SIFE phase 2 report: Survey analysis & findings

The School is for Everyone (SIFE) project is a collaborative mixed methods study involving ten NSW Department of Education high schools across NSW. The research seeks to identify practices in schools that support students’ participation, belonging, wellbeing and safety. The project acknowledges that policy reform over the past decade has focused on fairness and inclusion for all students. However, there remains a significant gap in knowledge about everyday routine practices at school that strengthen participation and a felt sense of belonging, especially for students who may otherwise not complete high school. This research seeks to explicitly address this gap by collaborating with students and staff to map these practices, identify those positively associated with wellbeing, safety, engagement, and recognition, and co-design professional learning to support schools seeking to apply these findings in their own contexts.
The research is funded by the NSW Department of Education’s Strategic Research Fund: Priority Projects and is led by the Centre for Children and Young People at Southern Cross University in conjunction with the NSW Department of Education, Charles Sturt University and the NSW Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People.