My School is a unique and innovative online resource provided by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). It provides up-to-date quality data on more than 9,500 Australian schools.
The number of visitors to the site each year – over 1.4 million user sessions in 2014 – reveal the continuing interest in it.
With 2014 data added, there are now seven years over which you can compare a particular school’s progress in its students’ levels of literacy and numeracy with those of schools serving students from similar social backgrounds or similar starting points in literacy and numeracy. The site also permits comparisons of the resources available to a school, both overall and per-student.
This year, My School has been updated to include attendance data based on indigenous status, an initiative of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to help improve attendance rates. We have also refreshed the look and feel of the website.
All of this functionality makes My School an extremely valuable tool for parents and carers, school leaders, school staff and members of school communities, as well as policy-makers. As the site enters its fifth year, it is routinely used to help parents make informed decisions about their child’s schooling, and contributes to both policy discussions and public debates. We welcome discussion that paves the way to improve outcomes for our students – both now and in their future years.