THE recent endorsement of a national code for boarding school students by the National Cabinet offers relief after a year of distress for boarding students and families.   

Over the past year, state borders have been far from stable, prone to hard closures to any state deemed a Covid-19 risk.   

For boarding students who attend school interstate, the closures have created dire circumstances, often unable to return to their family homes in NSW without strict hotel quarantine orders.   

The National Code for Boarding School Students aims to create a consistent national approach to both the intrastate and interstate travel of boarding students and boarding families.  

Walgett local Christine McDonnell has seen firsthand the effects of the boarder closure on students, with her son Isaac attending Year Seven at Marist College in Brisbane this year, and twins Millie and Oscar completing their HSC last year when the borders first closed.   

“It’s been a difficult first year for Isaac. It’s his first year out of home and into boarding and he couldn’t see us as all last term,” Mrs McDonnell said.   

“He thrives at school with all the other boys. He just needed some home time and downtime, for that little bit quieter situation and to check in on everybody,” said Mrs McDonnell.   

For the McDonnell family, the mystery around quarantine is an added stress as they approach harvest.  

If quarantine is required, Isaac and one of his parents will need to quarantine in a standalone house for 14 days at their own expense. However, they are still yet to be informed on whether quarantine will be needed, rendering them unable to make arrangements in advance.   

Additional to clarity around rules, it offers a right of appeal for parents unable to see their children.   

The code is said to help 1,600 families around the country, who have either been kept apart or subject to strict and expensive quarantine orders, often which involve minors isolating alone.   

The code has been hailed a win for education in the bush by the Isolated Children Parent’s Association (ICPA), but still relies on each state implementing the code before any change can happen.   

NSW ICPA State Councillor Kate Warby says that every state will likely approach it differently.

“The dust is settling on the code, now we have to wait and see what that will look like,” said Mrs Warby.   

With the code being endorsed last Friday September 17, Queensland Health is yet to make any announcements on implementing any changes.  

The experiences of boarding students across the state are evidence that the current conditions have taken a mental toll.   

“Last year Millie became very withdrawn, and we could see that she was struggling. That’s why she decided to come home. If she couldn’t get back, I think she would have had to have done the HSC again. It wasn’t looking good,” Mrs McDonnell said.   

While Christine’s daughter Millie needed to risk a potential lockdown to return home for the sake of her mental health, Oscar was unable to see his family for fear of being unable to return to school.    

Similarly, Isaac returned home this year after a term of anxiousness. 

“Every night he would call and ask what he was doing, and if he could come home. We made the decision to bring him home and we’ll just work out the rest later,” said Mrs McDonnell.   

After almost eighteen months of advocacy for more consistency and certainty for boarding families, Mrs Warby said the ICPA were thrilled to hear of the endorsement of the National Code for Boarding School Students by National Cabinet last Friday. 

“It’s in it its infancy at the moment but it’s been a welcome announcement to get all states and territories on the same page last week because it’s been a really challenging few months,” said Mrs Warby.  

While the code may bring more certainty around rules, it’s too soon to say whether it will be a perfect solution to an unusual problem.  

“It may not suit absolutely every circumstance. There may still be some quarantine that has to take place in some states and territories due if students are returning to a Covid free area with no community transmission. These are the finer details we're waiting to hear back on as it's still early days,” Mrs Warby said.  

Individual states are expected to announce what the code will mean for students and families in the coming months. Until then, families like the McDonnells will continue to have to make the tough decisions to protect and balance their children’s education and mental health.