provider to capture context specific to that school that is not covered in the licence agreement. This could include agreements related to who would be responsible for cleaning and maintenance, when particular spaces can be used, access for opening and closing, or use of school facilities such as the Internet connection.

Legal services

Before making or accepting any changes to the OSHC license agreement template, Legal Division are available to offer advice and can be contacted through the Legal Division’s intranet site (staff login required). Legal Division recommends against using any other form of agreement for engaging an OSHC provider, including contracts proposed by a third-party provider.

2. Application to set up a service

Once engaged as the OSHC provider, the third party will need to complete the application for service approval (SA01) in order to establish the new service. This application requires your school address details as well as confirmation of a licence agreement for the non-exclusive use of an area of the school by a third party operating an OSHC service. It will also require evidence that sufficient space is available for the number of children intended to be cared for by the service.

While the school is not responsible for submitting this application, the school will be able to provide documents that facilitate the application process, such as plans of spaces to be used.

It is the responsibility of the third party provider to apply for the Child Care Subsidy as part of their process to establish the service.

3. Set up a third party managed service

Setting up a third party managed service includes school council and third party provider responsibilities. The school council and the provider should meet to outline expectations, and to discuss responsibilities to be met by each party when setting up the service.

In situations where the third party has responsibility for these tasks, your school council should confirm that set up is complete, before the service opens, as part of the contract between you and your third party provider. Further information about set up tasks is included in the Legal requirements chapter of this guidance.

Some of the set-up tasks such as promotion of the service through school news channels or parent newsletters, may be shared responsibilities between the third party and your school council.

Where there are shared tasks, it is important that your school council identifies which member(s) of your school council and school community have responsibility to work with the third party to complete these.

Shared use of grounds and facilities

It is important to note that one of the functions of your school council, as outlined in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic), includes maintaining your school’s grounds and facilities. To assist with fulfilling this function, your school council should be clear with the third party provider about how any issues with the facilities or grounds used by your service will be reported.

Before your service can operate, your school council should also ensure that the third party and any of its employees are:

• properly inducted to the school premises, through Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Induction and Training
• aware of your school’s Emergency and Critical Incident Management Planning and Emergency Management Plan requirements, although it is required that a third party service have its own.

Important: Your school council should audit the third party’s OHS policies and procedures to ensure that the third party is providing a safe workplace in accordance with the Human Resources section of the school Policy and Advisory Library (PAL).

4. Your school’s obligations with a third party service

Where your school council has decided to engage a third party provider, your school council has obligations in ensuring that the provider operates a quality service and adheres to all conditions of their engagement. It is strongly encouraged to set up an OSHC subcommittee to have oversight over the third party provider at your school.

Monitoring and reviewing your service delivery

Your school council is responsible for managing the licence agreement you have with your third party provider.

Although legal responsibility for the service itself rests with the provider, good management of your licence agreement with a third party provider will support compliance with the National Law and national regulations. It will also promote quality improvement and value for money for the families in the school community.

The terms of reference and meeting templates for your OSHC subcommittee enable the monitoring and reviewing process.

The Department's resources available to help your school council with their OSHC responsibilities include:

• OSHC meeting agenda templates (DOCX)
• OSHC subcommittee terms of reference (DOCX)
• School Council Subcommittees Policy.

Establishing and maintaining partnerships

Effective and collaborative partnerships take time to develop between the school council and your third party provider. To ensure your OSHC service achieves the best quality outcomes for children, the following strategies can be used:

• having input into, and reviewing, the service’s philosophy and goals
• communicating any concerns early to avoid escalation
• investigating opportunities for collaboration in other areas such as a school fete, school orientations and newsletter submissions
• maintaining confidentiality regarding sensitive information
• sharing information and resources where appropriate
• ensuring clear grievance or complaints procedures are shared with all families and staff.
• inviting OSHC staff to attend school run professional learning.

A collaborative partnership will contribute to the success of the program, benefiting children and families, by meeting their education and care needs and contributing to a positive work environment for coordinators and educators. The Promoting Collaborative Partnerships Between School Age Care Services and Schools guide may be of assistance.

Information sharing

Information sharing between the school and the service is important to support children's wellbeing, and their learning and development while on the school site. For example, sharing children's Transition Learning and Development Statements with the OSHC service supports a positive start to school for children and their families. Information sharing requires consideration for the:

• reporting requirements expected of the third party provider (such as financial performance, utilisation rates, assessment and rating reports, parent feedback and complaints)
• frequency of reporting, for example, monthly meetings or immediate notification of certain items such as complaints and incidents
• reporting requirements of school council, for example, the provider may seek information from your school council such as enrolment information or a maintenance schedule
• provider’s proposal regarding consultation and information sharing with families.

Legal requirements

The following information is important for school councils and OSHC subcommittees regardless of the operating model chosen.

1. Regulatory and legal frameworks: the National Quality Framework and Child Safe Standards

An outside school hours care (OSHC) service is an approved education and care service under the National Quality Framework (NQF).

The NQF was introduced in 2012 to improve education and care across long day care, family day care, preschool or kindergarten, and OSHC.

The NQF includes:

• the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (National Law) and the Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 (National Regulations)
• the National Quality Standard (NQS)
• an Assessment and rating process
• Approved learning frameworks such as ‘My Time, Our Place’ and the ‘Victorian Early Learning and Development Framework'
• a regulatory authority in each state and territory responsible for the approval, monitoring and quality assessment of services in their state or territory. In Victoria this is the Quality Assessment and Regulation Division (QARD) of the Department of Education and Training. QARD has officers throughout Victoria that both monitor and support services with compliance and assess services prior to operation.
• a national body, the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), which guides the implementation of the NQF and works with regulatory authorities.

Assessment and rating process for OSHC

The NQF promotes high quality education, care services and outcomes for children through the NQS and assessment and rating process. This helps to ensure high quality, consistent services with an ongoing commitment to continuous improvement.

The NQS includes 7 quality areas that are important outcomes for children. All education and care services under the NQF are assessed and rated against the NQS and given a rating for each of the 7 quality areas and an overall rating based on these results. Possible rating outcomes include the Exceeding NQS, Meeting NQS, Working Towards NQS and Significant Improvement required. Services that have been rated as Exceeding may also apply for the ‘Excellent’ rating through ACECQA. For more information, refer to the Department's Assessment and rating page.

In Victoria, authorised officers from QARD, as the Regulatory Authority, undertake assessment and rating visits at education and care services.

Child Safe Standards

All early childhood services (including OSHC) and schools are required to comply with 11 Child Safe Standards.

2. Educational requirements for high quality OSHC

The educational program within an OSHC service is a key component to the provision of a high quality OSHC service. The educational program of an OSHC service includes:

• all the activities that children participate in
• learning outcomes
• all physical spaces used by the children
• all of the routines and transitions
• the partnerships and collaborations with families, the school, colleagues and other professionals.

To ensure compliance, OSHC programs must be based on and delivered in accordance with an approved learning framework. The 2 approved learning frameworks for Victorian OSHC services are:

1. My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care is a national framework used throughout Australia, including services in Victoria and
2. Victorian Early Learning and Development Framework for children from birth to 8 years, which is only used in Victoria.

It is most typical for OSHC services in Victoria to follow the My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care Framework.

The educational program must contribute to 5 learning and development outcomes shared by both My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care and the Victorian Early Learning and Development Framework, which are:

• children have a strong sense of identity
• children are connected with and contribute to their world
• children have a strong sense of wellbeing
• children are confident and involved learners
• children are effective communicators.

3. Legislated tasks prior to opening a service

The following tasks must be completed by the approved provider before providing OSHC services to children and their families. An understanding of third party tasks by school council (and OSHC subcommittee) will help in meeting the terms of the licence agreement and provision of high quality OSHC. Schools may wish to include these in a Memorandum of Understanding with the approved provider, if they have engaged a third party provider.

Develop a service quality improvement plan

The National Regulations require preparation of a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) for the service within 3 months of being granted service approval (r.55). The QIP helps a service self-assess performance in delivering high quality education and care and to plan future improvements.

It is important that educators, children, families and the community are all involved in the assessment and ongoing review of the QIP. The QIP must:

• include an assessment by the approved provider of the quality of the practices of the service against the NQS and the regulations
• identify any areas that the provider considers may require improvement
• contain a statement of the philosophy of the service.

Once developed, the QIP must be reviewed at least annually.

Notification systems for complaints, incidents and serious incidents

The National Law requires providers to notify QARD using the NQA ITS of certain incidents while a child or children are being educated or cared for by the service.

This includes any:

• incident where it is reasonably believed that physical or sexual abuse of a child has occurred or is occurring while the child is being educated and cared for by the service
• allegation that sexual or physical abuse of a child has occurred or is occurring while the child is being educated and cared for by the service
• complaint that alleges a serious incident has occurred or is occurring while a child is being educated and cared for by a service, or that the national law or national regulations have been contravened
• serious incident or emergency. An emergency is defined as an incident, situation or event where there is an imminent or severe risk to the health, safety and wellbeing of any person present at a service. A serious incident could be the death of a child, serious injury or trauma, attendance of emergency services, a missing child, child taken without authorisation, children mistakenly locked in or out of the service, any serious illness where a child attended or ought to have attended a hospital.

Visit the ACECQA website for more information on Child protection related reporting requirements.

QARD maintains a range of fact sheets and frequently asked questions, and helpful information in relation to legislation and regulatory frameworks.

Administrative notifications

Notifications of changes to persons with management or control

QARD must be notified by the approved provider of any change to persons with management or control of the OSHC service. Persons with management or control have higher managerial responsibilities than nominated supervisors and persons in day-to-day charge. In most school council managed services, the person with management or control is the principal. If this person changes, for example, if there is a change of principal or school council member or an extended absence, the regulatory authority must be notified.

Under the NQF, the approved provider and any persons with management or control, the nominated supervisors and any person nominated as being a responsible person, are responsible for the management and compliance of the service, in particular:

• providing an educational program that supports children’s play and leisure
• ensuring the supervision and safety of children
• monitoring entry to and exit from the service premises, ensuring that these comply with the service’s policies
• providing food and beverages
• administering medication
• providing opportunities for sleep and rest
• conducting excursions
• recruiting and supervising staffing.

In most OSHC services, day-to-day responsibility for these matters will fall to the nominated supervisor, but the person with management or control still bears responsibility under the National Law for ensuring these responsibilities are met.

Additionally, the approved provider must notify QARD of any changes to service contact details, proposed changes to the service (for example, location of rooms), changes to nominated supervisors, service closure. If the approved provider changes, the receiving (incoming) provider is responsible for notifying QARD of this.

Notifications must be made online

QARD must be notified by the provider of complaints, incidents and serious incidents through the National Quality Agenda IT System. Log in to access the portal where you can select the incident or complaint type and enter the required information. Paper-based forms are no longer available.

Documents and record management

There are a number of records that are legally required to be kept by an approved provider.

QARD has developed resources to assist approved providers to meet their legislative requirements.

Prior to opening, a service must have systems in place to document and manage the following:

• incident, injury, trauma and illness record (r.87). In the event that a child is injured, becomes ill or suffers a trauma at your service, a record of the event must be kept.
• medical conditions (r.90). For each child with a diagnosed medical condition that has been notified by parents, the following must be in place — medical management plan developed by GP or specialist, risk minimisation plan developed in consultation with parents and communication plan so that all staff and parents know how to communicate any changes to medical management or risk minimisation plans.
• medication record (r.92). If a child is administered medication at the service, a record of the event must be kept.
• emergency and evacuation plan (r.97). The Department has developed a range of resources to assist education and care services in developing their emergency management plan (EMP) and where relevant, their bushfire-preparedness. The Department encourages all education and care services to use these resources and regularly review their EMP to ensure the ongoing safety of the service community. The template and related information can be found on the Department’s Emergency management requirements web page. Note that the service needs its own plan and cannot just adopt a school's.
• Bushfire At-Risk services. All education and care services listed on the Department’s Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR) are required as a condition of their service approval to submit their EMP to their regional office. Further information can be found at the Bushfire At-Risk Register web page.
• attendance and enrolment records (r.158 to 162). Educators must be provided with instruments with which to gather and record child attendance and enrolment information.
• policies and procedures (r.168 and r.171). A copy of the service’s policies and procedures required under r.168 must be available and accessible at the service. Additional policies and procedures to support operational and service practice maybe developed.
• storage of records (r.183). Records and documents set out in r.177 must be stored safely and securely for a defined period of time. The period of time is dependent on the type of document or record, as outlined in the Operational Requirements, linked below. Lockable filing cabinets and other furniture may need to be purchased prior to opening. Records may also be digitally stored.
• law and regulations (r.185). A copy of the national law and national regulations must be accessible at your service premises at all times. In addition, the service should have available a copy of the approved learning framework used in the program.
• educational program information (r.75). Information about the contents and operation of the educational program must be displayed to parents.
• weekly menu (regulation 80). If food and beverages (other than water) are served, you need to display a weekly menu outlining what food and drinks you will be serving, in a place that parents can access.

ACECQA has regulations that outline a number of Operational Requirements that approved providers must meet.

Physical environment

Prior to the service opening, the environment must be appropriately set up to facilitate an OSHC service.

In addition to this requirement, certain prescribed information must be available and displayed clearly and visibly at the service. The prescribed information can be found in:

• s.172 of the National Law
• r.173 of the National Regulations.

Equipment and resources

• First aid kits (r.89). Suitably equipped first aid kits must be available and kept in accordance with r.89 of the national regulations. For information on deciding what items to include and procedures to keep kits current, refer to the guide to the National Law and National Regulations.
• Telephone or other communication equipment (r.98). The nominated supervisor and employees of the service must have access to an operating telephone or similar means of communication to enable immediate communication to and from parents or carers and emergency services.
• Furniture, materials and equipment (r.105). Each child being educated and cared for by the service must have access to safe and sufficient furniture, materials and developmentally appropriate equipment. Resources should be sufficient in variety and number and meet the range of interests, ages and abilities of all children, avoid overcrowding, ensuring children do not have to wait for long periods to participate and minimise disputes over resources, materials and equipment.
• Administrative space (r.111). Administrative space must be set up and stocked with necessary office supplies prior to opening.

Information that must be displayed at the service

Information about the service (r.173) must be displayed so that it is clearly visible to anyone from the main entrance to the service premises.

Roles and responsibilities

An approved provider must ensure that a responsible person is present at a centre-based OSHC program at all times that the service is educating and caring for children. It is an offence to operate an education and care service without a responsible person present.

A responsible person is:

• the approved provider or a person with management or control
• a nominated supervisor
• a person in day-to-day charge of the service.

The names of each nominated supervisor and the person in day-to-day charge for each day must be displayed so that they are visible from the OSHC main entrance.

Educational leader

To support the provision of a high-quality education and care program, there must be an appointed educational leader. This person leads the development and implementation of the program and ensures the establishment of clear goals and expectations for teaching and learning.

An educational leader, should be:

• suitably qualified and experienced
• given paid time to plan, prepare and take further opportunities such as additional qualifications
• approachable and well respected
• knowledgeable about theories, pedagogy and the relevant learning frameworks
• skilled at supporting educators of varying abilities and learning styles
• knowledgeable about the national quality framework and related regulatory standards.

For more information, refer to the ACECQA information sheet The role of the educational leader.

National Quality Framework requirements for educational leaders

The educational leader role is part of Quality Area 7 – Governance and Leadership in the National Quality Standard (NQS). Standard 7.1 in the NQS requires that effective leadership promotes a positive organisational culture and builds a professional learning community. Further to this, element 7.1.4 requires that provision is made to ensure a suitably qualified and experienced educator or coordinator leads the development of the curriculum and ensures the establishment of clear goals and expectations for teaching and learning.

The legislation is not prescriptive about the qualifications and experience required by the appointed educational leader. This enables the approved provider to choose the person best suited to take on this role.

The educational leader contributes to the development of the program in partnership with children, families and all educators, ensuring that the program:

• is engaging
• meets the community's needs
• reflects the service philosophy.

During program development, consideration should be given to all planned and spontaneous aspects of the service including the activities, routines and experiences, as well as all the interactions that occur.

An educational program based on an approved learning framework must be prepared and ready to be delivered from the commencement of the service.

Run a service operated by your school

This section outlines:

1. promoting your service
2. finances and budgets
3. staffing
4. Commonwealth childcare payments
5. running a school council operated service.

1. Promote your service

The effective promotion of your service is an integral part of maintaining a strong community presence and supporting ongoing viability of your service.

Service promotion is another way for you to sustain collaborative partnerships between all stakeholders. Achievements, such as a service opening and celebrations including anniversaries and unveiling new spaces are common events that trigger incidental promotion of your service.

However, you could consider other more frequent and important aspects to promote your service including:

• details of your educators such as their qualifications, languages spoken, special skills and interests
• facilities and resources of your service
• your educational program and practices
• governance and management
• flexibility and accessibility of your service
• the importance of a positive learning environment for children
• links with the local and wider community
• benefits of family involvement such as joining an outside school hours care (OSHC) subcommittee or other committee
• how the Child Care Subsidy and other government subsidies may be claimed
• specialist programs, incursions and events.

Planning and executing your promotions

When developing promotional campaigns and materials, your service should consider the following:

• associated costs and how they will be funded
• marketing skills required and who may be able to assist
• the consistency of your service’s image
• audience and purpose of promotional material
• a media or publicity contact, to ensure someone within or connected closely with the service is authorised and available to discuss any queries that result from publicity
• methods of promotion including via the school, community events, newspapers and online
• amount of in-kind support required, such as the time required by staff to review, administer or respond to promotional activities.

It is important that all your promotional material adheres to any privacy requirements and is kept up to date, so it is reflective of your service's current practices, philosophy, values and community involvement.

2. Finances and budgets

The financial aspects of setting up and running your OSHC service are vital.

When developing your budget it should comply with advice in the department’s Finance Manual for Victorian government schools. As the provision of OSHC is a trading operation, please refer to the Finance Manual – Section 12 Trading Operations.

Accurate budget information is important for identifying and determining the fee structure and for ensuring financial viability of the service:

• Your school council should ensure that your budget is based on the information that is available, including estimated numbers of children in attendance from the initial survey, noting that there will often be fewer children using the service on certain days of the week.
• Your budget should be guided by a break-even fee amount. The break-even fee is the minimum fee that the service would need to charge per child in order for the service’s income to equal its expenses.

A realistic budget will empower your OSHC subcommittee to effectively plan, monitor and control the income and expenses of your service, so that the service will be affordable to the community and financially viable.

Forecasting

Clear and accurate forecasting requires the items below.

Planning

Your subcommittee should research and gather all relevant information to be included in the projection. This will include:

• pay awards
• employment contracts
• operating hours of the service, including whether to offer before school care, after school care and/or vacation care, and how many days per week
• likely enrolment numbers.

Projection

Accurate projection of income and expenditure should ensure the budget is a close reflection of the actual financial position of your service. It is best to keep income projections conservative to allow for less than expected utilisation.

Monitoring

You need to frequently monitor your budget to ensure that actual income and expenditure is meeting budget expectations. You should set and enforce clear procedures for addressing financial matters that directly affect budget lines, such as fee collection.

Review

As income and expenditure are likely to change through time, you need to evaluate your budget regularly. It is important that your budget consistently reflects general cost increases and provisions for the improvement or maintenance of resources and equipment.

Budget components

Each budget will vary depending on the service. However your budget will typically include the below items.

Income

Income includes:

• non-fee income (any establishment grants, Commonwealth subsidy support, fundraising, enrolment administration fee or bank interest) earned
• fee income (family payments or child care subsidy).

Expenditure includes:

• core staff (wages, leave provisions, on-costs, professional development and training)
• ancillary staff (book-keeper, cleaner or maintenance person)
• marketing
• fees, such as the annual licence fee, bank fees, utilities or bad debts
• subscriptions or memberships (for example, peak or industrial body membership)
• consumables (for example, food, drink, toys, craft or office supplies)
• venue (ongoing repairs and maintenance, any modifications or works that may be required to the building or rooms in which your service will operate)
• special activity fees (for example, incursions and excursions)
• equipment for your service (for example, furniture, information communications technology (ICT) hardware and software)
• additional insurance required for the service such as if the service operates in a non-entitled building, additional contents, worker’s compensation.

Once the estimated annual expenditure and income are calculated, your OSHC subcommittee will be able to determine the total surplus or deficit, and consequently, the break-even fee required.

Recording expenditure

All expenditure and revenue of the OSHC service must be recorded in CASES21 the integrated school administration and finance software system used in Victorian government schools.

More information

The department provides guidance:

• on the CASES21 web page (staff login required)
• via Finance Services (staff login required)
• How to calculate GST for OSHC services (DOCX), as well as budget templates and calculators.

3. Staffing

The legislation and requirements when planning for and managing staff at your OSHC service.

Workforce planning

When planning your staffing requirements for your service, you must take into account the requirements of the national regulations, National Quality Standards (NQS) and the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (National Law) regarding:

• staffing arrangements
• qualifications (r.136 and r.356, and r.126 if the service takes in children under school age, i.e. kindergarten-aged children)
• staff to child ratios [r.355 & r.101(2)(e)]
• the provision of adequate supervision.

Employment conditions

Ministerial Order 1039 (DOCX) provides the conditions of employment for school council employees. In general, employees within your service will be employed within the education support classification structure under Ministerial Order 1039.

Where you do not employ someone within the education support classification, your school council must ensure the employee is paid at least the applicable minimum rate under the Victorian Government Schools Award 2016.

As school councils are defined as public entities under the Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic) (the Act), they are required to comply with the requirements of the Act in respect of public sector employees. Section 8 of the Act requires the establishment of employment processes that ensure that:

• employment decisions are based on merit
• public sector employees are treated fairly and reasonably
• equal employment opportunity is provided
• employees have a reasonable avenue of redress against unfair or unreasonable treatment.

For more information regarding terms and conditions of employment for school council employees, contact the policy and employee relations branch within the department’s People Division by email at employee.relations@education.vic.gov.au or on 03 9637 2454.

For recruitment related inquires contact the schools recruitment unit on 1800 641 943 or by email at schoolsrecruitment@education.vic.gov.au

Position descriptions

The purpose of a position description is to define the parameters of a particular job and the skills required to perform it, to attract and appoint the most suitable person. For your service, a position description should outline the educator’s responsibilities in terms of relationships and partnerships with children and families, curriculum development and requirements under the NQF including approved learning frameworks.

As a minimum, a position description should include:

• the employer name and location
• the position title, pay range and (or) classification level
• your service’s philosophy, goals, management structure, accountabilities and the authority and decision making boundaries for everyone
• the basic functions of the role and responsibilities of the position
• essential selection criteria including mandatory requirements (such as a Working with Children (WWC) Check or minimum qualifications) knowledge and skills required
• desirable selection criteria such as computer skills and knowledge of the local community.

Selection criteria must comply with anti-discrimination legislation and school policies.

Working with Children Check or Victorian Institute of Teaching registration

Your staff must hold a valid Working with Children (WWC) Check (r.358) prior to commencing work with children. Prospective volunteers or employees must undertake a WWC Check prior to working in your service:

• You must complete a WWC check even if the applicant has undertaken a Police Check, as the WWC Check and Police Check have differing reporting purposes.
• Your staff members registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) are exempt from the WWC Check, providing their VIT registration is not suspended or cancelled.
• Prior to recruitment, your school council as the approved provider of your service, must verify each potential OSHC staff member’s current VIT registration or their WWC Clearance. The Clearance/registration, and the date it was verified, is a prescribed record under the National Regulations (r.147(d) and r. 147(e).) and must be kept in the OSHC service’s staff record.

Qualifications and ratios of staff to children

Your school council must ensure that there is at least 1 educator for every 15 children, at all times your service is operating, and that all your staff have the required qualifications.

For children over preschool age, at least 50% of required educators must hold or be enrolled in and actively working towards, at least a diploma equivalent qualification, approved for educators working with children over preschool age in Victoria [r.356(2)].

All other required educators must:

• hold or be actively working towards at least a Certificate III equivalent qualification approved for educators working with children over preschool age in Victoria [r.356(3)(a)] or
• begin obtaining that qualification within 6 months of educating and caring for children [r.356(3)(b)]

For OSHC services, a variety of qualifications such as early childhood, youth work, teaching and OSHC specific qualifications are approved. For more information refer to the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) list of approved OSHC qualifications. Educators may also hold an early childhood qualification that will meet the qualification requirements.

First aid qualifications

It is recommended that if you have multiple staff at the service that as many as possible undertake the required first aid training. The minimum requirement is that the service must have at least one person in attendance at any place where children are being educated and cared for by your service who holds the following qualifications:

• current approved cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) qualification (updated annually)
• current approved training in anaphylaxis management
• current approved training in emergency asthma management.

You can use the ACECQA NQF approved qualifications list to find which units or courses are acceptable first aid training (select 'First Aid' from the 'Qualification Level' drop-down).

This person must be immediately available in an emergency. If the OSHC is located inside school premises, the qualified person does not need to be an educator within your service and can include other people in attendance at the school site and immediately available during service operating times.

Referee checks

Once you have selected preferred candidates, you need to perform referee checks.

The Child Safe Standards (CSS) require organisations that provide services for children to have recruitment and screening practices that reduce the risk of child abuse.

As the hirer you should:

• always talk to at least 2 referees of prospective employees, as this can provide insight into the applicant’s character and skills
• always talk to previous line managers particularly the most recent, as they are likely to provide the most accurate reference
• where possible, contact referees that can provide insights into the applicant’s experience in working with children.

Further guidance on referee checks and key questions to ask can be found in Schools – suitable staff and volunteers guidance.

The CSS aim to protect children from abuse in organisations including physical violence, sexual offences, serious emotional or psychological abuse and serious neglect. For further explanation of the different types of child abuse, please see an overview of the department's Child Safe Standards Policy.

4. Commonwealth childcare payments

The Commonwealth Government provides funding and support to OSHC services according to the eligibility criteria for service users.

Child Care Subsidy and child care rebate

Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is a payment made by the Australian Government's Department of Education on behalf of eligible families, using an approved education and care service to assist with the costs of child care. The CCS came into effect on 2 July 2018 and replaces the previous Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate.

CCS is income tested and is usually paid directly to approved child care services (including OSHC) to reduce the fees that eligible families pay.

Families make a co-contribution to their child care fees and pay the OSHC service the difference between the fee charged and the subsidy amount. The subsidy amount for each child varies depending on the family’s earnings and other eligibility requirements they need to meet through Centrelink.

To receive the CCS payment on behalf of families, your school council or other OSHC provider must be approved under National Family Assistance Law. There are several steps in applying for CCS approval, including:

• meeting legal entity requirements (school councils meet this requirement)
• creating accounts on PRODA for the school principal, the school itself, and school council members
• being an approved provider and service under the NQF and National Law (while CCS approval cannot be granted until your OSHC service is approved under the NQF, you can apply for CCS approval while this is being assessed).

Family eligibility and entitlement explains the different types of services that can be granted CCS approval.

Once approved, your school council administers the CCS through the Child Care Subsidy System for families and child care providers. Training may be required for staff who keep and submit records for CCS. Administration can be done directly through the Provider Entry Point, or through a compatible software package.

Priority of access

As outlined in the Australian Government's Child Care Provider Handbook, child care providers can set their own rules for deciding who receives a place. Providers are asked to (but are not legally obliged to) prioritise children who are:

• at risk of serious abuse or neglect
• a child of a sole parent who satisfies, or parents who both satisfy, the activity test through paid employment.

OSHC services are strongly encouraged to develop their own policy for prioritising access to OSHC for children at their service. This meets the Australian Government’s aims of helping families who are most in need and supporting the safety and wellbeing of children at risk.

The Inclusion Support Program

The Inclusion Support Program (ISP) assists education and care services (including OSHC) to include children with additional needs by providing tailored inclusion advice and support. It helps services to build their ability to include children with additional needs in mainstream services so that these children can learn and develop alongside their peers.

The Victorian Inclusion Agency is the relevant contact for further information and advice about inclusion support.

5. Run a school council operated service

Ongoing role of the OSHC subcommittee

As the approved provider, your school council is responsible for the service. It is recommended that an OSHC subcommittee is in place to support school council in providing a quality service.

Some ongoing functions of the OSHC subcommittee may, in consultation with OSHC staff, include providing advice to your school council on:

• recruitment and performance management of OSHC staff
• sourcing professional learning and development opportunities for staff
• promotion of the OSHC service
• development and monitoring of the service’s budget and financial performance
• collection of parent fees and acquitting fee and non-fee funding
• sourcing potential funding opportunities
• planning, monitoring and reviewing service delivery
• monitoring quality improvement against the Quality Improvement Plan (QIP)
• ensuring the service complies with all relevant legislation, regulations, standards, policies and procedures
• development, implementation and review of policies and procedures
• consultation with OSHC staff, families and the community
• purchasing items for the service such as games, food or craft materials
• maintenance and facilities matters
• coordinating payment of annual fees to the regulatory authority
• notifying the regulatory authority of any changes to the person with management and control, nominated supervisor or responsible person of the service.

Planning, monitoring, and reviewing service delivery

Your school council should plan, monitor and review service delivery so your service is:

• high quality
• affordable for parents
• financially viable for the school
• meets the needs of the community (through a robust consultation process)
• compliant with legislative and regulatory obligations.

Planning, implementing and monitoring in relation to your service may be included in the school’s annual implementation plan (AIP) as part of the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO) improvement cycle.

The extent to which your service authentically links to the FISO dimensions will depend on its model of operation and governance. Schools can use the Continua of practice (login required) for the relevant FISO dimensions to self-assess and monitor their practice. You may also wish to consult the Promoting Collaborative Partnerships between School Age Care Services and Schools resource.

The planning, monitoring and review cycle may involve consulting families using the service, as well as the broader school community. Budget monitoring processes will help plan for financial viability. The quality improvement plan should be regularly updated with service quality improvements. On an operational level, the OSHC coordinator may develop and update the QIP to be endorsed by the school council.

Engaging and consulting with families that use the service

Your school council is required to develop and maintain supportive relationships with families, and provide opportunities for families to be involved in the service and contribute to decisions about the service.

For more information, see National Quality Area 6 — collaborative partnerships with families and communities.

Opportunities to build relationships and consult with families and communities, may include:

• formal consultation between the school council and the OSHC subcommittee or a separate parent advisory group
• fostering regular information sharing through a communication book, social media or newsletters
• encouraging families to be involved in OSHC service events or activities.

Your school council may also develop a family handbook, so that all families know what happens at your service. This handbook could include details for parents to contribute feedback, given feedback opportunities are required to be offered under the NQS.

Reporting and communication between the school council and the coordinator

A service operated by a school council will generally employ:

• a staff member to service as the Nominated Supervisor. This staff member may also be in the role of the Educational Leader. This staff member is accountable to the school council, either directly or through the OSHC subcommittee.
• educator(s) who are ultimately accountable to the school council through the coordinator.

It is recommended that the school council may also appoint an OSHC subcommittee to advise them on operational matters. Refer to School Council — Subcommittees for further information.

Information sharing

Your school council must share with the coordinator or subcommittee changes that affect service delivery and staff. For example, any decisions made regarding changes to, or adoption of, new polices must be shared. Processes to achieve this include:

• regular monthly meetings between the OSHC coordinator, school council and OSHC subcommittee (if applicable)
• the OSHC service being a standing item on the school council meeting agenda with reports from the coordinator and (or) OSHC subcommittee.

The coordinator should share any relevant information with the educators. Regular team meetings, with all staff in attendance, are crucial to efficient service delivery. Where this is not possible, the coordinator and staff can share information in a range of ways including email, a communication book or noticeboard.

At school council meetings, a financial report including a balance sheet and profit and loss statement, must be submitted by the treasurer. The financial reports of the service should also be independently audited each year and a report submitted to school council.

CASES21

For specific general ledger codes that apply to OSHC please see the CASES21 page (login required).

Establishing and maintaining effective and collaborative partnerships

An effective and collaborative partnership between school council and OSHC service staff is essential to ensure that the service achieves the best quality outcomes for children and their families. Some ways to foster a successful working relationship include:

• establishing clear professional boundaries by ensuring everyone has a position description that outlines their role, responsibilities, extent of authority and accountabilities
• ensuring that the service has policies and procedures to guide practice
• having a system for regular communication such as meetings or scheduled phone calls
• having policies and procedures to address complaints that go across the operation of the OSHC service and the school
• developing or reviewing the service’s philosophy and goals together to cultivate a sense of ownership and belonging
• developing a staff handbook that outlines the service philosophy and how staff contribute to a high quality service
• ensuring financial delegations are appropriate and activity is regularly audited
• investigating possible opportunities to collaborate in other areas such as a school fete, school orientations and contributions to a newsletter or school website
• sharing resources and knowledge
• attending professional development or training together
• having clear recruitment processes and conducting staff appraisals, at least annually
• celebrating achievements, such as an increase in the use of the service or an improvement in quality and assessment rating
• organising an end-of-year celebration

Educator appraisals

Element 7.2.2 of the National Quality Standard (NQS) requires that ‘the performance of educators, coordinators and staff members is evaluated and individual development plans are in place to support performance improvement’.

Appraisals should occur as part of a fair and transparent process, and need to be respectful and professional. Feedback shared in an appraisal can occur formally, as well as informally, and should be ongoing.

A good appraisal system empowers educators to develop and contribute to their own performance goals. Educators should be encouraged to undertake self-assessment to critically reflect on their performance.

Appraisals provide an opportunity to acknowledge an employee’s strengths as well as areas for development and any resources, professional development activities and additional support required.

Professional learning and development

To enable continuous improvement in your service, all OSHC staff should have access to professional learning opportunities. Professional learning and development helps educators to be current in their knowledge and understanding of working with children and families, as well as new research and legislation. Educators who are employed directly by a government school are able to use their login details to access relevant online training modules available through LearnED.

Networking with colleagues in the sector is an important example of how individuals share and build their knowledge and skills.

Change the provider or operating model of your service

If your school delivers an established Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service there are a number of steps to take if you want to change the approved provider. Depending on whether there is a third party involved, a school council exits their license agreement directly or both the school and the third party exit the licence agreement. This process may also occur at the expiry of an agreement.

A new agreement can then be executed and Quality Assessment and Regulation Division (QARD) must be notified of the transfer. These processes are detailed below.

1. Make a decision on whether to change the provider

There are several steps to follow:

• reviewing the service quality and relevant circumstances
• informing and involving the school community in the decision
• changing the approved provider, including undertaking an Expression of Interest (EOI) process if looking to appoint a new third party provider.

Review the service quality and any relevant circumstances or evidence

The decision by your school council to make a change to the approved provider of an OSHC service should be based on evidence including, but not limited to:

• poor service quality
• ongoing or serious non-compliance with the national law
• increase in the number of complaints received by service users
• a drop in use of the service by families
• poor financial position or performance that threatens the viability of the service
• inability to manage all administrative and legal requirements of the service
• inability to access or retain suitably qualified staff
• expiry of OSHC licence agreement with the incumbent provider
• pre-determined review point set by school council. For example, in the licence agreement between the school council and the third party provider, a review point may be a quarterly meeting.

In many cases, the factors highlighted above:

• may be addressed through ongoing continuous service improvement
• may not require or result in a change to approved provider.

It is important to understand:

• that changing approved providers does not guarantee a better service for the community
• that arrangements or solutions can be identified in collaboration with a third party provider that may be preferable to changing to another provider
• what requirements other providers, including your school council, can realistically deliver, or deliver in a way that is superior to the existing arrangement.

The school council needs to perform due diligence on the current service, to understand any conditions on service approval, compliance actions, financial liabilities and other transmission of business that will affect the school council’s or other third-party provider's ability to deliver the service.

How to inform and involve the school community in the decision

In deciding whether to change the approved provider or operating model for a service, it is important that the decision making process is clear and transparent for families, staff and other stakeholders. The school council or principal should advise stakeholders:

• why they are looking to change providers.
• what the decision making process will be.
• how stakeholders can participate in the process.

Before a decision is made, there should be time to consult with all stakeholders through:

• open forums
• surveys
• newsletters
• website and email, or
• meetings as appropriate.

Changing the approved provider

If your school council has an existing OSHC licence agreement (DOCX) (staff login required) with a third-party provider, the first step the school council needs to take is to examine dispute resolution, review and exit terms and (or) clauses to understand their options.

If your school council wants to change service providers or the operating model, the process will be similar to the 6 steps outlined in the Decide if you need a service section of this guide.

The school council needs to consider what is working well about the current service, and what requirements are a priority for your service at the school. A review of your current service and priorities may result in:

• no change to your current provider
• a revised OSHC licence agreement with your current provider
• a change of third-party provider
• transferring from a third-party managed to a school council managed service
• transferring from a school council managed to a third-party provided service.

2. The transfer process

Once a decision has been made to change the service’s provider, it is a requirement that the proposed new provider notify QARD of the intent to transfer the service approval.

The school will manage matters related to licence agreements, such as exiting any current agreements and making a new agreement and, if applicable, Memorandum of Understanding, with a new provider if the service is transferring to a new third party provider.

In any case, the transferring provider will need to notify the Commonwealth Department of Education, Skills and Employment of the transfer of service approval by completing and submitting the Notification of Closure, Sale or Transfer of Ownership or Management form. Written notice must be given 42 days or more before ceasing to operate.

The process for transferring the approval of the service to operate varies slightly depending on which type of provider will operate the service after the transfer.

Third-party transfer to school council managed service

For your school council to take over management of an OSHC service they should:

• check that the OSHC licence agreement allows the third party to transfer the service approval to the school council during the life of the licence agreement
• advise key stakeholders
• set up operational, business and legislative approvals to operate the service. For more information, refer to Run a service operated by your school
• apply for provider approval from QARD if they are not already an approved provider
• notify QARD at least 42 days prior to the transfer taking effect (form SA04 on the NQAITS) providing evidence that the transferring provider consents to the transfer (form PA09):
  • The school council will need to hold provider approval prior to lodging the notification. A provider that is still under assessment may not lodge form SA04.
  • QARD may consider a time frame shorter than 42 days if you advise of extenuating circumstances in writing.
  • The notification will also need to include information about where the service will operate from on the school grounds after the transfer, as this may change, whether the contact details or service name will change, and whether a new nominated supervisor will be appointed.
  • If the transferring provider will not provide written consent, the school should contact QARD as soon as possible on 1300 307 415 to discuss. It may be required to take over the service by lodging a new service approval application instead. QARD will assist with this process if required.
• finalise the general transfer of business, such as any equipment or furniture, that may transfer to the school
• notify QARD within 2 business days of the transfer taking effect, after which a new service approval certificate will be issued to the school.

School council transfer to third-party managed service

To transfer the operation to a third-party provider, your school council should:

• conduct an expression of interest (EOI) process to select a preferred provider, using the OSHC EOI template.
• ensure that there are sufficient funds available to finalise all staff entitlements, prior to the transfer of the service, including redundancy payments if applicable
• develop and agree on the OSHC licence agreement with the third-party provider
• provide a signed form PA09 to the third party provider, which is required for them to submit the notification of transfer to QARD.
• provide any documents that the new provider will require for the transfer notification, which may include school maps/plans, calculations of space, and the executed licence agreement.
• finalise the general transfer of business, such as any equipment or furniture, that may transfer to the new provider
• when the transfer takes effect, notify QARD within 2 working days.

It is recommended that schools contact the Department’s Legal Services for advice when transferring to a third -party managed service, particularly concerning transfer of business arrangements and possible employment implications. Your school council should also keep families and the school community, informed about the transfer process.

The responsibility for lodging the notification to QARD rests with the third party provider who will operate the service.

Transfer from a current third-party provider to an alternative third-party provider

To transfer the operation from one third-party provider to another, your school council should:

• check that the contract allows the third party to transfer the service approval to another third party to the school council
• advise key stakeholders
• conduct an expression of interest (EOI) process to select an alternative provider using the OSHC EOI template
• develop and agree on the OSHC licence agreement with the third-party provider
• provide any documents that the new provider will require for the transfer notification, which may include school maps/plans, calculations of space, and the executed licence agreement.

The responsibility for lodging the notification rests with the third party provider who will operate the service.

After the transfer takes effect

The receiving approved provider must give written notice to the parents of children enrolled at the service, of the transfer. They must give notice to parents at least 2 days before the service approval takes effect.

Both providers must also notify QARD of the transfer taking effect after this occurs, or not later than 2 days from this occurring.

Queries about the process to transfer the approval of an OSHC service can be directed to QARD at licensed.childrens.services@education.vic.gov.au

Resources

Template OSHC School Survey

Template OSHC school survey (DOCX) – for use when surveying parents and the school community about the need for OSHC.

School council managed and operated OSHC services

• Terms of reference (DOCX)– for a school council OSHC subcommittee to be adapted and ratified by school council
• Meeting agenda (DOCX)– template for a school council OSHC subcommittee to be adapted by the subcommittee as required for each meeting

Third-party operated OSHC services

• School council OSHC expression of interest template (DOCX) (staff login required) – can be used by school councils to assist in the selection and consultation process required to engage or change and OSHC provider
• OSHC service licence (DOCX) (staff login required) – includes a licence agreement and a guide to OSHC provision
• Variation of agreement template (DOCX) (staff login required) – a template letter to vary the agreement between school council and the OSHC provider
• Terms of reference (DOCX) (staff login required) – for a school council OSHC subcommittee responsible for overseeing third party provision of an OSHC service
• Meeting agenda (DOCX)– template for an OSHC subcommittee (responsible for a third party managed and operated OSHC) to be adapted as required for each meeting. It is recommended that the OSHC subcommittee refer to the OSHC licence agreement in place with the third-party provider to inform the agenda

Web resources

• CASES21 and eCASES
• Emergency management requirements– sets out the emergency management processes, procedures and requirements for early childhood education and care services
• Enforcement actions– outlines the expectation that school council consults the compliance history and assessment rating of other similar services operated by the provider; where school council is engaging or changing an OSHC provider
• Factsheets A–Z— includes resources to assist approved providers, and education and care services to comply with the requirements of the National Quality Framework
• Information that must be displayed at an early childhood service– sets out the display requirements for schools
• National Quality Agenda IT System– to register for an account and to apply for both provider and service approval in one place
• School council training video: an introduction to OSHC
• School council online training (staff login required) – includes online training modules for OSHC

OSHC Establishment Grants Initiative resources

Note: These documents are customised for schools who have received grants as part of the OSHC Establishment Grants Initiative. If your school already operates an OSHC, or has not applied for a grant under the OSHC Establishment Grants Initiative, you should use the documents under the 'Resources' heading on this page.

For all schools

• Small and regional OSHC application guidelines (DOCX) – for eligible schools applying for further funding from 2025
• Template memorandum of understanding for cluster schools (DOCX) – recommended where OSHC in receipt of Establishment funding (including additional funding support) is delivered in collaboration between 2 schools

For schools intending to implement a transport solution

Buses – Owned, Hired or Chartered by a School – outlines the requirements for schools who purchase or hire buses, operate buses, or charter bus services. Schools may contact the Student Transport Unit for support:

• 03 7022 2247
• student.transport@education.vic.gov.au

Contact your regional senior project officer for further advice and assistance on transport solutions:

• North eastern Victoria region: Katie.Gibson@education.vic.gov.au
• North western Victoria region: Alyson.Rogers@education.vic.gov.au
• South eastern Victoria region: Danielle.Allan@education.vic.gov.au
• South western Victoria region: Andrea.Skinner@education.vic.gov.au

For schools intending to operate the service through their school council

• Guidance document for grant recipients (school council (DOCX)) – outlines the steps required for the school council to run the service itself, including the process to receive provider and service approval from the Regulatory Authority. Following the steps in this document will assist your school with establishing the service prior to Term 1, 2022
• Enrolment form (DOCX) – contains all the information that you would need to have to enrol a child in an OSHC service
• Position description for an OSHC coordinator (DOCX) – can be adapted and used when advertising for staff for your service

For schools intending to engage a third party provider to operate the service

• Guidance document for grant recipients (third party provider (DOCX)) – outlines the steps required for the school to engage a third party provider to operate an OSHC service, including the EOI process
• List of third party providers (DOCX) (staff login required) – OSHC providers who may be interested in taking part in the EOI process can be found in this document. It is not an exhaustive list and schools may choose to engage other providers based on local knowledge or availability
• Licence agreement template (DOCX) (staff login required) – Note: this document includes some additional information compared to the normal Licence Agreement used by schools that is only relevant to the Grants initiative. It should not be used by other schools
• Partnership meeting agenda template (DOCX) – can be adapted and used to guide a meeting with the appointed provider to discuss school-specific issues and agreements
• Memorandum of understanding template (DOCX) (staff login required) – recommended to be completed and signed after a Partnership Meeting to formalise the arrangements discussed