AEU PCA members will be well aware of the requirements around reporting to staff decisions about long-term planning. All the same, given the end of the year is approaching, it’s worth going over what needs to be included and the additional items the AEU recommends principals include in their plan.
As per clause 12(5) of the VGSA 2017, long-term planning decisions must be determined by the school-based consultative arrangements and provided in writing to all staff by the last week of November.
Long-term plans must include:
- workforce plans setting out the projected staffing needs of your school with regard to factors such as your education program, predicted enrolment changes, the overall composition of your staff and predicted staff absences
- planning and organisation of the program of instruction in your school
- organisation of teacher work, including face-to-face teaching requirements and the arrangements for collaboration, peer observation including feedback and reflection, and coaching
- planning and organisation of parent teacher report meetings
- organisation of education support staff work, including time in lieu and time to participate in the performance and development process
- organisation of teacher work in their first 12 months of teaching
- schedule of meetings occurring in addition to the seven-hour attendance requirements as set out in clause 24(3) (a)
- organisation of classes, including class sizes
- structure of selection (and other) panels for the purpose of making recommendations to you as the principal.
There are a number of additional items we recommend you include in your long-term plan. It’s worth discussing these items with staff via your school based consultation arrangements, documenting them in your long-term plan and providing the plan in writing to all staff to ensure everyone is aware of them.
Additional items include:
- grade splitting/allocation of extras – establishing how these will occur in your setting is a good way to ensure you have consulted about these events
- yard duty – either a timetable of yard duty, if possible, or an explanation of how yard duty requirements will be determined
- camps and TIL – an outline of how TIL may be provided to staff who attend camp
- professional practice days – an outline of the process that your school will undertake in order to ensure that all teaching staff are provided with one PPD per term and that, in the first instance, the teacher has the opportunity to nominate the timing and focus for the day
- positions of responsibility – either a list of what those positions will be or an explanation of how PORs will be advertised and filled at your school.
We have developed sample long-term planning documents to assist you in the creation of these plans, which members can access at aeuvic.asn.au. Any further queries around the development of your long-term plan should be directed to our Principal Hotline on 1800 719 460.
