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.
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