Enrolment Criteria
Melton FLO has been established to cater for secondary school students who are disengaged, or at risk of disengaging, with mainstream schooling within Melton and Brimbank Governments schools, and have specific enrolment criteria, as guided by the Department of Education’s Flexible Learning Options (FLOs) Flexible Learning Options (FLO) policy.
Students at risk of disengagement should be referred to Melton FLO only in the instance where their needs are not able to be met in mainstream school, and where in-school strategies and interventions (such as access to specialist services and classroom differentiation) are unsuitable or have proven to be ineffective. Students may be considered at risk of disengaging based on the following indicators:
- low or non-attendance
- literacy and/or numeracy outcomes
- behaviours of concern
- a history of school exclusion.
The student should present, at a minimum, multiple indicators that they are at high risk of disengaging from education or are already disengaged from education.
For detailed guidance on eligibility, refer to: Flexible Learning Options Mandatory Guidelines and Procedures.
Referral Process
Melton and Brimbank Government secondary schools should make every effort to be inclusive of the needs of each of their students, and only in circumstances where this is not possible (and for the period that this is not possible), should referral to a FLO be considered.
Prior to any referral to the Melton FLO program, the school must have liaised with Student Support Services (SSS) for additional support, gaining SSS consent from the parent/carer (if provided) and a DI (Disability Inclusion) funding application must be processed prior to any commencement at CaLM or FLIP for eligible students.
Secondary schools must initially contact the FLO Leading Teacher- Operations and Engagement prior to making any student referral to firstly ensure there is a vacancy and secondly to provide a brief summary of the student to the FLO to ensure a referral is warranted and that the FLO setting is the most suitable option considering the best interests of the young person.
Once it is agreed a referral can be made, the secondary school is responsible for referring students to the FLO via a Melton FLO Referral form which is aligned to the DE FLO online referral questions with associated documentation and other additional information requested. This recommendation and referral are the responsibility of the Principal, usually delegated to the Assistant Principal. Alongside this referral, the referring school must also send a copy of a DE FLO Referral Consent form which is signed by a representative of the referring secondary school, the parent/carer and/or the young person (if a mature minor). Consent may be granted verbally only where it is not practicable to obtain written consent by the parent/carer and/or young person. In this case, the staff member should record this on the consent form that verbal consent was granted and the date this was received.
Upon receiving a referral, the FLO team will complete an outreach consultation with the student and family followed by a FLO referral panel meeting to approve or decline the referral. The FLO Leading Teacher will liaise with the school should a referral be declined along with recommendations. If the referral is accepted, the FLO will complete and submit the DE online referral, on behalf of the secondary school, to the Area for review and then endorsement/approval.
The DE local area office receives the online referral, with specific approval required by the Regional Director for referrals to a FLO for a young person who:
- is under 15 years of age
- is being referred following an expulsion
- is in out-of-home care
- is involved in the youth justice system
- identifies as Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander, or
- is eligible for funding under the Program for Students with Disability (PSD) or Disability Inclusion Tier 3 funding (DI Tier 3).
The DE local area office will review the online referral to ensure that the decision for the young person to move to a FLO has been made following:
- a clear assessment of the needs of the young person
- the school or individual making the referral taking all reasonable steps to support the young person within the school environment.
Once DE approves the referral, Melton FLO will consult with the secondary school and the young person’s family to initiate the CaLM or FLIP intake process before the student commences at the FLO.
Students enrolled within the CaLM or FLIP program must remain enrolled at their base secondary school and placed on the base school CaLM or FLIP roll category.
Additional Information
For more information, refer to the Melton FLO (CaLM & FLIP) referral process flowchart and the Melton FLO enrolment-policy
