10 May 2018
In February 2012, three Canberra mothers met in a suburban living-room to celebrate their children's recovery from long illness.
They were also keen to discuss their concerns about the impact of those illnesses on their children's friendships and schooling. Each child's illness had been different but they shared a common experience of deep anxiety, loneliness, and isolation after more than 12 months of school absence. Those who had returned to school found it very difficult to adjust and to form friendships, and their learning suffered.
From that meeting, "MissingSchool" was born, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to raising awareness of the educational issues facing children who miss school because of critical or chronic illness, and to exploring ways of supporting the children, their families, their teachers, and their learning through very difficult times.
A part of this program is enabling students to access their home class through a telepresence robot.
We are fortunate to be one of three public schools in the state to have a robot we have named "Darcy". As most of you are aware, our Year 3 student Darcy Scott has been ill and has spent a great deal of time in John Hunter Hospital. Our "electronic Darcy" has enabled him to stay in touch with his teacher, Mrs Gooch, and fellow class mates.
Through the robot, Darcy is able to live in the regular classrooms of students, as it can be operated and moved in real-time by Darcy on his device from a remote location (home or hospital). He now feels empowered with this independence, can see Mrs Gooch, receive the same instruction as his classmates, move around and between classrooms if allowed, socialise with his friends, and participate in as much of the school day as possible.
Our school would like to thank MissingSchool Program Manager Sarah Jones, Joachim Cohen from the Schools Technology unit, and Mr McDonald for enabling us to utilise this wonderful resource in our school for Darcy.