Approximately every 2 years, Beechworth Montessori School takes part in the LEAD School Effectiveness Survey conducted by Independent Schools Victoria.
This survey allows us to monitor and analyse our performance as a school. It is generated by rigorous, anonymous feedback provided by both parents and staff at the school.
Survey questions are grouped into domains of school effectiveness, validated by Cambridge University as statistically valid measures (Antoniou et.al 2016). The 10 domains of school effectiveness are:
- Academic Program
- Teaching Quality
- Learning Outcomes
- Pastoral Care
- Discipline and Safety
- Parental Involvement
- Resources
- Transition
- Recommend to Others
- Overall Satisfaction.
We were pleased to note the following headline indicators from the parent survey.
We achieved a score of 9.53 on the question ‘Overall I am satisfied with my decision to send my child to this school.’ This compares favourably to the mean from other statistically similar schools of 8.59.
In 2021, we performed particularly strongly in the domains of Academic Program, Quality of Teaching, Learning Outcomes and Year Transition, with scores over 9, significantly better than statistically similar schools.
Furthermore, our scores in the parent satisfaction survey continue to improve year-on-year. We are proud of this continuous improvement, especially in the face of the challenges presented by the need to switch to a remote learning model for many periods in 2020 and 2021.
Performance in the Resources domain is influenced by the questioning, ‘the school library/resource centre has outstanding resources for students’ – at Beechworth Montessori School we do not have a school library, but rather libraries in each classroom, and we make use of our local council library resources with frequent class visits. Resources has been identified as a domain for improvement, with a funding application developed in 2021 for refurbishment of a woodwork and art room, space for wellbeing programs, as well as a further room for specialist studies.
Quality of teaching was identified as our strongest-performing domain, one in which we have always (2013-2021) performed better than statistically similar schools. Teachers are recognised as being enthusiastic about teaching, understanding of differing abilities, and keen to help and support when needed.
Teaching staff reported with a score of 9.69 that they are ‘happy to recommend the school to people’, identifying that there is a clearly articulated vision for the school, positive relationships with leadership, opportunities for professional development, open communication between staff and parents, and an excellent environment in which to learn. Better technology to support our staff is an ongoing project, which we hope to make great inroads into in 2022!
You can view the full result of the 2021 Parent Satisfaction Survey here and the Staff Satisfaction Survey here.