Family Engagement and School Effectiveness
By Mrs Liz Illingworth, Principal
Recently, I attended the National Catholic Education Conference with over 1400 delegates from across Catholic Schools, Â鶹¶ÌÊÓƵ´«Ã½s and Dioceses from around Australia. Dr Steve Constantino spoke of the importance of family engagement as a crucial part of school improvement. This is an area that we as a Â鶹¶ÌÊÓƵ´«Ã½ value and hope to work to improve.
Earlier in the year we asked our families to complete a survey on School Effectiveness. This is one way that we can gain an insight into what our families feel about the Â鶹¶ÌÊÓƵ´«Ã½. Approximately 15% of our families participated in this survey - thank you to each of you who were able to do this, because the information you provided helps us plan for the future.
Results from the families who completed the survey clearly indicated that you, our community, value the significance placed upon learning at the Â鶹¶ÌÊÓƵ´«Ã½ and you value the extensive Co-Curricular Programs that we offer. Survey data also showed that families who completed the survey have some concerns around student safety at our Â鶹¶ÌÊÓƵ´«Ã½, particularly in relation to bullying and students being treated meanly by other students.
This indicates for us as a Â鶹¶ÌÊÓƵ´«Ã½ that we have some work to do. As families, I also urge you to encourage your student/s to speak to staff - their Tutor, a Teacher, House Head or member of the School or Â鶹¶ÌÊÓƵ´«Ã½ Leadership Team - if they have worries around their interactions with others. If students are worried about doing this face to face, they can use form, accessible through the Anti-bullying and Harassment Portal tile on their Schoolbox page. Again, I urge you to talk to your students about this.
The School Effectiveness Survey is something that our system has committed to for the next five years. As a Â鶹¶ÌÊÓƵ´«Ã½ we will use this data to develop our Annual Plans and Strategic Plans in the future. I hope that in 2026 we can have a response level of over 50% of our families and I hope that you can see us responding to the data that we receive.
