RESIDENTIAL

Welcome to the Harvey Ag Family all new students, and their parents and guardians. Also a hearty welcome back to our returning students and their families.

It is quite a big change for many of our new students to come into boarding and we would like to think that we can make that transition as smooth as possible. However, we also need to know about any issues as soon as we can so as we are able to assist to overcome any hurdles for you or your child. Please feel free to contact me or any of the Residential staff if you have questions and/or problems.

Many of our staff started back last week after completing some refresher training.  It is always good to go back and reinforce the knowledge we have gained over the journey of our respective Residential careers.

We hit the ground running with Class, Farm and Trades straight up on Wednesday morning, which gets everyone into the swing straight off.

We assisted Ms Stringer in prep on Wednesday night with the new students filling out some forms for their eye testing. We have all new students in the dining room initially during prep time so the students can get the same message about our standards and expectations when it comes to prep time. This also gives us an opportunity to confirm as a group any questions about the site, rules and times.

Once the students can display good study habits and commitments on a regular basis, they can return to their dorms to study in their own room.

Basketball

Wednesday night Mr Jones' basketball team took on all challengers in a fun hit out after prep in the gymnasium. This was lots of fun and from all reports was well supported by the other students. Mr Jones runs a wide variety of different sport after prep most Wednesday evenings and we encourage as many of our students to come up for the fun and to support those participating, even if they don’t quite feel like joining in at this stage.

Kitchen

We would like to welcome Vanessa Forbes on board for Term one as our new Cook in the kitchen.  Vanessa comes to us with a lot of experience and is clearly fitting into our routines easily.

REACH Boarding

We ask that students applying for their leaves, both day leave for sporting commitments etc and weekend leaves, by no later than Tuesday evening. This allows for some planning and staff rostering requirements, including expected numbers for the butcher and kitchen to prepare and plan for meals, as well as Residential planning.

We are fully aware that changes can and does happen, and we will work with these on occasions. However, this gives us a great idea of what numbers to expect.

We also ask that the students apply for their own leave (not parents), as this gives them a sense of ownership and helps develop their planning and time management skills. This also makes it easy for the parents to receive the email, check that all the details are accurate and then approve.

Feel free to contact myself or my staff with any queries you may have regarding the residence.