A Sydney experience for the School of the Air
This article appears in the March 2010 edition of Sportshorts.
Every couple of years, about 25 children from some of the most remote parts of NSW make the long journey east to Sydney’s northern beaches. They are heading for the Sydney Academy of Sport and Recreation at Narrabeen where the next five days will leave enough impressions for a lifetime.
“The Broken Hill School of the Air is unique,” says Jason Dwyer, Program Coordinator at the Sydney Academy. “For most of the School’s Year 5 and 6 children, it’s their first journey away from home and their first visit to Sydney. These kids live on farms and stations too remote for conventional schooling. Going to camp is an enormous event in their lives. “Some have never been to a town larger than Broken Hill so to take in the noise, smells, crush of the people and the colours of Sydney is an awesome experience!”
Subscribe to e-updates
This article appears in the March 2010 edition of Sportshorts. Subscribe to our e-updates to be notified of future editions - they're free!
It takes a five hour bus ride and a 17 hour train trip to get to the Sydney Academy from Broken Hill. The first night of camp is predictably very quiet. But the children and their teachers dive straight into action first thing the next day with sailing lessons on Narrabeen Lakes and sessions of archery and rock climbing.
The following days are a blend of exciting new experiences such as abseiling, ropes challenge courses, canoeing and zipping down the Flying Fox. Activities off-site include a visit to the set of the popular television show ‘Home and Away’ at Palm Beach. They also head into the city to visit the Sydney Opera House, the Aquarium, the Australian Museum, the Art Gallery, Bondi Beach and to eat Yum Cha in Chinatown.
“Even when the weather is not kind and it rains, it’s a treat for some kids who may not have seen rain in years,” says Jason.
Each night, the kids from ‘The Hill’ join with 240 other primary school children from Sydney schools to play games such as a Mini Olympics and shake it at the disco. By week’s end, email addresses, Facebook and MSN names are swapped and a whole bunch of new friends made.
“It’s always sad to farewell the kids and teachers on Friday evening,” says Jason. “We know they have an exhausting trip home ahead of them but when you overhear one boy telling his mate that it was the best time he could ever remember happening, it makes it all worthwhile.”
