Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Regulation 2001

1Short title

This regulation may be cited as the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools) Regulation 2001.

2Commencement

This regulation commences on 1 January 2002.

4Prescribed accreditation criteria—Act, s 9

The purpose of this part is to prescribe accreditation criteria relevant for a school’s accreditation as mentioned in section 9 of the Act.

5Financial viability

A school must have access to adequate financial resources for its viable operation.

div hdg ins 2016 SL No. 200 s 4

5ASchool survey data and related documentation

(1)A school must keep school survey data for the school, and any associated documents—

(a)for a period of at least 5 years from the relevant day to which the data relates; and

(b)in a way that ensures the integrity and security of the data and documents.

(2)In relation to a student mentioned in section 14D(3) or 14E(3), a school must keep a record of—

(a)the reason for the student’s absence from the school; and

(b)the reason why the student’s absence is considered to be for a reason beyond the control of the person mentioned in section 14D(3)(b)(i) or (ii) or 14E(3)(b)(i) or (ii).

(3)In this section—

associated document means a document that records or includes a detail about a student mentioned in section 14C, 14D or 14E.

s 5A ins 2016 SL No. 200 s 4

6Statement of philosophy and aims

(1)A school must have a written statement of philosophy and aims, adopted by its governing body, that is used as—

(a)the basis for the school’s educational program; and

(b)a guide for the school’s educational and organisational practices.

(2)The statement must be consistent with the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians.

Editor’s note—

The declaration was made at the 26th Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs held on 5 December 2008 in conjunction with the Australian Education Ministers’ First Biennial Forum. A copy of the declaration may be viewed at the website <www.mceecdya.edu.au>.

s 6 amd 2009 SL No. 187 s 3

7Educational program

(1)A school must have a written educational program that—

(a)has regard to the ages, abilities, aptitudes and development of the school’s students; and

(b)promotes continuity in the learning experiences of the students; and

(c)is responsive to the needs of the students.

Note—

For special assistance schools, see also section 9AA(1).

(2)The program must enable the students to at least achieve—

(a)Queensland standards of learning; or

(b)standards of learning comparable to Queensland standards of learning.

(3)Standards of learning stated in a program authorised by IBO or an interstate syllabus may be comparable to Queensland standards of learning.

(4)In this section—

Australian curriculum see the Education (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority) Act 2014, schedule 2.

Australian Qualifications framework means the Australian Qualifications Framework within the meaning of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cwlth), section 3.

IBO means the International Baccalaureate Organization.

interstate syllabus means a syllabus that, under the legislation of another State, is approved for education in that State.

Queensland standards of learning means the standards of learning stated in—

(a)a syllabus or guideline developed, purchased or revised by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority under the Education (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority) Act 2014; or

(b)a vocational education and training course at level 1 or above under the Australian Qualifications framework; or

(c)the Australian curriculum.

s 7 amd 2002 SL No. 155 s 97; 2006 SL No. 246 s 90(2) sch 2; 2009 SL No. 187 s 4; 2014 SL No. 126 s 185; 2014 SL No. 300 s 4

8Students who are persons with a disability

A school must have written processes about—

(a)identifying students of the school who are persons with a disability; and

(b)devising an educational program, specific to the educational needs of those students who are persons with a disability, that complies with relevant anti-discrimination legislation.

9Schools delivering distance education

(1)A distance education school must have a written standard of service, appropriate to the school’s distance education students achieving learning standards under the school’s educational program.

(2)The standard must deal with—

(a)the interactive teaching methods to be followed; and

(b)the communication procedures to be followed by the students and their teachers and tutors; and

(c)the regular tracking and assessment of work submitted by the students to the teachers; and

(d)the regular monitoring of the students’ achievement of the learning standards.

(3)The school’s governing body must be able to demonstrate how the school is meeting the standard of service.

(4)In this section—

distance education school means a school that utilises the distance education mode of delivery of education.

9AASpecial assistance schools

(1)A special assistance school’s written educational program must promote continuous engagement by the school’s relevant students in primary or secondary education.

Note—

For requirements for a school’s written educational program generally, see also section 7.

(2)Also, the school must have a written standard of service, appropriate to the school’s relevant students achieving learning standards under the educational program.

(3)The standard must deal with—

(a)the regular tracking and assessment of work submitted by the relevant students to the teachers; and

(b)the regular monitoring of—

(i)attendance by the relevant students at an accredited special assistance site for the school; and

(ii)the relevant students’ achievement of the learning standards; and

(iii)the relevant students’ participation in the educational program; and

(c)strategies for engaging the relevant students, and keeping the relevant students engaged, in primary education or secondary education.

(4)The school’s governing body must be able to demonstrate how the school is meeting the standard of service.

(5)This section does not limit the application of other provisions of this division.

(6)In this section—

relevant students, of a school, means students to whom the school provides special assistance.

s 9AA ins 2014 SL No. 300 s 5

9AFlexible arrangements approvals

A school must—

(a)ensure approvals are not given, or purportedly given, under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, section 182, other than in compliance with that section; and

(b)comply with the requirements under that section about keeping documents relating to approvals.

s 9A ins 2003 SL No. 346 s 4

amd 2006 SL No. 246 s 90(1) sch 1

10Health, safety and conduct of staff and students

(1)A school must have written processes about the health and safety of its staff and students, that accord with relevant workplace health and safety legislation.

(2)Also, the school must have written processes about—

(a)how the school will respond to harm, or allegations of harm, to students under 18 years old; and

(b)the appropriate conduct of the school’s staff and students.

(3)Without limiting subsection (2), the processes must include—

(a)a process for the reporting by a student to a stated staff member of behaviour of another staff member that the student considers is inappropriate; and

(b)a process for how the information reported to the stated staff member must be dealt with by the stated staff member.

(4)For the process mentioned in subsection (3)(a), there must be stated at least 2 staff members to whom a student may report the behaviour.

(5)Also, without limiting subsection (2), the processes must include the following—

(a)a process for reporting—

(i)sexual abuse or suspected sexual abuse in compliance with the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, section 366; and

(ii)a suspicion of likely sexual abuse in compliance with the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, section 366A;

(b)a process for reporting a reportable suspicion under the Child Protection Act 1999, section 13E.

(6)The school’s governing body must ensure that—

(a)staff, students and parents are made aware of the processes; and

(b)staff are trained in implementing the processes; and

(c)the school is implementing the processes; and

(d)the processes are readily accessible by staff, students and parents.

(7)The school must have a written complaints procedure to address allegations of non-compliance with the processes.

(7A)The complaints procedure may form part of any other written procedure of the school for dealing with complaints.

(8)In this section—

harm see the Child Protection Act 1999, section 9.

s 10 amd 2004 SL No. 19 s 6; 2006 SL No. 246 s 90(1)sch 1; 2012 SL No. 230 s 4; 2014 SL No. 276 s 5

11Staffing

(1)A school must have a sufficient number, and appropriate types, of staff necessary for the effective delivery of the school’s educational program.

(2)Without limiting subsection (1), a school must comply with relevant legislation about the employment of persons as teachers, including the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005.

s 11 amd 2003 SL No. 189 s 129; 2005 SL No. 310 s 6; 2006 SL No. 246 s 90(2) sch 2

12Land and buildings

A school must comply with relevant land use, building, and workplace health and safety, legislation in relation to the location of the school and its buildings.

13Educational facilities and materials

A school must have the educational facilities and materials necessary for the effective delivery of the school’s educational program.

14Improvement processes

A school must have a demonstrable, systematic approach about improvement processes for the school, dealing with the following—

(a)deciding strategies relevant to the processes and setting priorities for achieving the strategies;

(b)how the strategies are to be achieved;

(c)regular monitoring of the achievement of the strategies;

(d)annual reporting about the achievement of the strategies to the school’s community, including the school’s staff and students and the parents of the students.

pt 2AA (ss 14AA–14AE) ins 2014 SL No. 300 s 6

14AAPrescribed temporary site criteria—Act, s 60C

The purpose of this part is to prescribe temporary site criteria relevant for the provision of special assistance at a temporary site by a special assistance school as mentioned in section 60C of the Act.

pt 2AA (ss 14AA–14AE) ins 2014 SL No. 300 s 6

14ABAdditional requirement for written standard of service

A special assistance school’s written standard of service required under section 9AA(2) must deal with the regular monitoring of attendance by the school’s relevant students at a temporary site.

pt 2AA (ss 14AA–14AE) ins 2014 SL No. 300 s 6

14ACApplication of pt 2, div 4

Part 2, division 4 applies to a special assistance school in relation to each temporary site at which the school provides special assistance.

pt 2AA (ss 14AA–14AE) ins 2014 SL No. 300 s 6

14ADLimitation of period of special assistance at temporary site

(1)For section 60C(2) of the Act, a special assistance school can not provide special assistance at a temporary site after the expiry of the special assistance period for the site.

(2)However, if the school’s governing body makes a site inclusion application for the temporary site before the end of the special assistance period for the site, the school may continue to provide special assistance at the site until the day mentioned in subsection (3), (4), (5) or (6).

(3)If the governing body withdraws the site inclusion application before the application is decided, for subsection (2) the day is the later of—

(a)the day the governing body withdraws the application; or

(b)the day the special assistance period for the temporary site ends.

(4)If the board decides to refuse, or is taken to have decided to refuse, to grant the school’s site inclusion application and the governing body applies for review of the decision (the original decision) under section 101 of the Act, for subsection (2) the day is the earlier of—

(a)the day the Minister notifies the governing body the Minister has made a review decision mentioned in section 103(6)(b) of the Act in relation to the original decision; or

(b)the day the governing body withdraws the application for review.

(5)If the board decides to refuse, or is taken to have decided to refuse, to grant the school’s site inclusion application and subsection (4) does not apply, for subsection (2) the day is the later of—

(a)the day the application period for the original decision ends; or

(b)the day the special assistance period for the temporary site ends.

(6)If neither subsection (3), (4) nor (5) applies, for subsection (2) the day is the change day for the application stated in a change notice about the site attribute given to the governing body under section 52 of the Act.

(7)In this section—

application period, for an original decision, means the period within which an application for review of the decision must be made under section 102 of the Act.

school day means any day on which a school is operating as a school.

site attribute, for a special assistance school, means the attribute of the school’s provisional accreditation or accreditation mentioned in section 16(3)(j) of the Act.

site inclusion application, for a temporary site, means an application under section 49 or 59 of the Act to change the site attribute for the school to include the temporary site.

special assistance period, for a temporary site, means the period ending 140 consecutive school days after the day special assistance is first provided by the special assistance school at the site.

pt 2AA (ss 14AA–14AE) ins 2014 SL No. 300 s 6

14AEPt 2 not limited

Nothing in this part limits part 2.

pt 2AA (ss 14AA–14AE) ins 2014 SL No. 300 s 6

pt hdg ins 2014 SL No. 16 s 3

14ADefinitions for this part

In this part—

relevant period, for a school, means the period—

(a)starting on the first day that students are to attend the school in a calender year; and

(b)ending on the last Friday of February of that calender year.

s 14A ins 2014 SL No. 16 s 3

14BRelevant day for school survey data—Act, s 166(3)(a)

For section 166(3)(a) of the Act, the day is the last Friday of February of each year.

s 14B ins 2014 SL No. 16 s 3

amd 2016 SL No. 200 s 5

14CPrescribed school survey data—Act, s 166(2)

(1)For section 166(2) of the Act, each of the following details about a school are prescribed—

(a)the number of full-time students who have attended the school under section 14D;

(b)the number of part-time students who have attended the school under section 14E.

(2)Also, the following details are prescribed separately for full-time students and part-time students mentioned in subsection (1)—

(a)the number of students whose principal place of residence is located in an isolated zone;

(b)the number of students who, in the opinion of the school’s principal, require ESL tuition;

(c)the number of students who are persons with a disability;

(d)the number of students who identify as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent;

(e)the number of students who are overseas students;

(f)the number of students enrolled for classroom education who reside in boarding facilities provided by the school or another school;

(g)the number of students enrolled for classroom education who have attended each site that is an attribute of accreditation for the school;

(h)the number of students enrolled for distance education who have attended the school.

(3)Also, the following details about students mentioned in subsection (2)(f) are prescribed—

(a)the total amount of fees paid in relation to the students to reside in the facilities (not inclusive of any tuition fees);

(b)for students that reside in facilities provided by the school—the total amount of concessions granted by the school to reduce the fees payable in relation to the students for reasons of economic hardship.

(4)In this section—

isolated zone means an isolated zone shown on a map in the document titled ‘School Survey Data for Non-State Schools—Queensland’.

Editor’s note—

A copy of the document is available from the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board’s website at <www.nssab.qld.edu.au>.

overseas student has the meaning given by the Australian Education Act 2013 (Cwlth).

s 14C ins 2014 SL No. 16 s 3

amd 2016 SL No. 200 s 6

14DWhen has a full-time student attended a school

(1)This section establishes when a full-time student is taken to have attended a school for the purposes of the school survey data.

(2)A full-time student is taken to have attended a school during the relevant period if—

(a)the student is enrolled at the school; and

(b)the student is acknowledged by the school as having attended the school at least 11 days of the program or course of study for which the student is enrolled.

(3)However, a full-time student is also taken to have attended the school if—

(a)the student attended the school for less than the 11 days because of the student’s absence from the school; and

(b)the student’s absence was for a reason that was beyond the control of—

(i)if the student is living independently of his or her parents or guardian—the student; or

(ii)otherwise—the student’s parent or guardian.

s 14D ins 2014 SL No. 16 s 3

14EWhen has a part-time student attended a school

(1)This section establishes when a part-time student is taken to have attended a school for the purposes of the school survey data.

(2)A part-time student has attended a school during the relevant period if—

(a)the student is enrolled at the school; and

(b)the student is acknowledged by the school as having attended the school for at least the minimum period of the program or course of study for which the student is enrolled.

(3)However, a part-time student is also taken to have attended the school if—

(a)the student attended the school for less than the minimum period because of the student’s absence from the school; and

(b)the student’s absence was for a reason that was beyond the control of—

(i)if the student is living independently of his or her parents or guardian—the student; or

(ii)otherwise—the student’s parent or guardian.

(4)A minimum period, of a program or course of study for a part-time student, means the days worked out using the following formula—

MP = (11/RP) x PTD
where—

MP means the minimum number of days.

PTD means the number of days during which a program or course of study for which the student is enrolled is taught in the relevant period.

RP means the number of days in the relevant period.

(5)Each day a part-time student attends a school, or during which a program or course of study for which a student is enrolled is taught, is taken to be 1 whole day for the purposes of calculating MP and PTD, regardless of the number of hours for the student for the day.

(6)Also, for the purpose of calculating the minimum period, the MP must be rounded up to a whole number.

Example—

An MP of 4.2 days would be rounded up to 5 days.

s 14E ins 2014 SL No. 16 s 3

15Restriction on application for Government funding for school—Act, s 72(2)

For section 72(2) of the Act, the period is 2 years.

16Minimum enrolment—Act, s 85(3)(c) and (4)(c)

(1)This section prescribes, for section 85(3)(c) and (4)(c) of the Act, the minimum enrolment for each site for a school.

(2)The minimum enrolment for each site for a school, other than an accredited special assistance site for a special assistance school, is—

(a)if the school proposes to offer, or offers, primary education at the site—a full-time equivalent enrolment of 25; or

(b)if the school proposes to offer, or offers, secondary education at the site—

(i)for the years 7 to 10 sector of schooling—a full-time equivalent enrolment of 20 for each year of schooling proposed to be offered, or offered, at the site; and

(ii)for the years 11 and 12 sector of schooling—a full-time equivalent enrolment of 10 for each year of schooling proposed to be offered, or offered, at the site; or

(c)if the school proposes to offer, or offers, special education at the site—a full-time equivalent enrolment of 10.

(3)The minimum enrolment for each accredited special assistance site for a special assistance school is—

(a)if the school proposes to offer, or offers, special assistance comprising primary education at the site—a full-time equivalent enrolment of 10; or

(b)if the school proposes to offer, or offers, special assistance comprising secondary education at the site—a full-time equivalent enrolment of 15.

(4)In this section—

site, for a school, see section 85(5) of the Act.

s 16 amd 2006 SL No. 246 s 90(2)sch 2; 2013 SL No. 228 s 4

sub 2014 SL No. 300 s 7

17Copy of register—Act, s 165(b)

(1)For section 165(b) of the Act, the fee is 50c for each page, or part of a page, of the register.

(2)The board may waive, wholly or partially, payment of the fee if it is satisfied payment of the fee would cause financial hardship to the person liable to pay it.

(3)Also, the board may waive payment of the fee if it is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the anticipated cost to the board for collecting it makes it uneconomical to collect it.