JANUARY marked the 50th anniversary of School of the Air in Queensland. It first opened on January 25, 1960 in Cloncurry at the Royal Flying Doctor base.
On that day, 14 boys and girls from several isolated stations across the North West sat before their transceivers with microphones in hand to take part. According to those in attendance for the historic event, work on stations ceased and engines were turned off as not to impede on reception.
Students, governesses, family members and even station hands gathered to hear the first broadcast by Bid O'Sullivan. Back in Cloncurry at the RFDS base on Gregory Street the broadcast began.
It was not without its hiccups and a bit of nervousness from Miss O'Sullivan, which disappeared during the coming months.
School of the Air lessons began by runnning for an hour and focused on developing an ear, elocution and socialisation. By the end of 1960, 74 children from across the North West were on the roll.
Three years and 153 students later Miss O'Sullivan had only met 30 of her students face-to-face.
In May 1963 Miss O'Sullivan resigned from the education department and was replaced by Merlene Muldoon, who started out with 69 pupils from 39 families. In 1964 lesson times increased and on June 19 the last broadcast was transmitted from Cloncurry before the school moved to Mount Isa.
The new Mount Isa base opened on June 22 with new and "ultra modern" equipment for the time.
Nineteen-sixty-five saw the first gathering of School of the Air children.
On May 28, 19 pupils arrived to spend a week in Mount Isa involving visits to Lake Moondarra, Kalkadoon Park and attending school in a classroom.
The next three years saw staff changes, the re-introduction of a school badge and project work. By 1969 enrolments were at 78. The following year music was introduced on air with one of the teachers playing cello and percussion to illustrate her talks.
In 1971 another teacher was appointed and the broadcast time was extended to four hours a day, with each grade having a half hour lesson.
The 70s also saw the introduction of the first Mount Isa School of the Air sports day, more staff changes, the introduction of the first school t-shirts and school camps.
By 1979 the concept of activity days was introduced and still happen today.
The 80s built on what the School of the Air had already achieved in its first two decades. Flying visits to stations, camps, activity days and tutor seminars were just some of the occurrences over the years. Enrolments rocketed to 180 and the new school building opened.
Increasing technology also allowed the school to have monthly tele-conferences with other schools of the air across Australia.
The next two decades saw more change come to the school - the largest being improvements in technology allowing students to move from the radio to telephones and eventually to the internet in the last decade.
Today the Mount Isa School of the Air has approximately 220 students from 150 families in Prep to Year 10, living in an area which extends past the Northern Territory border in the West to Richmond in the East, Burketown in the North, Birdsville in the South, and Winton in the South-East.
Lessons are 30 minutes long and each child is graded according to age just as in a normal state school.
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