Sadie Canning (nee Corner) was one of many Aboriginal students who studied with the Correspondence School while living at the Mount Margaret Mission.  Sadie was taken away from her parents at the age of 4, and studied by distance education from Class 5 (Year 6) through to the Junior Certificate. When asked about her memories of correspondence lessons she said she most remembered 'receiving her work back together with lovely letters from her teacher, Mrs Bowman'. She most enjoyed studying Physiology and Hygiene because she wanted to be a nurse.

At 19 Sadie went to Melbourne to study at Bethesda Hospital, because there were no nursing courses for Aboriginal women in Western Australia. She returned to nurse in Western Australian country hospitals after obtaining high qualifications in her nursing studies, and later became the Matron of Leonora Hospital, a position she held until her retirement in late 1990. (Source: History of Distance Education in Western Australia: 1918-1993)