2014 Guild Survey Report There were 677 responses to the Guild Survey 2014. This represents 52% of the total student population at Wycombe High School. Methodology How did we conduct the survey? The 2014 Guild Survey was conducted Friday 21 March-Friday 4 April; over a two-week period. This would enable the maximum number of students and staff to complete the survey whenever it suited them without taking up too much of their time. To incentivise the students and staff to complete the survey we conducted a contest. The first Tutor Group in each House to complete the survey first won a doughnut party. We used the format of a similar survey carried out in 2012 as a template, using a range of open ended and closed questions to gain both qualitative and quantitative feedback. However, we adapted this format by adding some new questions and getting rid of others in order to make the survey more relevant to the ‘current’ Wycombe High School environment. Nevertheless, the style of questions asked was kept the same so that a direct comparison between the results of both surveys could be made.
Why was the Guild Survey 2014 carried out? The aim of this survey was to establish the level of awareness the Guild had amongst both students and staff. The Guild Survey 2014 would be used to make a comparison with the results collected from 2012 and therefore determine whether recent events and promotions by the Guild have raised more awareness amongst the Wycombe High School community and beyond. The survey will also enable us to determine which areas are lacking and how we can further improve this to incorporate the Guild as a more integral part of the school community. The results of the 2014 survey will also provide us with feedback about what the students would like to hear about in the future. This will further improve the range of speakers in the future and become part of what is already a very successful Guild Lecture series.
2014 results Below is an analysis of the questions asked in 2014 Guild Survey: 1. Are you a member of the Wycombe High School Guild? 203 out of 677 respondents are a member of the Guild accounting for 30% of total responses for this question. Currently we have 489 current students who are guild members. The number of respondents who have indicated they are a member of the Guild represent 41% of currents students who are Guild members. This suggests there is an awareness of the Guild but more could be done to increase this number.
2. Do you know what Wycombe High School Guild does? 12% definitely knew what the Guild does. Encouragingly, 323 responses which made up 48% of the responses did have some idea. In order to increase this number in the future, perhaps assemblies could be held to promote the role of the Guild and inform more students and staff about how they could get involved in the events the Guild has to offer. 3. Have you ever attended a Guild event? Even though there is evidently awareness of what the Guild is, only a fraction of respondents had actually attended a Guild event. Only 7% (45 respondents) had ever attended a Guild event, 93% of the replies suggested that they had not attended an event. Clearly, this is an area which needs to be addressed; attending Guild events are more likely to raise awareness about the existence of the Guild and encourage more people to engage in the Guild. Perhaps incentives could be offered to persuade students to come to these events? 4. Which subject(s) would you like to hear more about at a Guild Lecture? From the replies, there was more or less an interest to hear more about all the subjects listed in the suggestions to this question. However, wanting to hear more about the arts subjects proved the most popular. This included: Art- 165 votes (9%) Drama- 140 votes (8%) Music- 109 votes (6%) Nevertheless, the STEM subjects were of equal popularity. For instance, the sciences accounted for 17% (318 responses) of the overall responses for this question. ‘Technology’ accounted for 6% of the overall response and the combination of English and Mathematics generated 15% of the total responses. 5. If you ticked ‘Other’ please specify. As above, other careers which came under the arts were highly popular. For instance, some of the most popular responses included dance and theatre. There were also many requests for lectures in subjects such as Classics, Law, Fashion and the Pharmaceutical Industry. 6. The WHS Guild holds and sponsors many social events over the school year. Would you be interested in attending any of these events if you knew more about them? Despite the low numbers who seem to have attended Guild events, many would be interested in attending the Guild events in the future, if they knew more about them. 24% definitely said they would and a positive 61% would consider attending if they were more informed. Therefore, perhaps more advertising is needed in the build-up to the event. The use of bigger, bolder posters may appeal to more people, in places where they are likely to be seen.
7. What do you think would be the best way for the Guild to publicise its events to students? The top response to this question was ‘In the Student Bulletin’ which received 40% (564 votes). This was closely followed by ‘On Moodle’ which accounted for 23% of votes and also through ‘Parent Mail’ which was suggested by 268 people (approximately 1/3 of respondents). This is encouraging as the Student Bulletin is probably the best form of communication and is likely to be read out directly to the students when taking the register every day.
Comparison with 2012 results When comparing against the results of the 2012 survey, progress has been made. For instance, more students and staff are aware of the Wycombe High School Guild and likewise more have become members of the Wycombe High School Guild. In 2012, only 19% of those surveyed were a member. However from the most recent result, from which there were 115 more responses, 30% were members of the Wycombe High School Guild. The number of people who have attended a Guild event has increased, but only marginallyby about 20 students. Therefore, even though there has been a better turnout at the event, more needs to be done to increase the turnout and maximise the potential of the Guild events. Indeed, in the ‘Further suggestions’ area, many suggested moving the location of the events to somewhere more accessible in the school such as the Main Hall and/or the Lecture theatre. From the results, many people still want to have more lectures surrounding the subjects of Art, Science, Drama, Technology and Maths. Between 2012 and 2014, the results show that more emphasis needs to be placed on the science subjects. In 2012, 174 respondents requested having more science related lectures. The results of 2014 show this figure has doubled to 318 respondents. Therefore, more may need to be done to accommodate this request. Lastly, the results of 2012 and 2014 both show that the best way of publicising Guild events is through the Student Bulletin. Between these two years, this method has proved the most effective and students feel that events should be continually promoted through the bulletin, both during and in the run-up to the event. Students also indicated a raised interest in using Parentmail and Moodle. Using Parentmail may even prompt parents to encourage their daughters to attend these events and could also attract external interest. As one respondent suggested in the ‘Further suggestions’ question, members of the public could be invited to the lectures, perhaps for a nominal fee to cover the costs of the event.
Recommendations moving forward From 2012, progress has been made towards raising awareness of the Guild. However, more needs to be done in order to make the Guild an integral part of the school community. From the analysis of the survey results, this can be achieved by: Continuing to raise more awareness of the Wycombe High School Guild Organising more events that the students will want to go to perhaps by putting forward more incentives such as raffles and cake sales Encourage more students and staff to become a member of the Guild Increase connections between former and current students. This could be done through, for instance, a pen pal scheme whereby students can keep in contact with former students with similar interests e.g. choice of university, career options, extracurricular interests etc.