Kindness Culture
Today is the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence (NDA). Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative celebrates 12 years of action, connecting schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying. For more details about bullying at Claremont College, please read the article below in this week’s newsletter.
2021 AISNSW PERSPECTIVES SCHOOL DATA: THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
In 2021 our school used the ‘Perspectives: Your School in Focus’ suite of surveys developed by AISNSW to support our school improvement endeavours. The information gathered assists us in furthering the growth and development of our school and school community. We are using the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.
The Perspectives surveys have been specifically designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of stakeholders’ perceptions of five important areas: School Environment, Teaching and Learning, Student Wellbeing, Leadership and Community. All staff, Y5/6 students, parents/guardians, leaders and board members were invited to participate. The input and contribution from all stakeholders has been important as we aspire to understand and improve the learning experience for everyone at our school.
Last year I presented a summary of the findings in the 29 October newsletter, linked here.
Since then, our staff have begun to instigate a number of improvement areas, even though, as I reported last year, our data was presented to us as exceptionally strong across all areas. Our first improvement focus has been Goal Setting for students which we have spoken about in previous newsletters. In the coming weeks I will dive deeper into each of the five components. (NB Survey items are on a six-point Likert scale (scored from 1-6) with any score of 4.5 or above considered as a strong score.)
Our overall aggregate score in each component is as follows. This week I will specifically focus on the School Environment part of the data.
The School Environment is made up of multiple levels and means a great deal to each student, to their personal and learning experiences and their success. The Perspectives Survey focussed on the following components of school environment:
Together giving our School Environment a score of 5.19, compared to a score of 4.76 for the 60 other Independent Schools who participated in the surveys.
The School Environment is obviously one aspect of the learner experience and student success that we value highly. However, we know all components will mean different things to different students, parents, and teachers. We believe every learner should be, and needs to feel, connected to their school, and to want to come to school, because of their connection with our Vision, Mission and Values, Religion and Faith, their Sense of Safety, the Physical Environment and/or their friends, teachers or other staff.
Our School Environment data is excellent, however, it is now important that we do not ‘rest on our laurels’; we will continue to work hard to ensure that every child feels connected to Claremont College, as connectedness and belonging are highly valued aspects of schooling; ‘research has consistently shown the direct benefits of school connectedness or belonging to aspects such as academic motivation and achievement’ (Gorard and Huat See in Sime et al, 2021).
It is now our aim to sustain the efforts from past years, to continue to achieve a school environment that is so highly regarded by so many.
Please continue to pray…
For our school, for the people from Ukraine, and for the flood victims in northern NSW and Queensland.
From Matthew 5:6-10
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Have a great weekend everyone,
Janelle Ford
Co-Principal