40 questions to help develop a survey to evaluate your service

Why surveys are a great idea?

Getting feedback is essential to know what is being done right and what could be improved. Surveying your parent community could provide useful insights into many areas of your service. Results could even be used to provide evidence, during assessments and rating, to show families are given opportunity to contribute to service decisions.

NQS 6.1.2 Families have opportunities to be involved in the service and contribute to service decisions

How do I send out a survey?

There are a number of great online tools available to make the process really easy including Google Forms, Survey Monkey and TypeForms.

Then just include the link in your email or add the ‘code’ to your website.

What questions should I ask?

This is dependent on what you want to know, but here are a few tips. Ensure that the survey only takes a few minutes to complete. If you are unsure what to ask you could use a Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey.

There is a pre-made template in TypeForms and Survey Monkey. NPS only has two simple questions. Here is what ours looks like in TypeForms.

Results from the first question allows us to group our respondents into 3 groups. Promoters (those who select 9 or 10) Passives (7 or 8) and detractors (0 to 6) of your service. The results from the second question tells us why and provides information that can be used to validate your centres management or provide items to take action on.

Example questions:

It can be difficult to think of what questions to ask so we have had a brain storm, sifted through the NQS and have come up with some questions you may find useful. Change them to suit your needs and elicit the information you require.

The (NQS X.X.X) is a reference to the National Quality Standards indicating that the question has relevance for that particular standard.

Open Ended Questions:

They take longer to answer but can provide more detail.

What could we do to improve:

the sign in process?
The pick up / sign out process?
Communication about centre events?
The progress of your child’s development? (NQS 1.1.4)
Our enrolment and orientation process (NQS 6.1.1)

What is the best thing you like about our centre?

What could be added / or changed to improve the service?

What activities would you like to see included in our program?

What are your child’s interests at the moment? (NQS 1.1.5)

How would you describe our educators interactions with your child? (NQS 5.1.1)

Do you have any suggestions for the centre to improve its service?

Closed Questions:

Use these questions in a multiple choice format e.g. True / False, Yes / No or very satisfied, satisfied, neutral, dissatisfied, very dissatisfied.

Adding an open ended question after a closed ended question may gather further insight. E.g. What was the main reason for the answer you just gave?

Overall how satisfied are you with the care and learning opportunities the centre provides?

In your opinion does the service meet the needs of your child?

Do you feel the service is meeting your expectations for care and education?

Do you find the educators to be friendly and approachable?

I believe that the centre respects our family values and opinions. (NQS 1.1.2)

I feel:

that the educators are knowledgeable about child learning and development.
comfortable approaching the staff to discuss the needs of my child.
comfortable speaking with staff about parenting and child development.
well informed about what is happening at my centre.
that I am able to contribute in decisions about the learning and education of my child. (NQS 6.1.2)
that the staff care about my child.
welcome at the centre.
the staff are respectful and sensitive to my child’s social and emotional needs.
that the educators are effective in dealing with behavioural issues.
my child’s ideas and opinions are valued by the centres educators. (NQS 1.2.2)
that educators provide adequate support to my child for their needs. (NQS 1.1.5)
that the centre sets clear high expectations for learning and behaviour.

Do you know where to find information on parenting and support services at our centre? (NQS 6.2.2)

Do you know where to access the centre’s Quality Improvement Plan (QIP)? (NQS 6.1.3)

Do you know about our sustainable practice program at out service? (NQS 3.3.1)

Do you feel:

The health needs of your child are supported? (NQS 2.1.1)
Your child has sufficient rest opportunities at the centre? (NQS 2.1.2)
The food provided at our service is healthy an nutritious? (NQS 2.2.1)
The level of supervision is appropriate at our centre? (NQS 2.3.1)
That the level of cleanliness is satisfactory at our centre? (NQS 3.3)
That our educators are respectful and ethical? (NQS 4.2.)
You have the opportunity to contribute to service decisions? (NQS 6.1.2)
There is an adequate complaint process? (NQS 7.3.4)

I am satisfied with the way the centre communicates with me.

What would you like to know more about?

Getting more involved at the centre (NQS 6.1.2)
Access to community support / health services (NQS 6.2.2)
Parenting information (NQS 6.2)
Child development and learning
Managing behaviour
Building resilience
Cyber safety (NQS 6.2.2)
Cultural diversity and inclusion (NQS 6.2.2)
Support for special needs children (NQS 6.2.2)
Family relationships and separation (NQS 6.2.2)
Counselling services (NQS 6.2.2)
National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education
Other local community services (NQS 6.2.2)
Others please list.

Disclaimer

Make parents feel comfortable in sharing their thoughts about your centre’s service with the centre. Provide a short paragraph on how the information will be used.

All information provided in this survey will be treated as confidential and only be used to improve the service’s quality of care and education.

Now it’s your turn.

Create a survey and send it out to the families at your centre. If you have other questions you would include in your survey please let us know by leaving a comment on facebook.