Guidance for communicating with schools

An important element of this is in the way our central office staff, and any staff working for contracted external organisations, communicate with our school leaders. All communications from third parties to our school-based staff must consider workload impacts, clarity of messaging and administrative burden.

External organisations often work on behalf of DE to carry out important activities in schools, such as evaluations, inspections and audits. The following guidelines set out DE’s requirements for the way in which third parties communicate with our schools. They are designed to both support schools and improve schools’ engagement with the work you have been contracted to undertake.

Initial communication to the school

Initial communications about evaluations, audits, new programs or other initiatives being operated by third parties should be sent to the school by the responsible DE program area as the first introduction of the work program. These communications must outline the initiative or program, what is required of schools and the expected interactions from third parties.

This initial communication reassures schools that the ensuing request is legitimate and has been approved under DE’s School Engagement Model, giving it credibility and addressing concerns about unsolicited requests and phishing.

Communication clarity and structure

When third parties are communicating with schools, DE requests:

clear and simple messages in language that school-based staff will understand
requested actions, commitments, and timelines stated early in the message
key information, tasks, and requests presented in bullet points for easy reading
clarity on whether a task is optional or mandatory in the first paragraph, and any legislative or policy basis for mandatory requirements
links to relevant resources and any appropriate Policy and Advisory Library policies
contact details to be provided for any questions or concerns (for both your organisation and the relevant DE team, i.e. there must be a name and contact number/email for the lead person in your team and also the person leading/commissioning the work in the DE team).

Scheduling and timing considerations

When planning to communicate with schools, please:

avoid contact outside of regular hours e.g. before 8am or after 5pm on weekdays, never on weekends or in the school holidays
allow at least two weeks for schools to respond to your request and consider the workload associated with the actions you are requesting and the time of year for a school
allow schools to schedule meetings or visits at a time that suits them and be flexible with any requests for rescheduling
if visiting schools, familiarise yourself with the school’s local Visitors policy on their website and also the Department’s Visitors in School Policy.

School workload considerations

Please do not request information from schools that can be sourced from DE centrally (e.g. through DE systems or databases). Always check with your DE contact person.
If possible, combine related tasks to minimise disruption.
Do not send reminder emails unless explicitly approved by the School Engagement Unit in advance.

For questions about the Department’s approach to communicating with school leaders, please contact the School Engagement Unit at school.engagement@education.vic.gov.au.

Education & training

Updated 27 March 2026

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Guidance for communicating with schools

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Initial communication to the school

Communication clarity and structure

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School workload considerations

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