NZCER Wellbeing @ School

Wellbeing at School Survey

Last year I attended a Wellbeing at School workshop through Mana Ake.  It looked at the NZCER Wellbeing @ School Survey.  I have only just found my notes as I tidy up my Google Drive.  We will be doing the survey next term so these seem a little more relevant.

Wellbeing at School

28 August 2018

Somerfield School

Kathy Johnson

Purpose: To determine what the Wellbeing at School tool can offer and to challenge how we use it.

Main Messages:

• This tool allows you to stop and take a look at what you have done and where you can go.  
• Is a whole school approach.
• Focuses on the school climate...the way people feel.  Culture is the way we do things, climate is how we feel.
• If people feel they belong to a positive school climate, achievement outcomes improve.
• There are three surveys in this, student, teacher, self review.
• Looks in to see if what you are doing is working.
• Lists what a positive school looks like.
• Key Idea 1: Systems Thinking is increasingly being used as a lens to think about behaviour and schools.  What you might be trying to do, can be undone by somebody within the system.
• Layers: School wide climate and practices, teaching and learning, community partnerships, pro-social student culture and strategies, aggressive student culture.  

• Website is set up under these five layers.  Has templates and next step planning within.  Link to Wellbeing at School Website
• When looking at data, use the scale descriptors alongside.  Descriptors are on the website and are crucial for when looking at data.
• When you have done the survey, bring a self review team together.  Include the people who will implement policies and procedures. Often, the leadership team data differs from the student perception.  From perception, determines reality. This graph is the first thing you should look at.
• Administration-student understanding.  Good to have the same person implement the survey, it’s ok to have a discussion around the questions.  Why the dissonance? How well do teachers know the learner? Have guiding focus questions. They should come from any initiatives you have undertaken this year.  Professional development, inquiry, appraisal goals. Use these to refine and drive what you are looking at in the data. Come up with statements that you hope to achieve.  
• Teacher survey:  Could be done at a staff meeting as shows that it is valued.  Takes about 45 minutes. Raising awareness to why we would want to do this.  
• The Aspect Report: When looking at graphs, stop and look at these to see if there are any cohorts that stand out.  You are interested in the cohort that stands out. Use the filters to check for trends. Remember we are looking at perceptions.  (Looked at an example where girls thought they were pro social, however, their aggression was high).

• Two things under your control:  How we teach and how we organise our school.
• Data is about improvement.  If there is no place to improve, there is no pint gathering data.  An inquiry question comes out of data. Then gather more data.
• Be deliberate and purposeful in where you are heading?