On the morning of Tuesday 16 August, actor Shane Cortese, best known for his performances on Dancing with the Stars and Shortland Street, took part in the televised launch of CensusAtSchool NZ.

Students at St Mary’s School in Northcote were excited to meet Shane Cortese and hear what he had to say.

Shane Cortese talking with students

Shane Cortese sitting with students

Rachel Cunliffe talking live on Breakfast

Class photo, with Shane Cortese and Rachel Cunliffe

Shane with part of the CensusAtSchool NZ team
Left to right: Jason Florence, resource writer; Rachel Cunliffe, co-director of CensusAtSchool; Bronwyn Weston, resource writer; Shane Cortese
Background: Principal of St Mary’s School Northcote and Teacher Bronya Scott

All photos by Godfrey Boehnke, The University of Auckland.

With the next population census only six months away, more than 950 New Zealand schools are taking the lead with their own census project.

CensusAtSchool New Zealand is a joint undertaking by Statistics New Zealand, the University of Auckland and the Ministry of Education. The month-long project, which kicks off at the start of Maths Week on 15 August, will involve more than 1,500 teachers around New Zealand working with students in Years 5 to 10.

Now in its third year, CensusAtSchool is part of an international initiative involving students from Canada, Australia, South Africa and Great Britain in collecting data that is relevant to their lives.

The data collected by New Zealand students will be added to an international database, providing opportunities for students to compare themselves with other students in New Zealand and in participating countries overseas. By using real information about themselves, students are more likely to engage with statistics enthusiastically. They will also be primed for the 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings.

Government Statistician Brian Pink said, “This is a great undertaking by New Zealand students, and we are delighted to support a project that generates enthusiasm and learning about the value of good statistics in the lead-up to our national census in March 2006.” .Auckland schools are currently the leading participants in the project, with more than 40 percent of all schools in the Auckland region enrolled.

The New Zealand project organisers are looking to extend the project for a further year by developing teaching resources based on the data the students have collected. For more information or to enrol in CensusAtSchool, visit www.stats.govt.nz.

Brian Pink
Government Statistician

CensusAtSchool will feature on TV One news tonight, August 11 at 6pm! Thanks to Clover Park Middle School for their help today with the filming.

Actor Shane Cortese, best known for his performances on Dancing with the Stars and Shortland Street, is getting in behind CensusAtSchool at a televised launch event on Tuesday 16 August.

One question asked in CensusAtSchool concerns who children admire. Last time the most popular response for girls, after family members, was celebrities and for boys sports stars. A celebrity who regularly supports causes that benefit children, Shane knows the importance of investigative and data handling skills for understanding our world. Through Dancing with the Stars Shane has had recent first hand experience of how data collected from people can impact and inform us about the world we live in.

Starting 15 August, tens of thousands of children from all around New Zealand will stand up and be counted in CensusAtSchool – their own on-line children’s census sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Statistics New Zealand and the Department of Statistics of the University of Auckland.

When do Kiwi children go to bed? What do they do in their spare time? What do they eat and drink? How much are they spending on their cell phones? What do they want for Christmas? These questions and more are posed in the popular CensusAtSchool, and the results promise a unique insight into what New Zealand’s 10 to 15 year olds are thinking, feeling and doing.

“CensusAtSchool is about children for children”, says Malcolm Hyland of the Ministry of Education. “It is a launching pad for emerging educational efforts aimed at turning generations of students into data detectives – equipped with the tools and inclinations that will enable them to continue to make exciting and useful discoveries about their world throughout their lives and careers.”

Project spokesperson and co-director Rachel Cunliffe of the University of Auckland says: “This will be the most comprehensive snapshot to date of how New Zealand students are living their lives. The CensusAtSchool database will enable children to learn about data collection, information technology and how to make sense of data in a playground where they will continually make exciting discoveries about themselves.”

Adds Lesley Hooper, Education Manager of Statistics New Zealand: “Students are often given data that is not really relevant to them which makes it hard for them to engage in learning. Having data that is embedded in their own lives will get them enthused and wanting to learn.”

The experience, says Mrs Hooper, will help prepare the children and their families for the 2006 New Zealand Census.

CensusAtSchool is part of an international effort to boost statistical capability among young people, and is also conducted in the UK, Australia, Canada and South Africa. CensusAtSchool starts in Maths Week and runs from 15 August until 16 September. Almost 1,000 New Zealand schools have already registered to take part and many more schools are expected to register through the survey period, says Ms Cunliffe.

For more information about the launch and project contact:

Rachel Cunliffe
Email: r.cunliffe@auckland.ac.nz
Phone: (09) 373 7599 extn 85237
Website: http://www.censusatschool.org.nz

Tune in to Maori television at 7:30pm tonight for Te Kaea where CensusAtSchool will be featuring!

Thanks to everyone at Ranui Primary for their part in the filming today.

Who do Kiwi children admire? What do they do in their spare time? What do they eat and drink? How much are they spending on their cell phones? What do they want for Christmas? These questions and more are posed in the popular CensusAtSchool, and the results promise a unique insight into what New Zealand’s 10 to 15 year olds are thinking, feeling and doing.

Starting 15 August, tens of thousands of children from all around New Zealand will stand up and be counted in CensusAtSchool – their own on-line children’s census sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Statistics New Zealand and the Department of Statistics of the University of Auckland.

“CensusAtSchool is about children for children,” says Malcolm Hyland of the Ministry of Education. “It is a launching pad for emerging educational efforts aimed at tuning generations of students into data detectives – equipped with the tools and inclinations that will enable them to continue to make exciting and useful discoveries about their world throughout their lives and careers.”

Project spokesperson and co-director Rachel Cunliffe of the University of Auckland says: “This will be the most comprehensive snapshot to date of how New Zealand students are living their lives. The CensusAtSchool database will enable children to learn about data collection, information technology and how to make sense of data in a playground where they will continually make exciting discoveries about themselves.”

Adds Lesley Hooper , Education Manager of Statistics New Zealand: “Students are often given data that is not really relevant to them which makes it hard for them to engage in learning. Having data that is embedded in their own lives will get them enthused and wanting to learn.”

The experience, says Mrs Hooper, will help prepare the children and their families for the 2006 New Zealand Census.

CensusAtSchool is part of an international effort to boost statistical capability among young people, and is also conducted in the UK, Australia, Canada and South Africa.
CensusAtSchool starts in Maths Week and runs from 15 August until 16 September. Two weeks before the launch, more than 800 New Zealand schools have already registered to take part and more schools are signing up daily, says Ms Cunliffe.

For more information contact:
Rachel Cunliffe
Email: r.cunliffe@auckland.ac.nz
Phone: (09) 373 7599 extn 85237
Website: http://www.censusatschool.org.nz

The nation’s school children are set to take their own census in Maths Week.

Identifying their most sought after Christmas present and revealing how much time and money is spent on texting and cell phone calls are among the range of questions school students will answer when they participate in their own census as part of Maths Week.

CensusAtSchool NZ is an online survey designed to enhance statistical literacy among eight to 15-year-olds while providing real and meaningful data for classroom activities that link into the Ministry of Education’s Numeracy Projects and can be used across the National Curriculum.

Students complete a 15-minute survey of questions relevant to their everyday lives and some that are common to their peers in Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Canada, which will allow for comparisons between countries.

Ministry senior adviser mathematics, Malcolm Hyland, says the survey provides links to a range of curriculum areas. He says it is hoped that resources developed to support the database will encourage an integrated approach that brings together topics from several learning areas such as literacy, mathematics, health, social studies, and physical education.
The Ministry and Statistics New Zealand jointly fund the project, which began in the United Kingdom in 2000 but was modelled on a 1990 trial project in New Zealand conducted by Dr Sharleen Forbes of Statistics New Zealand.

Sharleen’s paper-based children’s census involved 60,000 New Zealand primary school children who were asked about themselves, their home and school life. The Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education (Nottingham Trent University) then developed a similar census for British schools in the lead up to the 2001 Census.

New Zealand joined CensusAtSchool in 2003 after the University of Auckland, supported by the Royal Society through a New Zealand Mathematics and Technology Teacher Fellowship, set up the project.

The University of Auckland has been contracted to organise this year’s CensusAtSchool and the project’s co-director, Rachel Cunliffe, says interest is high with more schools already registered than for CensusAtSchool 2003.

Rachel says once the census is complete, New Zealand schools will be provided with summary and sample data to use as classroom resources.

She encourages schools to take advantage of the benefits offered by the project and says teachers will receive an information pack when they register before the 15 September closing date.

“All of the activities generated from the survey are fun and relevant to young people’s lives which enhances student engagement in their learning. A lot of teachers are still downloading the data and the activities generated from the 2003 CensusAtSchool survey.”

She says the survey’s questions include ones that aim to establish what information and communication technologies students own and what students have for breakfast. They survey will also allow New Zealand students to compare their day to that of students living in Australia, South Africa, Canada, or the United Kingdom.

Rachel says CensusAtSchool provides good preparation for the 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings which will be offered online for the first time.

“Often it is the children in a family who will fill out an online form, and filling out a census, whether it is online or in paper form, is increasingly more likely in families where English is the second language.”

She says the CensusAtSchool survey is confidential and there is a te reo Maori option.
Lesley Hooper at Statistics New Zealand says CensusAtSchool is an excellent project for increasing awareness of what a national census is and what it is for.

She says the project also provides an excellent opportunity for Statistics New Zealand to work with the Ministry and University of Auckland to ensuring valuable resource material comes out of the survey for teachers to use in the classroom.

“Statistics New Zealand’s role is to ensure we have official statistics that everyone can access and use, therefore one of our objectives is to make sure New Zealand has a certain level of statistical literacy and by working with the statistical educators we can ensure that some of this learning will happen in schools.

“The good thing is the census is about students collecting data about themselves that they can use. They are often given data that is not really relevant to them which makes it hard for them to engage in learning. Having data that is embedded in real situations will get them enthused and wanting to learn.”

She says CensusAtSchool 2005 will prepare students well for the 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings and beyond.

“It’s a great way to introduce students to the 2006 census because it gets them thinking about the importance of collecting and using data. CensusAtSchool models what we will be doing next March when people will fill out their census forms.”

* Visit www.censusatschool.org.nz for more information or to register your school. Schools can take part any time from 15 August to 15 September.
* Rachel Cunliffe can be contacted at r.cunliffe@auckland.ac.nz

Source: Education Gazette

• CensusAtSchool is coming our way again this year!
• Online survey 15th Aug – 9th Sept 2005 (Maths Week launch)
• Teaching resources available from September

In 2003, 18,000 students from 388 schools completed the online questionnaire. This year we hope to at least double this.

Megan Jowsey, Deputy Head, Auckland Girls Grammar School

“By taking part in the survey and then ‘playing detective’ with the data, students will discover interesting patterns and comparisons, that will bring their maths lessons alive.”

NZAMT President Alan Parris

“What is great about CensusAtSchool is that it generates a fantastic resource of data which is of interest to children to motivate and enrich their learning in statistics and can create a real buzz about statistics. But the reality is that is that teachers are heavily overworked and have many competing demands on their time. No matter how good the resource data is, most of us simply do not have the time to generate lots of new teaching and assessment resources ourselves for any one part of the curriculum. I am very pleased that the Ministry, Statistics New Zealand and everyone else involved in CensusAtSchool is taking this on board and that delivery of off-the-shelf resources will be a very high priority of this project.

This is all great news for teachers but what really matters right now is that we all get our classes and schools involved so that the CensusAtSchool database is as rich and inclusive as it possibly can be. Then the project can move on and start delivering exciting resources for us to use. But if we do not all get in behind this project for the survey stage we really limit its ability to deliver its potential benefits to us and to our students.”

Vince Wright, National Numeracy Coordinator, NZ Maths Curriculum Project Coordinator

“CensusAtSchool will usefully complement the numeracy project and provide a vehicle for innovations in the curriculum. The data will form part of an international multivariate data base and provide opportunities for children to compare themselves with other children not only in New Zealand but also in the UK, South Africa, Australia and Canada.”

Please register today
www.censusatschool.org.nz

• PDF version

CensusAtSchool 2005 launches on 15 August! More information will be coming shortly about the questions in this year’s census. Over 100 schools have registered already.

• Do boys react faster than girls?
• Do girls skip quicker than boys?
• Are girls more likely to own a cell phone than boys?
• How many children go to school without having breakfast?
• Do Auckland children spend longer than other NZers travelling to school?
• What is the favourite school subject for boys?
• Do girls sit around more than boys at lunchtime?
• What percentage of NZ children can have an everyday conversation in Maori?
• How many NZ children were born in another country?

The results of a children’s census of 18,000 school children, released this week by the CensusAtSchool project team at The University of Auckland, will help build a unique picture of the lives of New Zealand children.

Megan Jowsey, CensusAtSchool New Zealand Coordinator, says the web-based initiative joins partner projects in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Australia and will allow New Zealand school children to answer questions about themselves and their international
counterparts.

The project, supported by Statistics NZ, the Ministry of Education, and the Department of Statistics at The University of Auckland, aims to enhance statistical enquiry in the classroom by providing a rich database for students to investigate.

“By taking part in the survey and then ‘playing detective’ with the data, just like statisticians do, students will discover interesting patterns and comparisons, that will bring their maths lessons alive.

“This will also raise awareness of the importance to society of data collection, as occurs with the national Census,” Ms Jowsey says.

Professor Chris Wild, Head of the Department of Statistics at The University of Auckland, says children in the 21st century need to acquire the skills that will enable them to use information technology and data to learn about their world and make informed decisions.

“And there is no better way for them to start learning these skills than by asking and answering questions about their own lives and those of their peers, both here in New Zealand and around the world.”

Children from 400 self-selected schools throughout New Zealand, took part in the recent online survey which included questions on height, foot length, eye colour, country of birth, languages spoken, technology access, breakfast foods, favourite subjects at school, travel to school, physical activities, role models, dominant hand and an electronic reaction timer.

A student randomly chosen from the 18,000 taking part is most likely to be female, to have brown eyes, to be in Year 9 (age 13), to attend a school in the Auckland region, to live in a household of four people, to have her own cell phone, to have access to a computer and the
internet, to travel to school by car, and to have art as her favourite subject.

Twenty percent of children surveyed were not born in New Zealand, with their countries of origin ranging across a huge list topped by Australia, Korea, England, South Africa, China and India. Almost one-third of students said they could hold an everyday conversation in more
than one language.

Family members are the most popular role models chosen overall. When asked to think of someone they look up to, 42% of students chose ‘family member’. This response was highest for the younger children, and by Year 10 (14 year olds) ‘actor/celebrity/singer’ was the choice
of 21% and ‘sportsperson’ was chosen by another 21%.

Art is the favourite subject overall for those surveyed, with physical education/health a close second. Physical education is the favourite subject for one-third of boys at Year 9 and 10, while girls of the same age favour art and physical education equally. Mathematics is the second favourite subject for boys in the primary school Years 5 and 6, while girls at this age prefer art then dance/drama.

One question asked what the child had had for breakfast that morning, with, 10% of those surveyed replied ‘nothing’. The traditional toast and/or cereal breakfast foods remain the most common choices, with some interesting additions reflecting ethnic diversity.

The question on technology ownership showed that more than half of those surveyed owned a cell phone. At Years 9 and 10, the first two years at secondary school, 90% of students had access to a computer at home and 84% had internet use.

Rachel Cunliffe, who developed both the website and online survey, says that many overseas countries are now looking at on-line voting and census collection processes.

“With almost 350,000 hits on our website to date, and encouraging feedback, it augers well for future use of such technology.”

The project was made possible by the award of a New Zealand Science, Mathematics and Technology Teacher fellowship from the Royal Society of New Zealand to coordinator Ms Jowsey. She is the Head of Department of Maths at Birkenhead College, but has spent a year at the University.

“I have had a really stimulating year organising this project, working alongside the statistics experts here at the university. The feedback has been positive from throughout the country, and the uptake by teachers and students has been fantastic.

“We hope to run the project again in two years time to produce some longitudinal data. Meanwhile the data is now available to schools to download and investigate.”

See www.censusatschool.org.nz

For more information contact
Megan Jowsey
CensusAtSchool New Zealand Coordinator
Royal Society of New Zealand Teacher Fellow
Department of Statistics
The University of Auckland
Ph: (09) 373 7599 ext 88586
Mobile: 021 0437491