In this issue:

1. Change of Personal Details - Notification to Human Resources management Branch

2. Verifying critical data if the Validation Forms are not returned

3. School Financial Reports - 2004/2005

4. Changing Parent/Guardian details

5. School Associations

6. Suggestions to improve the Student Enrolment Application Form

7. List of Cluster Admin Officers

1.  Change of Personal Details - Notification to Human Resources management Branch

There are times when an employee may wish to amend their personal details for payroll or other purposes. The Human Resources Management Branch has a number of forms to assist with this process: Change of Name form, Change of Address or Next of Kin; Change of Banking Details and Direct Deposit Authority Form.

Have a look at the DoE website under Staff and Employment for further details:  http://www2.education.tas.gov.au/Nav/Topic.asp?Topic=Staff+and+employment

2.  Verifying critical data if the Validation Forms are not returned

If validation forms are not returned by parents, schools and colleges may resort to other methods of verifying critical information.  There is no expectation that schools should adopt these methods of collecting data.  The following are only suggestions for ways to verify validation information.

1. Telephone or interview the adult who has care and control of the child.
   1. On a copy of the validation form, write down the changes. Write ‘same’ against questions where they have said the information is unchanged. Leave untouched questions not checked.
   2. The staff member signs the front of the form and writes “amended by telephone with <insert parent name>.”
   3. The parents are to be sent a new validation form in the next annual update.

We suggest schools limit this to telephone numbers; addresses; medical conditions; emergency contacts, workplace and consent to publications. Do not accept verbal information about date of birth, court orders, taking on independent status, or name changes (except preferred names).

1. If a parent cannot be contacted:
   1. students can be asked, face-to-face, to provide details of telephone numbers; addresses and emergency contacts. Please do this in person taking care not to disclose SACS information to the student: some parents do not disclose telephone numbers or other information to their children.
   2. This method of validation will need to take account of the student’s age and ability to provide correct information.

3.  School Financial Reports - 2004/2005

The 2004/2005 School Financial Reports Survey will commence on Monday 20 June 2005 and must be completed by 8 July so that the Department can report within the time allowed by legislation.  It does not have to be completed all at once and you can enter the site as often as you wish while the survey is available.

As with last year, information for the 2004/2005 school financial reports will be collected online at the following address: http://sfrs.education.tas.gov.au. 

To log on to the survey, use the address above and type in the following information:

Checklists of requirements, instructions and the necessary electronic forms are linked from this site.

Please contact the BSS Service Centre for assistance on 1800 816 057.

4.  Changing Parent/Guardian details

You may come across times when one of the parents has removed the details of the other from the Validation form. 

Example:

Mum and Dad were in SACS as ‘parent/guardian’ 1 and 2 respectively, and also as emergency contacts 1 and 2. The school sends out the annual validation form and it comes back with Dad removed and Mum hasn’t nominated Dad as a person who is ‘not living with the student who is to receive correspondence’.  No court documents have been supplied to support this change in status.

What should the school do?

1.  Accept the removal of Dad as parent guardian.

2.  If Dad contacts the school and asks to be associated with the child, record him as a person ‘not living with the student who is to receive correspondence’.

5.  School Associations

Does your school need help in establishing its School Association?  Or perhaps they want to make some changes to the current constitution.

The Service Centre are able to help your School Association with these issues.  If it will be helpful we are able to bring in people from other school associations who are experienced in setting up the committees and helping people work together.

6.  Suggestions to improve the Student Enrolment Application Form

The Student Enrolment Application Form is being updated.  We've already started by setting out information to make data entry easier by following the same sequence in SACS.

We'd like to hear from you to make it even better!

You can view a sample of the updated form at:  http://www.education.tas.gov.au/admin/ff/banter/2005/9may/enrolment.htm

Please have a look over the form and send your comments to Rob Dalton - rob.dalton@education.tas.gov.au.  He may not be able to reply to your email, but all suggestions are welcome.  There are sections that can't be changed.  For instance, the questions concerning the parents' background are needed for national reporting requirements.  The wording and appearance of the questions has been set at a national level and cannot be modified.

7.  List of Cluster Admin Officers

IMB have created a global address book distribution list - called Cluster Administrative Officers - All, in the same manner that they have created a list for Cluster Principals.

About 50% of administrative officers have not yet been officially appointed, but most should be within the next few weeks.  The only cluster where there is a delay is the Central Coast (Ulverstone), however that should be filled within the next 6 weeks.

Excel document listing Cluster Administrative Officers

Past BSS Banters

Want to have a quick look over some of the recent Banter articles?

You can find all past Banters on the website:  http://www.education.tas.gov.au/admin/ff/banter/default.htm