Dear Stakeholders
The ESF Stakeholder Survey 2024 was conducted across all ESF schools, including Discovery College, to gather feedback from all stakeholders. The survey saw a high level of participation from parents, students, and staff.
This year, we have implemented an ipsative survey that focuses on understanding the perceptions of different stakeholders about the strengths of Discovery College. By asking respondents to rank strengths, the survey helps us identify key priorities and opportunities to build on existing practice. Because strengths are ranked relative to each other, it provides an opportunity to focus on improvement – for instance, even an area in which the College is relatively strong versus schools in general can still be an opportunity for improvement in our context if it is not as highly ranked as some of the College’s other practices, meaning that the new format helps the College to be more aspirational. Your valuable input will guide us in making informed decisions and shaping strategy. We appreciate your participation. A summary of findings can be found below.
Thank you for your ongoing support and collaboration.
Here is a summary of the major findings from each stakeholder group:
Parents
Our parent survey ranked the strength of valuing diversity and understanding individual student strengths and needs as the highest strength of the College. Parents also rank highly the College’s feedback practices and the extent to which they are well-informed about their child’s learning. In identifying strengths that are less highly ranked, parent responses note the need to enhance responsiveness to changing global contexts and demographics, as well as to strengthen further the sense of connection within the school community.
Students
Strengths that are highly ranked for students include the benefits of technology integration, the value of having choices in their learning, reflecting on their progress, and receiving regular feedback from teachers. Students also indicated teachers knowing them well as a highly ranked area of strength. The lowest-ranked strength was in recognition and support for home languages, showing similarities with the parent perspective in identifying the changing demographics of the community as an area for further exploration.
Staff
The highest-ranked strength among staff responses was for the impact of professional learning on educational practice. Other highly-ranked strengths included support for student wellbeing, the impact of organisational culture on student leadership opportunities, and the integration of digital technologies. The lowest-ranked strength was in relation to the ongoing work on equity in the student experience, highlighting the value and importance of ESF’s ongoing focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as this remains a key priority for Discovery College as with all ESF schools.
Next Steps
The survey findings have already informed the strategic planning process for the upcoming academic year. Moving forward, we intend to gain further voice by involving the community with our strategic objectives for the 2024-2025 academic year. We extend our gratitude to all participants for their support with the stakeholder survey, as your input is crucial in our continuous enhancement as we work together to make Discovery College the best it can be, supporting all members of our community to Grow. Discover. and Dream.
Warm regards
Discovery College