Tuesday, March 5th is the official NZ census.
The census is the official count of how many people and dwellings there are in New Zealand. It takes a snapshot of the people in New Zealand and the places wehre we live. The last census was held in 2006. Census information is needed for planning vital public services such as education, health, housing and transport. It is also used to help understand how our society changes over time.
By law everyone in New Zealand on census day must fill in a census form for the dwelling in which they are staying that evening. Check that your students know this and go home and remind their family members to fill in the form. Alternatively, they can complete their census forms online at http://www.census.govt.nz/
Statistics New Zealand
Statistics New Zealand is New Zealand’s national statistical office, collecting and publishing information the country needs to grow and prosper for nearly 120 years. You can find lots of information about New Zealand and New Zealander’s on the Statistics New Zealand website (www.stats.govt.nz), including information about businesses, population, health, and employment.
There are resources available for teachers and students at www.stats.govt.nz/schoolscorner, including the new game, Tere counts the country.
‘Tere the Tui: Tere counts the country’ is a new, free learning game, designed by Statistics New Zealand to help familiarise children with New Zealand statistics as well as statistical terms.
Players answer multi-choice questions about each region of New Zealand, finding answers in the tool Interactive Boundary Maps.
When players have correctly answered a question about each region they can choose to go in the draw to win one of 200 Census branded USB sticks.
Tere counts the country can be played by children in the classroom or at home.
