Boarding News

Congratulations to our Year 12 boarders who completed an important rite of passage last Saturday night at their Senior Formal. It was fantastic to see the leaders of our boarding community present themselves so well at this special occasion and to witness the care they showed to ensure their partners had a good time. The night was a great success and there were lots of good stories when the boys returned to boarding after the weekend.

I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the efforts of one of our newest staff members, Lewis Reardon, who started in the role of Boarding Recreation Officer a few weeks ago. Maintaining the significant number of activities and ensuring a broad program was definitely a big ask for anyone coming in new to this role; let alone a young man who has recently moved to Australia from Birmingham in the UK. Lewis has thrown himself into everything and has learnt very quickly how to manage a dynamic recreation program for our boarders. I’m sure I speak for all the boys and boarding staff when I say thanks to Lewis for his efforts thus far and we are excited to see the recreation opportunities for the rest of this year.

The other thing keeping the boys busy at the moment is sport. We have the vast majority of our boarders representing the school in the Term 1 options of cricket, swimming, Aussie rules and volleyball. In addition to this we have many electing to play external basketball, rugby league or rugby union to work on their skills. Just in the last couple of weeks we have had pre-season rugby union training commencing. All are great opportunities for the boys to work on their fitness and be part of a team. 

This weekend coming is a long weekend for all students and this presents an excellent opportunity for our boarders to either head home or arrange to have a weekend out on ‘leave’ with an approved host. It is important to note that it is not compulsory for all boarders to go out for the weekend. The boarding houses will remain open and supervised for boarders who do not take leave. Activities will still be offered, but these are likely to be on campus due to the expected lower number in boarding. I hope the Boarder Free Weekend is a chance for all boys to take a break and recharge as we reach the half-way point in Term 1.