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Our Learnings

Applying what we learn

As an organization we are always learning, growing, and making improvements.

TIMpact365 measures program quality, outcomes, and impact within a continuous improvement cycle. When data are collected, we reflect on the data, consider what the data mean, and determine ways to improve moving forward.
Program Quality
Program quality is at the centre of what we do, and we now have multiple seasons of data to reflect on, both during our summer and year-round programs. Assessments were completed by both internal staff and external visitors, and ranged from 15 minutes to multiple days, including during both structured activities and unstructured social time. The way we have assessed program quality has evolved over time to include fewer, but more focused observations of programs. This approach still provides a holistic understanding of the quality of campers’ experiences at Tims Camps, while balancing staff capacity to complete assessments. After each season, we determine our program quality score, create a goal score for the upcoming season, and determine a targeted focus area for improvements. Here’s how we’ve been doing:
SeasonNumber of assessmentsGoal ScoreActual ScoreTargeted focus
Summer 202272-68%-
Year-round 2022-202313-76%-
Summer 20236073%77%Emotion coaching
Year-round 2023-20242778%67%Emotion coaching
Summer 20242878%78%Furthering responsibility and leadership
Year-round 2024-2025TBD – 18 after fall 202479%TBDSupporting plans and goals
Summer 2025TBD79%TBDSupporting plans and goals
Classrooms Program 2025TBD – introducing assessmentsTBDTBDCreating safe spaces

Engaging more voices and perspectives is key for us and will allow for a well-rounded view of how we create a high-quality experience for youth and what we can do to improve. Our goal is to connect and engage with staff in different roles across the organization, youth in all of our programs, and other stakeholders (e.g., teachers, partnership organizations) to provide insights into program quality. ​

Outcomes

We are committed to continuing to measure outcomes with campers in our programs. The way we measure outcomes is evolving to best suit campers' needs and provide usable, impactful data. Our goal is for 95% of youth to report growth in the 5Cs during their time at camp.

As we learned that participants’ general wellbeing increases after camp, but might not be sustained into the school year, our youth engagement efforts will focus on connecting with campers, transferring and sustaining wellbeing into home settings. This will impact the supports and ongoing outreach that we provide beyond our direct summer program delivery.

Impact

Impact is measured through the Big 3 components of self, community, and future. Summer campers responded to these questions once before and once after the camp experience to determine the impact of camp programs. Year-round program participants responded to these questions after their camp experience. Multiple years of data indicate that the programs positively impacted youth in all three categories. As “community” yielded the smallest amount of change for our summer campers, in 2025, we will focus on campers learning more about positively contributing to their community. Our goal is for the average “community” score to be 4.1 after camp. During our year-round programs, we can focus on “community” and “future”. Our goal is for at least 90% of youth to report growth in this area after participating in our program. In both summer and year-round programs this can be accomplished with additional activities based on teamwork, communication, collaboration, and goal setting.