General Announcement...

[Robbo]

I have wondered about the best way to let you all know this. This seemed like the best way...

I am involved in a school program that includes taking a group of Yr 9 - about 64 this year - to Tasmania each year for a bushwalking expedition. For the last four years we have taken our Yr 9 students in small groups to various parts of the Plateau and Walls area. We plan the same for this year. We are sensitive to the views of local people to mainlanders going over and 'spoiling' the experience that the area offers, but also know the potential this unique and special place offers our students.

Suffice it to say that we are very aware of the implications of our presence there, and do all in our power to ensure we keep our impact to a minimum. This year we plan to begin the walks on March 31 and be finished on April 5 or 6. Groups will be starting from Moses Creek, Lake Myrtle, Trappers, Little Fisher, Lake Ada, and Lake Mackenzie. We are looking at 7 groups with the maximum in each group 9 or 10. Each group will split during the day so that there is no more than 5 students and 1 adult at any one time walking together so that the place does not seem too crowded for any other people in the area, and to minimise our presence as much as we can.

The students will have some training by the time we get there having done three training walks - just got back from our first overnight walk with them last week. We had them base camped for the week and then took groups out for a 20k overnight walk for their first - for many of them ever! - night under canvas. They had to carry enough food and water for the 2 days and night. In a couple of weeks we will take them to Bogong High Plains for a 4 day, 3 night, alpine experience walk, to test their gear and in final preparation for the Tasmanian expedition. And while we ensure that all participants are equipped for bad weather, if it looks like a dump of snow is likely, we have plans in place to move to the safety of the east coast.

I am the originator of this program, and we are getting some very positive outcomes for the students involved. This is only the first facet of the program which includes city trips and explorations, and voluntary service activities and camp by year's end.

Thank you for your understanding of our program and I trust that our time their will not interfere too much with your walking plans at that time.

Anyone from Devonport may see groups of our kids wandering the isles of the local supermarkets in late March, stocking up on supplies before the walk. They tend to stand out as most do not have an anglo-Australian heritage. Feel free to make any comments or ask questions re this post - or pm me if you would like more detailed information.

Tony Robinson

[Chris]

It sounds a great project Tony, I doubt whether you need to apologise to anyone for introducing a group of youngsters to such a wonderful experience. You seem to have done everything you can to minimise their impact on the environment and other walkers, so good luck with it!

[Kainas]

Honestly, sometimes the benefits outway any negatives...

[loric]

Good on ya!

I wish i had teachers like you when i was in school.

I hope you and all the kids have a great time.

[Son of a Beach]

It does sound like a great program, and has to be of significant benefit to the kids (and to the leaders!). It's terrific to hear about all the effort you guys are going to in order to be sensitive to both the environment and to other walkers. All the best with it!

[johnw]

Congratulations Tony. I think it's a terrific way to get the kids interested in learning about and preserving the enviornment. It sounds like you are doing everything possible to minimise any impact. Keep up the good work. I hope they all have a great experience up there, as many of us have .

[wobbly]

Hi Tony
We are starting on Higgs track on the 28/3 so we may cross paths at the Walls or later near lake Myrtle, although we will be mostly off track. If we do come across any frazzled teachers we promise to show an approriate level of sympathy. Alcohol can be administered if necessary too.

Cheers
Peter

[flyfisher]

Good on you Robbo, hope you have good weather and the kids have a great time.
There is no need to feel in any way embarrased or guilty about crowding in the bush. Chances are you guys won't see too many other people out there and even if you do it can quite often add to the experience.
Anyway good luck with it, I hope you have a ball. It's got to be one of the best things for the development of character and fellowship that young folks can get.

FF

[corvus]

G'day Robbo,
Having done this many times in the past with young folk and not in so remote areas and with Anglo Aussies I tip my lid to you and your team for this expedition and look forward to the photos upon your return.
All the best and I will look out for your young folk in Devonport around those dates.
c

[the_camera_poser]

You may want to cross-reference this to the thread on cannabilism and eating native fauna.......

I too am a teacher, and I've seen the positive impact on taking kids bush. Great work!

[Robbo]

Thank you one and all for your encouragement and positive comments. The best outcome for us, there are 4 of us who teach almost all of the normal curriculum to these students, is the relationships that develop through spending time with them in the bush. They come to realise we are people not just 'positions', and the learning we are able to achieve far outweighs the time and effort it takes to organise and run such a program. There is also the privilege of watching them mature and grow into independent and confident young people who are taking control of their learning and lives.

Not all students make it this far, but by the end of the year we can generally say that all have made positive improvement in their work ethic and behaviour. Enough of this - its obvious that I am passionate about what we are doing...

...and look forward to the photos upon your return.

I will certainly do this. Here is a link to some we have done already...
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/AnthonyJohnRobinson

TR

[tasadam]

Good on you Tony.
I have only encountered one school group before - 4 teaches and 6 year 9 girls from a College in Hobart, doing the Overland Track in Winter.
We were with them for the first 3 days - they moved on from Pelion whereas we stayed to do extra peaks.
I noticed a lot of fresh food dumped in the pit toilets. Apples, carrots, celery sticks. Not pointing the finger, but it seems coincidental as there were not a lot of other people around.
I did not notice any other negativities apart from what one might expect when putting 6 year 9 girls together in the one place, not really listening to the silence eh!

Enjoy what you do - sounds like a fantastic program!

[Azza]

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/20 ... -news.html

It must of been these guys who got into a spot of bother last week?

[Son of a Beach]

It must have been incredibly stressful for the leaders (whether it was Robbo and his group or otherwise). It's good that they're all OK, and that the rest of the group were able to continue their walk. Sounds like they were in phone contact with the police, and would have had confirmation that all was well, I guess.

[Azza]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/06/2535697.htm

Another student from the same group, things definately aren't going so well for them.

[ollster]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009 ... 535972.htm

"...They were found on Friday unhurt, but police questioned school officials about why they waited a day-and-a-half before calling for help."

This concerns me... I hope this wasn't actually the case, or there were extenuating circumstances.

[loric]

"At the time a school spokesman said it was great training in resilience and happiness."

I like that quote. I'll use it the next time i'm planning on getting lost!

Is it incredulous that the one group can have TWO sets of missing parties?
It suggests to me that there is insufficient guidance (or really really naughty schoolboys) LOL.

[Azza]

A 14-year old schoolboy is recovering from hypothermia after spending the night alone in Tasmania's central highlands.

At least he is okay. Still - recovering from Hypothermia - not good.

I am involved in a school program that includes taking a group of Yr 9 - about 64 this year

64 there abouts isn't a small number of students to keep track of.. no suprises a few went missing.

Getting lost after going to the toilet is one of the classic / clichéd ways of getting lost?

[olblackbilly]

what do you expect, they are seven day adventures....

[corvus]

I am so happy that no one perished however very angry that it happened ,where was the tail end charly ie adult leader on this walk especially when three children were lost only days before.
No excuse for this lack of management who did the head count ? or was it that the weather was so bad that all of the normal checks and balances went out the window ,what was to stop the "so called " leader of this party making sure that all of their charges were accounted for.
I am so much trying to contain myself but as a retired leader of children (young adults but still children) I am appalled that you let it happen twice and I wont accept any platitudes and despite all of your good works you have just stuffed it up for the future IMHO
corvus

Edit, that was uncalled for olblackbilly if they were calathumpians they would still be in the wrong IMHO
c

[olblackbilly]

sorry corvus, go easy on the calathumpians ......

[corvus]

All is cool oldblackbilly.
c

[Joel]

Gilson College...... I just came back from a trip through the walls to the hut at Lake Antimony and crossed them on my way. It was a group of about 15 or so girls with 3 adults so I thought the ratio was good. Their logbook entries were amusing though. Full of comments like "I'm so bored and tired", "this sucks" and "I want to go home". They were on their way through the walls I think. These girls must not be having alot of fun I don't think. The weather yesterday walking out was pretty crappy. Gusty winds blowing hail into my face so I hate to think how they are now.

[the_camera_poser]

All that money on rescue, all the effort to get them there, and all they did was carp. A pity- so many kids would have loved to do that trip.

[Earthling]

Robbo, AKA Tony Robinson, any chance of your side of the story, rather then the general warped medias lets sell lots of papers version?

[Nuts]

..

[Son of a Beach]

Assuming this was Robbo's group (which it does sounds like), I think we should do our fellow BWT member the courtesy of avoiding being critical without knowing the full story (or even if it ain't a BWT member). If it's Robbo's group, give him some time to get over what is likely to have been a stressful period, and he may come back here later on to tell us what happened.

I agree that it does sound bad that people got lost on more than one occasion in the same expedition, but there are a many different ways that people can get lost in the bush, even with good supervision and due care.

[Robbo]

I am probably not in the right frame of mind to be writing this at the moment, but I think it important to at least make a brief comment now. Have just arrived home, and absolutely devastated at the sequence of events over the past few days. There are reasons for each of the events, but certainly no excuses - I stuffed up - particularly on the first one (and one of the kids involved was my son).

The media reports are generally skewed towards the sensational, with comments taken out of context to try and make the story more than it actually is - but let me just say lost kids in the bush can never be over dramatised! All media outlets have since shown a distinct lack of interest in the story once the boy was found, which I find particularly distasteful.

For something like this to happen once is inexcusable, and for a second situation to occur will definitely require changes to the program personnel - me I would think - and I am quite willing to move aside if, and when, that is deemed necessary, but that will all come about in due course. The program, and the life-changing experiences that are gained through are far more important than the ego or feelings of a single individual - even if was his idea!

I now need time to try and work through all this personally and will give a more detailed account of the circumstances of each event at a later date - if people are interested.

TR

[slug]

Glad to hear all's okay. I was just thinking about how I was introduced to bushwalking in my school days by teachers, walking through the Flinders Ranges (I'm South Australian) when I came across the entry about kids getting lost. I never actually heard about it until I read this forum, glad to hear all are well. This actually happened to a group at our school on one of our excursions (We were all in year 11 and 12, supposedly responsible). Groups were left off at different locations for a 'simple' walk back to the campsite. Guess what, one of the groups decided to take a short cut and got lost. We sent out search parties, guess what, one of them got lost. Fortunately we could light a fire to keep warm and were found after a few hours. We can have a laugh about it now (and we do when we get together) but being a parent now, I can only imagine the stress the teachers went through. Hope all turns out well. I actually took to bushwalking as a result of all this, so something positive may yet come out of your saga.

Slug

[Son of a Beach]

Thanks heaps for your update Robbo. Don't feel compelled to explain yourself here. I'm sure everyone is curious to hear all about it, but pressure is probably the last thing you need right now. It's great that everyone came out of it OK, in the end, and if it means changes for the better for the program, then I guess that is at least one good thing to come out of it.

It sounds like you're taking it very seriously (of course), and I hope that you're able to get some peace after what I guess must have been some substantial stress.