SAINTS BOARDING 

Free weekend

At the end of next week, boarding students will enjoy the first of our free weekends for the term. This coincides with the Labour Day long-weekend public holiday on Monday 6 May. Those who choose to stay in boarding for the weekend will camp for two nights at Genazzano at Lake Tinaroo. We will travel up on Saturday morning and return by 3:30pm on Monday afternoon. 

Boarders who arrange to go out on this free weekend must be back in residence between 4 and 8pm on Monday, unless prior arrangements have been made with the respective head of residence. There will be one dinner at 6pm on Monday. Students should apply for the free weekend leave as soon as possible please.

For planning purposes, I ask you to note the following dates:

• Exeat weekend – 18-20 May (this is not a long weekend for St Monica’s boarders).
• Free weekend – 8-9 June.

Tablelands school visits and family dinner

We had the pleasure of visiting three Catholic primary schools in the Tablelands area last Friday. It was great to be able to talk to the students about St Augustine’s and St Monica’s, as well as to provide them with information about our boarding program. Special thanks to our boarding students: Tara Teys, Gus and Ellen Rolfe, Christina and Liam Atkinson for making themselves available to talk to the schools. They were very confident in speaking about our colleges and were most impressive.

To top off the day, we had a fantastic night with our current Tablelands families, gathered at the Tolga Hotel for a tasty meal. It was a splendid day all round.

Thursday afternoon boarding activities

Our Term 2 program starts next Thursday afternoon, involving our Years 7-10 students who'll be involved in a variety of activities: 

• Cooking
• Basketball development
• Volleyball
• Art – screen printing
• Futsal/European Handball
• Gym and fitness
• Oztag

Boarders are reminded to sign up to ensure they are participating in something they enjoy.

Weekend outing

Last weekend we held the first of our traditional Saturday boarding outings for the term. As the weather becomes cooler, we took one final opportunity to attend a favourite watering hole, and enjoyed a day at the Babinda Boulders. More than 130 boarders also travelled to Port Douglas during Anzac Day.

We look forward to an active Saturday this weekend, where we will walk the Yellow/Red Arrow tracks before enjoying some recreation time at the Esplanade.

Term 2 tutoring program

We have dedicated staff who are committed to assisting our boarders with their schoolwork, in our daily homework and study program. Tutoring, in groups or individually, is available during weeknights. 

Student outings with parents

Boarders are always encouraged to have a meal with families or to spend some time with them while they're visiting Cairns. We do ask, however, that heads of residence are given at least 24 hours’ notice for student leave. When requesting leave and communicating with boarding, heads of residence should always be the first point of contact.