Background

About Us

Jump to: The Jacaranda Story | What we offer | Awards

It’s all about the students.

For us, the students always come first.

Everything that goes into Jacaranda’s teaching and learning resources and online platform is carefully considered and painstakingly developed with the Australian students in mind.

We believe when given the right tools, every student can take the next step, no matter their starting point. And when students are supported, teachers can breathe more easily and focus on what they do best – teaching. 

Our approach

We believe true learning takes place when it is personal, effortful, and rewarding. With JacPLUS, teachers and students can access premium curriculum-aligned resources delivered via a powerful online platform. Here are a few examples of how this approach drives everything we do:

networking-coloured

Personal

  • Students are connected to teacher
  • Learn anywhere, alone or with others
  • Diagnostic pre-tests for every topic
  • Learning intentions for every lesson
  • Content presented in a variety of ways (read, listen, watch, do)
  • Variety of activities and groupwork
  • Variety of skill and difficulty levels for questions
  • Feedback for every question
  • Help to get ‘unstuck’ with worked solutions or sample responses
  • Opportunities for remediation, extension, or acceleration
  • Personal dashboard
  • Self-paced learning
effortful

Effortful

  • Development of skills as well as knowledge
  • Opportunities for higher order thinking
  • Rich content that goes deep
  • Differentiated question sets to step through skill and difficulty level, allow every student to experience success and demonstrate growth
  • Variety of activities and resources e.g. investigations, projects
  • Carefully sequenced to encourage growth
  • Opportunities for remediation, extension, or acceleration
  • Assessment FOR, AS and OF learning
  • Build effective learning habits
  • Past exam questions (for Year 12)
  • Choose your own pathway
rewarding

Rewarding

  • Instant feedback
  • Worked solutions / sample responses to every question
  • Sample responses to all investigations, projects etc.
  • Success criteria available
  • Results are tracked for a full picture of progress
  • Powerful reports to highlight strengths and weaknesses
  • Focus on growth
  • Results monitored by the teacher
  • …and more

Find out more about our Jacaranda Learning Made Visible Framework.

The Jacaranda story

From humble beginnings to the pacesetter for digital learning solutions 

Jacaranda was founded in 1954 by Brian Clouston, as a small one-man printing press operating out of an industrial suburb in Brisbane. With the now-ubiquitous Jacaranda Atlas, we were the first to publish specifically for the Australian students, marking a turning point away from imported resources.

Since then, Jacaranda has continuously pushed the boundaries and evolved: first to publish double-page spreads, use full-colour and introduce a digital component (the CD ROM!). In 2008, Jacaranda pioneered digital learning in Australian with the launch of the JacPLUS portal and the first digital textbook known as eBookPLUS. This was followed by the launch of learnON, an immersive digital learning platform that delivers trusted Jacaranda content in new and better ways to maximise learning outcomes.

Australia has a uniquely multicultural society and a diverse population. Nowhere is this reflected more than in the classroom. Our aim is for every Australian student to have learning materials developed specifically for them, to be able to see themselves in the resources, and to have opportunities to grow no matter where they are.

Jacaranda resources and online platforms are proudly Australian made, and are constantly updated and shaped by feedback from teachers and students around the country.

Today, Jacaranda is a leading educational publisher with footprints in almost every Australian school.

Our high quality teaching and learning resources have received numerous industry awards and are an integral part of every lesson in more than 6,000 schools in Australia.

As the Australian School Division of Wiley, a global learning company, Jacaranda continues to grow and seek new ways to solve educational challenges for teachers and students.

Improving teaching and learning outcomes Australia-wide

Government, independent and religious schools of all sizes and budgets have used Jacaranda resources in the classroom.
6,156

Schools

122,393

Teachers

1,307,478

Students

Awards

We’re honoured that our quality and service have been recognised time and again by the Australian education community.
  • 2021

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner: Jacaranda
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Student Resource – Junior 2021
    Winner: Jacaranda Science Quest 7-10 Victorian Curriculum
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 2017

    Junior Secondary Resource
    Winner: Jacaranda Geoactive 7-10 NSW Ac
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Secondary Outstanding Digital Resource
    Winner: Jacaranda Geoactive 7-10 eBookPLUS NSW Ac
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Senior Student Resource
    Highly Commended: Jacaranda Key Concepts in VCE Business Management
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 2015

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 2013

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Outstanding Book of the Year
    Category Joint Winner: Jacaranda World History Atlas AC
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Secondary Reference Resource
    Category Joint Winner: Jacaranda World History Atlas AC
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Innovation in Education
    Merit Recipient: Knowledge Quest
    National iAwards (AIIA)

    Innovation in Education
    Merit Recipient: Knowledge Quest
    QLD iAwards (AIIA)

    Educational Cartographic Products
    Winner: Jacaranda World History Atlas / myWorld History Atlas
    International Cartographic Exhibition

  • 2011

    Secondary Digital Student Learning Resource
    Winner: Jacaranda myWorld Atlas
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Overall Joint Winner
    myWorld Atlas
    Australian Publishers Association (APA) Australian Educational Awards

    Best Digital Student Learning Resource Secondary
    Australian Publishers Association (APA) Australian Educational Awards

    Best Book
    Winner: Spatial Vision in partnership with Wiley for the Jacaranda Atlas (7th edition)
    New Zealand Cartographic Society Map Awards

    2nd Place
    Jacaranda Atlas 7th edition
    International Cartographic Exhibition

  • 2008

    Primary School Resource
    Winner: Jacaranda Primary Atlas Third Edition
    AGTA Awards

    Geography Teaching Source Material
    Winner: Jacaranda Primary Atlas Teacher Resource Kit
    AGTA Awards

  • 2005

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 2003

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 2001

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Secondary Technology Showcase
    Winner: Jacaranda SOSE 1 & 2 and CD-ROMs
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 1998

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 1996

    Secondary Single Title
    Winner: Jacaranda Q Chemistry
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 1994

    Secondary Single Book Category
    Winner: Jacaranda Time Quest
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 2020

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner: Jacaranda
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Outstanding Secondary Resource
    Winner: Jacaranda VCE Chemistry Units 1 – 4
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Student Resource – Senior – Mathematics/Science 
    Winner: Jacaranda VCE Chemistry Units 1 – 4
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Student Resource – Junior – English/Humanities/Languages/Arts/Technologies/Health & Physical Education
    Winner: Jacaranda Humanities Alive 7-10 Victorian Curriculum
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Student Resource – Senior – English/Humanities/Languages/Arts/Technologies/Health & Physical Education
    Highly Commended: Jacaranda Key Concepts in VCE Health & Human Development Units 1 – 4
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 2016

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 2014

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Junior Secondary Resource
    Winner: Jacaranda Geography Alive 7-10 AC
    Australian Geography Teachers’ Association (AGTA) Awards

    Junior Secondary Resource
    Highly Commended: Jacaranda Atlas 8th edition
    Australian Geography Teachers’ Association (AGTA) Awards

  • 2012

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Serious Games Showcase & Challenge Commercial & Business Category
    Winner: Knowledge Quest
    SimTECT

    Best Children’s
    Finalist: myWorld Atlas
    18th Annual Australian Interactive and Media Industry Association Awards (AMY awards)

    Best Education & Learning
    Finalist: myWorld Atlas
    18th Annual Australian Interactive and Media Industry Association Awards (AMY awards)

    IMA Awards for both ‘School’ and ‘Reference’ Categories
    Best in Class: myWorld Atlas
    Interactive Media Awards (IMA)

    Outstanding Website
    Winner: www.myworldatlas.com.au
    Web Marketing Association

  • 2010

    Atlas
    Winner: Jacaranda Atlas 7th edition
    AGTA Awards

    Best Secondary Website 
    Winner: www.studyon.com.au
    Australian Educational Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 2006

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Secondary Book Series Category
    Winner: Jacaranda English Alive Series
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Junior Secondary School Textbook
    Highly Commended: Jacaranda SOSE Alive: Geography 2
    AGTA Awards

    Senior Secondary School Textbook
    Winner: Geoactive 2 2nd Edition
    AGTA Awards

  • 2004

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Atlas
    Highly Commended: Atlas of Discovery
    AGTA Awards

    Secondary School Resource
    Winner: Jacaranda Senior Geography for Qld
    AGTA Awards

  • 2002

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 2000

    Secondary Publisher of the Year
    Winner
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

    Secondary Series Category
    Winner: Jacaranda Maths Quest Series
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 1997

    Secondary Series Category
    Winner: Jacaranda Science Quest 1 & 2
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

  • 1995

    Secondary Series Category
    Winner: Jacaranda English Power 1-4
    Australian Education Publishing Awards (EPAA)

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