Here in our little corner of the world a certain site went "live" today.The site was mired in controversy before it even started with educators saying it would be used to create potentially damaging school rankings, less fondly known as league tables.
Having taught in the UK for a number of years where league tables were published as a matter of course I've found the controversy fascinating.
Mainly because I think parents and would be parents want to know this information.
They want to know how the school they send their child to every day is performing.
They want to know how to make things better for their child.
They want to make a difference.
For myself, I looked at the data and when I saw results for my child's school that I wasn't thrilled with, my first thought was for my child and how could I help them.
As parents we are, and should be the first port of call for our children. It makes me very cranky when parents abnegate responsibility for their child's education once they reach school age.
Because at the end of the day, teachers can only do so much.
Do you hear that?
They can only do so much.
I know.
I used to be one.
There are some appalling teachers in our system. I've worked with some. If we look at the ease with which students can obtain entry into teaching then we can see that by setting our standards so low for entry, we are setting ourselves up, no, we are setting our children up to fail.
We have to do better than this.
If your child's school is failing on every area, then the management of the school needs close scrutiny. And it needs meaningful and useful funding from our Federal Government to ensure that your child isn't failed by a system that's meant to serve it well.
They have to do better than this.
If your child's school is failing in one or two areas then go see the teacher. Find out what they are doing to address the issue. Find out what YOU can do to support your child. I swear by the SchoolZone books sold at Target. For the bargain price of $4.00 I taught my daughter her alphabet and basic word recognition.
Because you, as a parent have to do better.
You have to be an advocate for your child. If they are struggling at school for whatever reason, you need to be their voice.
I am mystified as to why people are up in arms about this site. They say NAPLAN isn't a good indicator of a child's ability. Having helped create a marks scheme for NAPLAN in the past I can tell you the hours of agonising that goes into ensuring every childs work is deemed to have meaning. It's not a perfect indicator, but I can tell you, it's a pretty comprehensive one. Having marked various school test papers I have been almost bought to tears by the appalling work I've marked. Class upon class where I can see children being totally and utterly failed by a system supposed to make their lives better.
And that's why I for one am pleased this site went live.
Because our children deserve better.
And so do you.