School-led Clusters

Clustering – shared school initiatives

School-led clustering can be done in a variety of ways to suit the schools’ needs and the level of sharing between schools. A school-led cluster can develop over time and may first come together for standalone events (for example, a camp or major excursion) and then grow and formalise larger student, staff and whole school initiatives over time.

A common strategy for many types of clustering is pooling resources, which can enrich options for students and staff and provide financial benefits for schools. Smaller schools can often reduce costs and provide a broader range of activities for students by jointly contracting services such as incursions, camps, excursions, or jointly purchasing resources.

Sharing physical resources such as classroom exams, class novels, and science equipment can enrich student learning and wellbeing. When different schools invest in different resources, all students across the cluster can utilise a wider range of materials.

Each cluster is strongly encouraged to determine and agree on how resources will be pooled, shared and used to deliver activities.

Student-focused initiatives

These initiatives bring students from multiple schools together to increase the viability of specialised subjects and extracurricular activities while also building peer networks, developing social skills and providing connection to a wider community. They can also reduce the administrative effort of organising learning, social, cultural and health activities. These can include:

• classes for specific curriculum areas
• regular ‘cluster days’ in which schools or classes come together at one site to increase student peer networks and social groups, for example, in small schools with limited student numbers per year level
• camps and excursions
• incursions in areas such as culture, arts, health
• school athletics, arts or cultural days
• school formals and other social activities
• school presentations, end of year celebrations, graduations.

Delivering combined school activities can be an effective way to broaden students’ options and meet student needs and interests, including building support groups among their peers to increase social connection and sense of belonging.

Sharing the hosting responsibility for cluster activities can help streamline operations and strengthen overall relationships. For example, some schools rotate the role of host, enabling students and staff to visit and participate in activities at different schools each term. This approach fosters pride among host school students, broadens exposure to a variety of activities and environments, and builds strong peer-to-peer relationships across the cluster.

In some clusters, the host role may remain with one school, while resources are shared based on each school’s strengths. For example, one school might host the graduation event because it has the most suitable venue, while another provides transport using its available vehicles. Considering staffing strengths and interests will also help when planning what and how a school might lead or participate in the cluster activity.

Bringing together students from different schools can increase the viability of offering a subject that individual students would otherwise not have access to. This is related to sharing staff to expand subject offerings which is detailed below.

All excursions must be planned in accordance with the requirements outlined in the department’s Excursions policy and the mandatory Excursion guidelines.

Staff-focused initiatives

These initiatives help schools build staff capability through joint curriculum planning and professional learning and share staff capacity to deliver programs across multiple locations.

Sharing staff

A shared staffing arrangement can be considered when schools experience workforce challenges in delivering mandated or desired curriculum activities or extra-curricular activities.

Sharing teaching and other staff can help schools overcome workforce challenges and expand subject offerings and expertise available to students. It can benefit staff and schools by better matching teaching expertise against subjects and enhancing financial efficiencies across the cluster.

There are various recruitment and staffing strategies that can be utilised to enable an employee to work across more than one school, including where:

• there is one base central location or school location that pays the employee’s salary and the assignment of work delegation is exercised for the employee to work at other locations (for example, to teach at another school)
• an employee is successfully appointed to part-time vacancies at multiple schools, where one base school is assigned for administrative purposes and each school pays the employee for the respective hours worked at their school
• a single vacancy is advertised for a position to work across multiple schools, where one base school is assigned for administrative purposes, and each school pays the employee for the respective hours worked at their school
• a temporary or permanent administrative transfer is arranged with a base school for an ongoing employee to work at more than one school, with one base school assigned for administrative purposes, and each school pays the employee for the respective hours worked at their school.

Arrangements for an employee to work in more than one school can:

• ensure students continue to access specialist subjects, including VCE, particularly where recruitment is difficult
• provide a cost-effective option when class sizes are small, by employing one teacher across multiple schools rather than one per school
• secure a teacher by offering a suitable number of employment hours across schools
• ensure subject delivery is matched with teaching expertise
• act as a backfill option if a teacher leaves during the year.

For guidance on shared staffing arrangements, refer to the Working in More Than One School policy and guidelines.

For any advice or assistance with recruitment and staffing strategies, schools can contact Schools Recruitment on 1800 941 643 (option for Recruitment) or at schools.recruitment@education.vic.gov.au.

Shared curriculum planning and delivery

Schools may consider forming a cluster of 2 or more schools to support shared curriculum development, planning and delivery.

Schools may plan and deliver curriculum within an existing cluster or commence clustering with the key purpose to undertake shared curriculum planning and delivery.

This approach can strengthen teaching and learning by:

• reducing professional isolation, especially for teachers in small rural schools
• creating opportunities for teachers to connect regularly, share expertise, and collaborate on curriculum development
• coordinating shared professional learning activities
• developing new teaching strategies that improve both student outcomes and teacher practice.

When undertaking shared curriculum planning, it is recommended that schools consider:

• the alignment of curriculum approaches between the clustering schools
• the support, willingness and readiness of teachers and leaders to collaborate
• developing a plan that outlines the roles and expectations for each school and participating staff member being clear on the purpose of coming together to cluster with other schools
• considering whether the work is evenly shared
• clear protocols for developing and sharing curriculum, resources and expertise
• clear feedback loops to support the success of the cluster
• ongoing monitoring of effectiveness and workloads.

Schools may also consider clustering to implement department initiatives and priorities, for example, shared curriculum days to collaborate on embedding the VTLM 2.0 or Victorian Lesson Plans.

For further advice on shared subject delivery and clustering, schools are encouraged to contact their SEIL or CAL.

Shared professional learning

Cluster-wide professional learning days provide an opportunity to enrich the skills of staff and provide a shared base of knowledge to support practice within the cluster.

Professional Learning Communities (PLC) are an important part of the architecture for improving student outcomes in government schools. They provide a system for collaboration at the school level, providing opportunities for teachers and relevant Education Support (ES) staff to work together in small teams.

PLCs are focused on improving teaching practice, drawing on contemporary evidence of effective teaching through implementation of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0. The selection of instructional strategies is informed by trends in student data.

Schools may consider clustering to support and extend on the work of PLCs. The following professional learning activities could be used by clusters in support of PLCs:

• establishing communities of practice that align with common focus areas for PLCs, such as analysing student data
• conducting peer observations and reflections on practice virtually or via the sharing of videos
• engaging in coaching conversations with knowledgeable others, such as a literacy or numeracy learning specialist or a high ability practice leader
• moderation of student work samples
• sharing best practices, resources, and innovative approaches.

For further guidance and resources for PLCs, refer to Professional Learning Communities.

Strategic and whole school initiatives

These initiatives bring together schools with shared goals and challenges for holistic strategic planning, which can include implementing department initiatives. Schools in clusters can develop common School Strategic Plans, undertake common School Reviews and develop common Annual Implementation Plans (AIPs).

Implementing department initiatives such as the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 could be enabled and enhanced through a strategic approach across a cluster.

Sharing or pooling data

Data analysis is a critical tool in school clusters and will require aggregating data from clustered schools to highlight strengths, identify areas for focus and monitor improvement over time. It can also benefit small schools who may face limitations in data sets reported for individual schools due to privacy or small cohort sizes.

The department can assist with sharing or pooling data to support cluster activities. Please contact school.performance.data@education.vic.gov.au.

Shared school reviews and planning approaches

The department supports schools to undertake shared school reviews where this approach benefits participating schools and keeps improvements to teaching and learning at the core.

A shared school review can involve 2 or more schools. There is no prescribed model of how it should be conducted, as the process reflects the needs and visions of the participating schools, and be planned with their SEIL. If schools are interested in a cluster review, their SEIL will follow up with the School Planning, Review and Annual Reporting Unit to coordinate the timing.

Benefits of a shared school review may include:

• where schools are small and may not have the student numbers to provide school cohort data, it can be beneficial to aggregate data sets within a cluster. This can help schools understand community trends and inform curriculum planning by reflecting on similarities, differences and trends across schools
• pooling student cohorts to plan for and implement shared curriculum and shared student activities
• planning for shared and targeted professional learning activities
• strengthening an existing cluster by taking it to the next level of collaboration
• commencing or trialling working as a cluster, by identifying area/s of shared focus
• sharing and reducing workload for school leaders.

If desired, the cluster schools can develop common key directions for their next School Strategic Plans.

Very small schools may wish to collaborate on AIP implementation as a network or cluster. In these instances, schools may have shared actions but undertake different tasks in response to their context. Schools can support each other with monitoring and critically reflecting on implementation.

More information about cluster reviews and other school review support for small schools can be found in the School Review policy. Schools may also contact the school review team on schoolreview@education.vic.gov.au.