Attitudes to School Survey

We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and are conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of our school. The Attitudes to School Survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist schools in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Our school will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience.

What did MGC do as a result of the 2017 Attitudes to School Survey?

MGC performed at a high level in relation to most areas of the 2017 Attitudes to School Survey. Year Level Leaders and Assistant Principals ran focus groups with each year level following last year’s survey. Modifications to transition programs were made as a result of this feedback. The results of the survey also informed the school’s Strategic Plan, the 2018 Performance and Development Plan for teachers and the implementation of the Visible Wellbeing program with teachers, students and parents in 2018.

The 2018 survey

All students from at our school will participate in the survey, online, during class time. Your child has the right to refuse or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during, or after completion of the survey. Your child will be provided with a unique login, via email, to complete the survey. The student login is an assigned identifier that may be used to link data for statistical and research purposes only. All responses to the survey are kept anonymous in the response file. Personal identification data will not be recorded in the survey response file. This ensures that the confidentiality of your child’s responses is protected at all times.

This year the Attitudes to School survey will be conducted at our school over the period Monday 14 May to Friday 1 June. The survey only takes 10-15 minutes to complete.

If you would like more information, please contact Brent Houghton (brent.houghton@mgc.vic.edu.au) or visit: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/improvement/Pages/performsurveyat.aspx

Respectful Relationships Evaluation Survey

Your child has been invited to take part in a survey as part of the statewide evaluation of Respectful Relationships. This is because your school is participating in the Respectful Relationships initiative.

What is Respectful Relationships?

The Royal Commission into Family Violence identified the role that schools have in creating a culture of respect to change the story of family violence for future generations. In 2016, respectful relationships education became a core component of the Victorian Curriculum from prep to Year 12, and is being taught in all government and Catholic schools and many independent schools. From 2017, schools will be provided with strategies and tools to implement a whole school approach to Respectful Relationships.

Victoria’s Respectful Relationships initiative supports school leaders, teachers and our school communities to promote and model respect and gender equality – and to teach our children how to build healthy relationships, and develop resilience and confidence. As part of the Respectful Relationships initiative schools are supported to take a whole school approach to embedding a culture of respect and equality across our entire school community.

What does the evaluation involve?

As part of the evaluation, ACIL Allen researchers are inviting students who have participated in respectful relationships education to complete a short survey. The researchers would like to hear students’ views on what they are learning in class, what a healthy, respectful relationship looks like, how gender equality is modelled and how confident they feel to identify unhealthy relationships and behaviours.

The surveys have been set up by the researchers on an online platform, which will provide the data directly back to ACIL Allen. The questions cover students’ understanding of respectful relationships education and attitudes towards gender equality.

Does my child have to participate in the research?

Participation in this evaluation is voluntary and there is no obligation for your child to be involved. It is your decision whether your child participates or not. Your child can stop participating at any point during the survey, and they don’t have to answer any of the questions if they don’t want to. If you decide your child can participate in the research and they later feel that they no longer wish to be part of it, they may withdraw from the research at any time. Your child will not be penalised for non-participation. If you decide you would prefer your child does not take part in a survey for the evaluation, please contact Brent Houghton (brent.houghton@mgc.vic.edu.au) for an opt-out consent form. By signing the opt-out consent form, you are telling us that you do not wish for your child to take part in the survey and confirm that you do not give permission to ACIL Allen to collect data from your child for the evaluation.

The survey at MGC

Students will complete the survey online, in conjunction with the Attitudes to School Survey (outlined above) over the period Monday 14 May to Friday 1 June. Any information that your child does provide will be kept confidential and student data will be de-identified in any reports resulting from this project.

Please see the attached Information Sheet for Parents for further information.

Important Dates

May