ACARA Update extra, 9 March 2016
My School updated for 2016
Today, the My School website has been updated with the latest data on around 10,000 schools across the country.
ACARA CEO, Robert Randall, says the 2016 update, which includes the results from the 2015 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests, will be beneficial for parents and educators alike.
“My School provides readily accessible information about Australian schools to allow educators to share information about school achievements, with the aim of supporting and driving improvement across the nation,” Mr Randall says. “For parents, the site provides valuable information to help them make informed decisions about their child’s education”.
Watch a video featuring ACARA CEO Robert Randall.
The 2016 My School update includes:
- eight years of performance data
- 2015 school profile and population data
- 2015 NAPLAN results
- 2015 student attendance data (Semester 1 and Term 3)
- school financial information, including capital expenditure and sources of funding
- a refreshed look and feel to the website, including a review of the content.
Following the Education Council’s agreement in September 2015 for ACARA to improve the My School website, ACARA has refreshed the look and feel of My School, including:
- reducing the content on the homepage, resulting in a simplified layout, which makes it easier for visitors to identify information important to them
- simplifying the existing content from the prior ‘More information’ section
- reviewing the My School fact sheets for plain English and streamlining their content
- updating the glossary to improve clarity and readability.
“We’ve made an effort to make the site more user-friendly,” Mr Randall says. “We’ve developed animated videos to help better visually explain ICSEA (which measures the level of socio-educational advantage of a school’s students) and the purpose of the My School website in general.
“We have also simplified access to search results on the site, whilst maintaining important security measures.”
The My School website is regularly visited by parents and school educators alike, with almost 1.5 million user sessions in 2014–15 alone.
“There is no other website that provides the wealth of data available on My School, with the ability to make fair comparisons among schools with similar students,” Mr Randall says. “We know parents appreciate having this information available in one central online location, in a format that is now even easier to navigate and understand".
Visit the My School website for more information.
Click on the image to watch a video featuring ACARA CEO, Robert Randall.