From the Boarding Captains

The start of Term One is always full of excitement and nerves. But after a long break and an even longer harvest, it was nice to see some familiar faces again and get back into the routine of boarding. I really enjoyed seeing everyone at our Welcome Lunch, which reunited the boarding community for a great year to come. 

The new school structure has brought new challenges and opportunities to our boarding students of all ages. Learning new building names, and finding classes and lockers hasn’t been the easiest, but seeing new and different faces each morning in homeroom has been a change I’m sure everyone has enjoyed. My homeroom, with Mrs Cooper and her dog Alan, enjoy games of Uno every morning together. We find that this is a relaxed and friendly time for us all to bond. The vertical homeroom system is a great way to unwind with a different group you might not normally see in your classes. Homeroom is a chance to debrief after your weekend, chat about sport and music and help one another with any struggles they might be going through. I am glad to have so many boarders of ranging ages in my homeroom, and I look forward to spending more time together this year, with more Uno games than ever! 

Darcy and I have started meeting with Mr Keatch and Chef Nick, where we have discussed some ideas for our Sunday dinner sessions. We are excited to develop our all-of-boarding Sunday night dinners into more than a meal, with lawn games, music and fun to set up for the week ahead as a community. We recognise that after the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, boarding students have not had the opportunities to mix between house groups as often as in previous years. We are now determined to create bonds ranging between students of all ages and backgrounds in boarding, and hope that the Sunday Sessions will encourage new friendships and peer support for all included. 

I hope that everyone has enjoyed the start of the new school year and are settling into boarding comfortably this term. 

Ava Smith | Boarding Captain

We started the year off flying, with everyone coming back for the boarding welcome lunch full of energy and excited for the year ahead. All returning boarders were glad to see their friends that they hadn’t seen in almost two months, as for the new boarders they were excited but also nervous about the new and exciting things they have ahead of them. Going into Week Four this week all the boarders have found their school routine and are well and truly settled into the big year ahead.

Last Friday the school held its annual Years Seven to Nine swimming carnival at the ALAC swimming pool in town. Throughout the day it was really good to see all the new and returning boarders jump in and give it a go even though it was a big scary new environment and experience for them. It truly showed courage and perseverance by every single boarder that attended, and I applaud you on that.

This year we have welcomed many new boarding staff to our community. There have been three new Head of Houses for Anchorage, Endeavour and Breaksea. Mr Ashley Keatch has not only taken over as the Head of Anchorage House but also the Head of Boarding role. Mr Keatch has had a wide range of experience in different boarding environments all over Australia from Scotch College in Perth to Launceston in Tasmania. In his spare time he likes exploring new beaches, surfing, snorkeling and just being in the outdoors. 

Mrs Nyree Mackenzie has become the new Head of Endeavour House for this year. Last year she was working in the Senior School Student Services office but after the new and improved structure of the school system she decided that she and her family would try a new lifestyle in the Boarding. 

Mrs Teliah Turrill has become the new Head of Breaksea. She has moved down to Albany from Tom Price with her husband Mike and three children. She is very enthusiastic, friendly, and easy to talk to and gets along with all the girls in her house and all boarders very well. 

Miss Tiffany Kok and Miss May Botha are two new international Gap students that we have welcomed to our boarding community from South Africa this year. They are living in Michaelmas House and help whenever they are needed with extra supervision for weekend rec activities and as on-duty supervisors. I wish all these new staff all the best for the year to come.

I hope everyone has had a great start to the year and is looking forward to the year ahead.

Darcy Barrett | Boarding Captain