But that’s exactly what happened to Orange High School students on Friday when Josh Barker and Nick Miller of Sydney band Long-Reef stopped by for a surprise afternoon jam session.

The band leaves for the United States in three weeks to record their album, half of which will be written and produced by Kroeger and his producer Joey Moi.

The performance was Orange High School’s prize for its winning entry in the Jam 4 Awareness poster competition on crime prevention.

An address on bullying and safe partying from school liaison police officer Amanda Beatty came in between music and personal tales of bullying from the musicians themselves.

“We have the great job of entertaining the kids, sending out the social message and reinforcing what the teachers are saying today,” said Mr Barker, who is engaged to a former Orange High School student.

“We’ve also told them how hard we’ve worked and how we’ve kept going.

“It takes a lot of persistence and hard work.”

Senior Constable Beatty said the key message for students was to treat others as they wished to be treated and to look after each other when they were out.

“Everyone has the right to come to school and not be bullied,” she said.

Deputy principal Michelle Barrett said she hoped Friday’s additional entertainment helped get the message across.

“To have a positive message presented with music in this setting, hopefully that means they’ll walk out with more of the message,” she said.

lisa.cox@ruralpress.com