Distance Education

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School
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4.8 from 57 reviews

Welcome to Distance Education with ACC Southlands

Thanks to digital technology, school is no longer constrained by four walls. The school of tomorrow is here today. It's called Distance Education. ACC’s Distance Education School is a legitimate option with qualified teacher support, registered curriculum and university pathways.

Our team of university-qualified and experienced teachers stretch, challenge, and grow our students’ academic abilities using technology solutions from the likes of Google for Education, Apple and Khan Academy.

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Primary

Secondary

Distance Education Students Learn with Help from the World's Best

What Our Families Say

ACC Distance Education (DE) suits a diversity of students. Watch a small selection of our students and parents tell their stories in these 4 videos.

It’s school, but not as you know it

Distance Education is a new phenomena in Australia. Students ‘attend’ classes online, away from the school campus in Albany.

Distance Education (DE) offers primary and high school students a truly unique alternative to the regular school campus experience.

This option has proven popular. The Australian Christian College Group is the largest independent distance education in Australia.

DE students work with their peers in Southlands and throughout Western Australia, sharing their opinions and reflecting on what they have learned in class discussions. They complete assessment tasks appropriate to the subjects, including exams, essays and multimedia projects.

Students also have the opportunity to build friendships with students their age and discuss common interests outside of school. The online student community is vibrant, active and positive with lots of talk on things like computer games, sports, TV shows, movies, books and much more.

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Smiling other and daughter completing distacne education lesson on laptop

Learn from anywhere

With distance education, primary and high school students can learn from anywhere. It’s portable, flexible and affordable.

Distance Education allows your child more flexibility with their location and school times. With a goal to complete 5 days worth of coursework each week, they can balance their personal goals and priorities by adjusting their study times.

Having said that, students cannot fall behind. They’re required to submit work following the due dates in their assessment schedule - just the same as regular school.

Our modular distance education courses allow you to learn when the time is right for you. Believe it or not, over one third of our students start learning before 7:00am and one third of our students start learning after 7:00pm weekdays.

Meet our Teachers

Our teachers strive to build strong relationships with both parents and students. They’re also highly professional, constantly seeking to improve their teaching skills. This commitment to improvement benefits every child in our school.

David Ramsay

Principal

David grew up in Sydney and moved to Albany to begin a new adventure. He and his wife moved across the country and have loved the ...

Terry Phipson

Head of Distance Education

Terry was born in South Africa and arrived in Australia in 1999. As Head of Distance Education, Terry finds the uniqueness of Dist...

Tina King

Learning Support Coordinator

As a teacher, Tina loves to create an environment that nurtures the individual child and recognises the unique way God has wired t...

Wee Wing Kuen

Assistant Head of DE

Wing Kuen has been teaching at the school since 2012 and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Secondary Education, Bachelor in Exercise a...

Naomi MacGregor

WACE Coordinator

Naomi completed a Higher Diploma in Secondary Education in 1992. She started her teaching career in South Africa the following yea...

Carol Eaves

Primary Coordinator Distance Education

After working in education in both the public and independent sectors, including TAFE, Carol, together with her husband and family...

MEET ALL OF OUR TEACHERS

Distance education students are diverse

Distance education students are very diverse because distance education suits a wide variety of learners.

Some primary and high school students thrive online as they escape frustrations with distractions, commuting times, unstable friendships and wasted time during school hours. Others have survived bullying and appreciate the respite distance education provides. Students with learning disabilities such as ADHD, auditory processing problems, autism and dyslexia benefit from the self-paced nature of distance education. Some have chosen online while pursuing a sporting or performing arts career. Anxiety is sadly on the rise. Anxiety levels drop when learning online from home.

Students who live in remote areas often don't have many local schools and boarding school is expensive. Distance education provides a legitimate option to these isolated families while building family connectedness.

Regardless of your situation, you will appreciate the support provided by a qualified teaching team and the ready-made learning program available through our Distance Education School.

Wheelchair bound student using a laptop to complete online school lesson

Modelled on university online learning courses

We started by modelling our Distance Education School after universities that provide online learning for their students. If you’re familiar with how universities do online learning you’ll be familiar with how Distance Education works.

All courses have a clear starting point and end point. Students need to do the lessons in every subject per week to stay on track with their learning.

All courses use video content that is created by our school and also sourced from the best content providers on the internet. The students can pause, rewind and play a lesson until they understand the concept being taught. It’s like replaying school!

Online discussions provide a great opportunity for students to engage with each other. Our teachers ask open-ended questions so students can think carefully about their response and learn to appreciate other students’ point of view.

School Fees

A great value education for parents who want more for their children

Distance Education students in Pre-Primary to Year 12 have the opportunity to learn through our online courses.

The school fee is payable annually with a small discount or in ten monthly payments.

Most textbooks are included in the school fee. We require students to purchase or loan their own novels and DVD media. There will be some other costs incurred in your technology courses depending on your choice of projects.

2024 Distance Education Annual Fee Schedule

Year LevelsCost per student per year
Years PP-2$1,200
Years 3-6$1,890
Years 7-10$2,315
Years 11-12 (General)$3,270
Years 11-12 (ATAR)$3,900

For technology requirements,

Please note:

School Fees are payable as per the Fee Payment Form.

At least six term weeks notice in writing is required for withdrawal of students. Insufficient notice may result in additional fees being charged.

If you're enrolling during terms 3 or 4 these fees must be paid upfront in full upon enrolment.

School fees are prorated on a per term basis. Enrolments in the final weeks of a term will be charged that term's fees.

There is no splitting of school fees across multiple payers.

Fee Estimator

Please enter the year levels of each child you are planning on enrolling:

Students:

This is a fees estimation only.
Excludes uniforms, student technology and electives

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