School of the Air student’s homeschool tips

NSW School of the Air students - mostly from farming families - have tried-and-tested knowledge that can teach students a thing or two about working from home during a pandemic.

The first Covid-adapted learning school was operating in the state 70 years before it was needed.

NSW School of the Air students - mostly from farming families - have tried-and-tested knowledge that can teach students a thing or two about working from home during a pandemic.

Year 6 student Izzy Harris - who has been learning from Broken Hill’s campus for seven years - said sunshine, long lunch breaks and structure were essential.

Broken Hill student Ava Harris, 8, working hard on her sheep farm at Mularula Station. Photo: Supplied.

School of the Air student Isabelle Harris on her sheep farm at Mularula Station, in western NSW. Photo: Supplied.

“Find your own workspace and don’t have clutter because you can’t really function well in that. Also, have a timetable to follow. Make sure you don’t do it all at once,” she said.

“Make sure you have an hour lunch. And do some of your work outside. It can usually be pretty annoying to be stuck inside the school room when it‘s so sunny outside, so we usually it on the veranda.”

Izzy’s parents created a schoolroom for her and her five sisters at their Mulurulu Station sheep farm, in NSW’s west.

Her class is conducted by satellite, with the school using a video program to contact the children - similar to Zoom - which has been in use since Izzy started school.

Right to left: Broken Hill School of the Air students Isabelle Harris, 11, Posie, 1, Poppy, 6, Ruby, 10, Ava, 8 and Clementine, 4, outside their sheep farm at Mularula Station in western NSW. Photo: Supplied.

The girls are helped by their Governess Hannah Rogers, with most of the 150 students at the school having their own nanny.

Izzy said she has a group chat with nine other girls in her class, to socialise and talk about school work.

Broken Hill School of Air principal Kylie Green said face-to-face socialising was one thing Covid did disrupt.

“Our students love the camps and school carnivals as they are already so isolated,” Ms Green said.

“We’ve shifted to more wellbeing type activities recently including extra dance and public speaking recitals so they can see each other and talk a bit more. We check in and make sure they’re going okay.”

Ms Green said she had seen technology advance from handheld radio to computers, but she eagerly awaits a proposed system in the pipeline, due to increase network bandwidth.

“There’s been an explosion with technology. It’s really exciting,” she said.