Kia ora e te whānau 

Firstly, thank you to those parents who took the time to respond to our Community Engagement Survey. 

This year’s survey was designed to not only act as a ‘temperature check’ for how things are going, but also to help the Board develop the strategy and vision for the next 2-3 years. 

We received a total of 110 online responses, which gives us a good sample of views from our diverse parent community. We are proud to advise that numerous trustees (including our principal) have read every comment. 

We were delighted to see that Parents' perceptions of Te Ao Mārama School continued to be overwhelmingly positive, as seen across a range of measures. We are especially pleased given the unique context of our school, having only started in 2019, and then growing rapidly to over 400 students in less than 3 years (with 2 of those years being incredibly challenging due to COVID-19). 

While there were a small number of ratings where parents disagree, or some comments that are critical, these were offset by massive numbers of positive comments and exceptionally high survey ratings. This in no way means those views aren’t important or dismissed, as we have a deeply reflective Principal, staff and board that strive for continuous improvement. The Board has reviewed all responses and have summarised the main threads below along with various comments. 

Once again, many thanks to all the families who took the time to answer the survey. Your feedback is valuable for the ongoing development and direction of the school. 

Andrew Corkill & Tony Grey On behalf of Te Ao Mārama School Board & Staff  

Section 1 - Ratings
The first section of the survey asked parents and caregivers to respond to short statements using this scale: (1 – Strongly Disagree, 2 – Disagree, 3 – Neutral, 4 – Agree, 5 – Strongly Agree)
Overall satisfaction was exceptionally high, with an average rating of 4.66 across all survey responses. In close to 1000 ratings across the survey questions, there were only 2% that disagreed, with 5% neutral, and 93% agreeing (with over 76% strongly agreeing to the various statements) We are delighted with this strong show of support and satisfaction.

Throughout this survey section, there were opportunities to comment, and some constructive criticism received e.g. focus more on academic rather than the whole child/wellbeing, homework, traditional written reports, compulsory uniform etc. While important to acknowledge these comments, it is also important to clarify that these ideas don’t align with our school values/vision, research driven approach to teaching and learning. A number of respondents were keen to see us extend to take Year 7/8 students or to build a school swimming pool, but unfortunately these are not possible. Samples of the comments are included below. 

Section 2 – Short Answers
Section 2 contained short answer questions, providing parents and caregivers with an opportunity to comment. The answers given were wide in variety, however positive comments generally outweighed any critical comments by 15 to 1. 

In Conclusion
The Te Ao Mārama Board of Trustees would once again like to thank all of the respondents for the time you have taken to give your feedback. While the survey highlights how lucky we are to be part of an amazing, innovative school we are also deeply committed to improve. As parents, I think we can be confident that these improvements will be made in the best interests of the school, the wider community, and most importantly with a focus on our tamariki. Te Ao Mārama School Board of Trustees.