The 2022-2023 Student Learning Survey for our grade 10 and grade12 students results provided us with valuable information regarding student connection to the school and their sense of belonging.

SAMPLES OF RESPONSES:

Question:  Rate the following -  I contribute in meaningful ways to my community.

Question: At school, do you participate in activities outside of class hours (ie. clubs, sports etc.)?

Question:Is school a place where you feel you belong?

REFLECTION:

In comparing these results to previous years with the same or similar questions, we found that participation in school stayed about the same.  It is most interesting to note that results were about the same compared to 2020, and shortly after the survey that year,  Covid-19 appeared and affected school access and extra-curricular opportunities for the spring months. We have worked hard to encourage student participation in the school post-Covid and while we are happy to be approaching pre-Covid participation levels, there is still lots of room for improvement, as about a quarter of our grade 10 and 12 students are not participating in school activities outside of the classroom. 

Also of note, when comparing our 2020 results to these 2023 survey results, the feeling of student “belonging” has gone down since the spring of 2020. While this is not surprising as we are emerging from Covid, it clearly signifies that this is an area that needs focus. 

MAKING GOALS:

Based on our findings, we will continue our goals of building on student connectedness by providing students with more opportunities to contribute to the school, have their voices be heard, and feel like McRoberts is “their” school.  We have begun the journey with many Innovation Inquiry Grants with these foci, including inquiry around student voice, social-emotional learning, and improving learning communities and spaces.  We will track our progress with formal and informal surveys as well as anecdotal evidence.