AddressFrankston Special Developmental School (SDS) is a unique dual campus School. The main Frankston Campus located in Karingal in the outer southern suburbs of Melbourne, while the residential outdoor Blackwood Campus is in the small township of Blackwood, 80km north-west of Melbourne and 140km from our Frankston Campus.
The School
The following values are seen as being central to the life of the school and how all members in the school community should conduct themselves: Sharing, Caring, Respect and Individuality. The school vision statement Learning for life is the focus of all programs conducted at Frankston SDS.
Our school is committed to child safety, and it is a requirement that all of those working with children have an understanding of our Child Safe Code of Conduct and methods of identifying and following up suspected abuse.
Measurable goals are devised and progress is monitored throughout the year in all areas to ensure improved outcomes for the students.
Frankston Campus
The Campus has well equipped facilities for the students including: nineteen classrooms, a gymnasium, multi-purpose room, homecrafts room, art and craft room, computer lab and extensive play equipment. The school has recently undergone a significant renovation.
Frankston Campus provides a specialised and challenging curriculum for 125 school aged students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities. The school challenges students to do their best in a supportive and engaging environment.
Students learn in active, practical and meaningful ways and the school aims to develop each child¿s ability academically, socially physically and emotionally. Our staff are dedicated, qualified professionals who are experienced in working with children with special, varied and often complex needs to provide the best education, self-esteem and independence building opportunities for the students. All staff model positive behaviour to students consistent with the School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support Framework.
The Individualised Learning Programs created at Frankston aim to develop social competencies, communication and independence. They are implemented and monitored by a team of dedicated staff which includes teachers, teacher assistants, four speech therapists, a social worker, an occupational therapist, a chaplain and a physiotherapist.
Our Frankston Campus also provides an Early Education Program for pre-school aged students who exhibit significant global developmental delay. The Early Education Program operates out of the East Karingal Kindergarten. It is an inclusive program; our staff and students working together with their mainstream colleagues and friends.
Blackwood Campus
Surrounded by the Wombat State Forest, Blackwood Special Schools¿ Outdoor Education Centre (Blackwood) is a BARR 5 registered campus of Frankston SDS. Based on an enrolment of 46 students, Blackwood is managed through its own SRP and is an outdoor residential school that challenges growth and development in students with disabilities enrolled within the Victoria¿s Special School Network. Through the facilities onsite and the connection with all Victorian Special Schools, Blackwood can implement up to 3 residential programs for 3 different special schools weekly throughout each academic year for students from 5 ¿ 18 with varying needs and abilities. Blackwood¿s facilities are located across two sites, 400m apart, with the main site set in an undulating forest environment approximately 26 acres in size and includes a 1 X 22 bed bunk house (which is also our shelter in place), 1 X Tent Shelter Accommodation Site, 2 X classrooms, a Mod 5 Office, with an accessible high ropes course, accessible 7¿m high climbing tower, accessible archery classroom, fenced yabby dam, playground, bouldering hut, lesson sites, maintenance facilities and a communal dining room. The smaller property is a residential block which includes 1 X 24 bed bunk house, mountain bike riding shed, observatory, playground and facilities shed.
Students accessing the Blackwood facilities engage in our unique curriculum. With our key learning areas being Health & Physical Education along with Personal & Social Capabilities students are challenged through our outdoor education lessons with a learning focus of either teamwork or resilience. Within our curriculum and throughout each academic year Blackwood invites the Special School Network to participate in 5 X multi school events across the state of Victoria which sees students engaged in bike riding events along rail trail and through the Wombats State Forest, an indigenous curriculum and bushwalking expeditions.
Blackwood is managed by a campus principal with teaching and education support staff supporting program co-ordination, implementation and facilities. With Blackwood being an outdoor residential school, our program staff manage their weekly attendance and hours in accordance to the Victorian Government School Agreement 2022 through a local consultative agreement that¿s see Blackwood staff onsite from 9am ¿ 9pm four days a week, with shorter hours on the fifth day.
KSC 1: Educational Leadership
· Outstanding capacity for visionary and exemplary educational leadership of a specialist school
· Highly developed skills in leading and managing change including the leadership of others in the process of change
KSC 2: Financial, Managerial and Administrative Ability
· Capacity for financial, organisational and resource management skills
KSC 3: Planning, Policy and Program Development and Review
· Exemplary values appropriate to the development of student learning with a demonstrated capacity to achieve high quality learning outcomes for students
KSC 4: Leadership of Staff and Students
· A highly developed capacity to motivate staff, develop their interests and mentor them through their growth
· A demonstrated capacity to foster a positive learning environment that takes into account the individual needs of students, contributing to development of their special abilities and talents
KSC 5: Interpersonal and Communication Skills
· Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills when interacting with families, individuals, colleagues and the wider community
· Exemplary values pertaining to personal qualities of objectivity, sensitivity and integrity
The assistant principal reports directly to the principal.
Assistant principals have a primary responsibility for the management of significant areas or functions within the school to ensure the effective development, provision and evaluation of the school's education program. In exercising the responsibility, assistant principals will have the authority to make all significant decisions relating to the program, budget and staff relating to their area of designated responsibility within the framework of the school's strategic plan, policies and budget. Assistant principals will contribute to the overall management of the school through involvement in policy formulation and decision making.
The management of significant school program or functional areas in schools involve assistant principals in the analysis of the needs of students and the translation of state educational policy and frameworks into appropriate education programs to meet the needs of all students.
Typically assistant principals will be responsible for the effective use of the teaching staff and program budget of a defined area of the school's operation and for the oversight and leadership of the educational programs provided utilising these resources.
Typically, assistant principals perform one or more of the following functions:
- supervision and coordination of the work of senior curriculum or level coordinators;
- allocation of budgets, positions of responsibility and other resources within the area of responsibility;
- supervision of the delivery of teaching programs;
- management of programs to improve the knowledge and experience of staff;
- responsibility for general discipline matters beyond the management of classroom teachers and year level coordinators;
- contribute to the overall management of the school;
Appropriately qualified individuals currently registered or eligible for registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching. This includes a Special Education qualification.
Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.
The Department of Education is committed to the principles of equal opportunity, and diversity and inclusion for all. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department. The Department recognises that the provision of family friendly, supportive, safe and harassment free workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work, diversity and safety across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for persons with a disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines).
Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via *******@education.vic.gov.au
Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/child-safe-standards/policy
The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/values-department-vps-school-employees/overview
- All staff employed by the Department and schools have access to a broad range of employment conditions and working arrangements.
- Appointment of successful applicants will be made subject to a satisfactory pre-employment conditions check.
- A probationary period may apply during the first year of employment and induction and support programs provided.
- Detailed information on all terms and conditions of employment is available on the Department's Human Resources website at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Pages/default.aspx
- All staff employed by the Department and schools have access to a broad range of employment conditions and working arrangements.
- Appointment of successful applicants will be made subject to a satisfactory pre-employment conditions check.
- A probationary period may apply during the first year of employment and induction and support programs provided.
- Detailed information on all terms and conditions of employment is available on the Department's Human Resources website at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Pages/default.aspx
To be eligible for employment, transfer or promotion in the principal or teacher class a person must have provisional or full registration from the Victorian Institute of Teaching. In addition, from 3 August 2020, to be eligible for employment in the principal class or teacher class, a person who graduated from a Victorian Initial Teacher Education program after 1 July 2016, must demonstrate that they have passed the literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education (LANTITE) requirements. This condition is satisfied where the LANTITE requirement is part of the Victorian Initial Teacher Education program completed by the person.
