STUDENTS and staff from four schools in Wyre Forest and Hagley are set to spend five days in Geneva on a fact-finding visit of the United Nations (UN).

The visit to Switzerland, between tomorrow and Friday, August 29, aims to give the students a better understanding of the work of the UN and its humanitarian efforts as well as helping with their science, citizenship, law and language studies.

They will spend the week meeting representatives from UN agencies such as the Commission for Human Rights, the UN development programme and UNAIDS.

The 23 students will be starting their year 13 studies in September at The ContinU Trust schools of Stourport High School and Sixth Form Centre, King Charles I School, Haybridge High School and Sixth Form and Hagley Catholic High School and Sixth Form.

Michael Conroy Harris, collaboration coordinator for The ContinU Trust, said: “This visit is a potentially life-changing experience.

“Apart from being an amazing learning opportunity and talking first hand to international experts about current crises around the world, it introduces students to a huge array of potential futures for themselves, both as global citizens and as global workers.

“It’s great that we are going together, collaborating locally to learn about collaborating globally.”

The visit will include a series of interactive meetings, which will take place in the Palais Des Nations, the European headquarters of the UN humanitarian agencies.

Representatives of seven agencies and commissions will make presentations on their work and the current challenges they face, which include the relief efforts in Syria, Gaza and Iraq.

The students will then be able to pose questions to the experts to get insight into the stories which are currently in the media.

In addition to visiting the UN, students will be also be spending time at the European Centre for Nuclear Research, CERN, which is home to particle physics experiments, including the Large Hadron Collider.

The students will be sharing their experiences with fellow students in their schools during the coming year through assemblies, newsletters and presentations.

During their trip, students will also be posting daily blog updates about their travels on The Shuttle's website.

The ContinU Trust is a charitable company established by the eight schools in Wyre Forest and Hagley.

The collaboration has the shared aim of supporting all young people in the area to help them achieve their potential.