Boarding

Chinese New Year Celebration

Celebrating the Chinese New Year with our international students and their friends was a pleasure. As the Director of Boarding, I was honoured to host this event and invite students and staff to our home, along with my wife, Andrea, and our daughter, Olive.

Celebrating the Lunar New Year as a family aligns with Chinese cultural traditions. While we didn’t set off firecrackers, we did hand out hong bao—small red envelopes traditionally filled with coins (in our case, chocolate coins)—to the students.

We enjoyed a delicious Chinese banquet as we welcomed the Year of the Snake. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about Chinese traditions, attempt a few words in Mandarin (though I must admit, I wasn’t very good at it!), and most importantly, spend quality time getting to know one another.

A day in the life of a boarder – Charlotte Ballantyne

A typical day of me.

I usually wake up five minutes before the MOD wakes everyone up. I get up at 7 am, make my bed, get dressed and do all the normal things you do to get ready for school in the morning. Then I go down to breakfast at 7:30 am. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, there is a hot breakfast where there are typically some cooked eggs and bacon; sometimes, there are pancakes, French toast and burritos.  While down there, we make sandwiches and collect snacks to put in our bags for the day. Our bags go on the bag trailer, so we don’t have to walk to school with them. 

After breakfast, I clean my teeth and chill until 8:15 am, when my group of friends walk to school. Once we get to school, we collect our bags from the bag trailer, separate them, and head for our locker rooms. Typically, when I get to the locker rooms, most of my friends are there, and we go about our day. When the bell rings to go home at 3:30 pm, all the boarders put their bags back on the bag trailer. I usually wait for everyone to join our group, and we walk back. We sign in and have afternoon tea when we return to the boarding house.

Dinner is at 6 pm so everybody has about two hours to do whatever we like. Most people would play sports before or after dinner. I usually chat with friends and chill. I sometimes call my parents to see what’s going on at home and how they are and tell them about my day. Dinner usually ends at 6:30 pm, depending on Tricky Trivia night, Boarder of the Week, or Theme nights. Prep starts at 7 pm, giving us time to be with our friends and get ready for homework; some people also shower. Prep finishes at 8:45 pm for Year 10s. 

Between the end of Prep and time to hand our phones in, I usually shower and do things that need to be done. We put our phones away at 9:30 pm. I have a diamond dotz thing that I like to do once my phone is handed up, and I also talk to my room-mate Georgia. I also do my diamond dotz during the day, but I mostly add to it at night. Lights out is at 10 pm, and Georgia and I usually talk a little before going to sleep.

I have a passion for drawing, and I like playing cards. I have a deck of cards in my room that I also play with when I am bored, and it is always fun learning new magic tricks and showing people to see their reactions. My interests would be anything related to animals.

I enjoy walking to school because if you don’t have an after-school activity, it gives you some fitness and you can socialise when you walk. You have great chats with people, and I walk with people from different year levels, so when you don’t get to see them throughout the day, you can talk to them in the morning and after school. Sometimes, we bring a speaker and play music while walking to make it more interesting. Walking to school also wakes you up in the morning, and being out in the fresh air makes you feel fresh.

Boarder profile – Will Legeo

• Hometown: Naracoorte
• Pets: a dog named Copper
• Hobbies or sport: I love all sports but my main interests are cricket, football and hockey. I also love camping, mountain bike riding and hiking.
• Best memory from College: the Melbourne trip in Year 9 where we got to explore the depths of the city with our mates.
• Best thing at the Boarding House: my personal favourite thing about the boarding house is being able to be around my mates 24/7.
• The worst thing: about the boarding house is that I find myself being lazy in the afternoon if I don't have anything organised.
• Favourite food: Cindy’s lasagne
• Best mate: no one is better than another; we’re all a big happy group of boys living together ❤️

Casual Boarding

All families who would like to take up the opportunity of casual boarding may contact our Registrar, Susie Holcombe, holcombes@hamiltoncollege.vic.edu.au. Susie can guide you through the steps of casual boarding and the appropriate paperwork. 

Many families take up this offering throughout the year and book their child/ren in on a regular evening. Our girls' House, Macdonald House, is particularly busy, so booking early in the year is advised. If you would like to know more about casual boarding or if you would like to have a walk about the boarding house, Susie and I would be more than happy to call or meet you face-to-face and show you around.