Distance education

Distance education helps your child access a school education when their situation prevents them from regularly attending school.

This may be because your child:

• has a medical condition that prevents them from attending school
• is involved in elite sports or another vocation at a national level
• has additional learning or support needs that cannot be met at their local public school.

Your child can learn at home or at another location under your guidance and supervision.

Distance education is different to home education (home schooling), where you set the learning program and comply with a range of other conditions. Learn more about home education.

You may want your child to do a subject or course of study that's not offered at their local school, such as a language. You can enrol in a single subject for a fee. Your child's school and the NSW Finigan School of Distance Education must work together to arrange this.

Who delivers distance education

Our Distance Education team coordinates the distance education program.

It is delivered in partnership with the NSW Finigan School of Distance Education.

If your child meets the requirements to apply, you can enrol them as a full-time student at the Finigan School.

The Finigan School will:

• approve the enrolment for a minimum of 6 months
• enrol your child in core and elective subjects based on their year level.

What to expect

An adult must be able to supervise your child's education from 9 am to 3 pm, Monday to Friday.

The program is fully online. Your child needs access to a laptop (not a Chromebook) and internet connection.

If needed, the Finigan School can help families access an appropriate laptop. There is no paper-based option for distance education.

Like all ACT and NSW public schools, the Finigan School requests school contributions to support educational and sporting programs. This support is also for elective subjects and to help provide additional educational resources that benefit students. The contributions are voluntary.

Tasks and assessments

Your child must:

• complete weekly classwork tasks to show they understand and are engaged with their schoolwork
• complete other assessment tasks over the course of the semester
• attend a weekly ‘live’ online lesson for each subject with other students enrolled in the class.

The Distance Education team meets with Finigan School each term to check on the engagement and wellbeing of ACT students.

Students must engage in the learning program to continue enrolment. The school will provide support if there are any concerns.

Teaching and certificates

Your child will complete the NSW curriculum and work towards a NSW Year 10 or Year 12 Certificate, not the ACT equivalent.

If you want your child to do HSC (year 11 and 12) through distance education, your child will need to:

• have achieved their Year 10 Certificate or NSW equivalent, the Record of School Achievement (RoSA)
• be enrolled in the Finigan School of Distance Education at the start of year 11
• stay enrolled for both years.

Check if you can apply

You must meet one of these requirements and be able to provide the relevant letter:

• Medical condition: If your child has a medical condition that prevents them from attending school, they need a letter from a paediatrician or relevant specialist.
• Elite sports or vocation: If your child is involved in elite sports or another vocation at a nationally-recognised level, they need a letter from the relevant sporting or governing body.
• Additional learning needs: If your child has learning needs that cannot be met in an ACT public school, they need a letter from a psychiatrist or psychologist.

The letter must outline any diagnosis, if relevant, and must recommend distance education.

Contact our Distance Education team before asking for a letter, so we can make sure you get the correct information.

In addition:

• you must be able to prove you live in the ACT
• your child must be enrolled in an ACT public school to apply, even though they may not attend that school. If your child is currently enrolled in a non-government school, the Distance Education team can support you to enrol in an ACT public school as part of the process.

How to apply

Our Distance Education team manages and approves all distance education programs.

For this reason, we advise you not to contact the Finigan School during the enrolment process.

After you apply

It can take several weeks to complete the full approval and enrolment process.

We may ask you for extra information and documents to support your application.

Once we approve, we send your application to the Finigan School for their approval.

The Finigan School will invite you to attend an enrolment meeting.

Annual review

In term 4 each year, families are asked to submit a Request to Continue Distance Education. This also requires families to provide:

• current proof you live in the ACT
• an updated support letter from the relevant professional.

If you decide to leave distance education, our team can support your child's transition to their new school or alternative to schooling.

Contact us

Contact the Distance Education team if you have questions or need extra support.