Extreme distance learning at the School of the Air, Broken Hill, NSW
The vast expanse of the Australian Outback means that distance learning is required for children living in remote cattle stations. David Whitley visited the School of the Air in Broken Hill, New South Wales, to find out how the students and teachers do it.
Unusual school assembly
It is perhaps the most unusual school assembly imaginable – not least because a large percentage of the pupils aren’t actually there. The two children joining in with the school song and national anthem are sat in front of computer screens, hundreds of kilometres away in remote outback cattle stations.
The fact that they’re two lines behind everyone else due to time lag doesn’t seem to matter all that much. It turns each chorus into a garbled mess, but the fact that they can join in at all is what matters.
Broken Hill School of the Air
The School of the Air at Broken Hill, NSW is a true marvel of modern communications. Its catchment area covers an incredible 800,000 kilometres, and it aims to give the children of the outback as normal an education as possible given the circumstances.
Lessons are conducted largely over the internet, with satellite link-ups allowing the 130 pupils to interact with each other and their teacher. Instead of classrooms, there are studios. Each contains a bank of technology more suited to Google’s HQ or a NASA control centre.
But the most striking thing about the school upon entering is that it is just that; a real school. As with any primary school across the country, it is a blaze of colour, covered in art and posters produced by the children. There are also photographs of them at camp or on class excursions.
Tourist visits to School of the Air
As a sop to the tourists, who are allowed to sit in on the first lesson of the day in order to educate them about how such an extraordinary institution works, there are a few photos from times past. These include shots of a couple of daintily dressed children speaking into their microphones, and the old radio sets that most communication was carried out through.
From radio to satellite and internet
The radio system was finally phased out in 2003. Now the broadcasting is done by satellite, as it is possible to see in Studio One. A sophisticated intranet has been set up for the pupils and staff. The big screen in the room shows exactly what the pupils are seeing on their computers at home.
Two pupils can be ‘brought in’ at once, and they can request to let themselves be heard on air by pressing a ‘Call’ button. The screen can be split so that two things can be seen at once – say the teacher in the studio and a Powerpoint presentation – and the pupils can be given control of the main screen if they need to demonstrate something.
Friday morning assembly
On Friday mornings, visitors get to see the school assembly. This week, Year Three are in charge and it’s a highly odd affair. A few pupils are in town, so have come into the building – there are seven or eight of them – and what follows is a series of disembodied voices talking about what they have learned about different countries.
We get brief missives on Tanzania, China and Antarctica before the class’ work on the various nations is displayed to music on the document camera, along with a few crayon self portraits. It’s all very cheery and upbeat, coming across as a weird combo of school presentation, radio show and children’s TV programme.
Meet the principal
Principal Paul Clark admits that it’s an unusual set-up, but says that “the aim is to give the children a sense of normality and belonging.” What the visitors see is only a part of it. At the end of each term, a box is sent out full of work for the next term, and pupils mail back completed work every week to be marked. “This correspondence component is gradually being used less as children complete work over e-mail or on the internet, but it’s still important.”
Visiting the pupils
The teachers will also drive out – sometimes hundreds of kilometres over dirt tracks – to visit each pupil at least once a year. This is partly to do things that can only really be done face-to-face, such as progress assessments, and partly to see how the home supervisors are getting along. These are usually parents with no teaching experience, who have to oversee a huge sheep or cattle operation as well as their child’s education.
There are also regular ‘mini-schools’, often hosted by one station, where the children all stay in the shearer’s quarters. These foster togetherness, and allow for precious interaction, as does the annual sports day.
Extra teacher training
Mr Clark says that teachers at the school need surprisingly little extra training. The technology aspect “isn’t rocket science,” he argues, and after basic instruction, most teachers manage playing at radio DJ fairly easily. It’s the change of mindset that makes the job different – “there is precious little face-to-face contact time, which teachers usually cherish, and they have to ask a lot more questions in order to ascertain comprehension. In a normal classroom, blank or puzzled faces are obvious; when the children are such a distance away and can’t be seen, asking is the only way of finding out what has been understood.”
Despite such challenges, the school comes across as working remarkably well. As the pupils sing to the tune of Waltzing Matilda (albeit with a bit of a delay), the children of Australia’s outback are “parted but united”.
Details: The School of the Air on Lane Street in Broken Hill can be visited for the first lesson of the day every Monday to Friday during the school year. Bookings need to be made through the Broken Hill Visitor Centre. Entrance costs $4. It’s also possible to visit similar schools in Alice Springs and Mt Isa.
