All class trips cancelled: The disappointment of Freising's students is huge - there is a risk of cancellation costs

Created: 01/26/2022, 08:00

By: Helmut Hobmaier

An important part of school life is lost at the Camerloher-Gymnasium due to the cancellation of the choir and orchestra rehearsal days.

As a result, there is no subsequent spring concert either.

The photo is from 2019, when Corona was not yet playing the first violin.

© Archive: Lehmann

Beautiful school trips are remembered for a lifetime.

Thousands of students in the Freising district will have to do without these memories.

Freising

– The Bavarian Ministry of Education has strongly recommended that no trips lasting several days be made until Easter.

Country school home, sports camp, ski camp - all victims of Omikron.

"The disappointment is huge," reports senior director of studies Gerd Preuss from the business school, "with students and teachers alike."

His colleague Andrea Bliese from Camerloher-Gymnasium adds: "An important part of school life is missing!".

Cancellation for students a "disaster"

that that won't be necessary - "and the numbers will go down so that at least that can take place".

The business school was lucky in its misfortune: the ski camp was canceled on the last possible day.

But it was only a few days later that the "urgent recommendation" from the ministry came.

If you hadn't been so careful, you would probably have been stuck with cancellation costs.

The "Camerloher" hits the heart

No cancellation fees: This is the – only – good news at the musical Camerloher-Gymnasium: The “Winter Sports Weeks” of the eighth grades in Austria were booked in such a way that they could be canceled free of charge.

This was done with a heavy heart: "We had to step on the gas again during the vaccination so that it didn't fail because of it," reports headmistress Andrea Bliese, "but nothing works anymore".

The grammar school was also hit hard where it hurts the most – the music.

The choir and orchestra rehearsal days for the ninth to twelfth grades actually take place in February, the absolute highlight of the school year and the basis for the great success of the school.

"If a hundred people rehearse together for a week, then something will come of it," says the Director of Studies.

The cancellation was "incredibly unfortunate", because the rehearsal week is part of the school's musical profile and music is a main subject with an examination.

But not only that: "These are also the things that are fun and lead to great results".

However: "I wouldn't like to let the students drive now either," admits Bliese, "in the meantime there are cases of infection and quarantine in almost every class".

However, the cancellation resulted in another low blow: after the week of rehearsals, the high school's much-noticed spring concert actually took place.

"This is now the third time," reports the headmistress, "that's a huge disappointment."

Negotiations about cancellation costs

The Kastulus-Realschule Moosburg was also "hard hit", as headmaster Wolfgang Kern reports: A final trip to Berlin, which was booked for the week before the Easter holidays, was canceled.

Apart from the disappointment among the students, you could still be left with ten percent of the travel costs.

"We are currently in negotiations with the travel company," says Korn.

The question at stake is whether the ministry has issued a ban or just an “urgent recommendation”.

Korn: "In fact, it was probably a ban formulated as a recommendation."

Against this background, a final trip to Lübeck a week after Easter is also shaky.

The headmaster still remembers the past school year when it was "very complicated" to get the cancellation costs reimbursed.

The money could only be refunded to the parents “a little bit at a time”.

This year the state government has already made it clear that it will not assume any cancellation costs.

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

In general, Wolfgang Korn no longer believes that larger trips will take place this year.

Because the final exams are approaching, there is no longer any flexibility in terms of time - and for the time after Easter many schools would probably be planning trips, which does not make things any easier.

But especially.

The cancellations are a "great loss" - school trips but in view of the Omicron wave "simply not representable".