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