Below is a summary of the findings from our first whole-school survey.

In October 2015, we contracted the New Zealand Council for Education Research (NZCER) to run their Inclusive Schools Survey for our school. 

The intent of the survey was two-fold:

1. to establish a quantifiable community feedback process as part of leadership’s self-review programme and;

2. to establish benchmarks from which to measure future performance.

The results of the survey are predominantly, very good. There are clear areas for improvement. Fortunatley, these are in areas we are aware there is a need for action.

Long term, the Board wants to see strong agreement across all survey questions. Shorter term, our aim is to understand the data in context of other measures and to support positive change over the coming 12 months.

You can view raw data in the pdfs at the bottom of this page.

RESPONSE NUMBERS

• 93 parents, whanau or caregivers (30%). This includes 11 parents who self-identified as having children requiring extra support.
  
• 85 students in years 5 to 8  (82%)
  
• 9 staff (63%)
  

STUDENTS

Student feedback is mostly very positive. They feel safe, cared about and made to feel like they are capable individuals. Students also feel that they learn respect for others from school.

While students are made to feel capable of achieving their best, a little over a third feel that the school does not provide what they need for them to perform at their best in all areas (learning, being a leader, in sports or cultural groups).

Most students feel listened to at school but there are some students who feel that their worries (31%) and/or their ideas for learning (27%) are not listened to. This is an area for staff and leadership to further unpack. Likewise, there is scope to explore the feelings students have around teacher’s noticing when they do well (28% of students feel this happens only a bit or not at all). 

STAFF

Staff feedback, again, was mostly very positive. There is room for improvement around the Inclusive Leadership parameters: feeling listened to; modelling of school values; using student challenges as opportunities and;  to a small extent, cultural awareness.

Like the student and parent/whanau survey results, there is an overall sense that cultures are accepted and respected at school but also a belief (already discussed) among staff that they could receive more support to provide for the needs and aspirations of students from different cultural groups.

There are mixed feelings among staff about the resourcing and involvement of support staff in student planning. To an extent, these issues are a result of funding limitations, but will be examined in more detail.

PARENTS, WHANAU AND CAREGIVERS

Parent, whanau and caregiver feedback was mostly positive. Four areas of discomfort emerged for this group: feeling listened to; feeling informed about their children’s progress, feeling that their children are appropriately challenged and that their successes are celebrated and shared.

WHERE PARENTS ARE HAPPY

You are happy with your child’s sense of belonging and inclusion at school, with how we teach respect and tolerance and, in the main, with classroom planning and structure (at least 80% of parents either moderately or strongly agreed with questions in these areas). Most (80%) of you feel welcome at school although there is some work to do with connecting on a cultural level.

Parents who self-identified as having children requiring extra support were less satisfied than other parents, with their child's participation levels in class and with the school's approach to learning support. 

Interestingly, your children believe that you’re invited to be more involved with the school than you do (80% versus 54% on similar indicators).

PARENTS’ CONCERNS

We have identified four areas of discomfort for parents:

1. Feeling listened to: Just over half of all parents and whanau believe that alternate viewpoints are listened to at a leadership level. That leaves just under half (47%) who do not. Likewise, 65% of you feel that staff utilise your knowledge only a little or not at all, to help plan your child’s learning goals. Many of you have not felt consulted around major decision making for your child.

2. Feeling informed about your child's progress:Two-thirds of you believe you have little or no clear idea about how you child is progressing at school. That said, almost two-thirds (62%) of you think that your child can show what they are learning by describing what they’re learning, through photos and use of technology.

3. Feeling that your child is appropriately challenged: Fifty-two percent of parents and whanau expressed concern about the level of challenge (either too much or too little) provided for their child. This concern is not supported by the school’s achievement data so needs to be understood more clearly before being addressed in the school’s Annual Plan.

4. Feeling that acheivement is given its due respect: Seventy-one percent of parents and whanau respondents believe that their children are encouraged to participate in a wide range of activities. Despite this, on measures about how success is shared and celebrated, 71% of you indicated that you felt that your child’s successes were celebrated very little or not at all at school.

NEXT STEPS

The Board and Diana have identified several steps in order to make full use of the data provided:

1. The first step is to understand low-performing areas more clearly. This will include going back to parents, whanau, staff and students to explore “what do you mean by that?” To this end the following activities are planned:

a. Community meeting “Did we hear you correctly?”: Tuesday 8th December, 7pm, Hall, Hill site

b. Online feedback forum to run over summer

c. Staff concerns to be discussed and clarified at staff meetings

d. Staff given the opportunity to explore “what did you mean by that?” with students

2. The Board will meet with school leadership in late January to view survey responses in context of the ERO report, performance data and strategic plan. Out of this will drop actionable steps for the 2016 Annual Plan.

3. Staff and parents will have an opportunity to see the Action Plan before it is finally sanctioned.

The Board and Diana would like to thank everyone who participated in the survey. The information we have received is invaluable for our self-review process and for future planning.