Remote Schooling
For most kids going back to school is an exciting or maybe nervous time. But for the kids in this next story, it's not a big deal they're only going a few metres from home. Here's Elke, Riley and Livia with their report on what it's like going back to school of the air.
ELKE: This is our home, our school, our business and our community. We live 220 km north west of Longreach in outback Queensland.
RILEY: My morning routine is that we wake up at 6 o'clock, have breakfast, we let out the dogs, we check the horses and our chookies then we go over at 7:30 and start school.
KIDS: Welcome to the Orielton school house.
RILEY: School of the Air is living miles and miles apart from the teachers and the school and corresponding with them on the telephone and computer.
ELKE: At a mainstream school you'd normally change rooms or have a new teacher, no offence mum, but for us we rearrange our desks and change posters sometimes, this year specially we get to paint the walls and have a little bit more fun.
LIVIA: What I like about school is when its a sick day I can wear my pyjamas to school.
RILEY: And it only takes 10 seconds to get back to the house.
RILEY: Hello everybody this is my desk and my school equipment. Up here is the school timetable that tells us when our on air lessons are on and what number they are. I have maths from 8:30 - 9:30 I have English from 11 o'clock to 12 o'clock.
RILEY: Thought I might give you a tour of the reading room. over here we have all our books, and games and reading materials. We come here for quiet time, and over here we have materials to make things for science.
LIVIA: Sometimes it's a little difficult to hear what your teacher is saying on air cause they're so far away.
RILEY: What I find difficult about school of the air is that we have internet issues out here so the connection usually drops out. And that can really disrupt your lessons.
RILEY: One thing that people might not know about distant ed is that we never miss a day of school even if we are sick we travel etc. we also make up for it during the weekends and sometimes in the holidays.
RILEY: We also go to swimming carnivals and athletics at Longreach which is 220 km's away from here on a dirt road.
LIVIA: I think its better doing school at home because you get to see all your family it would be pretty cool to hop on a bus and wear a uniform.
ELKE: Well this week I'll be packing up and getting ready for a 700 km drive up to Townsville starting boarding school at Townsville Grammar.
ELKE: Done and Dusted, ready for boarding school 2017
ELKE: I'll be getting taught at a mainstream school which will be very exciting and I'll be getting lessons five days a week
ELKE: Also I will be wearing a uniform every day.
ELKE: I think what I will miss most when I move to boarding school is my family, the animals and the thousands of acres we can get lost in.
RILEY: I'm pretty lucky because we do school at home. But I do get pretty distracted out the window - there's loaders, trucks, motorbikes and I really wish I was out there.
ELKE: Farwell from Elke, Livia and Riley and Flat Stanley and from our outback Orioten school.
NATHAN: Thanks guys!
- Jack Evans | Reporter
- High School Transition: BTN | history
- School of the Air: BTN | history
- Boarding School: BTN | history
- 1975 video of rural kids from Weerangourt visiting the big city of Melbourne for the first time: ABC Library | youtube
- School of the Air: BTN | teacher
- Australia:QLD | Map
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