RESIDENTIAL

It has been another big week in boarding.

On Thursday evening, we took all the Year 11 Boarding students to Evedon Park for a final night out together before they headed off on holidays. We enjoyed a magnificent evening with amazing wood-fired pizzas, followed by mini pavlovas, ice cream, and fresh fruit. Everyone who attended had a great night at a fantastic venue. Well done to Heidi Armstrong for organising the event, and to the students for joining in and making it such an enjoyable evening.

Last Friday was the final day for most Year 11 students, who finished up for the year, cleaned out their rooms, and departed. However, we also had another 14 Year 11 students stay on for an extra week to complete their Certificate III in Advanced Wool Handling up at Sheep. This created a few challenges, and we had to ask some of these students to change rooms, as the Transition students were arriving in the residence from Sunday afternoon. A big thank you to those who vacated their rooms to help us accommodate everyone.

To enable the new students' rooming, Grace and her amazing crew went into overdrive, getting every student’s room vacated and cleaned to within an inch of its life in preparation for the Transition students. This is an incredible feat, especially considering the tight timeline and the fact that they continued to complete all their usual tasks while thoroughly cleaning the exiting students’ rooms. Brilliant job.

On Sunday, all the new students and their families arrived after lunch and were shown to their rooms by residential staff, with assistance from our Student Councillors and several students who helped make the process as smooth as possible. The families were treated to an outstanding afternoon tea. Greg and his team in the kitchen did an exceptional job.

After the information session in the gymnasium, parents headed home, leaving all the new students in the capable hands of the residential staff, who kept the students engaged with plenty of physical activities and a musical quiz night enjoyed by all. From all reports, our very own Mr Rob Hodgson was amazing on the guitar, well done, Rob.

On Monday, the Transition students were across all areas of the College, and from speaking with them, they really enjoyed themselves. On Monday evening, during prep time, they worked through a booklet put together by Mr Swallow about agriculture.

Tuesday provided another taste of our College and what it has to offer before the students finished up and headed home with their families, having experienced a little of both boarding and College life. Hopefully, they also made some new friends, making the thought of coming next year a little less daunting.

Today, our Year 11 students will complete their wool-handling course and then head home. We wish them all the very best and look forward to seeing them back safely for 2026.