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Last year alone, Pembroke students travelled to seven countries across five continents. They skied on the snow-covered slopes of Japan, admired the rose windows in the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and stayed with host families in rural Chile.

Domestically, Pembroke visited every corner of the country, from the ancient gorges of the Kimberley, to Cairns’ tropical coastline, to Tasmania’s rowing mecca, Lake Barrington. Behind every passport stamp, flight booking and bus schedule was Sam Slattery, Pembroke’s Experiential Learning Coordinator.

Most schools don’t have a dedicated staff member for coordinating student and staff travel, but most schools aren’t Pembroke. The benefit is clear to Sam, who says, 'Instead of teachers spending hours on hold with airlines and juggling visas, they can leave it to me. Then they are left to focus on what they do best: building relationships with students, providing the support for them to step out of their comfort zone and learn something new along the way.'

If you stop to think about it, the scope of her role is staggering. Approximately 30 trips run annually, both interstate and internationally, and include curriculum excursions, sporting tours, language immersion tours, cultural exchanges, Service Learning trips, and even some last-minute ‘we just won something’ student trips to compete at an international level.

On top of that, Sam looks after staff travel: Admissions staff travel to showcase Pembroke internationally, our Old Scholar Engagement Managers run community events the major cities and our professional development is extensive, with staff attending conferences and speaking events year-round. At any given moment, Sam is juggling multiple trips at different stages of planning, some departing next week and some being planned for 2027. Sam’s path to Pembroke began with two decades of experience in travel, starting with Flight Centre in 2003, based in Darwin. Following a family move to Sydney, she began working under their corporate travel brand, and eventually launched her own business, servicing everything from business travel for small businesses, family holidays for her friends and an international trip for over 200 dancers, complete with performances at Disney and Universal Studios.

COVID-19 hit Sam’s business harder than most. She refunded everything that had been booked in the past year, and the franchisor pulled up stumps from Australia, effectively closing her business. Always quick with a solution, Sam pivoted to school administration and finance work and quickly developed a love for the school environment. The pace, the community and the energy of school life were all she needed to thrive. When Pembroke advertised for the role she eventually won, it was a dream come true. It was a combination of everything she’d learnt so far: the intricacies of group travel, the financial management, the problem-solving and the people skills.

Now, her day-to-day is wonderfully varied. Depending on how close a trip is to departure, Sam is juggling information nights, expressions of interest, planning meetings, student selections, deposits, payment plans, booking airlines and accommodation, organising visas, collecting consents, double-checking medical information, and liaising with Pembroke’s Work Health and Safety Coordinator, Lisa Hart to arrange necessary risk assessments.

Once a trip has departed, Sam keeps a close eye on them through the Microsoft Teams chat, receiving daily updates, solving problems as they (inevitably) arise, and her favourite part of the job, seeing photos of our students enjoying themselves all over the world. Once they’re back on home soil, Sam still doesn’t rest – she runs debrief meetings, collects feedback and handles any insurance claims from the trip.

The aforementioned risk assessments are no small feat either, and they are certainly not taken lightly. 'Student safety is of course the most important thing at all times. Lisa is so thorough in her process. For example, when we sent a group to the Galapagos, she learnt what the local ambulances carried, and made sure we brought extra equipment that might be required if something unexpected happened. We’ll consider every eventuality and make it as safe as possible for every student.'

Sometimes, this means changing plans at the last minute. In June last year, conflict in the Middle East led to Qatar abruptly closing its airspace, grounding hundreds of flights and causing chaos. Only a few days later, Pembroke’s Spanish Trip and Literature Tour to the UK and France were both supposed to fly though Qatar. Sam sprang into action, quickly diverting the large groups onto two different flights through China. Everything went to plan after that, but she still says it was the most complex occurrence since she began.

Teaching staff who’ve worked with Sam on their trips know exactly how helpful she is, however most teachers don’t have a need to interact with her. 'Many staff don’t realise the full scope of the support available, how I can help them. I’m very resourceful and I have industry channels that aren’t normally available, so I can always find a solution. That’s what my role is all about – removing barriers so that experiential learning can happen.'

For many students, school trips are the longest they’ve spent away from home or their first time overseas. It’s a daunting prospect for any teenager, or parent for that matter, and Sam’s support means that teachers have the capacity to provide the pastoral care required. 'It’s a great way to expand their comfort zones. Learning Spanish in a classroom is so different to ordering food
in a Madrid restaurant, or living with an exchange family in Chile for a term. Of course it’s difficult – it would be for any of us – but that’s where growth happens. Students see how far they can challenge themselves to do hard things. And sometimes come back dreaming in Spanish!'

If she could design her dream trip with unlimited resources, the answer is telling. 'Any trip where kids experience different cultures and languages, where they're pushed outside their comfort
zone and communicating with people around the world, that's where the magic happens.'

At Pembroke, that magic isn't left to chance. It's carefully coordinated, thoughtfully planned and backed by someone who understands that the best learning often happens far from the classroom.

Gabbi Agnew
Publications Manager