What should have been an amazing trip of a lifetime for a group of students at Hans Price Academy nearly ended in cancellation, which would have left students, staff, and parents extremely disappointed.
107 students and 15 members of staff were due to spend a week skiing on the stunning slopes of the Italian ski resort of Bardonecchia but at 3.30pm on the Thursday, two days before the party were due to leave on the Saturday, the travel company phoned to say they had not booked the coaches planned for the journey. The company did promise a flight at this point and staff were informed full details would be shared the following day.
But when the day came, Charli Dale, Year 10 Raising Standards Leader at Hans Price, spoke to the company only to be informed disappointingly the trip was being cancelled as the travel company had no way to get staff and students to Italy. The firm instead offered full refunds, plus 50% of the cost for the disruption caused.
The offered refund was rejected, as Charli and Principal Tony Searle stressed to the travel company it was unacceptable as the school had more than 100 students desperate to go on the planned trip.
After much debate, the company eventually agreed it did have a flight ready to go but needed time to sort coaches. So, at 4pm on Friday afternoon, the company managed to organise coaches for both legs of the journey from Hans Price to the airport and travel the other side in Italy. The trip eventually departed on Sunday on an 8.30am flight from Stansted Airport, a day later than the planned departure date.
The trip returned earlier on the Saturday morning at 3.30am rather than the planned 8.30pm arrival, meaning the group lost half a day skiing because of the extra travel time and the need to catch the return flight – but students were still thrilled their adventure had been salvaged.
Trip organiser Charli Dale said: “Despite the chaos in the final 48 hours in the lead-up to departure, the trip was a huge success. The beginner skiers made incredible progress, we were blessed with plenty of sunshine and enough snow for the end of the winter season.
“It is the biggest school trip to date to run from Hans Price and all pupils were superb from start to finish.
“It was down to perseverance from the academy to make this happen and the support from lovely colleagues within Hans Price. I would also like to thank our parents for their kindness and support during what was an unpredictable time whilst the trip was taken out of our control.”
ENDS
