Ongoing Resourcing Scheme

ORS is an operational funding entitlement that your school may be eligible to receive. This guidance provides an overview of the funding.

Level of compliance Main audience Other

Inform
  • Educators, Teachers and Kaiako
  • Principals and Tumuaki
  • All Early Learning Services
  • Learning Support Coordinators and SENCOs
  • Learning Support Specialist Staff
  • Parents, Caregivers and Whānau
  • Boards
  • Non-Government Agencies
  • Disability Sector

The Ministry calculates ORS funding. Learn about what ORS funding can generate for your school.

Calculating staffing entitlements

ORS students are verified as having high or very high ongoing special education needs, or they've entered under the ORS extension programme.

ORS students generate the usual curriculum and time management allowances, like other students, as well as generating additional ORS staffing.

For students verified as having a hearing or vision impairment, the staffing entitlement is allocated to:

  • Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education New Zealand, or
  • Blind and Low Vision Education Network NZ.

Level of need

Staffing entitlement
High 0.10 FTTE 
Extension 0.10 FTTE 
Very high 0.20 FTTE

ORS management staffing is calculated and identified separately on the Pourato Staffing Entitlement screen as Learning Support Management Allowance (ORS Management). The formula is:

0.05 x ORS staffing FTTE

The result is rounded to 2 decimal places.

Viewing ORS information

Pourato(external link) contains information for ORS funded students and ORS staffing entitlements.

You can view details for the ORS students you are receiving funding for via the Students > ORS tab.

View your ORS staffing entitlements in the Staffing Entitlement screen under Learning Support.

Generating ORS staffing

ORS staffing is generated when ORS is showing in the ENROL Special Education section. When an ORS student starts at a new school, update the “Schools Attended” section in ENROL.

Guide to using ENROL

Sometimes students eligible for ORS won't have their Special Education details updated on the first day of school. When this happens, email: enrol.specialeducation@education.govt.nz 

Let us know the student’s name, NSN and the date they started school.

Calculating salary units

The formula for generating ORS salary units is as follows:

School type

Formula 
 

ORS staffing, plus
ORS management staffing, plus
staffing transferred for Specialist Teacher Outreach Service
multiplied by
Primary, intermediate, special 1.28 rounded to the nearest whole number
Composite, restricted composite 1.33 rounded to the nearest whole number
Secondary 1.2 rounded to the nearest whole number 

Managing staff reductions when ORS students leave

When an ORS student leaves a school ORS staffing will reduce from the date the student leaves.

ORS-generated salary units might also be affected.

Managing ORS staffing reductions

Boards are expected to manage ORS staffing reductions using their existing resources and staffing flexibilities.

If you believe that isn't achievable, you can apply to the Resourcing Division for additional staffing resource to support legitimate employment commitments.

Requests for additional staffing resources

In assessing requests for additional staffing support, the Ministry considers the:

  • appointment process the board used when establishing the tenure of the teacher or teachers employed using the ORS resource — this process must have included consideration of the continuity of ORS enrolments and the likelihood of them remaining enrolled at the school.
  • the ‘environmental scan’ assessing factors that might affect the roll when making any appointment within the past year.
  • the current tenure of all teachers employed by the board.

Where a board can show that the ORS staffing about to be reduced has been used to resource a permanent or fixed-term position, and the Ministry’s assessment agrees, we will provide the following additional staffing to maintain the position.

Tenure of position

Support will be provided ...
Permanent full-time


up to the end of the school year (as necessary).
Permanent part-time until the end of the notice period required in the relevant collective agreement, or any lesser period agreed by the board and the teacher.
Fixed-term 

the lesser of:
the end of the appointment term
the end of the notice period required in the relevant collective agreement, or any lesser period agreed by the board and the teacher.
Note: The latest date the Ministry will consider the notice period beginning from is the date the ORS student leaves the school.

Applying for surplus staffing support to manage ORS staffing reductions

At the end of the school year, you may have to disestablish a permanent position to manage reductions in ORS staffing. The Ministry will consider, on a case-by-case basis, the payment of the surplus staffing provisions of the appropriate teachers’ collective agreement for the teacher whose permanent employment had been resourced from ORS staffing.

Requests for ORS surplus staffing

In assessing each case, the Ministry will consider:

  • the appointment process the board used when establishing the tenure of the teacher(s) whose employment was sustained using the ORS resource — this process must have included consideration of the continuity of ORS enrolments and their likelihood of remaining enrolled at the school
  • the environmental scan; assessed by the board when making any appointment within the past year
  • the current tenure of all teachers employed by the board.

Surplus staffing support for a reduction in staffing entitlement

Outreach service staffing transfers

The Specialist Teacher Outreach Service is provided to some ORS students through a provider school.

Visit the Staffing transfer agreements webpage for information about what to do when the students receiving the specialist teacher outreach service change.

Further information

Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS)

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