Myschool website ranks low with Varsity Lakes residents

(By Rebecca Alexander, Indra Alexander, Andrew Goodall - Bond University Journalism Students)

Despite the Myschool website’s popularity, many Varsity Lakes parents, teachers and students said they did not care about the rankings.

The Australia Curriculum, Assessment and Report Authority (ACARA) launched the website on January 28 and their website said after two days of service the site had received 1.2 million visits.

ACARA board chair Professor Barry McGaw AO said, in a media release, the website would serve to educate the community on matters of individual school performance.

“It's role is to provide high quality and nationally comparable data on Australian schools,” he said.

A mother of two Varsity College students, Karan Marks said she had not looked at the website yet, but was curious.

“The kids results have been pretty pleasing,” she said.

“Even if the school was rated lower than others schools, it wouldn’t make me change my mind.

“I’m quite happy with their results.”

Varsity College music teacher Caitlin O’Sullivan said she had mixed feelings about the information provided on the website.

“It’s a good thing the parents have access, my only concern is that it’s only based on one test and teachers may only teach towards this one test,” she said.

“They think it’s a direct representation of the school, which isn’t necessarily true.”

A recent vox pop survey conducted by Bond University journalism students revealed 10 of 15 Varsity College students had not heard of the website and 15 students said they were not interested in their school’s ranking.

For more information and rankings visit the Myschool website at www.myschool.edu.au