Invicta Grammar School's Tour to Sri Lanka

Who? Invicta Grammar School (25 girls aged 14-17, plus 3 members of staff)

Where? Sri Lanka

When? 14th – 23rd October 2018

Thank you for providing us with such an amazing opportunity, the memories of which will last a lifetime. 

What was the main objective for this tour?

We wanted our girls to become fully immersed within the Sri Lankan culture, whilst making a difference to the lives of local school children.

Why did you choose this destination?

After doing much research into different destinations, we decided to choose Sri Lanka for our visit. 

We thought it would be an incredible opportunity for the girls to visit a country with such different cultural norms and values, compared to what they’re used to in the UK (as well as getting to see elephants!). 

Furthermore, the initial itinerary that Halsbury created for us sounded amazing, especially being given the chance to work with the local villagers and school children.

Can you briefly describe what fixtures/training you took part in during this tour? Why did you choose these?

The first part of our stay was spent in a small town called Hikkaduwa. Around 10 minutes from here is a village called Seenigama, which is where the incredible Foundation of Goodness are based. 

The Foundation of Goodness is an initiative which was set up after the devastating 2004 tsunami. Their mission is to ‘empower the less privileged rural communities, whilst inculcating the spirit of goodness, so that they may have equal opportunities to excel in life’. 

We spent a total of five days at their Seenigama site, leading a variety of English and sports sessions to around 50 school children each day! 

The sessions ranged from netball to football, along with games such as ‘Capture the Flag’ and rounders. It was lovely seeing the smiles on the children’s faces each time they joined us for a lesson. 

We wanted the sessions to offer the children a chance to learn/participate in different sports/activities to what they are used to. Although the language barrier sometimes proved difficult in terms of explaining how to play certain games, the children were excellent at watching the demonstrations and were very quick to pick up on the rules of the games. 

The children certainly excelled at the sports we taught them – in particular, the netball and rounders (we all agreed that some of them even put us to shame!). 

What will be your lasting memories of this tour?

Where do we begin?! We have all made SO many incredible memories that will certainly stay with us forever. 

We all agreed that the highlight of the trip was our final day at the Foundation of Goodness, where we were given a special presentation by the staff and local villagers. 

We witnessed a special music and dance performance by some of the locals. And the founder of the Foundation of Goodness, who had travelled for over three hours just to come and speak to us, then made a very moving and emotional speech, thanking us for all our hard work over the last five days. We were all in tears – including him! The stories and experiences he shared with us were both heart-breaking and inspirational. 

We were then presented with a framed photo collage, containing photos of us and the local children taken across the week, along with a volunteering certificate and a Foundation of Goodness wristband. 

We were also given a commemorating plaque which, of course, is now proudly on display at school. 

Another highlight was definitely seeing the elephants in the wild when we visited the National Park - we couldn’t believe how close we were to them (which was also slightly scary!). 

How would you describe the experience of working with Halsbury on this tour?

Throughout our time planning and organising our tour to Sri Lanka, Halsbury have been amazing. They came to our rescue at the last minute (we were told by the local authorities that our previous tour provider could not be used) and managed to completely replicate our itinerary with ease. 

The quality of communication was outstanding (particular thanks to Kate and Laura, who dealt quickly and efficiently with our never-ending queries!). 

We would 100% recommend Halsbury to anyone looking to plan this kind of school trip and hope that we will work with the company again in the future. 

Thank you for providing us with such an amazing opportunity, the memories of which will last a lifetime. 

Interested in arranging a similar experience for your group?

Please don't hesitate to contact us today for further information or to request your no-obligation, tailor-made quote.