1. Sometimes we can base our progress on what people say about our school or how people feel in the school. We can judge the engagement level based on the participation levels of staff and students. We can look at the numbers of clubs we run, the number of sports teams we have, the number of events we run in the school and the number of community events we base out of our school. According to this theory, we are doing remarkably well in this area. Many staff and students are engaged in different activities around the school and students have many opportunities to feel a sense of belonging.
2. During our School Planning Day in September, our staff focused on the results of our Student Learning Surveys from the 2022-23 school year. Knowing that these students are now our leaders in the school this year, we felt it was important to analyze the results of our student voice. Staff at each table reviewed the results of one page of the Student Learning Surveys - approx. 4 questions each. They discussed what stands out from the results, where we need to put our attention and any action plan we could develop to help improve the results. Each group recorded their work on one piece of chart paper, posted it on the wall and then took time to walk around and see the work from all other groups.
A few indicators of progress were:
Is school a place where you feel like you belong?
73% of students felt a sense of belonging 'sometimes, most of the time, and all of the time'.
How many adults do you think care about you at your school?
66% of students think one or more adults care about them at school.
Do you feel welcome at your school?
85% of students felt welcome at school 'sometimes, most of the time, and all of the time'.
Do you feel safe at school?
86% of students felt safe at school 'sometimes, most of the time, and all of the time'.
Students from different cultural backgrounds are welcomed by other students in school.
43% responded neutral or unsure.
50% agree or strongly agree.
We realize that most action items fell under the category of relationships. Our staff (teachers, EAs, admin) looked at class lists for all our students and identified those they felt they had a connection with. There was approximately 10% of students that no staff felt they had a connection with. Next year we will continue with this process and follow up with those students to match them up with an adult they feel close to in the school.
