From the Houses

NAGLE HOUSE

We are well into Term 4 in Nagle house and last week said a final goodbye to the current Year 12’s. We have been lucky to have the extra few weeks with them whilst they completed their HSC exams. It is been sad to say goodbye but we’re happy in the knowledge that they are now confident young women ready to take on the next challenge in their life.

At the end of term 3 the 2023 year 12’s enjoyed a game of bowls with the 2024 boarding captains.

Both Rory and Katie leaving on their last day as boarders having completed their time with us at Mebs and it was sad to say goodbye for the last time.

We are very lucky to have a new kitchenette and the girls have been making good use of it. There is a regular group of Year 9 girls sitting outside in the courtyard on warm nights to enjoy a cup of tea and a chat before bed. The older girls came down a bit later after studying to finish their hot drinks and then spent time talking together in the common areas.

We encourage good use of study time and often the senior girls will work together especially when preparing for their Year 11 exams in September.

Several Senior girls have been attending local gyms in Wagga in the afternoon and also making use of the school gym and are looking extremely fit. Tully Gaynor's Touch team Btam Blue successfully won their game this week. Tully has been playing in the mixed touch Under 20’s and Union for school. She is playing in both to improve her pre-season fitness for Netball and AFL. Annabelle and Lily are also keen union players.

The girls have enjoyed afternoon activities league tag, pickle ball, and cricket after dinner they spend time in the activities room challenging each other with foosball and making use of the many games on offer.

Supervisor Vicki Bradford has been busy with the Junior girls and is impressed by the excellent room standard shown by all of the Year 7 - 9.

Celeste has continued to astound us with her artistic skills, and Lucy is still achieving incredible new skill levels with Gymnastics. We have some awesome musicians in Sarah, Abigael and Phoebe.  Gracie and Abigael both attend weekly Dance classes. 

During the evening either before Study time or after, the girls like to spend time together enjoying each other's company or relaxing in their own space. There have been some amazing jigsaw puzzles completed by Maya, Genevieve, and Phoebe. Scarlett and Ashleigh are part of the BRC working together with the leadership team to build a fantastic community. It has been pleasing to see many new friendships beginning to grow as the girls settle into routine.

Lucy recently celebrated a birthday which was made even more special by her friends decorating her room and filling it with balloons.

Our collaborative artwork is nearly finished. This will hang in the kitchenette and depicts two hands that form a love heart made of many squares. The squares have been decorated by individual girls, each one unique and symbolizing that while we are different we all come together to make one unique community. Jacinta and Jazabelle at work with their contribution.

This term our new leaders, Jacinta, Lucy and Chloe have been running the Nagle House fortnightly meetings.  Lucy and Jacinta each took part in the opening and Chloe ran a small activity. When asked what was the best thing about boarding, Lucy Slater said it was the friends you make. Many skills are learned while here: respect, how to communicate to others, cooperation and independent living skills but the most important is finding the people you most connect with and sharing life together and forming friendships through those vulnerable teenage years that I hope will last the girls through their life.

We are very fortunate to have a number of Casual Supervisors who work in Nagle House:  

Rachael, Danielle, Nicola, Maddie, Alice, Zoe, and recently we have been joined by Cheryl. They are either studying at Uni, working other jobs, or both, bringing a variety of skills to our dorm. The girls appreciate the support each of these Supervisors provides to make sure Nagle House runs smoothly through our busy afternoons, evenings, and mornings. Danielle started working at Mount Erin Boarding School in March of this year and is enjoying working with both the staff and students at MEBS. She has commented that "the MEBS girls are wonderful and that it has been great to see them grow and find themselves bit by bit with each week that goes by".

We would all agree with Danielle as we are all lucky to work with such a fantastic group of young people and we are all looking forward to meeting and getting to know the new girls commencing  in 2024.

Jackie Tassell | Girls' Coordinator

RICE HOUSE

Term 4 has seen plenty of activity in Rice House.   Anthony Whelan(Boarding Captain - MDCC), Will Day Rice House Captain - (KCC) and Mac Drummond (BRC Leader - MDCC) joined their counterparts from Nagle House in an online full-day Leadership course run by the Australian Boarding School Association (ABSA) October 26. Unfortunately, Boarding Captain - KCC, Ewan Middleton was not able to attend.

The student leaders also participated in a visit by St Francis De Sales College - Leeton for a Dinner/ Disussion hosted by MEBS meeting on Wednesday November 1.

They will also be leading the Term 4 Mass on Wednesday15 November.

The HSC Exams are finally over and we have bid farewell from Rice House to Jed Beavan, Lachie Crawford, Leon Smit, and Bailey McDonald and hope that their futures are bright and rewarding.

Farewell to Lachy, Jed, and Bailey

Since returning to Mount Erin for Term 4, we have celebrated a number of birthdays including 3 of our Student Leaders,  - Will Day (Oct 9), Ewan Middleton (Oct 11) & Anthony Whelan (Oct 16) - who all celebrated their special day within a week of each other. Harvey Hines and Samuel Thomsen also celebrated their Birthdays in October. Best wishes to them all.

Even though the winter sports competitions concluded at the end of Term 3, the Boys have still been busy with a number of sporting activities. Isaac Gooden received a late call to play for the Kildare Catholic College (KCC) Rugby Union team in their recent game against Mater Dei Catholic College (MDCC) in the Ramsay Cup Wagga Schools Competition. It was reported that Isaac did extremely well despite never playing Union before and pulled off a couple of try-saving tackles. Ewan & Alby Middleton have been busy playing Chess and Tennis for KCC in recent weeks with Ewan also representing his school in cricket along with Isaac.

Mac Drummond is currently representing MDCC in the Downie Shield Cricket competition progressing through to the ‘Finals Stage’ of the Competition. The team will head to Canberra in the coming weeks to take on their next opponents from the South Coast.

Our first  Rice House meeting this term was held on Thursday , October 26 where we congratulated our respective Boarding  House and Rice House  Leaders (Ewan Middleton, Anthony Whelan, Will Day & Mac Drummond). Also congratulated were newly appointed Day House Leaders, Ronan Crain (King House)  & Will Marsh (Benedicta House).

The meeting included reminders about the importance of good, timely communication, checking in and checking out appropriately, and a reminder about wearing the correct uniform and appropriate dress for other occasions.

The meeting also was an opportunity to remind the Boys about looking out for each other and that all the Rice House Boarding staff are available to discuss any issues with them at any time. 

Some extra activities have also been planned to round out the year and I’m sure everyone will be looking forward to the end of term and the 2023 school year in a positive manner.

Michael McTaggart | Boys’ Coordinator

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