Student Movement Register Policy

1. What is this policy about?
   1. This policy outlines the ACT Education Directorate’s position and responsibility for the Student Movement Register which assists the Directorate to track and monitor student movement to help ensure students stay connected with education.
2. Policy Statement
   1. The policy provides the Directorate with information about responsibilities for the Student Movement Register consistent with the Education Act 2004 (the Act) and Education Regulation 2005.
   2. It contains relevant definitions for the lawful implementation of the Student Movement Register elements of the Act. It outlines the responsibilities in schools and the Directorate.
   Student Movement Register
   3. The Student Movement Register¹ contains information about student movement events to support the student to remain connected with education. This includes information to accurately identify students and be able to contact their parents and carers².
   4. Principals or the Director-General are required to record information within the Student Movement Register within 5 days of a student movement event³. This is to ensure timely information is available to support students and their parents and carers. The definitions below account for when a parent or carer moves their student on a non-school day.
   5. The Student Movement Register can be accessed at https://studentmovementregister.ed.act.edu.au
   6. A student movement event is defined in the Education Act 2004 as any of the following:⁴
      1. a student is enrolled at a school, having been previously enrolled at another education provider or for home education;⁵
      or
      2. a student’s enrolment ends.⁶
   7. Enrolment of a student for the purposes of the Student Movement Register occurs on the day that the child first appears on the class roll and the child has attended the class or been marked absent for an explained reason.⁷ In ACT Public Schools the student’s status is then switched to “enrolled active” in the student administration system.⁸
   8. A student’s enrolment ends for the purpose of the Student Movement Register on the day that any of the following occur:
      1. the student is unenrolled from the school – unenrolment occurs on the day specified in a form signed by a parent or carer that the student is to be unenrolled from the school, or the first school day after the school receives the form, whichever is later;
      2. the student is enrolled at another education provider (including a school);
      3. the student is registered for home education – this must be done by the parent or carer with the home education registrar and occurs on the day that the particulars of the student are entered on the home education register.⁹
      4. the school terminates the enrolment contract for the student – this occurs on the day the school specifies in their notice to terminate the enrolment contract for a student;
   9. the student is transferred, expelled or excluded from the school under chapter 2A. These actions occur because the student has engaged in unsafe or non-compliant behaviour and the school has exhausted all reasonable alternatives for the student:
      1. Transferred is the compulsory transfer by the Director-General of a student between ACT Public Schools. The transfer occurs on the day the decision takes effect to transfer a student to another school as written in the transfer notice.¹⁰
      2. Expelled is the decision by the principal of a non-government school to expel a student from that school. Expulsion occurs on the day the decision takes effect as written in the expulsion notice.¹¹
      3. Excluded is the decision by the Director-General or the Director of Catholic Education to exclude a student from enrolling at any school in their system of schools. It occurs on the day the decision takes effect to exclude a student as written in the exclusion notice.¹²
   10. The student movement register also accepts notification that the student is deceased or has left the school because they are no longer required to participate in compulsory education (for example they are 17 years or older).
   11. The student movement events of the student will be recorded on the Student Movement Register through the operation of the computer systems. For ACT Public Schools this will occur via a linkage between the student administration system and the student movement register. For Non-Government Schools this will occur when the Catholic Systemic School or Independent School submits their data to the student movement register website.
   Student Movement Register Procedures
   12. The Director-General (or delegate) establishes procedures for recording information in the student movement register and tells principals of schools in the ACT about the procedures.¹³
   13. The procedures required under section 10AB(1)(a) of the Act:
       1. for ACT Public Schools are the Quick Reference Guides for the student administration system.
       2. for Independent Schools are the “Student Movement Register - Procedures for Independent Schools” which are published on the policy register of the Education Directorate.¹⁴
       3. for Catholic Systemic Schools are “Student Movement Register - Procedures for Catholic Systemic Schools” which are published on the policy register of the Education Directorate.
   14. Template Excel and CSV files are available to the Catholic System and Independent Schools for uploading to the Student Movement Register website. These are published on the website of the register (https://studentmovementregister.ed.act.edu.au). The Procedures for Independent Schools and the Procedures for Catholic Systemic Schools outline more detail for schools on how to provide the data.
   School processes
   15. The principal and the school should establish processes for their school to comply with the Student Movement Register Procedures issued by the Director-General.¹⁵ This will include ensuring that the data is provided within 5 days of a student movement event.
3. Who does this policy apply to?
   1. This policy applies to the principals of all schools in the ACT and the Director-General.
   2. The Directorate recognises that principals may assign administrative tasks to their staff to fulfill the legal obligations of the principals. To that extent this policy and associated procedures apply to those staff members.
4. Context
   1. The Directorate is committed to the safety and wellbeing of students in the ACT. Oversight of student movement helps ensure that students stay connected with education and allows for the identification of known signs of risk and vulnerability. Signs may include multiple movements between schools and states within a short period of time, and the reason for their movement.
5. Responsibilities
   1. Director-General is accountable for:
      • keeping the Student Movement Register.
      • issuing this policy and the procedures for the Student Movement Register.
      • recording the movement of students registered for home education.
      • assigning to officers in the Directorate the administrative duties required to deliver the above responsibilities.
      • ensuring that ACT public schools and the Education Support Office are adequately resourced to meet their responsibilities to record relevant information in the Student Administration System within the 5-day requirement.
   2. Principal is accountable for:
      • complying with the requirements for recording student movement events to and from their school.¹⁶
      • having processes for their own school that ensure that school staff are maintaining student records in their student administration system, and
      • for Non-Government Schools, submitting the information to the Student Movement Register in accordance with the Student Movement Register Procedures.
   3. School staff are responsible for: maintaining student records in the student administration system of their school (if assigned the administrative task to do so).
   4. Education Support Office staff are responsible for:
      • supporting the administrative processes relating to the Student Movement Register.
      • recording relevant information for student movement events as directed by the Director-General (particularly for home education).
      • ensuring data is transferred from the student administration system for ACT Public Schools to the Student Movement Register.
      • Student Engagement Branch are responsible for triaging based on risk and taking appropriate action to follow up students who are of eligible age, have left a school and after 14 days have not been enrolled in a different education provider or registered for home education.
      • Digital Strategy, Services and Transformation Branch are responsible for designing and maintaining the student administration system for ACT public schools and home education.
   5. Digital, Data and Technology Solutions Division in the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate is responsible for: administering, supporting and maintaining the Student Movement Register business system on behalf of, and in partnership with, the Education Directorate.  This includes the integration between the Directorate's student administration system which contains student enrolment details for ACT public schools and Home Education, and the functionality for non-government schools to upload student enrolment details to the student movement register for matching and tracking student movements.
   6. Parents are responsible for:
      • making decisions to enrol their child or to remove their child from a school, except where the school or system has decided to remove the child consistent with provisions outlined in Chapter 2A of the Act- Suspensions, transfer, expulsion, and exclusion of students.
      • maintaining their contact details with the school, other education provider or the home education register. This includes a school or other educational setting they have decided to leave.
      • maintaining an enrolment or registration or applying for an Exemption Certificate or Approval Statement for their student while that student is of compulsory school age.
   7. Policy Owner: The Deputy Director-General, System Policy and Reform is accountable for this policy.
6. Monitoring and Review
   1. The Policy Owner monitors the Student Movement Register Policy. This includes an annual scan of operation and review. A full review of the policy will be conducted within a three year period.
7. Contact
   1. For questions about the Student Movement Register policy please contact the Office of the Deputy Director-General, System Policy and Reform on (02) 6205 3227 or email SPROffice@act.gov.au.
8. Feedback
   1. Any feedback about this policy, should be raised with the policy owner. Refer to Contact information above.
9. References
   1. Definitions
      • ACT Public School means an ACT Government public school established under section 20 of the Education Act 2004.
      • Catholic Systemic School means a school who has the proprietor as the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn registered as a Non-Government School in the ACT under Part 4.3 of the Education Act 2004.
      • Contact details include the person’s home address, postal address (if different from the home address), email address and telephone number.¹⁷
      • Enrolled means the child appears on the class roll, and the child has attended the class or been marked absent for an explained reason. Note this occurs after the parent or carer has applied for and accepted the offer of a place in a school.
      • Excluded means the decision to exclude has taken effect under Chapter 2A of the Education Act 2004. Exclusion is the decision by the Director-General or the Director of Catholic Education to exclude a student from enrolling at any school in their system of schools. It occurs on the day the decision takes effect to exclude a student as written in the exclusion notice.
      • Expelled means the decision has taken effect to expel a student under Chapter 2A of the Education Act 2004. A student can only be expelled from a Non-Government School. The decision is made by the director of Catholic Education or the principal of an independent school to expel a student from that school because the student has engaged in unsafe or noncompliant behaviour and the school has exhausted all reasonable alternatives to expelling the student. Expulsion occurs on the day the decision takes effect as written in the expulsion notice.¹⁸
      • Five days means five (5) calendar days. The Legislation Act 2001 allows an action to be done on the following working day, if otherwise it would be required to be done on a non-working day. The ACT Public School student administration system automatically syncs daily with the Student Movement Register.
      • Independent School means a school that is registered in the ACT under part 4.3 of the Education Act 2004. Independent schools are not an ACT Public School or a Catholic Systemic School.
      • Non-Government School means a school in the ACT that is not a ACT Public School. They are registered under part 4.3 of the Education Act 2004. This includes Catholic Systemic Schools and Independent Schools.
      • Parent for the purpose of this policy, associated procedures and the Act, a ‘parent’ includes a carer and means a person having parental responsibility for the child under the Children and Young People Act 2008 (ACT).¹⁹
      • Registered for home education means registered for home education under section 131 of the Education Act 2004 or corresponding law in another jurisdiction.
      • Registration for home education ends means that the period in the certificate of registration for home education has ended or a cancellation of registration for home education has taken effect under section 135(6) of the Education Act 2004.
      • Terminate the enrolment contract means that a non-government school has given notice to terminate the enrolment contract for a student and the termination has taken effect.
      • Transfer means the compulsory transfer between ACT Public Schools because of a decision of the Director-General under chapter 2A of the Education Act 2004. These transfers occur because the student has engaged in unsafe or noncompliant behaviour and the school has exhausted all reasonable alternatives to transferring the student. Note that movements between schools also occur voluntarily and those movements are registered in the student movement register as a student unenrolling in one school and/or enrolling in another school.
      • Unenrolled means the school has departed the student from their student administration system because the parent or carer has specified in a form to unenroll their child from the school. Note this lawfully occurs on the later of the first school day after the parent or carer has submitted the form or the date specified by the parent or carer in the form.
   2. Legislation
      • Education Act 2004, sections 10AA and 10AB provide the key legal requirements for the Director-General and principals relating to the Student Movement Register. The director-general is required to keep a register. The principal of a school is required to record information in the student movement register when a student movement event occurs.
      Education Regulation 2005, regulation 2AA provides the information that principals (of all schools) and the Director-General (for home education) are required to provide when a student movement event occurs.
   3. Implementation Documents
      • Student Movement Register Procedures for Independent Schools
      • Student Movement Register Procedures for Catholic Systemic Schools
      • Student Movement Register Spreadsheet Templates
      • Quick Reference Guides for the Student Administration System (ACT Public Schools)
   4. Related Policies and Information
      • Enrolment Policy and Procedures

00115 is the unique identifier of this document. It is the responsibility of the user to verify that this is the current and complete version of the document, available on the Directorate’s website at http://www.education.act.gov.au/publications_and_policies/school_and_corporate_policies/A-Z/.