The school’s Victorian Virtual Learning Network program provides online courses in selected VCE subjects to students at schools around Victoria where enrolment numbers are too small to accommodate a full class or there is no qualified teacher in the local area.

BSSC principal Dale Pearce said the project’s success led the school to recommend the government roll out a similar program across the country, in a submission to its independent review into regional, rural and remote education.

“We run what's basically a small virtual school and we provide VCE subjects to students in other schools around the state online and there is a lot of interest in that, we've been doing that for six or seven years, just in a narrow range of subjects, particularly in mathematics and sciences where there are often small numbers of students wanting to do subjects and there are a shortage of qualified teachers in some schools in those subjects,” he said.

“We're suggesting to the federal government through our submission that we’ve got a good model, the evidence shows that it works and we’re encouraging them to have a look at that type of option to be made available, not just in Victoria but nationally.”

The VVLN, which operates out of the old police barracks between BSSC and Camp Hill Primary School, won a Victorian Curriculum Innovation Award in 2013, and Mr Pearce said the school’s experience delivering the program indicated technology was key to closing the education gap between capital cities and the rest of Australia.

“Effectively we’re saying that we think there’s a curriculum gap and we could do better as a nation if we develop a really contemporary form of distance learning that’s based around really high-quality use of technology,” he said.

VVLN project manager Rob Hallisey said the program had run out of BSSC since 2009 and since that time 86 schools from across the state had signed up, with students enrolled in the program completing interactive, online lessons with access to their teachers through Skype.

“They work through the lessons and complete activities and as they need help they’ll contact their teacher online,” he said.

“We have staff here who are available to talk to students when they need help and we use Skype for students to get one-on-one assistance, but all the courses are what’s called asynchronous, so students can be doing different lessons at different times.

“I don’t believe there are any other models like this that have entire courses which are completely online and can be delivered asynchronously with broadband technology.”

Mr Hallisey said the VVLN was created to give students in schools with only small numbers of students who wanted to study a particular subject “the same opportunities as if they were in a larger school somewhere”, meaning students were not forced to leave their home communities.

“We’re very specific in the range of VCE subjects [we offer] and we see what we’re doing as a way to consolidate opportunities for schools that have got small numbers to put a quality online course in front of students,” he said.

“There’s opportunities for schools in communities to retain students in the school, to provide opportunities, in particular, in the maths and science area for students to stay engaged in those subjects and have high-level teaching resources available to them, whether they’ve got a teacher in the school or whether there’s only one or two students wanting to do the course.”

In its submission, Mr Hallisey said the school was encouraging the government to further invest in online education, whether through the VVLN or another program, in order to break down geographic barriers to quality education.

“We think there’s an opportunity to expand across the country to support rural and regional students with quality online courses,” he said

“Government investment in such a thing would be a smart investment into the future.”

The review is being conducted by Flinders University education professor John Halsey who is due to hand down his recommendations by the end of the year.

In launching the review in March, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said Professor Halsey would review “fresh ideas and fresh thinking to bridge the divide” between city and country students.

“There’s a clear disparity between education in the bush and the city – this seeks to address the gap of achievement, aspiration and access to higher education faced by regional students,” he said.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham said Professor Halsey “understands the unique challenges faced by regional, rural and remote students and his review will come up with solutions to better support students in school and into pathways beyond school”.

“There’s a clear disparity between education in the bush and the city – this seeks to address the gap of achievement, aspiration and access to higher education faced by regional students,” he said.