Remote students swap pencils for microphone

Port Hedland School of the Air students collaborated with award-winning country musician Josh Arnold to produce Kids from the Pilbara, recorded at Yarrie Station.

Yarrie Station is 250,000 hectares

The cattle operation lies about one thousand five hundred kilometres north of Perth, where the group gathered to record the song and accompanying music video.

Tanami sees classmates three times yearly

Nine-year-old Tanami Fox-Coppin is one of twenty-one students at Port Hedland School of the Air, learning distance education across the Pilbara's vast interior.

Classmates camped at her family property

Tanami was excited when her schoolmates spent two days camping at her family's property to film the music video, saying she was really happy because they never get to see their friends.

“really happy, because we never get to see any of our friends”

Arnold has recorded over 400 songs

The Toowoomba musician shared a Golden Guitar with Lee Kernaghan for their two thousand one cover of Thank God I'm A Country Boy and has worked on similar projects for more than fifteen years.

Arnold gives country kids a voice

He grew up on a sheep and wheat farm near Tara in Queensland's Western Downs region and has travelled to every state and territory in Australia on a mission to help rural students.

“I was one of them once and I would have loved the opportunity to sing about where I grew up and my school”

School of the Air was established in 1951

The institution was founded in Alice Springs and was the first time students could attend school from remote properties using real-time communication.

Technology has transformed remote learning

Yarrie Station owner Annabelle Coppin attended School of the Air herself and said her children now video call teachers from a computer instead of using an old scratchy radio shared with the Royal Flying Doctor's…

Peer connection creates lifelong memories

Ms Coppin said activities like making the music video made a difference to students' attitudes towards school, and that kids being with kids creates lifelong memories and something that will stay with them forever.

“Kids just being with kids is lifelong memories and something that will stay with them forever”