education.vic.gov.au

School operations

Student Resource Package – Targeted Initiatives

Outside School Hours Care Establishment Grant Initiative (Reference 134)

The Outside School Hours Care Establishment Grant Initiative (the Initiative) will support schools that have not previously had outside school hours care (OSHC) to establish new OSHC services, or to expand existing OSHC services to meet community need.

The Initiative prioritises schools which meet the following 4 priority categories:

  • Priority 1: Schools in DE areas, or parts thereof, with limited or no OSHC services.
  • Priority 2: Schools with demonstrated readiness to commence services by Term 1, 2024.
  • Priority 3: Schools where services are unlikely to be viable without grant funding.
  • Priority 4: Schools with existing OSHC services that demonstrate a need to expand existing service provision.

The program is broken into 4 rounds over 4 financial years.

Schools may use the funds to cover costs associated with initially providing access to OSHC services for students and operational expenses over the lifetime of the funding. The funding will allow services that may not initially be financially viable to expand and work towards ongoing viability over the grant period.

Accountability

Schools are responsible for using the funds within the guidelines provided by the department. School principals will be required to complete an acquittal process once per year for each year of funding received, demonstrating that the funds were used for expenditure within the Initiative’s guidelines.

Eligibility

Interested schools will apply for the funding using a form on the SmartyGrants online portal. Further advice will be provided closer to the launch. All Victorian government schools which provide primary aged or special education to children, and who either do not have an OSHC service at the time of application, or do not offer all three types of care (before school care, after school care and vacation care) are eligible to apply. This includes primary schools, combined primary/secondary schools, and specialist schools.

Funding

The maximum amount of funding offered is $75,000 per year per applicant school, except where the school is applying on behalf of a cluster of schools, in which case the maximum is $75,000 times the number of school sites involved in the cluster. In a cluster arrangement, one school establishes the service, with nearby schools able to access it on an equal footing. Schools or clusters may apply up to the maximum amount if they have proposed expenditure to that amount which meets the Initiative guidelines. In order to be eligible for the increased funding cap, all cluster schools must meet the grant eligibility requirements.

Special schools are eligible for an additional $30,000. Schools in areas designated as Outer Regional or Remote are eligible for an additional $25,000.

Funding allocations are 100% Cash funding.

Use of Initiative funding

School principals will consider the context of their school and the needs of the school community to determine the best use of the funding. A school may decide to use the funding to establish an OSHC service run by the school council, engage a third-party provider to operate a new service, or provide transport to enable children to access OSHC at an already operating service. New services may be established at the school or at external premises.

Examples of eligible expenditure include:

  • staffing
  • training and professional development
  • program management and administration
  • resources and/or equipment
  • minor facility upgrades
  • transport
  • food
  • programs/activities to attract or retain enrolments.
Reference 134 of the SRP Guide, providing information on the Outside School Hours Care Establishment Grant Initiative

Reviewed 27 March 2024

Guidance

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