School students’ heartbreaking COVID plea
Brisbane boarding students have made a moving video pleading for an exemption to the COVID-19 travel bans. SEE THE VIDEO
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NSW country girls who board at Stuartholme School in Brisbane’s inner-west have produced a heart-wrenching video pleading with politicians to overturn the COVID-19 travel ban.
The girls state their name, their home town and the fact there are no confirmed cases in the towns, before ending with a plea to review the rules.
The video was viewed 10,000 times and shared 192 times in the first hours after it was posted on the school website yesterday.
It comes as nearby Marist College Ashgrove warned parents might be forced to miss out on their sons’ graduation ceremonies if restrictions were not lifted by the end of next term.
And students from the Northern Territory now faced the prospect they would not be able to go home for the September school holidays, with the NT Government considering adding Brisbane to its hotspot list.
One NT student returned home last week and another was returning home this Friday to escape any reinstatement of the NT Government’s former travel ban on Queenslanders.
They would complete the rest of this semester’s learning online.
Stuartholme principal Kristen Sharpe said their 16 NSW boarders were very excited about the video, which drew cheers after it was shown to the other students.
“I had told them I have written to the Premier, the Chief Health Officer and the Health Minister, but they wanted to have a voice as well,’’ Ms Sharpe said.
“These are very resilient and down to earth girls. There’s great strength of character in each of them.
“But they just want to see their families and their pets.
“All we’re asking for is a return to the rules that were in place over Easter when we were trying to get our interstate boarders back to school.’’
Ms Sharpe said Stuartholme had offered to bus students to the NSW boarder, where they would walk across to their parents so they did not have to leave NSW.
But Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young insisted there must be quarantine, either at the school end and/or at the girls’ homes.
She said it was not practical to quarantine at the school for a variety of reasons, including approaching exams.
Stuartholme also had in place strict rules for teachers, including that they must stay in the one classroom, limited social distancing for day students and rigorous cleaning protocols and daily medical testing for boarders.
Ms Sharpe said the school’s seven Chinese students had not seen their families since January and would be billeted in homestays in the September holidays.
NT students were studying online, from home, but fortunately most of its 110 boarders were not affected as they were from outback Queensland.
Nine indigenous girls from biosecured communities also faced the risk of not getting home if their hometown mayors further tightened entry rules.
Marist College Ashgrove Head of Boarding, James Couper, said boarding schools had hoped to broker exemptions from quarantine rules for some students, particularly those from rural areas well outside COVID “bubbles’’.
But he said Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young last week told a meeting of the Queensland Catholic Education Commission, Independent Schools Queensland and the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association that there would be no exemptions.
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Marist Ashgrove, in Brisbane’s inner west, has 170 boarders — including 26 from overseas, 24 from NSW, one from Victoria and six from the Northern Territory who are, or could soon be, affected by quarantine rules.
“But we have some Year 7 boys who haven’t seen their families since January,’’ Mr Couper said.
“The NSW boys got to go home during the June-July holidays and have not been fully affected yet.
“At Ashgrove we lay claim to a real sense of brotherhood and while the boys are still here they have community and purpose.
“There are many offers from our families to take (affected) boarders during the coming holidays, but no one wants to spend their holidays with people they don’t know.’’
Mr Couper said it was not realistic for the boarders to visit their families and then spend two weeks in quarantine after the break.
“You need to have a single room with an ensuite bathroom and we just don’t have that many rooms like that, nor do most other boarding schools,’’ he said.
“And it is just too tough physically and mentally. It’s a hard enough ask for an adult, let alone an adolescent.
“A significant issue will arise next term with graduation if the situation does not improve.
“A number of parents would not be able to attend their son’s graduation,which would be a real shame.’’
WHAT THE MARIST BOARDERS HAVE TO SAY
Archie Miller (Yr 12 boarder from Tamworth)
“Being a Yr 12 boarder from NSW going into external exams, the border restrictions are just an added stress on top of everything else.
“I’m unsure of when I’m going to see my family next and I’m worried about how I’ll be able to stay on-top of my study these holidays as my plans of going home have been thrown out.”
Oliver Haddad (Yr 12 boarder from Moree)
“The border closure has just added extra stress that is not needed, given were heading into our final exams in a few weeks.
“The stress comes from the uncertainty as to when we will get to see our families next and the thought of not being able to head home these holidays is really taking its toll.”
Ignatius Hallman (Yr 7 boarder from Rowena)
“I feel really sad because I won’t be able to spend time with my parents at home and I am worried about what will happen in the Christmas holidays and next year.”
Oscar McDonnell (Yr 12 boarder from Rowena)
“Not being able to go back home to be with my family is devastating and frustrating – even more so that I won’t see them for at least another 10 or so weeks.
“I constantly remind myself that there have been many students that haven’t and will not see their parents for a lot longer and I am sorry for those who are unfortunately in that position. “Due to the current climate, you must deal with the cards that you’ve been dealt and that’s what us boys have come to accept.
“This is even more so with us Grade 12 boarders as we cannot risk losing any more time away from properly preparing for our external exams.”