School camps survey results

As we have reported over the last few months, school camps in Victoria are under threat because of unfunded changes to teachers’ entitlements.
This is obviously an important issue for parents, as the strong response to our parent survey shows. We had over 200 responses, with some clear trends and many thoughtful comments.

Parent views

90% of parents said that school camps are very important to their children’s educational experience. Parents saw many benefits for their children, with ‘social development’, ‘increased confidence’, ‘independence’, ‘new experiences that broaden their horizons’ and ‘Educational experiences that couldn’t have been delivered in a classroom’ all rated highly.
A huge majority (93%) supported Parents Victoria’s call for increased funding to cover teachers’ time-in-lieu, so that school camps can continue at their current level.
Most parents (82%) said that their school had not requested payment in advance for school camp costs this year. Of those schools that had requested payment in advance, most used a system of instalment payments or ‘deposit now, balance later’.

Comments

In the Comments section, parents gave personal examples of how important school camps have been for their children’s education and development. Many parents pointed out the implications of increased camp costs for fairness and equity, meaning that disadvantage will be further entrenched if lower-income schools cut back camping programs and lower-income families are unable to afford camps for their children. An overwhelming majority of parents felt that teachers deserve time-in-lieu for their extra hours on duty at camps, and that the extra cost should be funded by the Education Department rather than by schools or parents. Here are a few samples of parent comments:

• Of course staff can’t be expected to give up their nights and weekends away from their families and other commitments without compensation, as such the government must not only promise to compensate staff, but must also promise to fund that. Otherwise, we will further entrench inequalities across schools and indeed across society.
• A 4 day camp will generate a whole week of TIL for teachers. This is not sustainable at our school and we are looking at having to dramatically change our camps and the experiences we are able to offer our students as we just cannot afford the week off per teacher each time they go on a camp. This is ridiculous and needs to be funded or our children will miss out on what is undoubtedly an essential experience.
• It will be schools and students who experience disadvantage that will be most impacted by this. The TIL is a fair change, but schools will need support in re-distributing resources or subsidising participation so that no students are left out or left behind of what is an important well-being program.
• For students with SLD and other disabilities, the ability to get out to school camp and feel equal with their peers is so incredibly important. My son had a brilliant time at his overnight camp because he didn’t feel the pressure of writing and reading, which is so very difficult for him with his severe dyslexia.

The view from school leadership

Parents Victoria has been liaising with Andrew Dalgleish, President of the the Victorian Principals Association about this difficult issue. Andrew recently made this comment:

There are still concerns begin raised by school leaders regarding their capacity to conduct school camps. Unfortunately a number of schools are indicating they are reducing their schools camp offerings as they are unable to pay for the accrued time in lieu.
Many are taking a conservative approach to camps in 2023 as they feel they do not have the funds available to pay for leave which may be accrued, or manage the acquittal of TIL in other ways. School leaders strongly believe that experiences provided to students though camps are incredibly important and call on funding to be made available to support the staffing requirements for these activities.

From the teachers’ union

We have also been speaking with Meredith Peace, Victorian Branch President of the Australian Education Union. Meredith sent us the following statement:

Fixing time in lieu arrangements means fixing school funding

Many parents/carers will recall the experience of the early morning wait, gathered in the cold with your children, waiting for them to get on the bus to whisk them off to school camp. While parents have ensured warm clothes, a good sleeping bag, toiletries and other necessities are packed, school staff have done the booking, planning, risk assessments, liaising, chasing of medical and permission forms, reassured the nervous, set the guidelines, made arrangements for medical and dietary needs, and the co-ordinated camp activities, all before the bus arrives!

There is no doubt that the school camp experience is valuable for students and school staff (principals, teachers, support staff). Students have new experiences and develop new skills, become more resilient, expand friendships, and staff and students build on their relationships beyond the classroom environment.

Up until now it was not widely known that camps have always relied on the volunteer (unpaid) labour of school staff to operate. The 2022 agreement between the Australian Education Union and the Department of Education, which sets working conditions, now requires that staff who attend camp outside their normal hours of work must receive either time in lieu or payment for that extra work. It means staff are not working for free.

Victoria is in the midst of a teacher shortage, and excessive workloads are the main reason why teachers say they leave or are considering leaving the profession. It is the right of every child to have a fully qualified teacher in front of their class, and workload must be addressed as part of the solution to teacher shortages. This was identified in the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan endorsed by federal and state/territory education ministers in December last year.
The new time in lieu arrangements help to manage teacher workloads and extend to other school activities outside of normal teacher attendance time, such as parent teacher meetings, excursions, concerts, parent information sessions, and after-hours sport.

When teachers and support staff are required to attend camps, they carry a duty of care to their students, as a parent/carer would expect. This means they not only have a duty of care during their normal hours of work, but all other hours during the camp such as in the early morning and overnight.

Time in lieu arrangements have required schools to think about their out of hours activities more carefully, including what activities they run, how many staff are required, and how and when the time in lieu will be compensated. Many schools have been able to proceed with camps and provide time in lieu, however there are others that have changed arrangements or decided not to run some camps. The Department requires schools to manage the time in lieu within the funding allocated through school budgets, which has created difficulties for schools.

The AEU is currently in a Fair Work Commission (FWC) dispute with the Department about their time in lieu advice to schools, specifically in relation to the idea that a staff member may be off duty while at camp. If they are considered off duty then the Department argues that the staff member would not get time in lieu. Given staff have a duty of care to students whilst on camp we consider that they are either on duty or on call and ready to perform duty (e.g. when a teacher is asleep and then needs to attend to a student who is unwell). Parents should expect that their children are always supervised and supported when on camp, which may not be the case if a teacher is considered off duty by the Department. This matter is currently before the Fair Work Commission and is due to be heard in mid-May.
In almost every respect, the issue of payment of time in lieu for school staff on camps is an issue about the funding of our schools. There is little room for an argument that teachers should work for free while on camp. Yet when the Commonwealth and Victorian governments do not fund public schools to the benchmark level the politicians themselves set, its little wonder that schools are under pressure.

Public schools in Victoria are currently funded to only 90.4% of the School Resource Standard (SRS). This means that every student is being short changed.
It means that public schools do not have enough resources to manage time in lieu. But it also means that our schools do not have the resources to provide a raft of other learning and welfare supports for students, such as, smaller class sizes and more one on one assistance for those with additional learning needs or disability.
Right now, a student in Year 12 has gone through their entire schooling without being fully funded to the government’s own resourcing standard. That is something to be angry or frustrated about! And its something which we can change.

The funding agreement between the states/territories and federal government is about to be reviewed, with a new agreement to be finalised by the end of 2024. Every parent in public education who raises their voice to call on governments to deliver fair and proper funding will make a difference. What’s more by joining in a campaign with teachers, principals, and support staff we can really amplify that call and see extra funding delivered.
This will enable schools to not only fund activities such as camps but provide for more support for students with additional needs, a broader range of subjects to be offered, smaller class sizes, and additional teachers and support staff