THEIR motto is parted but united, their playground is the Australian Outback and their teachers are hundreds of kilometres away.
While it may not appeal to some, Anna and Lucy Parker love being students at School of the Air.
From Monday to Thursday they can be found buried under books in their Bindarrah Station classroom, about 80 kilometres south-west of Broken Hill.
But as soon as their last lesson concludes they race on out to help their father, Michael, on the 83,000-acre property.
The girls’ mother, Sarah, said school books and materials were provided to the family in big boxes each term.
All she had to do was pull on the teacher’s hat and distribute the resources to her daughters.
“Everything is provided and I just deliver the lessons,” Mrs Parker said.
“The girls are at school from 7.45am on Mondays to Thursdays. School finishes at 3pm and then the girls go off and help their dad.”
Lucy, who is in year five at Broken Hill School of the Air, and Anna, in year seven at Port Augusta School of the Air, still get to enjoy mainstream schooling.
Every Friday, the girls make the trek into Broken Hill to meet with their pupils and attend lessons there.
Next year will see a change for Anna as she heads off to boarding school in Adelaide to begin high school.
This is a move quite often made by students in the bush.
