Borders still causing angst for boarding families

THE Glennie School mum Geraldine Clark doesn’t know when she and her two daughters will get to see their dad again.

Nina Clark, Year 11, Glennie boarder student.

THE Glennie School mum Geraldine Clark doesn't know when she and her two daughters will get to see their dad again.

The Clarks are one of numerous NSW boarding school families who have been split by the border closures that are keeping Queenslanders safe from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Mrs Clark's younger daughter Hessie is in Year 7 and boarding at Glennie, her older daughter Nina had to take a break from boarding, due to illness.

Mrs Clark relocated to Queensland to ensure that Nina could get to her medical specialists as well as attend school, leaving her husband at home, along on the farm at Barraba.

She said the border closures would lead to mental health issues, compounding "on top of the ones from years of drought, for both children and parents".

Hessie Clark, Year 7, Glennie boarder student.

"These children need to be able to go home, eat food cooked at home, sleep in their own beds, help mum and dad on the farm, ride their horses, get on the bikes, play with their pets and most of all - breathe some good country air before returning refreshed for Term 4," she said.

Mrs Clark said the border closures had her worried, not only for her family's welfare, but about the future.

"Where does this leave interstate boarding? Are these children going to continue to cop the brunt of each government?

"Or will this end in November and we can return to some sort of normal of which will allow education to be essential?"

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