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MEDIA HUB

A Word From Our Principal: School Survey Results


Since 2022, Girls Grammar has been dedicated to seeking feedback from staff, students and parents as part of our annual School Results Survey. This annual survey plays a vital role in reviewing where we are performing well and highlighting specific areas of our school in which we need to prioritise to improve.


I would like to thank those parents who took the time to engage, as your feedback is valid and valuable. Unfortunately, this year’s response rate from parents was the lowest its’s been over the three years, with 37% of the parent body responding. Roughly 80% of the of parents who engaged in survey were female, close to 60% with daughters in the secondary school, roughly 30% from primary and about 7% across both sectors.

Close to half of the parents who engaged in the survey had daughter/s enrolled for 2 years or less with 80% parents of day girls, and 20% parents of boarders.

 

Results range between 0-5 with scores in green (range of 4-5) indicating an excellent outcome, followed by blue (range of 3-4) a fair to good score, yellow indicates (range of 2-3) a poor result and red identifies a significant issue for concern (range of 1-2). I am happy to share that responses from all parents, students and staff in their respective surveys were all green and blue. Whilst categories were ranked as fair to good and excellent, this year saw a decrease in the number of categories ranked excellent by parents. Compared to last year where all categories were ranked excellent, this year we had 6 categories decrease to blue, fair to good.


Of significant importance, are our school’s Values and Culture and Learning Environment consistently scored by parents over the past three years in the top three categories. On the other hand, the category of Learning and Extension has scored the lowest and is a priority for review and improvement.


Evident by the satisfaction scores below, the 6 categories scored in the 3-4 range by parents were between 0.05 to 0.02 away from an excellent satisfaction score.


Analyses of data gathered from parent responses over the three years indicate that whilst there weren’t significant differences in satisfaction scores, areas that have improved include:

  • Communication: newsletter, website, social media, what’s on, letters and emails from the School are informative, timely, easily accessible and easy to navigate;

  • Pastoral Care/Wellbeing: there is a clear and documented pastoral care policy and the School implements it consistently.

  • Conversely, areas that have declined over the three years from parent responses are:

  • Parent Engagement: having the opportunity to be involved in the P&F Association and general school activities;

  • Leadership: the current leadership at Girls Grammar is effective.

  • The open questions parents were asked to respond to were given a great deal of thought and will assist us in our strategic review and setting our School’s priorities. Open questions and responses are shown below.


1.     “What sets Girls Grammar apart and influences your decision for your daughter to attend?”

The key themes include:

a. Small class sizes,

b. An all-girls environment,

c. A strong sense of community and culture,

d. Individual support and care, and

e. The diverse curriculum and extracurricular activities.

 

2.    “What additional curriculum offerings and/or educational pathways would better prepare your daughter for life after school?”

Parents identified several areas where the curriculum could be enhanced to better prepare students for life after school, including:

     a. The introduction of life skills education,

     b. More vocational training opportunities,

     c. Enhanced STEM and technology integration, and

     d. Greater focus on social and emotional development.


Upon reflection, greater promotion and communication of the various pathways we do offer is needed. From our current year 12 cohort, 18 students have either commenced or have continued studying a Certificate Course during their senior schooling years. Whilst we cannot offer onsite vocational training opportunities, we do partner with industries and RTOs including TAFE and CQU to offer these opportunities to our students who wish to take these study and career pathways.


3.    “What is the top strategic priority for Girls Grammar to consider in the years ahead?”

     a. Maintaining small class sizes,

     b. Ensuring staff retention and quality,

     c.  Focusing on curriculum and academic excellence, and

     d. Preparing students for a future shaped by technology and innovation.


These priorities are all valid and were reiterated by staff in their responses. Staff retention is somewhat out of our control, with majority of schools facing this challenge due to a state (and country) wide teacher shortage, with shortages particularly pronounced in secondary specialist teaching areas.


4.    “How would you rate the overall quality of teaching provided by teachers at Girls Grammar?”

     a. This was generally rated highly by parents, who appreciate the dedication and expertise of the teaching staff.

     b. However, there are concerns about inconsistency in teaching quality and the impact of high staff turnover on student learning.

     c.  Parents also highlighted the need for more support staff to assist in classrooms.


I understand the impact staff turnover has on students, their connection, engagement and learning. I am proud of the dedication and genuine commitment our staff have to our students and our school and I thank parents for recognising this commitment at Girls Grammar, equally it was heartwarming to once again see our School’s Values and Culture rated in the top three categories. My target is for satisfaction scores to return to excellent (range of 4-5) across all key areas in 2025. We achieved this result last year and I am confident we can do it again, with the support of parents engaging in this annual survey. In 2022, 42% of parents responded, in 2023, 40% responded and this year, 37% responded. The higher the parent engagement, the more accurate the feedback received.


To quote Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “It takes humility to seek feedback. It takes wisdom to understand it, analyse it and appropriately act on it”. As a school we are strengthened when we listen, seek to understand and reprioritise for the best interests of our students and community, and this is something I take pride in knowing that we do this with intention and purpose.

I look forward to sharing the strategic work achieved over the September holidays and celebrating the journey ahead for Rockhampton Girls Grammar School. 


Kara Krehlik

Principal

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