Annual Report to the School Community

Step by step guide to completing the Annual Report

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

• Step 1: Prepare for the Annual Report cycle, including the principal or delegate organising a school council meeting in March or April to endorse the Annual Report and checking the school council president’s @education account is up to date so they can access the Strategic Planning Online Tool (SPOT)
• Step 2: Principal reviews the Performance Summary in SPOT
• Step 3: Principal completes the ‘About our school’ commentary in SPOT
• Step 4: Principal attests the draft Annual Report in SPOT
• Step 5: Annual Report is presented and endorsed at a meeting of school council
• Step 6: School council president attests the Annual Report in SPOT by 30 April
• Step 7: Department quality assurance process
• Step 8: Share the Annual Report with the school community

The Annual Report is completed in the Strategic Planning Online Tool (SPOT). To access your school’s Annual Report:

• log on to SPOT (staff login required)
• on your school homepage under ‘Annual Report to the school community’ select ‘2022’ from the drop-down box and click ‘Manage report’.

Please note, hub and annex schools must complete their own Annual Report, with endorsement by the respective school council and attestation by the school council president. Principals of annex schools can contact spot.support@education.vic.gov.au for SPOT technical support.

Step 1: Prepare for the Annual Report cycle (February/March)

Prepare for the Annual Report cycle including the principal or delegate organising a school council meeting in March or April to endorse the Annual Report and checking the school council president’s @education account is up to date so they can access SPOT.

• Organise to present the draft Annual Report at a school council meeting prior to 30 April.
• Confirm that the school council president can access their @education email, and the account details are up to date, so they can log in to SPOT.
• Principals of schools that are non-compliant with the Minimum Standards or Child Safe Standards cannot attest to the Annual Report. If you have been advised that your school is not compliant, please contact the department’s School Compliance Unit for support to become. compliant, phone: 03 9084 8788 or email: school.compliance@education.vic.gov.au

Step 2: Principal reviews the school’s Performance Summary and uploads school logo (March)

• All schools receive a Performance Summary which details the school’s performance for the past year and trends across a 4-year period.
• Principals should review the Performance Summary in SPOT and consider how this may inform the ‘About our school’ commentary.
• Principals should upload their school logo on the ‘Performance Summary’ tab in SPOT.

Step 3: Principal completes the ‘About our school’ commentary in SPOT

• The ‘About our school’ commentary is prepared by the principal, supported by relevant leadership staff.
• Schools should use the ‘About our school’ commentary to give further context to data contained in the Performance Summary. In 2021, this may include discussion of remote and flexible learning.
• Schools are required by legislation to address the following areas in their ‘About our school’ commentary:
  • school vision and values
  • commentary on progress towards strategic goals
  • commentary analysing student attendance for the year.
• Schools can ensure they address these legislative requirements by following the guidance available on the ‘About our school’ commentary tab in SPOT.

Step 4: Principal attests draft Annual Report (March)

• Once the ‘About our school’ commentary has been completed, the principal is able to attest the draft Annual Report in SPOT.
• Further guidance on this process can be found in attestation and endorsement chapter of this topic.

Step 5: Annual Report presented and endorsed at a meeting of school council (March/April)

• The draft Annual Report must be endorsed at a meeting of the school council and noted in the meeting minutes.
• The draft Annual Report for presentation to school council can be downloaded from the ‘Attest and view report’ tab in SPOT after principal attestation.

Step 6: School council president attests the Annual Report by 30 April (April)

• Once the draft Annual Report is endorsed by school council, the school council president can attest the draft Annual Report in SPOT.
• Further guidance on this process can be found in the Attestation and endorsement chapter of this topic.

Step 7: Department quality assurance process (April to June)

• Principals may be contacted by the department to update their Annual Report if their Annual Report is found to not meet the legislative and quality requirements.
• Once you receive notification that your Annual Report has either not been selected for quality assurance, or has passed quality assurance, download the final Annual Report from SPOT, including cover page, attestations and commentary.
• Further guidance on this process can be found in the Quality assurance chapter of this topic.

Step 8: Share the 2022 Annual Report with the school community (July)

• Once the principal and school council president have completed their attestations, a final version of the Annual Report becomes available for download in SPOT in the ‘Attest and view report’ tab.
• It is a legislative and regulatory requirement that the final, fully attested Annual Report is shared with the school community and presented at a public meeting of the school council.
• Schools will receive an email notification from SPOT when the quality assurance process has been completed and their finalised Annual Report can be shared. It is recommended that schools share their Annual Reports with the school community at the start of Term 3.
• Schools are encouraged to publish the Annual Report on their school website. Schools are also asked to share the Annual Report in ways that best meet the needs of their community, for example, providing hard copies of the report.