Haileybury

Following Haileybury’s earlier trip with African Conservation Experience (ACE) in June this year, 19 Haileybury students joined ACE for a 12-day trip in September 2026. They have several campuses across Australia, and this experience was designed to bring different students from separate campuses together. Haileybury also won “School of the Year” in the Australian Education Awards 2026, and their Deputy Principal and Assistant to the Principal shared their thoughts on their experience with ACE:

“African Conservation Experience was a dream team to work with. 

Upon meeting the South African ACE team, I could tell that the work they do is underpinned by a strong philosophy and a sense of mission to make a positive impact on the conversation efforts in southern Africa.

What I was most impressed by was their adaptive and caring approach to working with school teachers. From the moment we met, they blended into the staff team seamlessly.

Whilst their role was different to ours, they were always empathetic and respected our priorities in balancing learning, wellbeing and practicalities of a group trip. Even the drivers and guides they engaged in other cities were top quality and we really appreciated the high level of quality control that is clearly in place with subcontractors they choose to work with.

Of course, this testimonial would not be complete without highlighting the absolute passion and principled approach ACE takes in their conversation work. Through their careful curation, our staff and students walked away with a much deeper and realistic understanding of the circumstances faced by African wildlife and conservationists today.

Day by day, the threads of historical, economic, environmental and cultural factors were interwoven in the itinerary to form a complete picture of the realities in Africa today, which made for an impressively well-structured and insightful learning experience.

Upon returning to Australia, I think I will always remember seeing the Big 5 at Kruger National Park. But now I have also seen the work of Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre, a conservation-focused jewellery-crafting workshop, a local creche, and participated in anti-poaching dog demonstrations, habitat restoration and animal track identification activities. As a result, I simply could not imagine having only seen the animals without an understanding of the rest of the conservation ecosystem.”

- Stanley Wang, Deputy Principal

“What an amazing experience our students had with ACE. Our personal guides from the South African ACE team were amazing and ensured that everything ran so smoothly. Their knowledge, along with the additional guides, made the experience so incredible. Everything about the trip was outstanding, from learning about the history of South Africa to the amazing environment that we saw and all the knowledge we learnt about the conservation of the animals of South Africa. It was specifically catered to our needs, and the extra inclusions such as visiting a child centre and a local school made it all the more memorable for us. It truly was an experience we will all never forget.” 

- Diane Furusho, Assistant to the Principal