High School students’ excursions off due to coronavirus fear

The effects of the global coronavirus outbreak is impacting on Narrabri Shire.

Narrabri and Wee Waa high school students’ excursion plans have been affected due to the virus – Wee Waa High Bush Bots robotics team’s plan to attend the robotics competition at Sydney’s Olympic Park on March 20 has been put on hold and Narrabri High’s overseas study trip has been postponed.

The Courier understands local branches of some national corporate bodies have stopped travel for staff meetings.

And some have introduced a ‘no handshake’ regime when greeting business colleagues.

Narrabri High School students and their accompanying teachers and community members were excitedly counting down the days until they set off on the school’s biennial two week European study adventure.

However, with just a week before final confirmation of bookings, the tour scheduled to depart in the first week of April has been called off because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The trip has been tentatively re-scheduled to April next year.

The 22 Year 11 and 12 Ancient and Modern history students and 12 accompanying adults were planning to set off to Italy and Germany.

However, Italy is experiencing the biggest coronavirus outbreak outside Asia, with the third highest confirmed cases of infection in the world.

Reportedly 9172 people have tested positive and 463 have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

The decision to cancel the trip, and every other NSW public school overseas tour, regardless of destinations, was made by the NSW Education Department and regarded as a prudent precautionary move.

“It is disappointing to have to call the tour off, but we fully understand,” said Narrabri High principal Dinos Charalambous.

“The department’s decision was not a surprise with the issues around coronavirus.

“And the bigger picture is not only are we concerned about the kids’ wellbeing, but also about our community in that we could return with someone affected by the virus.”

The students’ biennial trips are now a feature of the education journey available at Narrabri High.

“We were planning our normal trip to Rome, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Berlin and Munich for Ancient and Modern history,” said Mr Charalambous.

The tours, taken every two years, began in 2012 and have been an outstanding success for the students.

The tours are normally 16 days, with 12 or 13 on the ground, visiting museums, sights, listening to experts and generally seeing history where it was made first hand.

“We had negotiated with our travel suppliers and had to make a final decision as a school by March 9,” said Mr Charalambous.

“And it would have been the same decision.

“There had been contingency plans in place prior to that, so it wasn’t a huge surprise because we could see the implications.

“But the good news is that we have canvassed the agents to see if we could reschedule and were given an alternate date, September holidays, but I didn’t particularly favour that because we have students doing the their HSC.

“Also we might have been having the same conversation with the travel agency in August and possibly cancelling again, so I suggested next April.

‘The travel groups said that’s fine and will postpone the tour for 12 months with no additional fees.

“The plan now is to take the European tour next April.”

The Europe tours are great learning and experience opportunities for the students.

“The explicit aims are curriculum related and it is very heavy on listening to experts, visiting museums and significant historic sites.”

The biennial Narrabri High study tours are a now an established school tradition.

The school has a good working relationship with the tour providers, Mr Charalambous said.

“Because the next trip will be the fifth we have made requests for specific guides for particular areas.

“For example we have had very informative and valuable guides, for example in Rome, covering the Palatine Hill and Munich doing the Third Reich tours.

“These are people we have requested to have.

“We have great relationships with the travel company which does a fantastic job putting the kids and their education at the forefront.

“The education is the aim but the spin off is seeing other cultures, hearing other views, seeing another part of the world.

“If we speak about Ancient History for example, every student in that subject has to do a compulsory unit, the cities of Vesuvius, in particular Pompeii and Herculaneum.

“We go to those cities and others and the tour focuses on what they tell us about those societies and students see that ‘in situ’. They read about housing and the town lay out and actually see it because they are actually walking around the towns and seeing the way the gravity fed water system works, for example.

“It make the abstract real.

“World War II has compulsory sections in Modern History and students see a former concentration camp.”

The High School tours are well supported by the wider community.

The first tour was accompanied by one parent and 12 adults were planning to join the 2020 trip.

“There is tremendous community support for these tours as well from individuals, organisations and businesses.

“Not just in community members going, but the various fund raisers who jump in and help us.

“And we have business supporters whose contributions make it financially possible for some students to go.”