From the red centre to the deep blue. A group of school children from Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory have gone surfing in Sydney. For some, it was their first time seeing the ocean. The trip was part of a program aimed at lifting attendance at remote schools.
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00:00They couldn't live farther from the beach, but soon the waves at Maroubra were their
00:07best friends.
00:10The seaweed, not so much.
00:12They've never seen the sea, some of the kids.
00:17With sand between their toes, the children from the desert learnt to walk on water.
00:23This is my first time surfing.
00:27How was it?
00:28Fun.
00:30They're from several communities in the Red Centre, including Laramba.
00:35The town is home to fewer than 200 people, with just dozens enrolled at the local school.
00:41According to NT government data, students show up less than half the time.
00:45Kids may have things going on at home, they may have reasons that they might not feel
00:52comfortable being at school.
00:55The National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy, or NASCA, is a non-profit organisation dedicated
01:00to improving attendance at schools.
01:03This Sydney trip is always a draw card every year.
01:06It's all attendance-based.
01:07They need to have good enough attendance to get here.
01:09It's hoped that fun activities such as this will encourage the kids to go to school.
01:14NASCA says the program's been shown to boost attendance.
01:17I've seen kids that have been away from school come back once this program started.
01:24A wave of attendance outlasting the trip.