FAQs
Select the question to reveal the answer.
- 1. How large is Alice Springs School of the Air?
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Our school reaches students who live in an area more than 1.3 million square kilometres, covering the southern half of NT and overlapping the borders of Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. We also have internationally based students from all over the world.
- 2. How far away is the furthest student?
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The most distant students in Australia are over 1000 kilometres from Alice Springs.
- 3. How many students does Alice Springs School of the Air have?
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We have approximately 100 distance education students enrolled with us.
- 4. How many staff does Alice Springs School of the Air have?
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We currently employ approximately 20 staff including both teachers and admin staff.
- 5. Who pays for School of the Air?
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The school is funded by the Northern Territory Government Department of Education. Generous donations from members of the public enable us to further enrich the educational experiences of our isolated students.
- 6. Who supplies the necessary equipment?
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The Northern Territory Department of Education supplies funding for all learning materials and IDL equipment. In the past, this has included transceivers (two-way radios), a TV set, video recorder, cassette recorder and computers for students. Currently, we supply all IT resources necessary for the online learning program.
- 7. What age are the students?
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The age of our students ranges from 4 years old (Preschool) up to 14 years old (Year 9).
- 8. How many year levels are taught?
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We teach eleven year levels from Preschool to Year 9. After students have completed Year 9 parents must decide whether their young person will continue with secondary education through the Northern Territory School of Distance Education in Darwin, or send their children to private boarding schools in Alice Springs or interstate.
- 9. How big are the classes?
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Classes tend to be small. They range from 8 to approximately 20 students per class.
- 10. How much Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) time do students have?
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The number and length of lessons depend on the year level. Younger students generally have 30-minute lessons while the older students have up to an hour. The usual number of lessons per week is ten in primary school but some students can have more depending on electives.
- 11. How much time do students spend on computers?
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This also varies depending on the age of the student. At the higher year levels teachers are very careful not to have students doing work that requires more than 50% of their day on computers.
- 12. How much school work is there?
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Students spend five to six hours a day, five days a week, completing their schoolwork at home. Some of this involves online learning. The rest of the time is spent working through learning material provided to the student.
- 13. Who supervises the lessons?
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Students are supervised at home by home tutors. Home tutors may be a parent or guardian or might be employed by the parents. Usually an employed home tutor is called a govie (short for governess).
- 14. Who prepares and teaches the lessons?
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Students learn through a variety of mediums, and they are all prepared by our teachers in line with the Australian Curriculum.
Learning happens in daily Interactive Distance Learning (IDLs) lessons, through Distance Education Units of Learning mailed out to students, through resources on each class website, and through one-on-one or small group online Private Lesson Times (PLTs). There is a teacher assigned to each year level and the same teacher prepares and assesses the student work, conducts the IDL lessons, and communicates by phone, email, or online.
- 15. How often do teachers visit students at home?
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Primary teachers usually go out to visit each student in their home once a year.
- 16. What technology is now used?
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All our lessons are conducted online, with most students utilising satellite internet technology to access all online resources, including their online lessons.