Financial support

Parent Initiatives in Education funding for school and preschool communities

Parent Initiatives in Education (PIE) funding supports parent-led initiatives at their child’s school or preschool that deliver outcomes in line with funding criteria.

Criteria

To be eligible to receive up to $3000 for an approved application the initiative must demonstrate how it will deliver one or more of the following criteria:

encourage participation of parents and caregivers who are not well represented in their school and preschool decision making
improve parent and caregiver understanding of what their children are learning
help parents and caregivers support their child’s education, both at home, and through positive relationships with educators.

Key dates

Applications for the 2019 round:

Open Tuesday 7 August 2018
Close 5.00 pm, Friday 28 September 2018

Late or incomplete applications will not be eligible for consideration.

Eligibility for PIE funding

Applications must:

be initiated by individual parents, parent or caregiver groups, such as governing councils and parent clubs
be endorsed by the department preschool or school leader
demonstrate how the initiative will deliver one or more of the criteria during and beyond the initiative
outline how outcomes of the initiative will be sustained to benefit current and future participants/parents
include a detailed budget
be in line with government and department policies and all relevant legislation.

More than one application per preschool or school can be submitted.

How to apply

You can submit your application for PIE funding online.

Apply now

When completing your application, you might find it useful to read about:

These resources include parent engagement related information and tools that can inform the way preschools and schools put local initiatives into action to support improved quality parent engagement practices and strategies.

What can be funded

Funding aims to support high quality school-family partnerships and parent engagement in children’s learning. This includes parent involvement in school decision making, activities at the school and education in the home.

Ideally you will seek quotes (where relevant) to base your application budget on. You can include a range of reasonable costs that may be incurred in the delivery of your initiative. Be clear in your planning and the application how each expense will support delivery of the criteria.

Eligible costs may include:

Printing and photocopying	Including flyers or pamphlets and information packs for parents. Budget at 10c per copy which includes paper and ink.
Refreshments	For example, morning or afternoon tea for parent and caregiver participants. You must include the number and cost per head (maximum $3.50 per head, per break).
Crèche/OSHC	Include the number and age of children, the number of workers and the current hourly rate.
Transport for parents and caregivers	Bus or taxi. Include the name of the operator, cost of each journey, numbers of passengers, names of the passengers, and the distance.
Facilitator/presenter/ provider fees	Include the name of the facilitator/presenter/provider, their organisation, the session name, goods or services to be provided and cost per session. Note that education department employees cannot be paid.
Interpreter’s fees	List the language/s, interpreter’s name, organisation name and cost per hour.
Translation fees	List the language/s, translator’s name, the organisation name and cost per word or page.
Website	Costs associated with placing resources for parents on site websites

What will not be funded

Goods and services that:

meet criteria for other department funding options
are funded through the site Resource Entitlement Statement
form usual operational expenses of the preschool or school (this can include sports, kitchen, catering, gardening or horticulture equipment, televisions, DVD players, computers, CD players, curriculum resources, furniture, books, toys, games).

The following will also not be funded:

purchase of commercially developed and available parenting courses or parenting literature, books, magazines, DVDs, CDs for parent loan, apps or resource libraries
expenses incurred for an award ceremony or school celebration
wages, teacher TRT or honorariums to any education department employees (excluding OSHC), payments to parents and caregivers
flights, accommodation and gifts for guest speakers
encouragement awards
equipment for parents, such as pedometers, trailers for camping gear and clothing
training, information and resources available through the department including governing council or first aid training
operational and daily business expenses, such as shopping trips and contingency costs
venue hire
criminal history screening checks for volunteers.

Past initiatives

Past initiatives that were funded were delivered in a range of ways to achieve the funding criteria. Examples of these approaches include:

seminars, workshops and information sessions
consultations, surveys and interviews
workshops to develop artworks, including murals and mosaics community gardens
hands-on activities, including cooking, festivals, events
skill development sessions for parents understanding what children are learning and the skills to support learning
bespoke resources, such as websites, fact sheets, videos and school developed booklets.

Assessment

The Parent Initiatives in Education (PIE) advisory committee will assess applications from preschools and schools against the criteria and eligibility requirements.

The Engagement and Wellbeing directorate will notify applicants of the outcome of assessment before the end of term 4, 2018.

Related information

On this site

Family and community involvement in education

Contact

Department for Education
Engagement and Wellbeing Directorate
Phone 8226 3156
Email: Education.ParentEngagement@sa.gov.au

Back to Financial support

Provided by: Department for Education

Page last updated 8 August 2018