From the Boarding Houses

371 Senior Girls

As we head into the holidays and reflect on the past few weeks in boarding, Term 3 has been both busy and rewarding for our Senior Girls.

The Senior Girls have enjoyed a wide range of activities, including a day trip to Lake Mountain, where they experienced the last of the snow season and tried out tobogganing, an afternoon of fun challenge rooms at the Hijinx Hotel, cheering on their favourite teams at the AFLW, and an in-house Pyjama Party filled with games, a Just Dance competition, and plenty of laughter.

Academically, Term 3 has also been a success, with strong school attendance and the Senior Girls showing greater engagement and commitment to their learning. Our Year 8 students have also taken important steps towards their transition to Pathways Schools, showing resilience and enthusiasm as they prepare for the next stage of their learning journey.

This football season saw multiple stars shine on the field, with several of our Senior Girls proudly receiving awards at the Richmond Junior Football Presentation Day.

We are pleased to share that Faith Gamarra will be moving into the role of Enrolments and Community Engagement Administrator. With this change, we are delighted to welcome Taylor Bailey-Lindsay as the Senior Girls House Manager for Term 4. Taylor has worked with the Girls for many years, with a short break to support our Year 7 students and brings a wealth of experience and care to the role.

Looking ahead, Term 4 promises to be a very exciting time with many significant events on the calendar, including the MITS Gala, Graduation, and Partner School Valedictory celebrations for our Senior Girls. Excitement is building for our four Year 12 students as they prepare to graduate.

Thank you to all our students and families for another wonderful Term, and we wish everyone a safe and well-deserved holiday break.

364 Senior Fellas

Footy 

What a year of footy it has been for the fellas at 364 Boarding House.  Four Year 8 lads featured in their respective Grand Finals.  Curtis Baird and Marius Wilson took home the Flag in the Under 14 Mixed Division 3.  Having home ground advantage at Kevin Bartlett Reserve was a bonus, and the boys brought the hype, taking a convincing win 33 - 24 over Banyule. 

Harry Chatfield and Christello Cooper were aiming for back-to-back wins. Having taken the flag in 2024 as Under 14 players, they faced an equally skilled team in the U15 Division 2 Grand Final.  Their match was a thrilling encounter, the lead changing multiple times and by the final siren, they were narrowly defeated 54 – 55.

The whole team were gracious in defeat and held their heads high.

Making the weekend extra special was the presence of families that had travelled from near and far to support their player and the wider Richmond community.  It was a joyous weekend of footy and family time!

A special mention to Clancy Markham, who was voted the 2025 Yarra Junior Football League Under 15 (4) Best and Fairest Player 

Snow Excursion

Just before the end of term MITS Mob travelled to Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, a short 2-hour trip from Melbourne, to enjoy some early Spring snow.  It was a fun day filled with tobogganing, making snowmen, and keeping warm! 

Camp

MITS mob travelled to Lorne for a fun-filled 3-day camp.  The fellas were ready to rock on Friday morning, spurred on by Tom’s enthusiasm, and the opportunity to commandeer the bus sound system.  Having packed their sleeping bags, pillows, warm clothes, and phone chargers they arrived in Lorne to a sunny day.

They explored the local scenery, bush walks, and cooking some fine burgers on the barbecue! Getting out bush is so important for reconnecting with nature, and self.

Arts program

Art is an integral part of telling our story.  We have been blessed to have the support of super volunteer Alicia, who has supported and encouraged the fellas in their creative talents.  This term, the fellas completed artwork for the MITS Art show, painted footy boots, and did their first paint pouring on some Pour Palz bears and balloon dogs.

Basketball - Under 13s Grand Final!

What a game! What a result!  Curtis, and Greg were part of the championship-winning Under 13 Collingwood Allstars team alongside Jonah in Year 7. It was an all Collingwood affair with our lads taking home the chocolates 66 – 44. Curtis received the MVP of the final and was ecstatic to win two sporting finals this year. Our thanks to the Gamarra family (Faith, Shaun, and the boys) & boarding team member Steph for all their work teaching, training, and getting the fellas to the finals this year. 

Homework

This term has been about growth and challenges.  The second half of Term 3 involved a variety of challenges.  The first and often biggest challenge is making sure phones are put away before homework begins.  Literacy and numeracy challenges have been conquered, we have seen tremendous growth in creativity and taken our first step into exploring careers.

Two fun activities were a ‘Livability in Richmond’ task where the fellas completed a survey asking to identify three places in Richmond they like and rate it 1-10 in four different categories.  This was a fun task, and it helped the lads look closely at their immediate environment and think about its strengths and challenges. 

The second fun task involved ‘Inventing a P.E. game’. There were some great ideas, and all games required skill and tactics. They were very thoughtful about objectives, rules, numbers of players, and most importantly, ‘fairness’.

Thanks again to our wonderful and supportive volunteers, the boarding team who have readied students for homework, and our teaching team who make sure that homework activities are linked to in-class learning.

Transition

Transitioning to a new school can be both daunting and fun. Because we have such a tight-knit family here at MITS, the boys have supported each other to be positive and get stuck in at their new school for 2026.  They’ve taken the transition visits in their stride and enjoyed the activities and classes. Harry Chatfield has enjoyed his transition visits to Scotch College and is looking every bit a Scotch Man.