XSEL virtual selective high school provision: Delivering academically selective secondary curriculum in regional, rural and remote NSW

This paper describes the development and implementation of the xsel program in Western NSW. The program supports identified high school students from regional, rural and remote communities to access the study of English, maths and science at an academically selective level. A program review was undertaken during 2012 using a structured questionaire to develop deeper understandings of the operational challenges, initial successes and potential improvements available to the program after three years of operation. The program review involved interviews with Principals, classroom teachers, students and parents of the program. The summative information from this process and initial planning documentation informs the content of this paper. The xsel program is unique in that it applies a combination of on-line learning, distance education and traditional bricks and mortar schooling to meet the learning needs of a particular equity group; talented and gifted secondary students. The program has taken on one aspect of the geographic challenge of equitable access to educational opportunity and builds the capacity of rural educators to cooperate, collaborate and co-create and overcome the "tyranny of distance"(Blainey, 1966).