St Joseph's School
|
|
|
At St Joseph's School, we follow the stages of appointment below if there is a vacancy and we are able to recruit given relevant considerations (e.g. staffing entitlement, budgeting, operational requirements). St Joseph's School consults with the proprietor or their representative to confirm whether a position is a 
special position, and follows additional stages of appointment as required. The board, or its delegated representative(s), ensures that each stage of appointment contributes to a fair and impartial process.
St Joseph's School considers the character, competence, qualifications, and experience of applicants to ensure the school appoints the person who is best suited to the role. We check the authenticity of documentation and ensure that any personal information is managed according to our privacy and records retention policies. See Privacy Policy and School Records Retention and Disposal.
We ensure the special character of our school is upheld in all aspects of employment. We comply with the conditions of Schedule 6 of the Education and Training Act 2020, and those set out by our proprietor and integration agreement.
Advertising a position
St Joseph's School prepares a job description and advertises the position according to the terms of the relevant employment agreement. Advertisements include information about the special character of our school, and for special positions we include any required conditions for appointment.
We include information about employment conditions in the advertisement, which may include:
We advertise for permanent appointments unless conditions for fixed-term employment are met.
We advertise positions in a way that enables suitably qualified people to apply. We ensure that language used in the advertisement is not misleading, and does not indicate that the school intends to treat applicants differently based on prohibited grounds (Human Rights Act 1993, s 67).
We include a special character position form (S form) as part of the application for special positions. Applicants are required to describe their qualifications and experience related to Catholic special character and nominate referees to support their application.
We acknowledge any applications received and store documentation confidentially and securely. We do not make an offer of appointment while the position is being advertised.
Interviewing and reference checking
The board consults with the proprietor about the acceptability of applicants for appointment. The proprietor confirms the acceptability of applicants in terms of the special character of the school or the capability of applicants. The board only considers applicants for appointment that the proprietor has confirmed as acceptable (Education and Training Act 2020, Schedule 6, clause 52).
After determining acceptability for the position, the board, or its delegated representative(s), shortlists applicants as required, and conducts interviews and reference checks to determine which applicant is best suited to the position. If the board delegates authority to a committee appoint a teacher or recommend the appointment of a teacher, the committee must contain at least one of the board members appointed to the board by the proprietor (Education and Training Act, Schedule 6, clause 46).
The suitability of candidates is determined using the criteria of the job description. During the interview and reference checking process, we consider the competence, qualifications, experience, and character of applicants in deciding who to appoint.
We ensure that:
St Joseph's School completes reference checks to gather and confirm information about applicants. Our reference checking process is tailored to meet the requirements of the job that is being advertised, but we ensure all applicants for a specific position receive the same treatment. Reference checks may occur before or after the school conducts interviews.
The school seeks consent from applicants to contact their referees and only contacts referees listed by the applicant. We confirm the applicant's identity with their referees and discuss confidentiality expectations. We only request information from applicants and their referees that relates directly to the applicant's suitability for the position. We do not ask questions that could be considered discriminatory or a breach of privacy.
To ensure fairness and consistency across all applicants for a specific position, we:
We comply with legislative requirements to safety check and police vet as appropriate, according to the nature of the role. See Safety Checking and Police Vetting.
We also confirm the identity of applicants and ensure we sight originals or verified copies of any documentation.
Making an appointment
As required by the Education and Training Act (s 603), when we make an appointment we give preference to the person who is best suited to the position. The appointment committee or person delegated to conduct the appointment process seeks board approval to make an appointment where required. If after a robust appointment process we determine that none of the applicants are best suited to the position, the school may re-advertise the position.
The school contacts the successful applicant and provides an offer of employment. The successful applicant is required to confirm in writing that they accept the offer. We ensure that the successful applicant is aware of the requirements and expectations of the position, including the responsibility of all staff to support our special character. For special positions, we ensure the letter of offer contains appropriate wording to reflect any special character requirements as conditions of appointment.
The school does not announce the appointment until we receive formal acceptance from the applicant. We also notify unsuccessful candidates. We record appointments to special character positions in a formal register.
We ensure all new staff have an employment agreement and are aware of the terms and conditions of their employment. See Employment Agreements.
We provide an appropriate induction once staff are appointed. See Staff Induction.
Personal information and record keeping
We ensure that documentation is retained or destroyed in accordance with our records retention policies. We destroy any documentation relating to the appointment process (e.g. unsuccessful candidate CVs) once it is no longer administratively required and all reporting requirements have been met.
Candidates are entitled to information about their own appointment process (e.g. interview scores and comments) if they request this. Any information that was shared confidentially by referees is not passed on to candidates. Candidates are not entitled to information about other applicants.
