Boarding

Boarder of the week

Last week, we were fortunate to host 19 visiting students and staff from the  Shanshui Foreign Language School. Connection, service and community is an important part of our boarding program, and it was encouraging to witness so many boarders involved in assisting the students during their stay with us.  A shout out to Mackenzie Ker, our boarder of the week, who was exceptional in the way in which she assisted her buddy. Not only did Mackenzie assist during the day, but she also went out of her way to offer extra time to take our visitors on street leave and walking them to and from school. Well done, Mackenzie, for leading the way.

Lifeskills program for Year 7-8 boarders 

The Lifeskills program is an important part of the overall boarding experience. For our year 7-8 boarders they are well-guided by our Houseparents, Lise Lowe and Maxine Baring. This additional care and attention is just what our younger boarders need to start a successful boarding journey that will span many years. Lise and Maxine deliver a Lifeskills program that enhances the College values as well as explicitly teaches those skills we all need and learn from home. Over the course of this term the younger boarders will work their way through a series of experiences to help them become even more successful in boarding and their time beyond College. 

The following topics will be covered:

• Laundry - washing and drying and bed linen 
• Mending - basic repairs on school uniforms
• Ironing
• Time Management - learning to plan their time using alarms and Orah 
• Service - making a tea and coffee
• Calling emergency services
• Planning and booking a train trip, taxi, uber - using timetables, managing costs 
• Table etiquette - setting a table, using utensils 
• Letter writing and gratitude

Boarding parents/guardians' annual Soirée

With the success of last year's inaugural boarding Soirée at the Hamilton Club, I am pleased to be inviting all boarding families to come together again for this community event. 

Invitations should be arriving in mailbox this week. Please lock in the date - Friday 5 September at 5pm. We choose this date to coincide with our House Music event which is always a lot of fun to come along to.  Especially for our Year 12 parents as this is the last of the House events that will compete in at College. 

Events such as our Soirée continue to strengthen the partnership that we have with our parent community and serve to celebrate all our parents and their commitment to our Boarding House.  We hope you can make it.

*Please note, we had the wrong date in this section last week.  Apologies for the confusion!

Creating Future Leaders – Boarding Leadership Course for Year 11s 

This term presents an opportunity for our Year 11s to extend themselves and apply for 2026 leadership positions. I strongly believe each boarder has the capacity and competency to lead because of their experience as a boarder. They all have excellent communication skills and can understand others well. Not only does boarding promote the ability to resolve problems, but it also allows for boarders to create new ideas and put small projects into action, which is a perfect environment to practice and refine leadership skills. 

To further promote leadership and generate capacity, I have included a leadership program for Year 11 boarders to be involved in this term. Over three weeks, myself, Dr Horne, and Miss Waldron will deliver topics and run activities designed to prepare our Year 11s for strong and confident leadership in 2026. Topics include understanding your and others' strengths, application and interview techniques, leading students, and putting ideas into action. I'm looking forward to working with our Year 11s and seeing their success in leadership come to fruition in 2026.

Important reminder – updating staff on boarder’s health

Although this message is key all year round, with the local football / netball seasons getting to the pointy end for many teams, I thought it important to remind parents to inform boarding staff if your children receive any knocks, bumps, injuries when they are away from the Boarding House.  Unless we are informed otherwise, we assume that when a boarder returns to the House that they in full health.  

There are examples of students receiving a knock on the weekend but concussion not presenting until a few days later.  It is important for us to be aware in case a boarder start presenting with a concern when they are back in our care.  This is relevant for concussion and other health related conditions.