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Kalgoorlie
School of the Air, or "KalSOTA", is a Class 3 West Australian
government primary school. The school's catchment area covers more
than 750,000 square kilometres of the state, stretching 400 km north
to the town of Wiluna, 1,200 km north east to the Northern Territory,
South Australia and Western Australia borders, 800 km east to the
South Australia border and 350 km south to the coastal town of Esperance. The
purpose of the Kalgoorlie School of the Air is to work in close
cooperation with the school community to provide the learning environment
that reflects education as a shared responsibility of students,
staff, Home Tutors and parents. The school supports a collaborative
approach to student achievement of intended outcomes. The
school was opened in 1962 with the purpose of providing radio and
correspondence lessons for geographically isolated children and
their families. As it does to this day, the school utilised the
radio network of the Royal Flying Doctor Service to provide "Air-Lessons"
for its students. Kalgoorlie School of the Air is located on the
corner of Piesse and Brookman Streets in Boulder, Western Australia.
The building housing the school was constructed in 1905 and originally
designed to house the Boulder Technical School. Since this time
it has served as the premises for Boulder High School, The Chamber
of Mines, and more recently, The Lorna Mitchell School. Enrolments
vary each year from 40 to 55 students from kindy through to year
7. The
Home Visit program provides support for students and Home Tutors.
Members of the Educational staff try to visit students and Tutors
three times per year provided suitable times can be agreed to
by all concerned. Often Home Tutor work commitments, holidays
or weather make it difficult for all visits to take place during
the full year. If people are not at a location for the full school
year it is not possible to schedule three visits. Visits are for
a day to families reasonably close to town to visits ranging up
to 3 days for those more remote. Staff use this time to model
activities with students, assess students and discuss issues with
Home Tutors. The school has a Support Teacher Learning (STL) who
accompanies staff on visits to students where individual education
plans are in place. Throughout
the year there are several other oportiunities for face-to-face
contact. At the start of the year there is a Home Tutor Seminar
for all Home Tutors and students. In Term 3 there is a Sports
Camp for all enrolled students and in term 4 there is a Junior
Camp for years K to 3 and the ever popular Combined Schools of
the Air Camp for Years 4 - 7. In addition, students and tutors
have the opportunity to work with their teacher when they are
visiting Kalgoorlie. This is a chance for Home Tutors to further
develop their skills. Students
participate in daily Air Sessions. These are very much a highlight
of each student's day with educational materials for these lessons
produced by teaching staff to address school priorities. The students
participate in their class groups for 45 mins to 1 hour each day.
Kalgoorlie SOTA uses Satweb (satellite) technology to deliver
air sessions, which has given us great opportunities to interact
and explore activities online with students and tutors. Kalgoorlie
SOTA has a School Council representative of the parent and staff
community. The school council meets once a term to review the
school plan and to look at priorities for the following school
year. Dates of meetings vary so that our parent representatives
can arrange their travel into Kalgoorlie from remote locations. Go
to the Parent and Community page to see
what they have been doing Kalgoorlie
School of the Air is staffed with a Principal, 4 - 5 full time
teachers (depending on student numbers) and one or two part time
staff. The school has a registrar, part time library aide, part
time gardener and a school cleaner. The school also has a Support
Teacher Learning. Check out our staff page Students
from Kindy to year 7 work on programs designed by School of the
Air staff or on materials from SIDE, Leederville or a combination
of both. Work is sent out to students regularly by their teachers.
Work sent also includes all materials needed for air lessons.
Children send work in to teachers by mail, email, tape, CD or
on-line when they have completed it. Teachers work collaboratively
with the Support Teacher Learning to design specific programs
for students. Students also attend camps during the year where
staff and Home Tutors are able to further improve student outcomes
in learning areas featuring group interaction. The school conducts
specialist programs such as music and LOTE when the teaching expertise
is available on staff. KalSOTA
focuses on literacy, numeracy and integrating technology into
the learning program. All learning areas are monitored for attention
in the planning cycle. The school has an annual and ongoing review
process to keep it informed on its student outcomes.
HISTORY
GENERAL
INFORMATION ACADEMIC
INFORMATION
The
School of the Air in Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie School of the Air began operations on this site in on
the 29th January 1991. In 2004 we began
delivering our lessons via satellite using Information Communication
Technology known as Satweb. For sentimental reasons
we still refer to these as 'air lessons'.
Demographics
For a variety of reasons these students find themselves unable
to attend mainstream educational institutions but generally distance
is the major factor in determining eligibility for enrolment.
Traditionally, the majority of the students live on pastoral stations
but there are also children enrolled whose families are involved
in activities as diverse as gold prospecting and sandalwood cutting.
We also have enrolled children of parents providing essential
services in some remote locations.
A common thread for all these children is that they are assisted
in their education by a Home Tutor. Although the Home Tutor is
in some cases employed by the families, more often the role of
educating the students at home falls to one of the parents. The
role of the Home Tutor is a demanding one, particularly so as
many Home Tutors also assist in the running of their properties
or businesses.
Home
Visit Program
Other
Face-to-Face Contact
Air
Sessions
Parent
and Community Body
The School P&C meets "on air" monthly and is a very
strong supporter of the school.
The Isolated Parents' Association (ICPA)is a great supporter of
Distance Education and the Kalgoorlie Branch meets regularly.
School
Staff
Learning
ProgramPriority
Learning Areas
