Victoria has recently updated their registration guidelines and made other changes that affect schools. Here are the key points that schools in Victoria need to know.

Overview of the Updates

• The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) has updated its registration guidelines in relation to:
  • inclusion of references to the VRQA’s boarding school guidelines
  • use of third-party providers to deliver senior secondary education
  • evidence required to demonstrate compliance with governance requirements
  • evidence required to demonstrate compliance with curriculum requirements
  • COVID-19 safety.

• Victorian education and training legislation has been updated to replace the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) with a new Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) and vocational major within the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), with effect from 2 May 2022. These changes have not yet been reflected in the registration guidelines.
  
  
• A new Ministerial Order on child safety, Ministerial Order No.1359 Implementing the Child Safe Standards – Managing the Risk of Child Abuse in Schools and School Boarding Premises, will replace Ministerial Order No. 870 – Child Safe Standards – Managing the Risk of Child Abuse in Schools and School Boarding Premises on 1 July 2022. We will write a separate article about the new Ministerial Order in the coming weeks.

Updates to the Registration Guidelines

The VRQA has published a new version of the Guidelines to the Minimum Standards and Requirements for School Registration (Guidelines). The new version was published on 3 February 2022 but backdated so that it applies to “new and existing schools from 1 January 2022”.

School Boarding Guidelines

The Guidelines have been updated to include references to the Guidelines to the Minimum Standards and Requirements for School Boarding Premises Registration (Boarding Guidelines), which were introduced in 2021. The Boarding Guidelines contain references to the Guidelines. They state that, where a registered school and its boarding premises have the same legal entity or proprietor, the school does not have to create or maintain two separate sets of documents to meet the requirements of the Guidelines and the Boarding Guidelines.

As part of this update, the Guidelines now include corresponding references to the Boarding Guidelines. The revised Guidelines also note that Ministerial Orders No. 706 (anaphylaxis management) and 870 (Child Safe Standards) have been amended to refer to school boarding premises. As noted above, Ministerial Order No. 870 will be replaced by new Ministerial Order No. 1359. The VRQA has indicated that before 1 July 2022, it will publish guidance material about the requirements of Ministerial Order No. 1359.

Use of Third-party Providers to Deliver Senior Secondary Education

The Guidelines now specify that schools can only use third-party providers that are registered with the VRQA. In this context, a “third-party provider” is an entity separate from the school that is engaged to provide education services to the school’s students. For example: another registered school or a non-school senior secondary provider (NSSSP), a TAFE or Registered Training Organisation (RTO).

The revised Guidelines outline the requirements that a third-party provider must meet before they can be registered. These include requirements under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic) and the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic) (Education and Training Legislation) and, for third-party providers who aren’t schools, the requirements in the VRQA’s Guidelines for Non-school Senior Secondary Education Providers: Minimum Standards for Registration to Provide an Accredited Senior Secondary Course.

Evidence Required to Demonstrate Compliance with Governance Requirements

The governance requirements have not changed under the revised Guidelines – schools are still required to “structure the governance of a school to allow it to effectively manage the school’s finances and development of strategic direction and fulfil its legal obligations”.

However, the new Guidelines introduce two additional pieces of evidence that schools must now provide when demonstrating compliance with the governance requirements:

• a diagram of the school governance structure identifying the proprietor, the school governing body, committees of the Board, any related entities – as appropriate
• a business plan that includes the Direct Measure of Income (DMI) score for the school (or its equivalent, if the Commonwealth Department of Education, Skills and Employment cannot calculate a DMI score for the school).

Evidence Required to Demonstrate Compliance with Curriculum Requirements

The curriculum requirements have not changed under the revised Guidelines – schools are still required to provide all students with “a planned and structured curriculum to equip them with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to complete their schooling and to make a successful transition from school to work, training or further education”.

However, the revised Guidelines introduce two additional pieces of evidence that schools must now provide when demonstrating compliance with the curriculum requirements:

• a curriculum plan that includes the number of teaching hours delivered in the eight key learning areas
• timetables that demonstrate how the eight key learning areas are delivered.

COVID-19 Safety

The revised Guidelines state that “A school must have policies and procedures in place to enable it to comply with pandemic orders made by the Minister for Health under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 relating to coronavirus (COVID-19).”

Under the new “evidence requirements” for this section, a school must have:

• a COVIDSafe Plan
• policies and procedures to enable it to comply with mandatory vaccination requirements, including policies and procedures:
  • to ensure that all education workers are fully vaccinated against coronavirus (COVID-19) by the specified date(s) or hold a valid exemption
  • for maintaining records in accordance with the information gathering and record keeping requirements.

As the Explanatory Notes to this section indicate, all schools already have a COVIDSafe plan. What has changed is that they must now provide a copy of it to the VRQA at review or as requested by the VRQA.

Corresponding requirements have been included in a revised version of the Boarding Guidelines. All school boarding premises already have in place a COVIDSafe Plan.

Changes to Education and Training Legislation

The Victorian Parliament has amended the Education and Training Legislation. The amendments have not yet commenced. They will commence on 2 May 2022.

One of the stated purposes of the amendments is to “provide for new foundation secondary courses and foundation secondary qualifications”. This includes replacing the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) with a new Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) and vocational major within the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE).

What Do Schools Need to Do?

• Schools that have, or are seeking to provide, boarding facilities should already have ensured that their policies and procedures comply with the requirements of the Guidelines to the Minimum Standards and Requirements for School Boarding Premises Registration and the revised Guidelines to the Minimum Standards and Requirements for School Registration.
• Schools that engage third-party providers to provide senior secondary education to their students should ensure that these providers are registered with the VRQA.
• Update their governance documents to include a diagram of the school governance structure.
• Update their business plan to include the Direct Measure of Income (DMI) score for the school (or its equivalent if the school can’t get a DMI score).
• Update their curriculum plan to include the number of teaching hours delivered in the eight key learning areas.
• Update their curriculum documents to include timetables that demonstrate how the eight key learning areas are delivered.
• Ensure that they have a COVIDSafe Plan and policies and procedures that enable them to comply with vaccination requirements.
• Note that changes to the VCAL will be coming in May and new Ministerial Order No. 1359 will take effect on 1 July. Monitor the VRQA’s news for details closer to the commencement date.