From the Chair of the Board
Elizabeth Jameson
Brisbane Girls Grammar School is an Australian Benchmark School. These are extraordinary results. It always raises my spirits to see an organisation do so comprehensively well. (Dr Roland Simons1)
Special milestones in organisations often herald reflection and change. This year is the School’s 135th anniversary and the Board felt it timely to seek opinions from our major stakeholder groups — current parents, alumni, staff and future parents — on various aspects of the School. In summary, we sought to understand whether our community considered that the educational values and claims we purport to deliver are in fact being achieved, and to what level.
At the Board and senior management strategic planning day in May, Dr Simons, the independent consultant engaged to undertake the project, presented the results. There were a total of 2,243 respondents representing an average response rate of 43 per cent across the four stakeholder groups; which is a ‘statistically valid’ and therefore pleasing outcome in itself. A summary of the results is available for viewing on at http://www.bggs.qld.edu.au/wp-temp/pdf/BGGSSurveyResults2010.pdf. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect was the consistency of the positive results across all groups, informing us that our educational achievements and reputation are demonstrable, verifiable and valued by our community. It was this fact that led Dr Simons to describe Brisbane Girls Grammar School in the quotation at the beginning of this article, namely as an ‘Australian Benchmark School’.
In the parent survey, the majority of respondents were not alumni and had one daughter currently in at School. On almost every question, parents rated the School above 4 on a 1 (low) to 5 (high) scale, with the defining characteristics being:
- Academic results
- Student care
- Facilities and resources
- Teaching standards
- Teaching excellence
- Values including: tradition and integrity
- Top five per cent of all rated schools (“Best Practice”)
While parents recorded an extraordinarily pleasing overall satisfaction level of 4.5 with the School, other distinctive areas included high satisfaction with the direction of the School and its performance. In summary, Brisbane Girls Grammar School is meeting parent expectations to a high level.
The staff survey reiterated many of the key strengths and observations gained from our current parents and other stakeholders. They were proud of the School’s tradition and of the organisation’s consistently high performance, while acknowledging that there are high expectations placed upon them. Staff consider that the School has a clear vision and they enjoy a strong sense of teamwork and success in their professional work.
The alumni responses were similarly affirming, with the defining characteristics cited as:
- Academic results
- Teaching excellence
- World standard education
- Tradition
- Integrity
- Personal willingness to recommend the School
Interestingly, 68 per cent of the respondents declared membership of the Old Girls Association. This confirms how important the OGA is to the engagement by past students with the School, especially as 36 per cent who undertook the survey finished their education in the last ten years.
The largest response rate to any survey was from parents on our enrolment lists. Once again, the recurrent themes emerged of a high regard for:
- Academic results
- Facilities and resources
- Teaching standards
- Teaching excellence
- Values including: tradition, integrity
Dr Simons pointed out, given his company’s wide experience with school data and benchmarking, that the exceptionally positive feedback received about our enrolment processes was remarkable, indicating a high regard for customer service and an understanding of potential parent expectations.
One of the most engaging features of the surveys was the open questions and the hundreds of respondents who took the time to include specific comments on various aspects. These are currently being collated into themes to be reviewed and explored further. This included a wealth of positive comments, but importantly also of suggestions for ways we could continue to improve the delivery of education at Brisbane Girls Grammar School. The Board and Principal would like to not only thank everyone in the community who took the time to complete a survey, but also acknowledge the deep support and engagement our stakeholders have with this wonderful School. We are continuing the process of analysing the comments to inform our strategic and resource planning going forward.
In the 135th year of the life of this great School, our commitment is stronger than ever to continually improve the provision of a leading quality education for our young women—now and into the future.
Ms E Jameson
References
[1] Dr Simons of Simons & Associates Pty Ltd, incorporating Ardjuna.com, was contracted by the Board of Trustees to conduct independent stakeholder surveys in 2010. These comments were part of Dr Simons’ reports to the Board and the Principal.