Tuesday, 8 October, 2019 - 09:45
YHA Australia is the leading provider of budget school group accommodation in Australia, with over 40 properties across the country ready to welcome your students for an overnight excursion to remember. Learn more about YHA’s mission statement with education at its core – and why it matters for your school group.
At YHA Australia, our mission is “To provide opportunity for all, but especially young people, for education by personal development, fostering friendship and bringing about a better understanding of others and the world around them.”
We’ve broken down this mission statement to explain why education is at the heart of everything we do, and why we are the ideal option to host your school group.
Education by personal development
Did you know that youth hostels were the brainchild of a school teacher?
In 1909, a German school teacher named Richard Schirrmann came up with the idea for youth hostels when he was leading his class on a hike through the countryside. On the first night, the class was hosted by a hospitable farmer and on the second night, a village schoolteacher sheltered the kids from a storm in an empty classroom. The first jugendherberge (youth hostel) was opened that very same year in the German countryside, and the movement grew from there. In 1932, Schirrmann established the International Youth Hostel Federation, today known as Hostelling International (HI), a network which YHA Australia is proud to be part of today.
More than a century since that historic moment, education is still at the centre of our work. We are strong advocates of travel to learn, learn to travel. By education by personal development, we mean that our properties equip young people with valuable life skills that are best gained through travel, whether it’s giving them the responsibility to wash up after themselves or learning how to navigate a new city all on their own. Through travel, genuine learning is complemented by fun, laughs and brand new experiences.
YHA provides a high quality, safe and fun environment for your students to practise being independent and learn something new about themselves too.
Fostering friendship
YHA is motivated by giving travellers the chance to meet new people, which is why you will find everything you need to keep your group entertained: great common areas, board games, televisions, movies and much more.
Our multi-share rooms allow your students to spend quality time with their peers. In experiencing shared living, your students are also learning how to be considerate, respectful and to share.
Overnight excursions allow your students to bond outside the environment of the classroom and you in turn can learn more about them in a new setting, which may suit some students over the traditional classroom environment.
See how your students open up and thrive in a brand new environment at one of our properties.
Bringing about a better understanding of others and the world
Each of our properties and everything we do embodies our six core values: sustainable, reliable, ethical, loyal, quality and diverse.
Our sustainability initiatives create a positive environment for your group to learn about responsible travel. The diversity we cater for is a symbol of the world we live in - a world that will only become more diverse as your students grow older.
Through our core values, we’re driven to provide your class with a good experience of travel to help them develop a love of seeing the world… and learn plenty along the way, too.
Interested in travelling with your school group?
YHA offers a great range of budget group accommodation all across the country, with secure, comfortable and affordable properties in every state and territory around Australia. Whatever the purpose of your school trip – from curriculum-based excursions to extra-curricular excursions – YHA’s properties are well equipped to welcome your group. Browse our group properties at www.yha.com.au/group-bookings/
Stay in Sydney’s historic heart, The Rocks, and sleep over real archaeological remains at the Big Dig Archaeological Centre! Enquire here.
Positioned right next to Central Station and coach terminals, enjoy modern facilities and easy access to everything Sydney has to offer. Enquire here.
Stay centrally located to all of Canberra’s top educational attractions, with PACER rebates available to subsidise your excursion. Enquire here.
Teach your students about sustainability when you stay at one of the greenest properties in the network – also centrally located to the very best of Melbourne’s attractions. Enquire here.
Stay walking distance to Brisbane’s top attractions from Suncorp Stadium to QAGOMA, and enjoy the privacy of a separate groups wing you can use exclusively Enquire here.
Excite your students with a unique stay in the former women’s wing of Fremantle Prison, which is WA’s only UNESCO World Heritage listed building. Enquire here.
Need some extra privacy? Your group can also enjoy a whole YHA to themselves with the Rent-A-YHA scheme. Visit our website at www.yha.com.au/group-bookings/rent-a-yha/ to learn more about renting properties for exclusive use.