A video of a former ABC presenter convicted of child porn offences has been used as a teaching resource for an unknown number of distance education students across New South Wales.

Key points: The students involved studied Year 10 History through Camden Haven High School

The students involved studied Year 10 History through Camden Haven High School The NSW Department of Education has withdrawn the DVD and says resources are reviewed regularly

The NSW Department of Education has withdrawn the DVD and says resources are reviewed regularly One parent says the department is more concerned about protecting its image than alerting parents

Until recently, an episode of the ABC's Collectors program presented by Andy Muirhead formed part of the material in the Year 10 History course that was sent out to distance education students studying through Camden Haven High School on the NSW mid-north coast.

Muirhead was sentenced to 10 months' jail in 2012 for child pornography offences.

He pleaded guilty to accessing and possessing 12,000 child pornography images and 24 videos showing children aged between three and 14.

A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Education said the DVD of the episode had been withdrawn and other distance education centres that used the course material were made aware so that they no longer used it.

The program was taken off air by the ABC when Muirhead was charged in 2010 and was later returned with a different presenter.

'Shocked' parent raises concerns with school

Camden Haven High School runs a large distance education program. ( Supplied: Facebook )

The parent who reported his concerns to the school told the ABC he was shocked.

"To be a teacher in a school or to go into a school to talk, you've got to have a Working With Children Check, you can't be on the registered sex offenders list … Andy Muirhead went to jail for downloading pornographic images, he was convicted of the offence," he said.

"But it's okay for Andy Muirhead to go into the homes of hundreds of children doing distance ed, developing familiarity with these children?

"Young children could bump into Andy Muirhead in the street one day, they've already got a rapport, 'There's that nice man who was presenting our history program'.

"They don't know his background, there was no disclaimer with the DVD. It's wrong to send it out.

"It beggars belief. How could someone make a decision that it's okay for that DVD to go out or continue going out each year into the homes of these children? How could anybody not notice?"

The parent said he was also concerned by an email sent to parents about the DVD.

The email, seen by the ABC, asked parents and students to "disregard" the DVD and "complete the coursework without viewing it" but offered no reason for the direction.

"It seemed to me that they were more concerned with their own embarrassment and protecting their image, rather than warning the parents properly and telling them why they shouldn't watch this DVD," he said.

He said he would be checking all his daughter's study materials from now on.

A spokesperson for the department said the DVD was being used for one activity within the Year 10 History course about popular culture in the 1950s.

School 'unaware'

Former ABC presenter Andy Muirhead (right) was sentenced in 2012 for child pornography offences. ( AAP: David Beniuk )

The department spokesperson did not answer a question asking how many students the DVD had been sent to.

On its website, Camden Haven High School said it offered distance learning for students from the central coast to Coffs Harbour and inland to Armidale, as well as Lord Howe Island, 600 kilometres east of Port Macquarie.

The spokesperson said the school did not know of Muirhead's conviction.

"The school was unaware of the subsequent record of the presenter on the DVD until the parent brought it to their attention," the spokesperson said.

Since the DVD was withdrawn, teachers had been seeking an alternative resource covering that period.

The spokesperson also did not answer questions asking how long the DVD had been in use or to specify how long it had been since material in the course was reviewed, but the parent who reported it said a teacher told him the DVD had been used "for years".

"Resources are reviewed regularly, and no other ABC resources featuring the ABC's former presenter are used," the spokesperson said.