School Staff Surveys

Teachers and support staff all play a vital part in the effective delivery of education to our children, making their input both valuable and essential. We have the survey tools, templates and reporting features you need to capture meaningful feedback, and take positive action.
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Here’s how it works

Choose from a range of survey questions, pick your distribution method, and monitor your results in real-time. It's that straightforward.

CREATE

Create your questions

Easily create great looking surveys, forms and questionnaires for every need.

COLLECT

Share your survey

Collect feedback through weblinks, embeds, email, and more.

Analyze

Analyze your results

Surface essential insights with our wide range of data analysis tools.

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What can you measure with a school staff survey?

Understanding the pulse of an educational institution can be instrumental in fostering an environment where learning and teaching thrive in harmony. By digging into what really makes school staff tick, we can make smarter decisions that create a learning environment where everyone feels supported and can do their best work.

For inspiration, here are nine key areas that can be probed by surveying school staff, giving us invaluable insights from the individuals on the front lines of education, and helping drive meaningful change.

Job satisfaction and morale

Exploring the levels of contentment and morale among the staff can highlight the overall mood within the educational environment. This measure can reveal how empowered the staff feel, the pride they take in their work, and the aspects that might require attention to boost their professional happiness and dedication.

Professional development

This area delves into how staff perceive their prospects for advancement and skill enhancement within the school. Investigating this can shed light on whether the staff feel they have adequate opportunities to progress and whether the existing professional development programs are hitting the mark.

Workload and work-life balance

Surveys can uncover the truth behind the hours spent on job-related tasks and the impact on personal life. A balance is crucial for the well-being of the staff, and these insights can help identify if the current workload is sustainable or negatively impacting work-life.

Inter-departmental communication

Effective communication between departments is the backbone of a smooth-running school. Through surveys, you can assess the clarity, frequency, and quality of inter-departmental communication and identify potential bottlenecks.

Support and resources

Probing into the availability and adequacy of support and resources gives an indication of how well-equipped the staff feel to perform their duties. It encompasses everything from administrative support to access to teaching materials and technology.

School policies and governance

A survey can evaluate staff opinions on the fairness, clarity, and effectiveness of school policies and governance. This includes their perspectives on decision-making processes, policy implementation, and how governance affects their daily roles.

Professional relationships

Understanding the dynamics of staff relationships can inform you about teamwork and levels of respect within the school. It's about discerning whether the environment is conducive to professional growth and shared goals or if there are areas of friction that need addressing.

Safety and wellbeing

Schools are spaces where safety—both physical and emotional—cannot be compromised. A survey can provide insights into how secure the staff feel on site, the effectiveness of wellbeing programs, and areas where the school might need to enhance its care.

Feedback on leadership

Staff perception of the effectiveness of leadership within the school can have significant implications for morale and performance. Running surveys on this topic can help gather candid feedback on leadership styles, decision-making, and the support the leadership provides to staff.

Parent survey templates

Explore our diverse collection of parent survey templates to gather valuable insights for your school, club or activity. From parent satisfaction to feedback on school culture, we've got you covered with a range of customizable template questionnaires.

Quick guide to using surveys for school staff feedback

The education journey isn't just about pupils, it's influenced by teachers, the various support staff, and all those running the show behind the scenes. So, it's only logical that we'd want to tap into their perspectives too.

Surveys are a practical tool for gaging sentiment, tracking performance, and driving meaningful change. A well-executed survey is invaluable for figuring out what's working and what's not with your staff. Follow these pointers to ensure that your own research gathers the insights you need.

Understand your objectives

Define your goals

Before drafting your first question, you need to get crystal clear on your objectives. Are you looking to gage the effectiveness of a recent staff training program, or are you more interested in daily operational aspects like communication channels? Whatever your aim, defining it from the outset gives you a framework that makes the subsequent steps far more straightforward.

Identify your target audience

Not all staff members have the same concerns or perspectives. Hence, it's crucial to identify the specific groups you wish to hear from. Are you focusing on teaching staff, administrative staff, or perhaps a mix of both? Because you need to tailor the survey to the specific people who will take it.

Create your survey

Choose the right platform

You're spoiled for choice these days when it comes to platforms—everything from web-based solutions to good old-fashioned paper surveys. Web-based platforms like SmartSurvey offer the advantage of easy data collation and analysis.

Design your questionnaire

The kinds of questions you opt for can significantly influence the quality of your feedback. Quick and clear insights? You'll get those from multiple-choice and Likert scale questions. But if you want detailed, nuanced feedback, go for open-ended ones. Regardless of the type, clarity and neutrality in phrasing your questions are essential to avoid bias.

Pilot the survey

Once you've created your perfect survey, don't roll it out quite yet. Pilot your survey first, preferably with a small yet diverse subset of your target audience. Running a preliminary test on your survey lets you catch any hiccups, giving you the chance to tweak it before rolling out.

Distribute your survey

Timing and accessibility

As they say, timing is everything. Aim for periods when staff members are less swamped with work to increase participation rates. And don't forget, whether it's a desktop computer in the staff room or a mobile device during break time, your survey needs to be accessible when and where your staff can complete it.

Anonymity and confidentiality

People are more likely to respond honestly when they feel their privacy is respected. Assure your respondents that their inputs will be anonymous and that you'll handle their data with the utmost confidentiality.

Analyze the results

Data analysis tools

Once you've collected your data, the real work begins. You'll want to identify patterns in your data, spot positive and negative opinion, and surface meaningful insight. Thankfully, modern survey platforms like SmartSurvey come equipped with built-in analysis tools, ranging from trend charts to full dashboards and sentiment analysis.

Making sense of qualitative feedback

Quantitative data may offer the 'what,' but qualitative data provides the 'why.' Open-ended responses can be a goldmine of insights if handled well. You can sift through these responses, bundle them into groups, and spot repeating patterns to fully understand how staff members feel.

Implement changes

Actionable insights

Numbers and charts are your starting point, but what's the next step? Now you need to make a plan to use what you've uncovered, assign who's going to do what, and create a timeline for action.

Communicate findings and actions

The loop isn't closed until you've communicated back to the staff. Whether it's a formal report, an informal chat, or a staff meeting, sharing the survey's outcomes—and your action plan—goes a long way in building trust and encouraging future participation.

Wrapping up

School surveys are more than just questionnaires; they're tools for change. If executed correctly, they can provide invaluable insights that can transform the very fabric of your school environment. So go ahead, ask away, and let the transformative power of feedback shape a better future for your educational institution.

Example school staff survey questions

In crafting a survey for school staff, it's pivotal to utilize an assortment of question types to draw out nuanced responses. Multiple choice questions allow for quick, structured feedback and are easy to analyze, offering a snapshot of popular opinion. Likert scale questions gage the intensity of feelings about a given statement, giving a temperature check on attitudes. Open-ended questions invite respondents to provide more detailed input, offering a wealth of qualitative data; by allowing for unrestricted commentary, they can often unearth insights that pre-set options might miss.

Here are ten example questions that could be incorporated into a school staff survey, each designed to probe a different aspect of the school's ecosystem. These questions are designed to be clear yet comprehensive, each serving as a stepping stone towards a deeper understanding of staff experiences and opinions. The varied question types will provide a rich set of data, conducive to both quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Multiple choice

Which of the following best describes your role at the school?

  • Teacher
  • Teaching assistant
  •  Administrative staff
  •  Support staff
  •  Management

How would you rate your current work-life balance?

  • Excellent
  • Good
  • Average
  • Poor
  • Very poor

How often do you utilize the school's wellbeing resources?

  • Very frequently
  • Occasionally
  • Rarely
  • Never
  • I wasn't aware of these resources

Likert scale

To what extent do you agree with the following statement: “I have access to sufficient professional development opportunities”?

  • Strongly agree
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • Strongly disagree

How supported do you feel by the school's administrative staff?

  • Always supported
  • Usually supported
  • Sometimes supported
  • Rarely supported
  • Never supported

Rate your agreement with this statement: “The school leadership regularly acknowledges and rewards staff achievements”.

  • Strongly agree
  • Agree
  • Neither agree nor disagree
  • Disagree
  • Strongly disagree

Open questions

What changes, if any, could be made to the school's professional development programs to better meet your needs?

What are your thoughts on the current state of teamwork within your department?

Please describe any particular successes or challenges you've experienced with inter-departmental communication this term.

Can you provide feedback on a recent situation where school policies directly impacted your work?

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