Boarding News

At the start of every school year, one of the most important things we seek to do is to welcome those boys who are starting their schooling at Marist College Ashgrove. As someone who is new on staff myself, I can understand the many feelings the boys might have as they are about to start at the school and in boarding. Feelings of nervous anticipation and uncertainty are very normal and I can assure you that the Ashgrove Boarding Staff will do everything we can to warmly welcome our 43 new boarders. As I mentioned in my last newsletter column, our theme in boarding this year is ‘community’ and this will be front and centre as we support our newest boarders through the settling in period.

In the email you received recently from the Head of College it was noted that a number of events relating to boarding have changed due to the Queensland Government return to school guidelines. A reminder of the following:

• The information session for new boarding families will proceed on Saturday 5 February, now at 4:00pm. However, this will be conducted in the grandstand adjacent to the main oval.
• The dinner for new boarding families planned for the evening of Saturday 5 February, unfortunately, has to be cancelled.
• The return to school afternoon tea for boarding families planned for Sunday 6 February, unfortunately, has to be cancelled.
• The meeting of the Boarder Parent Network (BPN) scheduled for Sunday 6 February will be re-scheduled to a Microsoft Teams meeting with a date to be confirmed soon.

Our boarding team continues to work on the school’s management plan for the care of boarders who need to complete a period of isolation related to COVID-19. Despite the uncertainty of the situation, I am satisfied that we are well prepared. I’d like to acknowledge Sister Jane O’Shea and the Health Centre team for the work they are doing to assist with our planning and ensuring the very best care for our boarders during this period.

In every instance where a boarder needs to complete isolation we will contact parents to ask if their son can be collected by family or friends to do the isolation in their care. In cases where this cannot be arranged the school may be able to facilitate isolation at the College. We are concerned about the wellbeing of boys completing their isolation at school and as one measure to address this we have partnered with Guardian to provide Lifestream’s Boarder Wellbeing Support Tool. This program consists of trained first responders to act as a support mechanism for our students in isolation. Boarding students will have the ability to download an app and talk (via video, call or text) to the call centre staff about any wellbeing issues they may be facing (eg: loneliness, anxiety) and the trained staff will be able to assist them and determine whether emergency assistance is required or talk them through the situation they are facing. Guardian will notify key boarding staff at Marist College Ashgrove of any issues arising from student contact. We are pleased to be able to offer this to our boarders during the isolation period. It certainly provides an extra layer of support for those boys in need.

Our returning boarders will be pleased to know that the Dining Hall refurbishment has been completed over the holidays and the boys can expect things to look quite different when they head in for meals on their return to school. We are grateful for the new tiling, new furniture, and especially new air conditioning which will make for a great overall experience for the boys this year.

As the return to school approaches, please don’t hesitate to contact Boarding Reception with any queries you might have and I look forward to meeting many Ashgrove families in the first few weeks.