Following the research and pilot studies with Universities of Surrey, Kent and UCL for the Staff Surveys, the GEC was keen to ensure this academic process was at the heart of our work for students.

However, what would be the best way? We decided that focusing on a Teacher Centre with a reputation for innovation and best practice when it came to intersectional evidence, so approached Goldsmiths University. They loved the idea!

Our questions were initial reviewed by a panel of experts in Early Years to Post-16 settings. We then spent more time reviewing the early years, primary and special school audience due to the added complexities of age-appropriate questions and accessibility.

Goldsmiths also work with STEEP (see adjacent panel >>>) so we interviewed nursery staff on their thoughts too.

The GEC is thrilled that Goldsmiths loved our survey design and content - see quote! Great work Goldsmiths!

The ICO Children’s Code was key to the design process.

“The Children’s code (or Age appropriate design code to give its formal title) is a data protection code of practice for online services, such as apps, online games, and web and social media sites, likely to be accessed by children.”

Standard 1 of the Children’s code requires online services (such as our GEC Platform) to “treat the best interests of the child as a primary consideration when designing and developing online services likely to be accessed” by a child or young person.

We had to consider acting in the best interests of children, and designed the Student Surveys with this in mind from the start. Understanding not just GDPR but also how their consent and data, ultimately impacting on their rights they hold under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) had to be a priority.

Obviously demographic data capture and children is a challenging area, but ensuring that students have parental consent for participation (in terms of the country of origin’s legislation) or their own ‘consent’ is part of our support for places and learning - as well as part of the survey design. We are proud to have created this design element is a way that is in the best interests of your students.

Working with a group of six Nursery Schools and Children’s Centres, (South Thames Early Education Partnership - STEEP) we were also able to ensure that our student surveys would work for our littlest of learners!

Goldsmith’s early years expert Dr. Betty Liebovich worked closely with us on how to ensure that our surveys questions could be relevant to early years students.

Dr Betty Liebovich, EdD, lecturer in Early Years Education at Goldsmiths University of London. Her research interests include the history of open-air nursery, the work of Margaret and Rachel McMillan, and the history of early childhood teacher education in England and the USA.

We were delighted to work with such an enthusiastic and knowledgable expert, recognised globally for her work on inclusion in early years.

At this point the intention will be that staff can work directly with children aged 3-5 years - but the questions were both age appropriate for the children and understandable in terms of actionable outcomes for their practitioners.

We are excited to include our youngest students in this design - as we believe that inclusion starts from the cradle.

With this co-designing of outcomes and content, the GEC Platform will make this a reality!

Flying High Trust Children's Parliament is made up from 35 schools. They came together twice to review the survey questions and the content for the Student Surveys.

Like the secondary school students, they were asked what their feelings were on:

Surveys their schools had previously asked them

Surveys that they do outside of school

The use of digital media when completing surveys

The learning materials they would want as part of this experience

The extend these questions could help them have a ‘voice’ in school

How schools can help with aftercare in terms of safeguarding and mental health and well-being following this

After the first workshop, they went back to their schools for more peer feedback and then came together to share what they would like to see! They even create a ‘Charter’ for their schools based on this experience!

We are delighted that all of their ideas will be in the GEC Platform!

A day bringing together several secondary schools from Buckinghamshire , England - aged 11-18 - fed back their ideas to GEC Champions and our founder, Nic Ponsford.

The students considered elements including:

Their take on what a successful survey looked like

Questions to support them feeling safe, included and respected at school

What their experience of school surveys had been

What the impact of completing surveys were

Aftercare for students following DEI surveys

The design of surveys

What they wanted their teachers to ask them when it comes to equitable education

"As a product manager, it is crucial to gather feedback and input from both teachers and students before designing an online tool for schools to better understand how students feel at school through the use of GEC surveys.

From the perspective of teachers, they can provide valuable insight into what types of questions and data would be most useful for them in their daily work to help improve students' well-being and school culture. They can also provide feedback on what features the tool should have. On the other hand, students are the primary users of the tool and their input is essential in understanding what they would want to see in a tool of this nature, what type of questions they feel comfortable answering, and what kind of feedback would be most helpful for them. By gathering input from students, we can ensure that the tool addresses their needs and concerns.

Knowing this, we set up two separate workshops with students and teachers to better understand their concerns when using a tool of this kind. We asked a variety of questions to better understand their needs and concerns, and were lucky enough to generate some really insightful responses which in turn has helped us shape a tool which we believe can be both trusted and adopted by students and teachers alike." JOSH WATKINS, SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGER, PIXIE LABS

An ethical academic approach is key to us at the GEC - as is putting safeguarding at the heart of what we do.

Ensuring we are always working in the best interest of the children, aftercare in terms of safeguarding (online and off) was a priority in the build of this).

We wanted to offer a solution that ensured children could speak out if they wanted and staff could have a trusted roadmap for safeguarding beyond the GEC Platform.

Global Equality Collective partner, The Safeguarding Company, were therefore our first choice when it came to helping ensure children and young people had thorough aftercare where needed.

The Safeguarding Company help embed safeguarding at the core of organisations in education and learning and work with the GEC on everything diversity and inclusion.

Offering a suite of state-of-the-art solutions, the GEC is proud to be able to offer this as a means of how you can ensure your children stay safe.