The School Education Act 1999 requires all enrolled student to attend school or participate in an educational program of the school. Principals are required to record and monitor student attendance and develop appropriate strategies to restore attendance for students with persistent absence.

These procedures apply to all Department site managers and to Department employees in public schools who have been nominated to take charge of a recreation and/or outdoor education activity.

The procedures outline the requirements for staff in residential facilities to ensure the safety and well-being of students during leisure activities.

The Employee Performance and Development policy and procedures are directed at building a high performance, high care culture across the Department through a focus on improvement. The procedures specify, for all groups of employees, a procedurally fair approach that balances development requirements with accountability, in accordance with the role being performed.

The Department of Education (the Department) supports high quality, ethical research where the findings have the potential to inform decision making and contribute to improvements in school education policy, staff competency, operational practices, student and staff wellbeing or student achievement and progress.

Animals can enrich students’ learning experiences, however schools must adhere to consistent and high quality practices for the care and use of animals. Staff are to adhere to the processes of the Schools Animal Ethics Committee for the use of animals for any scientific teaching activity and/or adhere to the processes of Agricultural Education for the use of animals on school farms.

The principal or college manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of a public school or residential facility, including providing for the safety and welfare of students, staff and visitors on the site.

The policy provides an operational framework to raise employees’ and line managers’ knowledge and understanding of entitlements and responsibilities related to leave eligibility, application and approval processes. It ensures that employees and line managers are informed about, leave procedures and leave management strategies under relevant Awards and Agreements.

This policy explains what ‘duty of care’ means, how teaching staff may discharge their duty of care to students, and circumstances in which non-teaching staff, external providers and volunteers may owe students a duty of care.

The Staff Conduct and Discipline policy applies to all employees of the Department of Education and describes the expectations the Department has of its employees and outlines the processes that will be implemented should an allegation of a breach be made.