SOME pupils have travelled more than 1000 kilometres to get to school this week, as eCalrossy's residential study period launched for just the second time ever.
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More than a dozen students from across the state have made their way to Tamworth, and will now enjoy a week of practical work for subjects including science, technology and personal development, health and physical education.
There are various reasons for students' involvement in the class, with some suffering from disabilities that make it too difficult to attend school day-in day-out, while others simply live too far away from the closest school to make it viable to go in person.
One of the kids who has come from furthest afield is Jack Siemer, who has travelled from Coally Station just south of Milparinka in the state's far north-west corner.
Despite the trip taking almost 13 hours by car, the 12-year-old has enjoyed his time away from home.
He said it had been an incredible experience to come in and see all the classmates he usually only communicates with via video streaming.
"It's really good because we get to see all of our friends that we normally only see on Zoom, but now we get to actually see them," he said.
"It's really fun to come down here and see your friends and meet the teachers."
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Doing hands-on learning after months of theory over Zoom is something that also excited Jessica Mashford, who has made her way to Tamworth from Katalpa Station, which is about 230km north-east of Broken Hill.
"It's really good because I think doing all the theory then coming in and actually doing the prac is a lot of fun," she said.
"It's really fun because you get to see everyone in person too."
Despite only seeing each other on screens for much of the year, both Jack and Jessica said they had been able to make friends with their classmates, which made the week even more special since they finally got to be all together.
Calrossy Anglican School deputy principal Rob Marchetto was thrilled with how the program was performing in its first year, and said it provides a number of benefits to the students.
"I think it's going really well, it's given an opportunity to students who otherwise would not have had such a sound educational offering," he said.
"Not only are we offering all the mandatory subjects and electives, we also offer pastoral care so they have a tutor group or a mentor group where they talk about things such as school values, virtues, service and character development.
"They're then able to chat informally amongst one another in a friendly gathering outside of class and talk about what they did on the weekend, what sports they played, the things they're doing and interests and passions."
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