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Letter to parents or caregivers

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Dear Parent or Caregiver,

Your child's class will be participating in Census at School, an international online project that teaches students about statistics and census taking.

The Census at School project began in the United Kingdom in 2000 and now includes Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The Canadian project is hosted by Statistics Canada, our nation's statistical agency.

Students answer interesting questions about themselves online, then learn to analyse the class results and compare them with Canadian and international results. They also learn about Canada's national census and its crucial role in providing information for the planning of education, health, transportation and other essential services.

The online survey asks simple questions about the students' lives and activities, such as their height, pets, breakfast foods and favourite subject at school. You can view the questions at www.censusatschool.ca under "Survey questions."

The Census at School survey is a voluntary educational project that will not be used for research purposes, unlike Statistics Canada's official surveys. The Census at School-Canada website complies with Internet security guidelines for the Government of Canada and for children's educational websites.

Your child's privacy will be protected: students' responses are anonymous because no names, numbers or e-mail addresses are attached to them. At Statistics Canada, we pride ourselves on keeping all collected data confidential. You can find out more at www.censusatschool.ca under "Privacy".

Census at School is a cross-curricular learning activity that applies to mathematics, social sciences and information technology. By taking part in this 15-minute online survey at school, your child will develop valuable skills and learn about census taking.

For further information about Census at School-Canada, visit www.censusatschool.ca.

Yours sincerely,

 

(teacher’s name)