Cape Sounion, Greece
The latest from Academy Travel As the school year draws to a close, now is a great time to book your place on our upcoming professional development tours in July 2016 for History and Drama teachers. We are also announcing our new Ancient History PD tour in January 2017 to Greece and Italy! More details on pages 2-3. Looking ahead to 2016, there will be some changes in the Academy Travel schools team as we say goodbye to our longest serving member. Details on page 3.
Travelling with us over the 2015-16 break: • Sydney Grammar School French Exchange • Nan Tien Institute • Hurlstone Agricultural High School • Burgmann Anglican College
Dr Estelle Lazer has recently returned to Australia after work in Pompeii with some amazing new information to share with schools. Find details on page 4.
• Canberra Girls Grammar School
From the Academy Travel Schools Team
• Hay Community
• Gilroy College • Australian National University
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PARIS, BERLIN AND RUSSIA PD TOUR JULY 2016 – PLACES STILL AVAILABLE! If you have been considering joining our PD tour in July 2016, now is the time to confirm your place. With Earlybird airfares available, you can get a great deal with airlines such as Etihad and Singapore Airlines. We can assist with your flights if you wish, as well as your travel insurance and any other additional travel arrangements. July is the perfect time to travel to Russia, being the period of the so-called “White Nights” – where the sun in St Petersburg sets around 11:30pm and rises again around 5 hours later. This allows time to explore the city at leisure when it is at its most beautiful and vibrant. This program also includes a day visiting the battlefields of the Western Front, coinciding with the period of the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. Our expert battlefield historian Pete Smith will lead the group across the most significant WWI sites, including Pozieres and Villers-Brettoneux, on this one day excursion. If you would like further information, the detailed itinerary and booking form for this tour is available online.
Shakespeare’s Globe
PD TOUR FOR DRAMA TEACHERS – LONDON, ATHENS AND TURKEY FOR IDEA 2016 Due to a change in dates for the IDEA conference in Turkey, the proposed itinerary for the Drama Teachers Tour in July 2016 has been revised. The program will still be led by Jane Simmons, and include 4 professional workshops and 7 live performances, providing 50 hours of BOSTES accredited professional development. It also now includes the opportunity to attend the first four days of the IDEA conference in Ankara (registration not included). For a detailed itinerary with booking information, click through here.
"White Nights", St Petersburg
Somme expert Pete Smith
Academy Travel School and University Program
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NEW PD TOUR – ANCIENT GREECE AND ITALY JANUARY 2017
SCHOOLS TEAM UPDATE
We will be offering an exciting PD opportunity for teachers in January 2017. This 11-day program will begin in Athens, then travel across the Peloponnese to Sparta and Mycenae. The group will fly to Rome where the Eternal City will be explored across the periods of the Republic and the Empire. This itinerary is designed for teachers of the HSC syllabus as well as Victorian teachers about to start teaching the new Ancient History curriculum. It includes visits to the Panathenaic Way in Athens and Ostia Antica in Rome. As with all our PD tours, the itinerary includes background lectures, site visits and the most up-to-date information provided by academic experts. We will also be offering an optional 6-day extension to Egypt, prior to the commencement of the main tour. This package will visit Cairo, ancient Armarna and Luxor. This will be available subject to local conditions closer to the time of departure. Those who have not experienced the Bay of Naples with Academy Travel before may wish to join the optional 5-day Cities of Vesuvius extension at the end of the main program. You will meet experts from the Herculaneum Conservation Project, as well as Pompeii expert Dr Estelle Lazer. The content covered is from the current HSC core of Cities of Vesuvius, but is also useful for VCE teachers as the most accurate physical evidence of how the ancient Romans lived. A detailed itinerary will be released prior to the end of Term 4 2015. If you would like to receive a copy, please email Natalie@academytravel.com.au with your mailing address. Ostia Antica
In September, we said farewell to Grace McLean after 8 years of service at Academy Travel. She and her husband have relocated to the Northern Territory to work for the local Tourism Board. Grace will be sorely missed by our team and the teachers she has worked with over the years. Stepping into Grace’s shoes is Tash Nugent. Tash is already familiar with Academy Travel after leading school tours for us and now joining the office team full time. Tash has many years experience in the travel industry, working on the road as a tour manager, as well as in operations and product management, across Europe, Asia and Australia. We are very excited to welcome her to the team.
Panathenaic Way
Academy Travel School and University Program
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ACADEMY TRAVEL’S TEAM OF TOUR MANAGERS We allocate an experienced, professional tour manager to each group to look after all logistics whilst on tour. And unlike other tour operators (although most others do not even offer this service), each of our team is handpicked, trained and contracted directly to Academy Travel (not a third party operator). We select a tour manager to suit the personality, style and itinerary of each individual school – rather than a random selection based simply on who is available. Our tour managers are experienced, passionate and many are bi or tri lingual! All our Australian-based tour managers have knowledge of the syllabus and hold current NSW Working With Children checks. So, what is the biggest advantage of having a tour manager with your group? "The presence of a tour manager made all the difference to our tour. Having managed everything ourselves on previous tours, knowing there was someone with you to take care of all the logistics, as well as handle the problems/issues that inevitably arise, meant that we could focus all our attention on the students - where it should be. The result was a much more relaxed, enjoyable and beneficial tour experience for all.” – Josh Levy, Head of History, St Luke’s Grammar School Dee Why
Elisabetta Amadi
DR ESTELLE LAZER IN POMPEII Dr Estelle Lazer has recently been working on site in Pompeii with the Superintendent on the cast restoration project, as well as participating in a BBC documentary with Mary Beard. Dr Lazer has been involved in CT and X-ray scanning with her multidisciplinary team in the September/ October school holidays and is able to share some of her latest work through lectures at schools. Read more about what she has been up to in this New York Times article. If you are interested in organising a talk by Dr Lazer at your school in 2016, please email Natalie@ academytravel.com.au for details.
Nathan McBain
Silvia Filipucci
TOUR REPORT: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE LITERARY GREATS During the September school holidays, students from PLC Sydney travelled to England to experience the sites, cities, landscapes and cultures that have influenced some of the great English writers and poets of the last 500 years. The tour set out to examine the key literary theme of context and how environment and life-experience shaped the poems, novels and plays that have become the foundation of English literary tradition. The group began in the stunning Lake District where the impact of the scenery on the Romantic Poets, particularly William Wordsworth, was examined. Howarth, the home of the tragic Brontës, was the next destination and the students immersed themselves in the village and surrounding moors that were so integral in the sisters’ writing. After a visit to the mediaeval city of York, the tour visited Stratford-Upon-Avon to enjoy all things Shakespeare. The Royal Shakespeare Company’s performance of Henry V demonstrated to the students how superb acting can bring the Bard’s plays to life. In Bath, the group walked in the footsteps of Jane Austen, learning of the constraints and hypocrisy of Regency society. The tour concluded in London with visits to Hampstead Heath, the Globe Theatre and the Tate Britain. A highlight for all was attending a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on the West End - showcasing modern British literature and innovative adaptation to the stage. The success of the tour was highlighted by the number of books purchased by the students as the tour progressed – their appetite to learn more about the literary greats grew daily, which is a great outcome for teachers, students and the school.
Considering your next study tour? Contact us to discuss your school’s specific requirements and we are happy to provide a detailed tour proposal with costings and inclusions. We can also come to your school to meet with the key decision makers to assist in the approval process and provide any required risk management documentation.
Level 1, 341 George St, Sydney NSW 2000 P: (02) 9235 0134 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) E: schools@academytravel.com.au W: schools.academytravel.com.au Academy Travel School and University Program
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