September 11, 2006
1. Parent survey
In the spring of 2006 the Markville School Council sent a survey to the school parents on how the council can help meet their needs as well as how best to communicate with them. The survey was given to students to give to their parents. It was also made available by email to parents who subscribe to the school's email notification system. The survey asked for responses to two questions, as well as for general suggestions. Replies were anonymous.
The answers to the two questions are given in Tables 1 and 2. Communication with parents turned out to be a problem indeed, also for the survey, in that only 17 completed surveys were returned. Despite the low number of responses, the parents who did respond made it clear that information flow was very important to them. Fully 15 of the 17 indicating that they would like email as a means of communication (Table 2) and nine of the 17 indicated that they would like a focus on effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications (Table 1). Suggestions received in the open-ended section are summarized later in the report.
Table 1 'Please indicate
the partnerships you would like to learn more about.'
|
|
Number of respondents |
Percent of respondents (Total # of respondents: 17) |
|
Parenting |
3 |
18% |
|
Communicating |
9 |
53% |
|
Volunteering |
3 |
18% |
|
Learning at home |
2 |
12% |
|
Decision making |
3 |
18% |
|
Collaborating with
community |
3 |
18% |
Table 2 'How can we best share ideas with you?'
|
|
Number of respondents |
Percent of respondents (Total # of respondents: 17) |
|
Information
sessions |
4 |
24% |
|
Booklets/brochures/handouts |
3 |
18% |
|
Email
communication |
15 |
88% |
|
Parent discussion
group |
3 |
18% |
2. Teacher survey
The School Council also distributed a survey to the Markville teachers to find out what support teachers would like from parents and the Council, as well as what teachers felt parents can do to support their children's learning in each teacher's subject area. Teachers were asked to supply their name and department along with their comments.
Forty-one teachers returned the survey, only one
anonymously. Two questions were asked and at each one extra space was provided
for suggestions. The teachers provided many thoughtful suggestions and comments
which are summarized separately. As far as the pre-specified checkboxes are
concerned, the responses are given below. Making routine phone calls was deemed
less important as a way in which parents can support teachers classroom efforts
while help with extra-curricular
activities, fund raising for classroom resources and driving students to events
were each needed by some teachers (Table 3). All four listed ways of supporting
children were endorsed by the teachers, with homework completion and dealing
with attendance problems getting the most check marks (Table 4).
Table 3 'Please
indicate below the most helpful ways in which parents can support your efforts
with students.'
|
|
Number of respondents |
Percent of respondents (Total # of respondents: 41) |
|
Help with
extra-curricular activities |
16 |
39% |
|
Fund raise for
classroom resources |
14 |
34% |
|
Make phone calls
of a routine nature i.e. informing parents of an upcoming activity |
6 |
15% |
|
Drive students to
events |
11 |
27% |
Table 4 'How parents can most effectively
support their children’s learning in your subject area?'
|
|
Number of respondents |
Percent of respondents (Total # of respondents: 41) |
|
Monitor student
agendas |
22 |
54% |
|
Support homework
completion |
31 |
76% |
|
Deal with
attendance problems, when needed |
32 |
78% |
|
Communicate more
with teachers, when needed |
22 |
54% |