The decision to enrol your child in school is big enough without considering something new like distance education. That’s why we wrote this definitive guide.
This guide is packed with helpful hints and expert advice from Australia’s largest non-government online distance education provider.
You can learn more about our distance education providers from the respective websites:
If you’re interested in taking the next steps in your Distance Education journey, please select a button below to complete an enquiry and we will reach out to you.
Hear from some of our Distance Education advocates on how distance education has redefined the way they learn, the goals they can achieve and the outcomes they can produce.
“When Madison began her journey with ACC, she was at a very low point in her life. Not coping with regular school, no self-esteem, hardly able to go out of the house. As our journey continued this year, Madison gained more confidence, excelling at her school work and gained outstanding marks in Design & Technology, which is her passion. Having dyslexia, English has always been Madison’s weakness but Mrs Cao was patient and supportive. Madison even travelled to Bega to spend time with one of the other ACC students which would never have happened at the beginning of last year. What a transformation I have seen in my daughter. I’m confident these friendships will continue into the future.”
Crasti Family
“During the Covid pandemic we looked for opportunities for our boys to learn from home. It was a significant adjustment to studying online and the standard of teaching was much higher than what they were used to. They listen to online lessons, engage in activities and then they need to apply their knowledge in open ended assignments. If there is a concept that they struggle with, they can listen to the lesson again or even contact their teacher to make sure that they do understand it before they move on. The school has a huge focus on character building and Christian values are integrated in all of their learning. Our children’s development since they have started at ACC is significant. We can see how they grow in knowledge and character and being prepared for their future as young adults. ACC provided us with an excellent education opportunity in a small rural town.”
Terblanche Family
Taking the next steps in investigating how Distance Education could change the way your family goes to school is as easy as filling in a few details, we will take care of the rest.
DE is a legislated form of schooling where your child is enrolled with a registered school and studies at home. The school provides the learning program and qualified teachers, and the student is supervised at home by a parent or another responsible adult.
While it’s better to start at the beginning of a term, we can start new students at any time of the year.
There is no minimum or maximum daily class time, however, we do have a recommended timetable to help students stay on track. Most primary students’ school work takes between 3 and 5 hours. Secondary students work on average 5 to 7 hours per day.
Students communicate with teachers, primarily, through the online messaging system. Students can also email and phone teachers if needed.
You act as supervisor of your child’s learning. Your child’s teachers are responsible for your child’s academic progress, but you work in partnership with the school to make sure your child is completing their work.
Cocurricular activities, such as camps, excursions and sporting events provide social opportunities for your child. In addition, you’ll need to be intentional about making sure your child is in regular contact with friends outside school. Even so, with the affirmation from parents, teachers, siblings and friends students will experience plenty of social interactions.
You may be able to travel around Australia while completing DE. The biggest challenge in doing so is accessing a reliable internet connection. Please ask the school for more information.
In the secondary years, many students choose to work a casual or part-time job in conjunction with DE. This is encouraged so long as work doesn’t interfere with the student’s academic studies.
Your child’s teachers will be monitoring the academic progress of your child. If they’re falling behind, your child’s teacher will be in contact to offer solutions.
Your child can gain university placement by completing the HSC online.
You will need an ADSL (or better) internet connection to succeed with DE. Faster internet helps with video load speeds and when uploading assessments.
Where possible, costs are included in our school fees. Some extra costs which may be relevant include some novels, media and materials for student experiments and projects. Optional cocurricular activities like excursions and mission trips are charged on a user-pays basis.
You can use any computer that’s less than 3 years old. We recommend Apple computers, because they are used by our teachers.
Give it a go for a term and see if it does suit your child. If not, because we follow the National Curriculum, your child can seamlessly transition back into mainstream school.
You don’t have to be tech-savvy to succeed with DE. Only a basic level of technological proficiency is necessary. If you can use basic office software and email you’ll be fine.
The Australian Christian College Group is the largest independent distance education provider in Australia. Our university-educated teaching team has been involved in online education for more than 15 years. Four Australian Christian Colleges are registered to deliver school entirely online. Collectively, they are Australia's largest non-government distance education provider.
These are ACC Moreton (serving Queensland students), ACC Marsden Park (online school NSW), ACC Southlands (distance learning for Western Australia) and ACC Launceston (for our Tasmanian students learning online)
Different states impose different eligibility requirements for online enrolments, so it's essential to check your child's eligibility with the distance education providers in your state.
Convinced? Reach out to the team and one of our Distance Education staff will reach out to you.
