I have already moved from the station to town as we have had two sports carnival days in Longreach, and my last week will be spent with the boys at Windorah at a sports camp.
In the last 6 weeks the boys and I have spent 12 days in the station schoolroom. We have attended school events and sports camps in various towns in the local area, travelling anything from 300kms to 700kms. With great planning and two boys who have worked very well we have completed 10 weeks work in 7 weeks. I must tell you the curriculum for Distance Ed students is very content heavy with an over abundance of written answers to be returned to their teachers so I am very proud of the boys this term.
Life in our Outback Schoolroom !
The school day begins for me when I open the door that separates the two sections of the building and pass through from our house to the schoolroom. How wonderful I hear you say ... No driving, no traffic, no rugging up for the cold !
The first duty is to switch on the computer and login our Yr5 boy to The Learning Place of the Queensland DET to access Collaborate which is the forum for online learning. This enables us to access his forum with the least amount of difficulty. Usually if we try to do this closer to his lesson time at 8.30am we have difficulties as everyone is attempting to logon. It seems to fold under the pressure.
The boys arrive at 8am, when they are on time ! They walk, run or ride their bikes the huge distance of maybe 30metres from their back door to the schoolroom.
No school uniforms out here, just whatever they feel like wearing ! Usually shorts, a t-shirt and rarely
any shoes. Their feet must be as tough as nails ... as they run around the station with bare feet.
Sometimes they'll even arrive in dress-ups!
any shoes. Their feet must be as tough as nails ... as they run around the station with bare feet.
Sometimes they'll even arrive in dress-ups!
During the week students in Yrs3-6 have English, Maths and Reading/comprehension on air. Each lesson is one hour. Yrs 5 and 6 also have a language lesson, Japanese or French. Prep/K to 2 have one on air lesson a day, either English or Maths and a reading session.
At 8.30 each day there is an on air English lesson for Yr5. Collaborate has already been opened on the computer and we wait for their teacher to place their lessons up on the screen. At this point all that is left to do is phone in to the DET, dial the teacher's lesson code, put our headphones on and wait for the conference style lesson to begin. Once begun the students and teacher converse on air and use a main room for lessons, and breakout rooms for individual work and feedback. The teacher uses a video option to be able to be seen during the lesson.
While our Yr5 boy is on air I have the opportunity to teach a lesson to the younger one. This will be
the opposite one, English or Maths, to that taught on air that day.
the opposite one, English or Maths, to that taught on air that day.
At 9.30 the younger boy has his on air lesson so we quickly log out from the first lesson and hang up the phone and begin the login process for the computer and phone again ! The only difference this time is that he uses the video option on the screen. In this way he is able to see and be seen by his teacher and classmates. Once again I work with the older one.
At 10.30 it is smoko down at the kitchen with Michelle, their mum, and George, my husband, for half an hour. While the boys rush down to be on time I log out and log the new lesson for 11am in and then rush down for smoko myself.
After smoko the boys alternate lesson times for the next two hours until it's time for lunch. With only one more on air for our Yr 5 boy after lunch the busiest part of our day is done. After lunch we have quiet reading, some spelling and then time to do anything we like until school finishes at 3.30, though often I'm still chasing them out at 4pm. We may do some art, craft, sport, listen to a book read by me, play some board or card games ... whatever we are all in the mood to do !
Quiet reading
Art !
So where does the curriculum come from ?
The boys schoolwork arrives in mail bags either by mail plane or we pick them up in the SODE (school of distance ed) mailroom when we go to Longreach for school events. We are supplied with curriculum books that include a student's unit workbook/guide, a home tutors unit guide, a unit disc
and a pack of resource books. These are included for english, maths, science, history, geography,
pdhpe, art and manual arts. They are also available through the online Learning Place. The teachers supply a yearly overview and Work Rate Calendars for each 5 week unit.
Each day the boys take photos of their work in each area with the iPad and email them to their teachers to use as a record and for feedback.
Time with Teachers and School Friends !
The boys have opportunities to catch up with their teachers and friends during the year at different events. Each term is begun with a one day cluster meet. We attend a cluster day at Windorah about 4 hours away, this involves staying in town the night before.
Each year also has a mini school, held at Longreach for 3-5 days. We stay at Longreach SODE's Quarters which are a communal dormitory style accommodation on the school site. This enables the boys to spend time with their friends outside of school time.
Other events include Home Tutor Workshop week, sports and swimming carnival days, a trip away for Yrs 5 and 6, and Graduation.
Extra Curricular
The boys and I have also attended camps for swimming, a gymnastics and arts week, and this week a sports week. These are all held in smaller towns in conjunction with the state and/or catholic schools. This has been a wonderful opportunity to become part of the community for a week and to make new friends in Eromanga,
Quilpie and Windorah for these.
The life of a Home Tutor/govie is never boring !!
By Lynne
and a pack of resource books. These are included for english, maths, science, history, geography,
pdhpe, art and manual arts. They are also available through the online Learning Place. The teachers supply a yearly overview and Work Rate Calendars for each 5 week unit.
Each day the boys take photos of their work in each area with the iPad and email them to their teachers to use as a record and for feedback.
The boys have opportunities to catch up with their teachers and friends during the year at different events. Each term is begun with a one day cluster meet. We attend a cluster day at Windorah about 4 hours away, this involves staying in town the night before.
Each year also has a mini school, held at Longreach for 3-5 days. We stay at Longreach SODE's Quarters which are a communal dormitory style accommodation on the school site. This enables the boys to spend time with their friends outside of school time.
Other events include Home Tutor Workshop week, sports and swimming carnival days, a trip away for Yrs 5 and 6, and Graduation.
Playing educational apps on the iPad on the long 8 hr drives to Longreach.
Sport at Longreach SODE
Extra Curricular
The boys and I have also attended camps for swimming, a gymnastics and arts week, and this week a sports week. These are all held in smaller towns in conjunction with the state and/or catholic schools. This has been a wonderful opportunity to become part of the community for a week and to make new friends in Eromanga,
Quilpie and Windorah for these.
The life of a Home Tutor/govie is never boring !!
By Lynne
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