Run a service operated by your school
This section outlines:
- promoting your service
- finances and budgets
- staffing
- Commonwealth childcare payments
- 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 web page (staff login required)
- via Finance (staff login required)
- How to calculate GST for OSHC services , 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 (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 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 (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) (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 . 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 .
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 is a payment made by the Australian Government's Department of 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 , including:
- meeting legal entity requirements (school councils meet this requirement)
- creating accounts on 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 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 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 , 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 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 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 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 .
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 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 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.
Reviewed 12 March 2024