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HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Getting involved in CensusAtSchool is easy. The project works in two major phases, namely the Questionnaire Phase (Phase 1) and the Data Usage Phase (Phase 2). Participating in the Questionnaire Phase allows students to become part of the Australian-wide database that forms the basis for analysis during the Data usage Phase of the project. Don't miss your schools' chance to be part of the data in 2008 - simply follow the four easy steps outlined below to get involved!
Step 1: Register Your School
If your school has never participated in CensusAtSchool...
To register your school, complete the registration form and send or fax it back to the CensusAtSchool team. Once your school is registered, it will receive a School Participation Number (SPN) that is required by teachers to set up an online CensusAtSchool Teacher Account. If you have sent a registration form but have not yet received your SPN, please contact the CensusAtSchool team on 1800 623 273 or email censusatschool@abs.gov.au. Please note: registration is only required to participate in the questionnaire.
Download the CensusAtSchool School Registration Form in Acrobat format.
If you do not have reader software... |  | |
If your school has previously participated in CensusAtSchool...
Another registration form is not required, however you will need to set up a new Teacher Account using your SPN, as accounts are destroyed at the end of each project for confidentiality purposes. If you do not have your SPN, please contact the CensusAtSchool team.
Step 2: Set Up A Teacher Account
After receiving your SPN, you are ready to set up a Teacher Account (once again this step is only required during the Questionnaire phase). During this process you will be required to estimate how many students will be completing the Questionnaire so that you can be provided with a list of Student Activity Numbers (SANs). A SAN is a randomly generated number distributed by teachers to their students in order for them to access, complete and submit the CensusAtSchool online questionnaire. These numbers are generated and managed by teachers from within their Teacher Account. Teachers can view and print SANs, generate more SANs and monitor SANs usage as students complete the questionnaire. When a student completes the questionnaire and submits their responses, their SAN status changes to "used" and they cannot use that SAN again. If they do not submit their responses, the SAN status remains "unused" and consequently they can use the SAN again to access the questionnaire and submit their responses. SANs serve to comply with the strict privacy and confidentiality principles upheld by the ABS, to ensure students' identity is protected and cannot be identified from their responses.
Step 3: Submit Questionnaire
The 2008 CensusAtSchool Questionnaire is NOW CLOSED.
The next live questionnaire is set to open in line with the 2011 Census of Population and Housing. Watch this space to make sure your students are part of it!
Step 4: Access The Data
Your school does not need to be registered to use the data. The questionnaire response data is available in three different formats all accessible from the CensusAtSchool Data page. The 2008 data is online now, and will be accessible on an ongoing basis. All future data pools generated from each Questionnaire phase will be uploaded on the CensusAtSchool website for ongoing use. There are four main ways that data may be accessed:
- The Random Sampler provides a facility that allows students to select specific sample requirements and characteristics and generate a random sample from the questionnaire response date that meets those specifications. The random sample file is provided in Excel format, enabling easy access and transfer to supporting softwares.
- Simplified Samples are a range of questionnaire response data samples that have been taken from the Random Sampler and saved into excel format. In some cases, the samples have been simplified to make them easier for students to read. Using the prepared samples means that access to the Internet is not required.
- Information Tables are data samples that have been prepared so that the information from the CensusAtSchool data can be used by classes without having access to the internet. They are of particular interest to classes where the emphasis is on the use of information.
- Classroom Activities are curriculum relevant classroom resources . The activities have been categorised as either Mathematics, HSIE or Introductory Microsoft Excel. All activities involve writing tasks and communication skills and are likely to be relevant to other curriculum areas. A range of Classroom Activities using 2006 & 2008 is currently available via the Teacher Area, with more activities for primary levels becoming available throughout the year.
Join The CensusAtSchool Community
Currently over a quarter of all Australian schools make up the CensusAtSchool community. By registering to participate, your school can also form part of the large CensusAtSchool network, where teachers share their experiences, tips and suggestions about the project with each other. Visit the CensusAtSchool Community area via the Teacher Area to view feedback from teachers about the 2006 project and see how other schools are using CensusAtSchool data in the classroom.
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This page first published 5 March 2008, last updated 10 November 2008 |
