EarlKitchenerSafetySurvey

SummaryofSurveyFindings

A. PurposeofSurvey
InlightofconcernsraisedbyHamiltonPolice,staff,andcommunitymembersaboutsightlinesandplaygroundaccessat
EarlKitchenerelementaryschool,HamiltonWentworthDistrictSchoolBoard(HWDSB)conductedasurveytogathermore
inputontheissue.Thissurveygatheredfeedbackontheplaygroundprocedures,bothbeforeandafterschool,aswellas
anygeneralsafetyconcernsattheschool.

HWDSBaskedmembersoftheEarlKitchenerschoolcommunitytorespondtothesurveyeitheronlineorthroughpaper
copiesavailableinthemainoffice.

Parents/guardians/caregiversandschoolstaffreceivedaletteraskingfortheirparticipationinthesurvey.Theletterwas
senthomewiththeoldestoronlychildineachfamilyandstaffmembersreceivedtheletterintheirmailboxesatschool.
Eachlettercontainedauniquecodetobeenteredinordertoaccessthesurvey.

B. RespondentCharacteristics
ThesurveywasavailablefromJanuary30thtoFebruary13th,2015andgarneredatotalof194responseswhichwereall
submittedonline.Thirtyone(31)responsesweredeletedbecauseinvalidcodeswereentered,nocodeswereentered,or
validcodeswereenteredmultipletimes.Asaresult,163responseswereanalyzedandreportedoninthisreport.

C. LimitationsoftheSurveyResults
Somelimitationsofthesurveyresultsarenoteworthy.First,itisunknownhowmanyparents/guardians/caregiversand
staffmemberscompletedthesurveybecauserespondentswerenotaskedtoidentifytheirroleintheschoolcommunity.
Thisdecisionwasmadetoprotecttheidentityofrespondents.Thereforeitisunclearwhethertheresponsessummarized
accurately reflect the opinions of Earl Kitchener staff members and parents/guardians/caregivers. Second, in order to
ensuretheanonymityofrespondents,thesurveysoftwareusedcouldnotpreventtheentryofcodesmultipletimesto
accessthesurvey.Ifacodewasusedmultipletimes,allresponseslinkedtothatcodeweredeletedexceptforthefirst
responserecorded.Third,inordertoensuretheanonymityofrespondents,thesurveysoftwarealsocouldnotprevent
theentryofinvalidcodesortheentryofnocodetoaccessthesurvey.Anyresponsesthatwerenotlinkedtoavalidcode
weredeleted.Itisthereforerecommendedthattheresultssummarizedhereinareinterpretedwithintheboundsofthese
limitations.

D. SummaryofFindings
MembersoftheEarlKitchenerschoolcommunitywereinvitedtoprovidefeedbackontheschoolplaygroundprocedures,
bothbeforeandafterschool,aswellasanygeneralsafetyconcernsattheschool.Followingisasummaryofthefeedback
received.

This report was prepared by the Evidence-Based Education and Services Team (E-BEST)
HWDSB, 2015

EarlKitchenerSafetySurvey

SummaryofSurveyFindings

Question1:Inyouropinion,whatprocedureshouldbeputinplacetokeepstudentssafeinthemorningbeforethe
bell?

%ofrespondents
Keeptheplaygroundcompletelyclosedtoeveryonebutstudentsandschoolstaff.

11.3%(n=18)

Parents/guardians/caregiversarewelcomeontheplaygrounduntil8:35am,atwhichpoint,
parents/guardians/caregiverswillmovetothesidewalkoutsideoftheplayground.
Parents/guardians/caregiverscanobservetheirchildrenfromthere.

22.6%(n=36)

Designateaspecificlocationontheplaygroundforparents/guardians/caregiverstowait
untilthebellringsandstudentsentertheschool.Parents/guardians/caregiverswillthen
leavetheplaygroundarea.

21.4%(n=34)

Other,pleasedescribe

44.7%(n=71)

OtherComments1
Keepthingsthesame
Parentsshouldbeallowedontheplayground
Parentsmovetoplaygroundareaawayfromlinesatbelltime
Ensureteachersaresupervisingstudents
Specialconsiderationisneededforparentswithyoungstudents
Childrenarenotunsafe
Parentsonplaygroundcanpreventfutureincidents
DesignateaseparateentranceforFDKstudents
DesignateanenclosedareaforFDKstudentswhoneedtobesupervised
Parentsonplaygroundbuildscommunity
Useoption#3aboveasasecondchoice

N
45
16
10
7
7
4
4
3
3
3
3

Themajorityofrespondents(44.7%)providedothersuggestionswhenaskedtocommentontheprocedurethatshould
beputinplacetokeepstudentssafeinthemorningbeforethebell.Oftheseothercomments,manyrespondents
advocatedforkeepingproceduresthesameastheycurrentlyare,allowingparentsontheplayground,andhaving
parentsmovetoanareaoftheplaygroundawayfromthelinesatbelltime.

For all summaries of open-ended responses, only themes that were recorded 3 times or more for each question were included.

This report was prepared by the Evidence-Based Education and Services Team (E-BEST)
HWDSB, 2015

EarlKitchenerSafetySurvey

SummaryofSurveyFindings

Question2:Inyouropinion,whatprocedureshouldbeputinplacetokeepstudentssafeduringafternoondismissal?

%ofrespondents
Keeptheplaygroundcompletelyclosedtoeveryonebutstudentsandschoolstaff.Parents/
guardians/caregiverswillwaitoutsidetheplaygroundonthesidewalkfortheirchildren.

3.7%(n=6)

Parents/guardians/caregiverscanentertheplaygroundtoadesignatedpoint,allowing
spaceforstafftodismissstudents.Studentswillremainwithschoolstaffuntilthestudent
acknowledgesthattheyseetheirparent/guardian/caregiver.

50.9%(n=82)

Designatealocationontheplaygroundforparents/guardians/caregiverstowaitfortheir
childrentobedismissedwhenthebellrings.Studentsmeetparents/guardians/caregiversat
thislocation.

15.5%(n=25)

Other,pleasedescribe

29.8%(n=48)

OtherComments2
Keepthingsthesame
Teachertoparenthandoffofstudentsisnecessaryatdismissal
Parentsshouldbeallowedontheplayground
Specialconsiderationisneededforparentswithyoungstudents
Childrenarenotunsafe
Parentsmovetoplaygroundareaawayfromlinesatdismissal
Parentsonplaygroundbuildscommunity
Parentswaitingoutsidethefencewillblocksidewalksandisasafetyconcern
Teacherparenthandoffforallstudentswouldtaketoolong

N
37
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
3

Themajorityofrespondents(50.9%)suggestedthatatdismissalparents/guardians/caregiverscanentertheplayground
toadesignatedpoint,allowingspaceforstafftodismissstudents.Studentswillremainwithschoolstaffuntilthestudent
acknowledgesthattheyseetheirparent/guardian/caregiver.

Themajorityofothercommentsadvocatedforkeepingtheafternoondismissalproceduresthesameastheycurrently
are.

For all summaries of open-ended responses, only themes that were recorded 3 times or more for each question were included.

This report was prepared by the Evidence-Based Education and Services Team (E-BEST)
HWDSB, 2015

EarlKitchenerSafetySurvey

SummaryofSurveyFindings

Question3:PleaseindicatewhetheranyofthefollowingareaconcernforyouaboutsafetyatEarlKitchener.(Choose
asmanyasapply).
%ofrespondents
Supervisionontheplayground(i.e.,teacherstudentratio)

49.7%(n=81)

Financialconstraintstosupervision

28.8%(n=47)

Parent/guardian/caregiverpresenceontheplayground

26.4%(n=43)

Schoolcommunicationaboutissues/events

23.9%(n=39)

Dropoffprocedures

23.3%(n=38)

IdonthaveanyconcernsaboutsafetyatEarlKitchener

21.5%(n=35)

Securityintheschool

16.0%(n=26)

Pickupprocedures

13.5%(n=22)

Other(pleasespecify)

32.5%(n=53)

OtherComments3
Lackofsupervisionduringnutritionbreaks
Nodesignateddropoffandpickupareasforparentswhodrive
Parentsontheplayground
Overreactionsfromsometomakesafetychangesthatarenotneeded
Ensureteachersaresupervisingstudents
Installinghigherfencetooktheriskaway

N
15
6
6
5
3
3

Almosthalfofallrespondents(49.7%)indicatedthatsupervisionontheplayground(i.e.,teacherstudentratio)isa
safetyconcernatEarlKitchener,followedbyfinancialconstraintstosupervision(28.8%),andparent/guardian/caregiver
presenceontheplayground(26.4%).

Intheothercomments,fifteen(15)respondentsindicatedthatalackofsupervisionduringnutritionbreaksisasafety
concern.

For all summaries of open-ended responses, only themes that were recorded 3 times or more for each question were included.

This report was prepared by the Evidence-Based Education and Services Team (E-BEST)
HWDSB, 2015

EarlKitchenerSafetySurvey

SummaryofSurveyFindings

Question4:Pleasefeelfreetoprovideanyadditionalcommentsandsuggestionsinthespaceprovided.4

Parentsshouldnotbeallowedontheplayground
Keepplaygroundclosedtoeveryoneexceptstaff,studentsandFDKparents
Schoolisovercrowded
Specialconsiderationisneededforparentswithyoungstudents
Overreactionsfromsometomakesafetychangesthatarenotneeded
Parentsonplaygroundbuildscommunity
Communityshouldbewelcomeontheplayground
Installinghigherfencetooktheriskaway
Childrenarenotunsafe
Incidentdidnotoccuratpickupordropoff
Parentsonplaygroundcanpreventfutureincidents
Keepthingsthesame
Nodesignateddropoffandpickupareasforparentswhodrive
EKshouldnotbetreatedanydifferentthanotherschoolsinthesystem
Optionsneedtoincludeopportunityforcommunicationbetweenparentandteacherontheplayground
Parentsmovetoplaygroundareaawayfromlinesatbellanddismissal
DesignateanenclosedareaforFDKstudentswhoneedtobesupervised
Havestudentsenterandbedismissedfromschoolatdifferenttimes
Parentsshouldbeallowedontheplayground

N
22
19
17
15
14
13
12
10
9
9
6
5
5
4
4
4
3
3
3

Respondentsreiteratedmanyofthesamesuggestionsandconcernsfromthepreviousquestions.Overall,some
respondentsbelievethatparentsshouldnotbeontheplaygroundorshouldstayindesignatedareasontheplayground,
whereasothersbelievethatthingsshouldstaythesameandhavingparentsontheplaygroundhelpswiththesafetyof
allstudents.

For all summaries of open-ended responses, only themes that were recorded 3 times or more for each question were included.

This report was prepared by the Evidence-Based Education and Services Team (E-BEST)
HWDSB, 2015