The school day starts long before the bell rings at Arlparra School in the Utopia homelands, northeast of Alice Springs.
Principal Stephen Nimmo says it’s a big logistical operation just to get students to class.
“We cover the whole of the Utopia homelands, that’s three-and-a-half-thousand square kilometres,” he tells SBS News.
“Some of the bus trips can be about 100 to 110 kilometre round trips, by the time it’s gone on to different communities to get different kids.”
Some of the bus trips can be about 110km round trips. - Stephen Nimmo, Principal
The Utopia homelands is made up of 16 outstations, sprawled over thousands of square kilometres.
Roads are mostly unsealed, and the land is abundant in bush tucker, a major source of sustenance for the Indigenous people who live here.
But whereas students now come to class, they once had to be sent away to get an education.
Source: SBS
Until ten years ago, boarding school was the only option for those in the Utopia region wanting to attend high school.
Susan Chalmers, an elder and teaching assistant from Soapy Bore, says for some, that meant an end to education.
“No high school, just all the kids finish their schooling in the homeland community schools,” she says.
It was only in the mid-1980s, she says, that Utopia’s first primary school buildings were constructed.
“We used to have little shelter schools under the trees,” she says.
“Just put a canvas under the tree, and sit the children under the tree in the shade and the teacher will teach them.”
Ms Chalmers was one of a group of parents and elders who called for a high school to be built in the Utopia homelands.
“We wanted a high school for our children so that they could have stronger learning,” she says.
In 2009, the $3.2 million school was officially opened by the Northern Territory government.
Lessons in language
During a maths class for middle year students, lessons are taught in two languages; English, and Alyawarra, the first language of many of the students.
Year 7 student Shainna has thought about trying boarding school in Melbourne, almost 2000 kilometres away, but in the meantime, she likes attending class locally.
“I like to come here because I have friends in here,” she says.
Academically, the school’s results are modest. Attendance is about 60 per cent, and typically, less than a dozen students complete Year 10 each year.
But in a region with clear social and economic disadvantage, Principal Stephen Nimmo says the school’s achievements can't be measured purely in numbers. The challenges some students face on a daily basis, he says, are considerable.
“Housing for the community is a huge issue,” he says. “That’s outside of the school’s control, but actually having housing so that people can go home, kids can get a good night’s rest is an important thing.”
At the school, students can get breakfast and lunch, and lessons aren’t just for the children. Special classes are held for parents, too.
Mr Nimmo says the school’s success can be seen in the many former students now working in the community.
“We are now getting a lot of former students who are working at the school again, or working in the clinic up the road, or working in the store,” he says.
“And you can see it in the students, that they have got the knowledge to do these various jobs, and they’re confident in themselves, and they can do things two ways, an Aboriginal way, and a European way.”
Ms Chalmers hopes the high school will help develop the next generation of Utopia’s leaders.
“We have to have strong teachers, strong people who can understand what the government is saying.”
