Napier High School principal blasts Actura NZ after space school trip cancelled

The principal of Napier Girls’ High School says her students have been denied a trip of a lifetime following the collapse of Actura New Zealand.

Dawn Ackroyd said nine students were scheduled to attend the Case Space School in December.

“One student had paid a deposit and pulled out, so we have eight students who have paid up in full between $10-$12,000 each,” she said.

“We are absolutely gutted and devastated.”

Actura charged up to $13,000 for children from 25 New Zealand schools to attend a two-week Case Space School Programme at Nasa.

However, parents received an email on Saturday morning from company boss Charles Chung saying Actura Australia had gone into liquidation and the 2024 and 2025 international study programmes - including Case Space School, Case Ocean School and Case Film & Arts School expeditions - were cancelled.

Ackroyd was alerted early Saturday morning via email.

“Some families hadn’t even received the email so we contacted the families straight away.”

She said the students have been fundraising to pay for the “trip of a lifetime”.

“Last year, one student had a very horrific rescue during Cyclone Gabrielle. She won a scholarship to go to this space school,” Ackroyd said.

Napier Girls' High School principal Dawn Ackroyd said eight of her students have been denied the trip of a lifetime to a space camp in the USA after the collapse of Actura New Zealand. Photo / Napier Girls' High School

“So again, this family has had another knockback. It makes me feel sick.”

The Herald has received more than 20 emails from families as far away as Singapore who are out of pocket by the company’s sudden demise. Most have lost between $9000 and $13,000.

Ackroyd said Napier Girls’ High School would contact its insurance company and has sought legal advice to see where they stood.

“We’ll do whatever we can for the affected families. What that looks like, I don’t know at this stage.”

She had also received at least three messages from schools across the Hawke’s Bay region who have been affected by the events.

“As chair of the Hawke’s Bay Principals Association, I said give me an idea how much you have been affected and to what extent, and collectively we’ll see what we can do.”

Ministry of Education operations and integration leader Sean Teddy said all schools in Aotearoa New Zealand are self-governing through their boards and agreements made about overseas school trips are between the school board and the provider.

“In this case, these are not school-organised trips. Instead, information about the programme was promoted in good faith with the full expectation that the contractual agreement between the parents and the company would be honoured,” he said.

“We understand the significant disappointment and frustration of the students and their families directly affected by the company’s sudden liquidation.

“The ministry does not approve external educational programmes or providers. For school-organised trips, we provide schools with guidelines to organise international travel for students, including requirements for insurance cover,” Teddy said.

David Williams is an Auckland-based Multimedia Journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.