Getting started requires putting together a team or 'steering committee' for the initiative. Generally this is driven by the project officer within the Division.

The first step in building a strong team requires identifying the people within the school to work with. Figure 4 shows an example of a common school staffing structure. However, schools vary in their structures; in particular government, Catholic, and independent schools have quite different structures. The best way to understand how your local school(s) operates is to talk with them.

Often it is a teacher or welfare staff member who has major involvement with student welfare management within the school who will be keen to be involved in the initiative and who will be a major driver within the school. However, for initiatives to be effective, it is vitally important that there is strong support for the initiative across the school and that it is actively supported by the school executive.

Partnerships struggle where there is not strong support within the school and these projects are also not likely to be sustainable in the longer term.

Strong support means that several things are in place within the school:

1. There needs to be strong support from the school executive, as this is necessary to ensure that the general culture of the school is supportive and that resources are provided to support the initiative.
2. There needs to be a group of committed teaching and welfare staff. While one enthusiastic staff member can begin the project, it is only when other staff members come on board that the project truly gets underway and is sustainable. If only one staff member is driving the project, it will falter if this staff member can no longer provide the level of commitment that the project needs. Ideally, all staff members would be supportive of the initiative, however, the reality is that this will not necessarily be the case: what is necessary is a core team of committed staff and general support within the wider school community (including parents).
3. School support has to extend to providing resources to free teachers and welfare staff from their usual responsibilities to engage with the new initiative. Staff need time out to attend meetings and to follow-up on actions. If staff members are attempting to engage in the initiative without this level of support, progress will be slow and unsustainable. This is a special challenge, as schools struggle with finding funds to allow teachers release time from their normal duties.

It is also imperative that Divisions understand the school calendar and have a sense of the demands that are made on teachers and school staff at different times of the year. School calendars differ across States/Territories and between school systems (public/Catholic/independent schools). Even the school terms and holiday times vary. It is, therefore, necessary, to obtain a calendar of the school year from the particular school that is involved in the partnership, and also to ask about times when there are significant events that will impact on the availability of school staff (eg, report writing, parent interviews, excursions).