Schools Registration Board Annual Report

Establishment and function

The Schools Registration Board (SRB) was established on 1 July 1995 under Part 5 of the Education Act 1994. The board is an independent statutory body with its composition and powers defined under the Act and its supplementary Regulations. Its primary function is to ensure that non-government schools comply with the educational standards determined by the Minister for Education. In addition, it must assess and determine applications for:

(a) the registration of new non-government schools

(b) the renewal of the registration of existing schools.

Members

Members of the board are appointed by the Minister (Education Act 1994 section 45 (1-3)) and as of 30 June 2007 included:

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Standards for the registration of schools

The matters on which the Minister may determine a standard are contained at section 53(1) of the Education Act 1994 and have been revised as a result of the amendments to the Act proclaimed on 1 January 2004.

The standards for registration are:

(a) the proposed curriculum of a school

(b) the qualifications required of teachers at a school

(c) the facilities to be provided at a school

(d) the minimum number of students to attend a school

(e) the kinds of students to attend a school

(f) the enrolment and attendance procedures of a school

(g) any other prescribed matter.

The only ‘prescribed matter’ to date is a Code of Conduct for employees.

Board meetings

The board met five times in 2006-07 when it considered matters relating to applications for new schools, changes to registration and reviews of existing schools, as well as other procedural and policy issues. All meetings were held in Hobart. The meeting dates in 2006-07 were 31 July 2006, 2 October 2006, 27 November 2006, 19 March 2007 and 14 May 2007.

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Registration of schools

For a current list of non-government schools in Tasmania see: www.srb.tas.gov.au/materials/schoollist.htm.

1. Application for a new school

Being assured that the Australian Technical College - Northern Tasmanian complied with all standards, the board determined, at its July 2006 meeting, to register the college.

2. Review of registered schools

In Tasmania, there are 69 registered schools. Seven of the schools have additional campuses in other parts of the state; of these, three have more than one additional campus.

The following schools were reviewed between July and December 2006 and January and May 2007:

• Geneva Christian College, Latrobe and Geilston Bay
• Peregrine, Nicholls Rivulet
• Holy Rosary School, Claremont
• St Joseph’s School, Queenstown
• St James’ College, Cygnet
• St Brendan-Shaw College, Devonport

On consideration of reports provided by the review panels on the schools, the board approved the re-registration of these schools for periods up to six years.

The following schools were reviewed between May and June 2007:   

• North West Christian School, Penguin
• Sacred Heart School, Ulverstone
• Oakwood School, Glenorchy, Launceston, Devonport
• Sacred Heart College, New Town, Lenah Valley
• Larmenier School, Launceston
• Circular Head Christian School, Smithton
• Launceston Preparatory School, Launceston
• Eastside Lutheran College, Warrane

The board will make determinations on the re-registration of these schools at its July and August 2007 meetings.

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3. School closures/amalgamations

Geneva Christian College informed the board of the closure of its Geilston Bay campus at the end of 2006. There were no amalgamations in 2006-07.

4. Changes to registration

Schools are required to notify the Schools Registration Board of any significant changes in relation to their registration details.

In November 2003, the Schools Registration Board determined that, in order to fully consider proposals to change registration, schools are to notify the board six months before the intended change is to take place.

The following changes were considered by the board in 2006-2007:

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Policy, operational and procedural issues

1. National conference

A National Conference of Managers of Non-Government Schools Programs was held in Perth, in October 2006.

The annual conference of managers provides an important forum for the discussion of developments of national interest in the registration and funding of the non-government education sector. The issues considered at the 2006 conference included: 

•   enrolment, including minimum enrolment and accountability
•   challenges for registering authorities, including:
  • Australian technical colleges
  • for-profit schools
  • governance and financial accountability.
• legislative compliance, ranging from teacher registration to school improvement processes 
• implications arising from non-mandated length of school year.

2. Expanded curriculum standard - review and development

The board and Educational Performance Services (formerly the Office for Educational Review) successfully completed an implementation process for review and development with pilot schools.

3. Compliance with new or amended standards

The board sought information on compliance with the new Code of Conduct Standard and the amended Facilities and Grievance Process Standards. All schools indicated compliance at 30 June 2007.

4. Bulletin to schools

In December 2006 the chair, in a bulletin to schools, outlined: 

• the background to amended and new standards and a request for compliance 
• clarification of ‘assessment and reporting’ and ‘review and development’ 
• a reminder of the timeline for review and development.

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5. SRB website and handbook

The updated handbook was distributed to schools in December 2006. The information contained in the handbook and extracts from the Education Act 1994 are included in the School Registration Board’s website www.srb.tas.gov.au.

6. SRB membership

An induction program was held in March 2007 for the five newly appointed members of the SRB.

7. SRB relocation

The SRB office was relocated to Kirksway House, Battery Point in January 2007. The SRB postal address is PO Box 473, Sandy Bay, Tasmania, 7006.

Arnold McShane
Chairperson

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Statement of revenue and expenditure

1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007

Janine Romaszko
Registrar

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