The aspects of school life explored by W@S
Key points about the W@S aspects
- The W@S tools explore different aspects of school life that the literature suggests work together to create a safe and caring climate that deters bullying.
- There are five aspects (school-wide climate and practices; teaching and learning; community partnerships; prosocial student culture and strategies; and aggressive student culture).
- Some aspects are divided into sub-aspects that show the different areas of this aspect.
- All the W@S tools (SSRT, Teacher Survey, and Student Survey) explore the same aspects of school life, but with language appropriate to their audience.
- The SSRT and Teacher Survey include more sub-aspects than the Student Survey.
Introducing the Wellbeing@School aspects
The Wellbeing@School tools explore the extent to which students and staff perceive the school’s social climate to be safe and caring. Thus the main focus of the tools is on the social dimension of wellbeing. These tools are based on systems-thinking and the idea that a school has many different aspects of practice that can be aligned to work towards the same vision. The tools explore how a safe and caring climate is modelled through four main aspects of school life:
- School-wide climate and practices
- Teaching and learning
- Community partnerships
- Prosocial student culture and strategies
A fifth aspect explores the extent to which aggressive behaviours occur at school. This is called:
- Aggressive student culture.
Some aspects are divided into sub-aspects to show the different dimensions of the main aspect. The aspects and sub-aspects were developed from a review of the literature and analysis of survey results. One aim of this review was to identify the common aspects of school life, that together, work to create a safe and caring school climate that deters bullying.
Understanding the aspects and sub-aspects
In the W@S surveys and tools, each aspect or sub-aspect includes a number of statements. These statements are designed as indicators of practice for each of the aspect. The SSRT, Teacher Survey, and Student Surveys all explore the five main aspects of school life, but use language and statements appropriate to their audience (teachers and students, respectively). The SSRT includes more questions and more sub-aspects than the Student Survey.
The Wellbeing@School reports are also designed around these aspects. They aim to support schools to self-review by identifying areas of strength (aspects of school practice that most students and staff agree are in place) and areas that require attention and next steps (aspects of practice that fewer students or staff agree are in place) (see Interpreting your school’s W@S reports: info for Step 3)
A description of the focus of each aspect and sub-aspect is shown in the tables below.
The Student Survey aspect map
| This aspect explores students’ perceptions of whether a safe and caring climate is modelled through school-wide culture and practices. | |
| Sub-aspect | This sub-aspect explores the extent to which… |
|---|---|
| 1. Caring and collaborative school | students perceive the school to be a caring place that models values such as caring (aroha), respect, and hospitality (manaakitanga), and collaboration with students. |
| 2. Safe school | students perceive the school to be a safe place with consistent approaches to behaviour. |
| 3. Respect for culture | students perceive the school acknowledges and affirms their different cultures and backgrounds. |
| This aspect explores students’ perceptions of whether a safe and caring climate is modelled through teacher behaviours and expectations, and within the classroom learning programme. | |
| Sub-aspect | This sub-aspect explores the extent to which… |
|---|---|
| 4. Caring teaching | students perceive teachers have high expectations for all students, and model and promote respectful interactions and prosocial behaviours (e.g., caring, helping, showing empathy). |
| 5. Caring learning | students perceive the learning programme provides experiences that are likely to enhance their social and emotional competencies (e.g., how to engage in social problem-solving). |
| This aspect explores students’ perceptions of whether a safe and caring climate is modelled through connections with parents and whānau, and whether they consider the wider community to be caring. | |
| Sub-aspect | This sub-aspect explores the extent to which… |
|---|---|
| 6. Home-school partnerships | students perceive that school practices model a sense of community with parents and whānau, and that they have access to social support outside school. |
| This aspect explores students’ perceptions of the extent to which they and their peers engage in prosocial behaviours and use pro-social strategies. | |
| Sub-aspect | This sub-aspect explores the extent to which… |
|---|---|
| 7. Pro-social student culture | students perceive themselves and their peers to be engaging in pro-social behaviours (e.g., caring, helping, showing empathy). |
| 8. Students’ social strategies | students know and use social problem-solving strategies (e.g., managing their emotions, seeking help). |
| This aspect explores students’ perceptions of the extent to which aggressive and bullying behaviours occur at school. | |
| Sub-aspect | This sub-aspect explores the extent to which… |
|---|---|
| 9. Aggressive student culture | students experience aggressive and bullying behaviours. |
The SSRT and Teacher Survey aspect map
| This aspect focuses on school-wide practice as one dimension of the school system. It explores how a safe and caring climate that deters bullying behaviours is modelled through school-wide culture, policies, practices, and leadership approaches. | |
| Sub-aspect | This sub-aspect explores the extent to which… |
|---|---|
| 1. Collaborative school | |
|
the leadership team models a caring and collaborative approach. |
|
the school uses effective and collaborative processes to implement new practices. |
| 2. Caring school | school-wide practices and activities model values such as caring (aroha), respect, and hospitality (manaakitanga) |
| 3. Safe policies | |
|
the school has well-understood policies and procedures for managing behaviour and addressing behaviour incidents. Processes are collaborative and fair and used consistently across the school. |
|
break-times are effectively managed. |
| 4. Safe school | |
|
the school social environment is safe and the school works to address the safety concerns of students and staff. |
|
school buildings and the physical environment are safe and create a sense of community. |
| 5. Social support for students |
the school provide student support to all students. the school identifies and supports at risk students. |
| 6. Respect for culture | the school acknowledges and affirms students’ different cultures and backgrounds. |
| 7. Student leadership valued | school staff seek student input and enable students to lead activities and offer support to their peers. |
| This aspect focuses on classroom teaching and learning as one dimension of the school system. It explores how a safe and caring climate that deters bullying behaviours is modelled through teacher behaviours and classroom activities. | |
| Sub-aspect | This sub-aspect explores the extent to which… |
|---|---|
| 8. Caring teaching |
classroom teachers create a caring classroom community, and model and promote respectful interactions and prosocial behaviours (e.g., caring, helping, showing empathy). teachers promote an achievement-oriented culture and high expectations. |
| 9. Caring learning | teachers use strategies and set learning tasks that enhance students’ social and emotional competencies. |
| 10. Effective professional learning | teachers have access to professional learning (in-house or external) that supports them to offer a classroom programme that enhances students’ social and emotional competencies. |
| This aspect focuses on community connections as one dimension of the school system. It explores how schools’ connections with the parent and whānau community, and other groups and agencies, support the building of a safe and caring climate that deters bullying behaviours. | |
| Sub-aspect | This sub-aspect explores the extent to which… |
|---|---|
| 11. Home-school partnerships | the school model a sense of community with parents and whānau, and works with parents and whānau to improve students’ social and emotional wellbeing. |
| 12. School-community connections (SSRT only) | the school makes strategic connections with health and education professionals, external providers, and community groups with the aim of improving students’ social and emotional wellbeing. |
| This aspect focuses on student culture as one dimension of the school system. It explores how a safe and caring climate that deters bullying behaviours is modelled through student norms, behaviours, and strategies. | |
| Sub-aspect | This sub-aspect explores the extent to which… |
|---|---|
| 13. Pro-social student culture | students engage in pro-social behaviours and have a caring and positive peer culture. |
| 14. Students’ social strategies | students know and use social problem-solving strategies (e.g., managing their emotions, seeking help, bystander intervention). |
| This aspect focuses on student behaviours. It explores the extent to which staff perceive students engage in aggressive and bullying behaviours at school. | |
| Sub-aspect | This sub-aspect explores the extent to which… |
|---|---|
| 15. Aggressive student culture | students engage in aggressive and bullying behaviours. |