Chartered planes, long drives for ultimate school run
They’ve come from remote communities, hitched a ride with the Royal Flying Doctor Service and spent dozens of hours in cars just to get to school.
They’ve come from remote communities and the inner city, hitched a ride with the Royal Flying Doctor Service and spent dozens of hours in cars just to get to school.
In a gargantuan effort involving school administrators, the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, South Australian Police and the RFDS, eager students have been transported across state lines that have been shut down by the coronavirus.
On Thursday, Vanessa Farmer bundled her three sons and their friend into a rental car and farewelled their dad, John Da Costa, as he embarked on the almost 2000km journey from the Darwin suburb of Larrakeyah to the interstate border near the South Australian town of Marla.
Just hours before, they had received confirmation from Scotch College in Adelaide that someone would drive the 12½ hours to collect the students and ferry them safely to school. “We made the decision at about 2pm and the boys left at 5.30pm,” Ms Farmer said.
Ms Farmer, along with dozens of parents, were left with a difficult choice after SA Health said there would be no exemptions for boarders from self-quarantine rules. Across the Territory, parents had to decide whether to keep their kids at home or travel to Adelaide and stay in a hotel for the mandatory 14 days.
As well, the COVID-19 outbreak meant most domestic flights had been cancelled, which would have forced them to travel via Sydney or Melbourne. Fortunately for some, the RFDS delivered a miracle and chartered flights, paid for by parents, from Alice Springs on Wednesday and Friday.
On board were Tracey Hayes’s sons who board at St Peter’s College as well as Scotch College recipients of the Yulari scholarship, which fully funds the education and boarding fees for high-achieving indigenous students.
Ms Hayes said she had banded together with other parents and the NT Cattlemen’s Association to organise the flights. “There’s still hundreds of students that still need to get back to school,” said the Country Liberal Party candidate. “At some point, if someone in the bureaucracy developed a plan for these kids, it would be appreciated.”
On Friday, four ADF personnel tested positive for coronavirus after arriving in the Northern Territory following overseas deployment. Before that, it had been more than three weeks since there had been a recorded case of COVID-19 in the Territory, with social distancing restrictions beginning to ease.
Male students returning to Scotch College will spend their two-weeks of isolation in a cleared-out wing of the boarding house, while the returning four female students will stay with a member of the community.
Headmaster John Newton said he was delighted by how parents had mobilised to get their kids back to school.
“It’s been heroic,” he said. “People have driven miles and miles and it just goes to show the value put on education at boarding schools.”
Da Costa twins Cadel and Ethan, older brother Liam and friend Archie were picked up near the border and spent the night in Marla. Scotch College head of boys boarding David Scholz will drive them the more than 12-hour journey back to school. “It’ll be quite exciting to get the kids back,” he said.
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