Annual Report to the School Community

1. Guide to completing the Annual Report

This section covers the key steps for completing the Annual Report.

The Annual Report is completed in the Strategic Planning Online Tool (SPOT) (staff login required). To access the Annual Report:

• log on to SPOT
• on the school homepage under ‘Annual Report to the school community’ select the latest year from the drop-down box and click ‘Manage report’.

Step 1: February to March – Prepare the draft Annual Report for school council endorsement

• Principals should review the school’s performance summary and complete the ‘About our school’ section in SPOT. Refer to School performance summary for the 2024 Annual Report for further details about the performance summary. Further guidance on the ‘About our school’ section can be found in the Completing the ‘About our school’ commentary guidance chapter.
• Schools will have their logo pre-populated on the ‘Performance summary’ tab in SPOT. The ‘upload school logo’ function will continue to be available for new schools or schools who prefer to use a new image.
• Principals then attest to the school’s compliance with Minimum and Child Safe Standards and generate the draft Annual Report.
• Further guidance can be found in the Endorsement and attestation guidance chapter.
• Principals should organise to present the draft Annual Report at a school council meeting prior to 30 April. It is recommended that this meeting is arranged for Term 1 due to the timing of the school holidays.

Step 2: March to April – Annual Report presented and endorsed at a meeting of school council

• The draft Annual Report must be downloaded from SPOT and taken to a meeting of the school council for endorsement, with this endorsement noted in the meeting minutes.
• At this meeting, the school council are encouraged to identify a time to hold the public reporting meeting to share the final Annual Report with the community, and organise responsibility for publicising this meeting. It is recommended that the public reporting meeting takes place at the start of Term 3.

Step 3: By 30 April – Principal confirms school council endorsement of the Annual Report on SPOT

• The principal, as executive officer of the school council, must confirm on SPOT that the school council has endorsed the Annual Report. Further guidance can be found in the Endorsement and attestation guidance chapter.

Step 4: By 30 May – Respond to quality assurance requests where required

• Principals may be contacted by the department to update their Annual Report if it is found to not meet the legislative, regulatory or quality requirements.
• Schools will receive an email notification from SPOT that their Annual Report has either not been selected for quality assurance, or with the result of their quality assurance assessment.
• Further guidance on this process can be found in the Quality assurance chapter.

Step 5: July – Share the Annual Report with the school community

• The department provides the Annual Reports to the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) to upload to their State Register (no action for schools).
• The final, fully attested Annual Report must be shared with the school community through presentation at a public meeting of the school council.
• Once schools have received notification that the quality assurance process has been completed, schools can download a final version of the Annual Report in SPOT from the ‘Attest and view report’ tab.
• It is recommended that schools publish the Annual Report on their school website.