Award-winning education columnist and blogger Maralyn Parker offers parents a straight-talking guide to the Australian education system in her newly released My School (Bantam, 2011). Covering issues ranging from NAPLAN testing and the My School website, to choosing the best school for your child and strategies for effective communication with school staff, My School offers parents the tools they need to make informed decisions regarding their child’s educational needs.
My School: NAPLAN, My School and Getting the Best Education for Your Child
In 2008, the Rudd Labor government launched the National Assessment Program, Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). NAPLAN tests are designed to test all Australian students on their understanding of basic curriculum components in the areas of reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.
Launched in January 2010, the My School website made it possible for parents to view their school NAPLAN results compared with other schools around the country and the national average. Despite access to information about school testing results, staffing levels, school attendance figures and other data, many parents remain unsure of how to best use the information on the My School website and the NAPLAN test results, to help them make decisions about their child’s educational needs.
In My School, Maralyn Parker walks parents through the My School website layout, explaining the usefulness and limitations of the various statistics and comparisons and helping them to understand the best way to use the information provided, for the benefit of their child. She offers a similar easy-to-understand guide to the NAPLAN testing process and results, objectively explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the process.
While discussion of NAPLAN and the My School website form a significant portion of the book, My School also offers interesting and useful information about the general structure of the school system in each Australian state, including a comparison of public and private school systems. There is advice on how to best approach teachers and other staff to discuss issues related to a child’s education, how to understand school reports, how and why parents should be involved at their child’s school and numerous links to websites offering more detailed reports and information about educational issues.
The book is not designed to deal with individual issues, such as personality, behaviour disorders, special educational needs or similar factors. Instead My School offers a useful overview of the Australian school system and reporting process, encouraging parents to consider a range of factors when they are making decisions about their child’s educational needs.
Choosing a School for Your Child
With debate about the My School website and NAPLAN test regularly in the media, parents are often left with a biased impression of the significance of these two government facilities in assessing their child’s progress and the overall suitability of their school. My School offers parents an objective and informed viewpoint on the other factors that should be considered when selecting a school and choosing between the various school systems available in Australia.
Parker suggests that parents selecting a school for their child consider several factors in conjunction with NAPLAN results and other statistics available on the My School website. She recommends that parents remember to take into account their child’s personality and interests, especially when considering the possibility of application to a selective school. She includes a school selection checklist, which also includes factors such as school location, sporting and cultural programs at the school, staff leadership, subject choice and feedback from parents of current or previous students at the school. Each of these factors is discussed in detail within the book.
Educational Columnist and Blogger Maralyn Parker
Maralyn Parker is an award-winning education columnist for The Daily Telegraph. Parker has worked as a primary and high school teacher, both in Australia and abroad, was the NSW Department of Education’s first Information Officer and had several books on education published in the 1980s and 90s.
Parker's blog and Maralyn Parker My School Facebook fan page offer a forum for discussion of topical educational issues as well as offering parents an opportunity to raise questions about topics discussed in Parker's Daily Telegraph columns and My School book. Parker is also active in education issue discussions on Twitter (@MaralynParker).
Understanding NAPLAN results and the My School website
Maralyn Parker offers parents the information they need to not only better understand the NAPLAN testing results for their child and the statistics offered by the My School website, but also to view these results in context. She offers straightforward advice on the many factors parents should consider when dealing with school staff and making decisions about schooling issues for their child and provides numerous links to websites for parents wishing to further research specific issues.
Given the ongoing debate about the usefulness of NAPLAN, the need for further improvements and transparency in the My School website and the ever increasing number of factors that influence parents’ decisions about their child’s education, My School is a welcome voice of reason for parents who want to make informed educational choices to benefit their child.
Review copy details:
- My School: What every parent needs to know about NAPLAN, the My School website and getting the best education for your child (ISBN: 978-1-86471-205-6, 295 pages)
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