Overview
Victoria is committed to the professional development of a high-quality school workforce. The Department of Education and Training plays a central role in building capability of schools to lead, manage and develop their own workforce, which is essential for improving outcomes for all students.
Education support employees contribute to the provision of a high-quality school environment for students by providing operational, professional or para-professional supports. These may include student and teacher supports, professional services, and administration, operational and technical supports.
The typical duties of education support employees, including school business managers, are categorised in six classification levels and remuneration ranges in accordance with the Dimensions of Work, as set out in the Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VSGA) .
School leaders have a professional responsibility to support performance and development by establishing a culture of effective job-embedded professional learning that is developmentally focused and supports improved practice and, ultimately, improved student outcomes.
These guidelines for education support employees build on best practices already in place for teachers and principals, which support the development of collaborative and mutually supportive school cultures where continuous improvements in knowledge, practice and engagement are the norm.
Effective performance and development practices involve:
- regular feedback conversations
- clear expectations of performance, including agreement on what success looks like and how it will be measured
- a strong professional learning culture
- appropriate development opportunities for all employees
These guidelines have been updated to provide further information and resources to better support the professional learning and development of school business managers. These include:
- the School Business Manager Capability Framework, which more fully captures the broad range of skills of a school business manager, and example SMART Goals
- supporting Performance and Development Plan (PDP) resources in the form of video case studies
- updated information about school improvement planning processes
Reviewed 06 February 2024
