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Zac’s driving higher school attendance in Lajamanu

19 June 2014
Children and Schooling

Out in remote Northern Territory, Zac Patterson is literally driving higher school attendance.

Out in remote Northern Territory, Zac Patterson is literally driving higher school attendance.

A Warlpiri man from Lajamanu, Zac has gained fame as the lead singer of the North Tanami Band, an eight-member reggae/ska band which has released five albums and regularly tours the Australian outback, drawing large crowds at concerts in desert communities throughout central Australia.

As a father of three young children, Zac knows the importance of education, and, following commencement of the Australian Government’s Remote School Attendance Strategy (RSAS), wanted to use his local fame to encourage the community’s children to attend school.

“I was at a community meeting where elders were saying how poor attendance rates were here and I thought there had to be something I could do to help,” Zac said.

So, when Zac saw an ad for a school bus driver he knew he had found the best way he could help.

“I was working as a music teacher, teaching students music and knowledge of our community, but I wanted to encourage every kid in Lajamanu to go to school so I concentrated on being a school bus driver.”

Since starting as the school bus driver in February, Zac has been working closely with the community’s School Attendance Supervisors and School Attendance Officers to increase school attendance numbers.

Zac starts work every day at 7.00am, driving the school bus around the community, picking kids up from home and dropping them off at the school.

“All the kids are happy to see me and because I’m the bus driver, they jump on the bus when some of them used to run away from it. Some of the kids like to sing my songs while we’re driving along,” Zac said.

While Lajamanu School staff and community elders credit Zac with being a key reason for Lajamanu’s rise in school attendance this year, he is just happy to play his role in helping kids enjoy school and think about their future.

“I listen to my kids talk about what they want to be when they grow up and I realise that if they want to live up to their dreams, they need the school bus to get them to school and home again every day,” Zac said.

Find out more

Getting children to school is the Australian Government’s number one priority for Indigenous children and their families. That’s because going to school and being at school every day gives every child the best chance for a good start in life.

The Remote School Attendance Strategy is about working together – with schools, families, parents, and community organisations – to ensure all children go to school every day.