My School is a Federal Government initiative aimed to assist parents in learning more about the performance of their children’s school and or assist their choice of school for their children.

The site (www.myschool.edu.au) gives information about the number of students both male and female attending the school, senior secondary outcomes, about the school, its sector, location and staff.

It also shows statistics and performance data from the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test that is given to students in years three, five, seven and most recently year nine students.

Clare High School principal Rob Knight said the NAPLAN test gives an indication on how a student is doing individually.

“We use it as a diagnostic test for our students,” he said.

The NAPLAN test has only been delivered nationally for the past two years and Mr Knight believes that once five or more years of data is given it could assist parent’s more in how they view schools and will give more of an indication of trends throughout schools.

“I am a bit disappointed that there is no year 12 data on the website ... it would give parents a better indication,” Mr Knight said.

He said there were schools that taught to the test, and others who don’t teach to the test, but the test was mainly used as a resource for teachers and schools to get an indication on a students’ performance.

When selecting a school, Mr Knight encouraged parents to conduct their own research in conjunction with My School – and then make a decision.

“You (as a parent) would be very uninformed if you used NAPLAN to chose a school ... it might be a starting point but read the annual report, speak to the parents, staff and students then make your decision, this is a much richer source of data with multiple years,” Mr Knight said.

Anne Schilling, the new principal of the Clare Primary School, said the school worked with parents and students to form strong relationships.