Office for Government School Education
The Office for Government School Education is responsible for the management, coordination and implementation of high quality government school education across the state of Victoria. Schools are provided with services and support to assist with the implementation of government education policies. The Office has a number of divisions which are responsible for the formulation of key policy and program decisions and developing innovative strategies to assist the learning process.
The Office consists of six divisions:
- Group Coordinator
- Student Wellbeing and Support
- Student Learning Programs
- School Workforce Reform and School Improvement
- Education Regeneration and Community Partnerships
- Regions
Group Coordinator Division
The key functions of the Group Coordinator Division are to:
- support the Deputy Secretary to manage and represent this Office;
- liaise with other Offices within the Department to ensure co-ordination between policy and implementation;
- manage school governance arrangements and support programs; and
- manage stakeholder relations.
Student Wellbeing and Support Division
The key functions of the Student Wellbeing and Support Division are to:
- develop and manage programs to support the Department’s policy agenda for student wellbeing including attendance, anti-bullying, mental health, student support services, the Primary Welfare Officer Initiative, suicide prevention, anaphylaxis management, and student health;
- manage support for students with disabilities and additional learning needs and for students at risk of disengagement from schooling;
- manage support for students involved in critical incidences; and
- present abilities awareness programs in schools.
Student Learning Programs Division
The key functions of the Student Learning Programs Division are to:
- lead and develop programs in areas of curriculum, assessment and reporting and teaching strategies which are directed at improving the learning outcomes for all learners and reducing disparity among groups of learners;
- liaise closely with regional offices and other areas of the portfolio, including statutory authorities to ensure successful implementation of curriculum, assessment and reporting, and teaching strategies; and
- manage and implement targeted programs such as English as a Second Language, learning support for refugees, languages other than English and school sport; and manage specific Commonwealth student learning initiatives such as drug education and values education.
School Workforce Reform and School Improvement Division
The key functions of the School Workforce Reform and School Improvement Division are to:
- implement statewide policy on performance improvement, including working collaboratively with regional offices to raise the performance of all groups;
- plan and deliver school leadership and teacher development programs within statewide policy frameworks; and
- coordinate school accountability and school improvement, including assisting schools and regional offices to manage school system performance and targeted school improvement for those schools performing below expected levels.
Education Regeneration and Community Partnerships Division
This Division is responsible for assisting each region to establish a network model that uses the Department's agreed school improvement framework to improve the performance of all schools.
This Division also focuses on ensuring that networks and regions plan for a comprehensive educational offering from birth to adulthood.
Regions
This Office, through its regional offices, plays a key role in improving, monitoring and reporting on individual performance of government schools and manages the implementation of the School System Reform processes.
The nine school regions (Barwon South Western, Grampians, Eastern Metropolitan, Gippsland, Hume, Loddon Mallee, Northern Metropolitan, Southern Metropolitan and Western Metropolitan) support schools to improve and respond to the Government’s education policies. They are also responsible for evaluating key educational initiatives; developing the capacity of schools and school leadership; promoting increased community involvement and commitment to improving student outcomes; leading or participating in innovative programs to achieve government goals for school improvement and student outcomes. For more information, see: Regions