My school Website My School is a website administered by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) which provides access to information about Australian schools. Nearly 10,000 schools across Australia can be searched.
The site reports data from the annual National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests which compulsorily assess reading, writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and numeracy at years 3, 5, 7 and 9 for all Australian school students. It also displays information such as school missions, staffing, financial information, its resources and its students’ characteristics.
My School provides information that helps parents and the community in understanding the performance of schools over time.
My School contains data on every school in Australia. This includes information on a school’s student profile, its NAPLAN performance and funding. You can also see enrolment numbers and attendance rates.
The My School website provides information that supports national transparency and accountability of Australia’s school education system through publication of nationally consistent school-level data. It complements other reporting measures aimed at ensuring schools and school systems are accountable to parents and to the broader community.
NAPLAN student progress information, published on My School, provides a measure of a school’s impact on its students’ literacy and numeracy outcomes – the difference schools have made to their students’ learning between one NAPLAN test and the next, 2 years later.
My School enables a school’s NAPLAN results to be compared with results of students who have a similar background. A school’s student background takes account of the parental education levels and employment types, geographic location and the Indigenous status of its students.
My school Website
The website does not allow users to directly compare schools of their choosing.
Launch
The website went live at 1:00 am on 28 January 2010, but later in the morning the website became unavailable due to extremely high demand. It was launched by the then Minister for Education, Julia Gillard.
Update
An update to the site was expected in December 2010, however its roll-out was delayed until March 2011. The primary aim of the changes was to increase funding transparency.
Opposition
Teachers’ unions and some parent bodies have expressed concerns that the data is being used to formulate league tables of schools. Principals claim that students have been asked to leave some schools because their performance on NAPLAN tests was expected to damage those schools’ rankings. Independent think tank the Grattan Institute calls for schools to be judged on the individual improvement students make every year rather than the comparison based on raw test scores used on My School. The Australian Education Union has resolved to boycott future NAPLAN testing if the My School website is used in this way.
My School – terms of use
In entering this site, you agree to be bound by the Terms of Use below, noting the restrictions specified, particularly in relation to creating lists of comparative school performance from the content for a commercial purpose.
Last updated: July 2020
1. Binding agreement
1.1 All use of the My School website (this site) is subject to these terms of use (terms) as updated from time to time. By using the site, you agree to be bound by these terms and you acknowledge that your agreement to these terms constitutes a legally binding agreement between you and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). If you do not agree to be bound by any of these terms, you are not authorised to use the site and must refrain from accessing it.
2. Terminology
2.1 In these terms, the following terms have the meanings set out below:
a) Content – anything, including information, data, text, tables, compilations, emails, photographs, graphics and films:
created by or on behalf of ACARA; or
licensed or otherwise provided to ACARA for inclusion on the site.
b) Derivative work – material in any form that is derived from, or created by changing, editing, modifying or adapting any content from this site;
c) Distribute – to publish, communicate to the public (make available online or electronically transmit) or otherwise distribute;
d) Reproduce – to make a copy of the content from this site or part thereof in any form (including but not limited to downloading, printing or storing in electronic form);
e) we, us and our – references to ACARA and, where applicable, any staff or independent contractors who may act on behalf of, or for, ACARA in connection with the Site from time to time; and
f) you – you, the user of this site, and your principal (if you are acting as an agent)
3. Use of this site
3.1 By using the site, you acknowledge and agree that:
a) you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these terms (as amended from time to time), and also the Privacy policy, Copyright and any other notices on this site, all of which are hereby incorporated into these terms;
b) your access to and use of this site is on an ‘as is, as available’ basis;
c) any content we communicate using this site is communicated in good faith as general information only, and is not in the nature of advice. We derive our content from sources we believe to be accurate and current as at the date of publication, but we reserve the right to correct or update content at any time; and
d) you will indemnify us against any loss or damage we may suffer, howsoever caused (including through negligence), as a result of, or in connection with, the use or misuse of this site or its content by you.
4. Content of this site
4.1 You acknowledge that the content on this site about the performance of a school on any indicator including the National Assessment Program ─ Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests is only one aspect of the information that should be taken into consideration when looking at a school’s profile.
4.2 You acknowledge that you should also take into account a school’s statements, the curriculum on offer and extra-curricular activities, facilities and programs in forming a view about a school. Most schools have links from their My School profile page to their website so you can obtain a better idea of the school community.
5. Intellectual property
5.1 Unless otherwise indicated:
a) you should proceed on the basis that all content on this site is the subject of copyright, and may also be the subject of trade mark, and/or other intellectual property rights; and
b) ACARA asserts copyright in all works and other subject matter created by or on its behalf, which is used on or relation to the site.
6. Grant of rights
6.1 Subject to these terms and ACARA’s copyright statement, to the extent that ACARA owns intellectual property rights in content on this site, or is otherwise permitted to grant a licence or consent in respect of third party content, you are permitted to reproduce and distribute content from the site and any derivative work for:
a) your personal, private, non-commercial educational use; or
b) non-commercial educational use within your organisation.
6.2 In doing so, it is a condition that:
a) any content that is reproduced continues to bear, in an unaltered form, all copyright, trade mark and other proprietary notices; and
b) you acknowledge that the material is provided by ACARA in the following way: ‘Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)’.
6.3 For the purposes of this agreement, a use of content from this site under clause 6.1 by a non-government school or affiliated institutions that represent or run non-government schools is deemed to be a non-commercial educational use.
6.4 Unless otherwise indicated, the permission in clause 6.1 does not extend to the reproduction or distribution of content from this site (in whole or in part) on a publicly accessible website, intranet site or any other media.
6.5 Where you breach any of these terms, the permission granted under clause 6.1 is immediately and automatically revoked.
6.6 You must not use this site, any content from this site, or derivative work outside the scope of these terms without obtaining our prior written consent to do so. We may agree to provide our written consent for such use (including subject to conditions) or decline to provide our written consent in our absolute discretion and without giving reasons. Any requests in relation to written consent should be addressed to:
Intellectual Property Officer
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
copyright@acara.edu.au
7. Restrictions on use of this site and content
7.1 Unless permitted under clause 6, you must not, without our prior written permission, do any of the following things:
a) reproduce or distribute the whole or part of the content from this site for any purpose;
b) without limiting a), use in any manner any content from this site or any derivative work for any commercial purpose(s), including but not limited to:
- directly or indirectly sell or license any such content or any derivative work;
- directly or indirectly sell access to any such content or derivative work including via a website;
- generate advertising, subscription or other revenue from any such content or derivative work;
- reproduce or distribute any such content or derivative work on, or in connection with, an external website, intranet site or equivalent media that has a commercial purpose; and
- create lists of comparative school performance from such content, or anything derived from such content, for a commercial purpose.
c) use any content from this site or any derivative work to compete with or displace the market for or use of, this Site, including as the source of NAPLAN data;
d) use any content from this site or any derivative work, in a manner that is likely to be misleading or deceptive, or otherwise conveys inaccurate or incomplete information to the public;
e) without limiting (d), in using content from this site or a derivative work, falsely or inaccurately represent either directly or indirectly that:
you, your organisation, your website or your goods or services; or
any other person, their website or goods or services,
are connected with, or sponsored or approved by, us or any of our partners or associated entities or bodies; and
f) sub-license or otherwise permit others to use the content from this site or any derivative work.
8. Trade marks
8.1 You must not use any of our registered or unregistered trade marks without our prior written consent, except where you are using the trade marks to correctly describe or refer to our goods or services.
8.2 In particular, you must not use any of our registered or unregistered trade marks:
a) in, or as a whole or a part of, your own trade marks;
b) in connection with activities, products or services that are not ours; or
c) in a manner that may be confusing, misleading or deceptive.
9. Monitoring and security of information
9.1 Your use of this site is not private. We adhere to our Privacy policy but no data transmitted over the internet can be guaranteed as totally secure. We use cookies and other technologies on this site.
10. Linked websites
10.1 This site may contain links to other websites (linked sites). Those links are provided for convenience only and may not remain current or active. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of linked sites.
11. Disclaimers
11.1 To the extent permitted by law, any condition or warranty that would otherwise be implied into these terms are hereby excluded.
11.2 We are not liable for any loss or damage, howsoever caused (including but not limited to negligence), which you may directly or indirectly suffer in connection with your use of this site or any linked site or facility, including through use of a third party intellectual property (including but not limited to copyright material). Nor do we accept any responsibility for any such loss arising out of your use of, or reliance on, content accessed or communicated via this site.
11.3 We are not liable for any loss or damage resulting from any action you take, or any reliance by you, on any content communicated using the site, by us or any other person. You should make your own inquiries and seek independent advice before acting or relying on any content you access using this site.
11.4 We do not accept liability for any losses arising directly or indirectly from a failure to access the site, or any linked site or facility, any corruption or loss of data, errors or interruptions arising in relation to use of this site or any suspension or discontinuance of this site by us.
11.5 We are not liable for viruses, malicious computer code or other forms of interference that may damage your equipment. You must take your own precautions to ensure that the process you employ to access this site does not expose you to such risks.
12. Amendments to terms and conditions
12.1 We reserve the right to change these terms from time to time as we see fit and your continued use of this site will signify your acceptance of any adjustment to these terms. If there are any changes to our Privacy policy, such changes will be posted on this site and you agree to be bound by those changes immediately from their posting on this site.
13. General
13.1 If we waive or fail to enforce any rights available to us under these terms on any particular occasion, this does not mean that those rights will automatically be waived or not enforced on any other occasion.
13.2 If any of these terms (or a part of any of these terms) is held to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal for any reason, it shall be severed from these terms and the remaining terms (or a part of any of these terms) shall continue in full force.
14. Governing law and jurisdiction
14.1 These terms are governed by the laws in force in the state of New South Wales (NSW). You agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of NSW.