A small rural school on the NSW Mid-North Coast is a family affair for young Ella Deicke, who is easing into ‘big school’ alongside three generations of her family. With her sister as a classmate, her mum as a teacher, and her grandmother running the office, Rollands Plains Upper Primary School is more than just a place of learning—it’s home.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Year 2 student Lily Deek confidently leads her little sister into school.
00:08It's Ella's first day of kindergarten and she's all smiles with Mum Alison waiting to
00:15greet her.
00:18Alison is one of two teachers at the Rolands Plains Upper Primary School in the picturesque
00:23Port Macquarie hinterland.
00:25It has just over 25 students.
00:28Alison herself went to school there.
00:31It's really really lovely, yeah, quite a few of the parents that are here I went to school
00:35with here.
00:36So we've all sort of done that, go to school together and then you have children together
00:39and the children grow up together.
00:41Alison's mum has worked in the school office for more than three decades.
00:46Three generations now at school together.
00:50It's just a wonderful place to work, everybody's friendly and everybody gets on.
00:55I love the collegiality in the staff but also in the children.
00:59And Lily is excited to show her little sister the ropes.
01:03It's really great that I have all of my family members here and I'm proud to have them here.
01:11Before classes start, Alison leads the students in a dance to shake out the morning jitters.
01:20When it's time for the classroom, Lily helps keep Ella on track.
01:25And Ella says it's great having her big sister there.
01:28It feels me less nervous because she can help me and the teacher always helps me.
01:36It's the benefits of small town schooling which drew principal Kate Drury from southern
01:41Sydney to the rural school this year.
01:44In a word it's community, it's the opportunity to connect with people who have lived in a
01:51place for a very long time.
01:53I think just the foster of being able to know the children, you know, we really understand
01:58what they need, we really understand who they are.
02:01A year full of smiles, fun and connection ahead.