Background

CensusAtSchool NZ joins an international educational project designed to enhance statistical literacy. It began in the UK, but was based on a trial project by Dr Sharlene Forbes of Statistics New Zealand, which took place in 1990. The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) Centre for Statistical Education (Nottingham Trent University), started the CensusAtSchool project in 2000 and it has since been joined by South Africa, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand and most recently Canada.

The international project is on going and has three main aims:

1. To provide real data for data-handling activities across the National Curriculum;
2. To increase awareness of what a national census is, and what it is for;
3. To show how Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can be used effectively to enhance learning and teaching resources for good practice in data handling.

CensusAtSchool NZ involves an online children's survey for school Years 5 through to 10. Schools take part voluntarily, with students completing the survey during lesson time, then submitting their data to contribute to an international database. We have included some of the internationally common questions, to provide comparisons between countries, while tailoring the remainder of the questionnaire to reflect the interests of New Zealand children. Results and sample data will be made available to teachers once the 'census' is complete, while classroom resources will be developed over time.

The Project for 2003

CensusAtSchool NZ is hosted by the Department of Statistics at the University of Auckland and is coordinated by a secondary Mathematics teacher as part of a NZ Science, Mathematics and Technology teacher fellowship, awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand. During 2003 the team will plan, launch and complete the first phase of CensusAtSchool NZ. We are a non-profit, educationally motivated project.

The timeline is as follows:

• February, March and April: Consultation of interested parties, planning of the questions, sponsorship and publicity sought, temporary website constructed
• May: Pilot survey in a few Auckland schools, website and publicity design
• June, July: Evaluation of pilot, technical design
• August 11-15: Launch of CensusAtSchool NZ during national "Maths Week" (schools have one month to take part in the survey and submit their data)
• September, October, November: Schools provided with sample data to use as classroom resources, release of some summary data, development of classroom materials
• 2004: Planning for CensusAtSchool NZ Phase 2

The Team

CensusAtSchool NZ is a collaborative project involving school students, teachers, university academics, technical experts and Statistics New Zealand. We would like to acknowledge the enthusiastic and professional contribution by the various team members.

Pilot Schools:

Birkenhead College, Birkdale Intermediate School, Verran School, Kowhai Intermediate School

Coordinator:

Megan Jowsey (HOD Mathematics Birkenhead College)

Website/Publicity/Coding/Development/Design:

Rachel Cunliffe (University of Auckland/cre8d design)

Webserver Technician:

James McGrail (University of Auckland)

Department of Statistics, University of Auckland, Academics:

Prof Chris Wild, Matt Regan, Ross Parsonage, Rachel Cunliffe

Statistics New Zealand:

Lesley Hooper (Education & Community Services Mgr), Deborah Potter and 'The Questionnaire Design Team'

Ministry of Education:

Malcolm Hyland (Mathematics Curriculum Facilitator)

International CensusAtSchool project leaders:

Prof Neville Davies (Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education, United Kingdom)
Doreen Connor (Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education, United Kingdom)
Anthony Harradine (Noel Baker Centre for School Mathematics, South Australia)

Thanks

Sincere thanks to these interested people and organizations who have contributed time, ideas, publicity and advice:

Dr Maxine Pfannkuch (Dept of Statistics, University of Auckland), Dr Sharleen Forbes (Statistics New Zealand), Murray Britt and Peter Hughes (Centre for Mathematics Education, Auckland College of Education), Auckland Mathematical Association and Mathematical Association Trust Board, Pip Arnold (Auckland Girls Grammar School), Anna Lindroos and Sheldon Revell (NZ Heart Foundation), Shirley Calvert (Sport and Recreation NZ), New Zealand Association of Mathematics Teachers ( Maths Week), Monaco Corporation (Casio Calculators), Anthony Matthews (Eton Press), Jacqueline Jones (Colmar Brunton Research), Ian Stevens (Maths Week Coordinator), Phil Sadgrove (TKI Maths Editor)

Casio Creative Stats Competition

Win a set of Casio calculators!

Teachers from registered schools are invited to enter their students (groups or individuals) in our web-based competition. The winning entry for each category will be the entry judged to display and/or analyse some data from "CensusAtSchool NZ" data in the most creative or effective way.

Categories and entry formats

1. Primary (Year 5 or 6)
   Format: Data Display Poster
   Create a poster for the classroom. Photograph it and email it to us.
   Prize: 20 Casio HL-820LC-BU calculators. (Prize Value $279.00)
2. Intermediate (Year 7 or 8)
   Format: Data Display Workbook
   Create a computer generated one page data display. Attach the data used. Email it to us.
   Prize: Set of 20 Casio fx-82MS-WA scientific calculators. (Prize Value $859.00)
3. Secondary (Year 9 or 10)
   Format: Data Display Workbook
   Create a computer generated one page data display. Attach the data used. Email it to us.
   Prize: Set of Casio Graphics calculators. (Prize Value $3,180; RRP $159.00 per unit)

Conditions of entry

1. Entries are only open to schools registered for the CensusAtSchool NZ project
2. Entries close on 19 November, 2003
3. Each entry must be accompanied by a completed entry form
4. The decision of the judges from the CensusAtSchool NZ Team will be final
5. Each entry will remain the property of the CensusAtSchool project and may be posted on our website
6. Winning entries will be notified by the end of Term 4, 2003