From the Houses

NAGLE HOUSE

Girls' Boarding Coordinator

Term 3 has been flying past and the girls in Nagle House have been busy. We ended Term 2 with a pancake night; the senior girls agreed that Lucy Pearce and Pia did an amazing job cooking for us all.  In the Junior dorm, the girls had hot chips for the last night of term and enjoyed a movie night - perfect for the cold weather. We said goodbye to Toby who is returning to university, and welcomed new supervisors Nicola and Maddison to Nagle House.

Duringthe term break, our junior boarders Lucy Cattle in Year 7 went to the country gymnastics in Armidale where she qualified for the State championships in four disciplines. Sarah in Year 9 attended a music camp in Albury where she enjoyed being able to meet other young musicians, play music and share a common interest, she has also worked hard in preparation for her recent exams at RCM Wagga.

During the term Celeste Year 9 has been attending weekly Art classes in Wagga and it has been great to see her development as an artist. Year 10 student Jasmin Robinson recently showed her creative side completing a wooden stool which looked amazing. Year 11 student Chloe played netball for the Wagga Diocese Team in Sydney, and Malle – also in Year 11 – plays netball weekly for the Temora Kangaroos. The Year 9 and 11 girls came together to make and decorate stress balls of different sizes and shapes. The Year 9 girls also finished their 4 week focus group time with a shared outing for ice cream - it was a pleasure to go out with such well-mannered young women. Many of our girls play musical instruments, participate in sports, and are involved in extracurricular activities.

The Junior girls have been learning how to knit, completing paintings and craft projects and are making individual squares to sew together into a patchwork cushion cover. In all year groups there has been a focus on keeping fit by going to the local gyms and training with the Activities Coordinator in the school gym, Juniors have also been attending new sports with many girls signing up for AFL . Year 12's have been studying hard for their trial exams; we value the culture of respect our Year 12 girls as leaders bring to Nagle house and wish them well as they prepare for the HSC exams.

Claire and Emma Barclay recently visited Sophie, their sister and one of our past boarding students in England before going over to Europe. The girls not only caught up with their much-loved sister but had an amazing cultural experience as Claire has written below:

“Halfway through Term 2, we began our European summer holiday. Our first stop was in London, England. There we saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, the London Bridge and many new sights. After five days of exploring London, we flew to Paris, where we climbed the Eiffel Tower. From Paris, there travelled through France for two weeks. Over these two weeks we crossed into San Remo, Italy and drove along the coast. 

After this, we flew back to Paris and then back to London. We travelled around England and stopped in places such as Liverpool, Bath, Taunton, Chester and small towns in the south of England. After another week of exploring England, we flew to Dubai and then to Sydney! Our holiday was so much fun and very memorable.”

Claire Barclay

Jackie Tassell  | Girls’ Coordinator

Mount Erin Boarding School

Junior Girls (Years 7-9)

So far this term:

Busy again in the Junior dorm with Ainslie Campbell selected for the Brumbies Country under 14’s rep team. Lucy Cattle recently competed at the NSW CCC and achieved her personal best for the 50-metre freestyle and the 50-metre backstroke. Lucy and Madeline Clancy competed at the BISSA cross country with Madeline placing 8th and Lucy placing 4th and moving on to the competition in Sydney.

Sarah Scott performed at the Civic Theatre in 5 shows for the Pirates of Penzance musical production with the Riverina Orchestra.  Sarah had been part of this orchestra for 3 years and has been playing the flute for 8 years.

Junior girls presented Robin with a small gift and wished her all the best in her new position.

When the boarders aren’t performing or competing they are relaxing, joining in with afternoon activities and spending time together.

The girls have been joining casual supervisor Rachael for storytime before bed.  They have all become engrossed in the novel and Rachael has enjoyed the company of fellow book lovers.

The junior girls' common room has also had a new whiteboard set up with all enjoying crafting drawings, playing hangman with casual supervisor Danielle and reading Rachael's encouraging quotes.

Vicki Bradford | Junior Girls' Supervisor

Senior Girls    (Years 10 -12)

Girls Boarding at Mount Erin has been a very busy term in Nagle House. A small group of seniors went to Equex Wagga to watch boarding peer, Chloe plays in the Tracey Gunson Cup. It was a fast-paced game with both Mater Dei and Kildare playing at their best. Afterwards, the girls came together to not only support their friend but also congratulate the winning team Mater Dei. Following that, saw us at the Currie & Carroll Cup enthusiastically cheering for their respective teams, and then the junior girls wished Vicki their supervisor a very Happy Birthday by decorating their common space, writing lovely birthday messages on her card then helping her to demolish two cakes. This in-between going to school, keeping up with study, activities, sports and learning new independent living skills while living in harmony together means we are all pleased to head off to bed for a good night’s sleep at the end of each day. Trivia night was excellent and saw many boarders and staff dress up and participate in the rounds of questions and the game/ competitions.

It is a lively happy community and we look forward to what the remainder of the term will bring. 

Jackie Tassell | Coordinator/Senior Girls' Supervisor

                                      RICE HOUSE

Boys Boarding Coordinator

The Senior & Junior Boy Boarders at RICE House appear to have settled in quite nicely for the second half of the Boarding & School Year.

I feel extremely privileged to be the Coordinator of such a great group of Boys and along with our supervisors - Wayne Galvin (Senior Boys) and Naomi Barton (Junior Boys) we have a very caring and respectful community who enjoy each other's company, uphold the values of Mount Erin Boarding (Honour, Truth, Trust & Respect) and do our very best to assist and help achieve their current and future goals.

A number of our Boarders are heavily involved in their respective Sporting Codes each Weekend for their clubs and it looks as though at this late stage of their respective seasons we are going to have many of them playing ‘Finals Footy’ which is very exciting and we wish them all the best in those big games.

Our Year 12 Boys did not take long to settle back into their Boarding School routines before the  2023 Trial HSC Exams commenced. Week 3 saw the exams begin and the general feedback from all our Boarders so far is that the exams have been fair and they have also been a great preparation for the final HSC exams which commence on Wednesday, October 11.

We have four Year 12 Boarders in RICE House - Jed Beavan, Leon Smit and Bailey McDonald who attend Kildare Catholic College whilst Lachlan Crawford attends Mater Dei Catholic College.

Each of these boys was asked four questions relating to their education, future expectations and memories of Mount Erin Boarding School (MEBS) - please see their responses below:

QUESTION 1-How many years have you boarded at MEBS (including Year 12) ?

Responses:

JB - 2 Years, LS - 2 Years,  BM-  6 Years & LC - 2 Years 

QUESTION 2-What School did you previously attend before boarding at MEBS ?

Responses:

JB-Tumut High School, LS-McAuley Central School, Tumut, BM-St. Francis Xavier Primary School, Lake Cargelligo, LC-St. Annes, Temora,

QUESTION 3-At this stage what are you planning on doing next year ?

Responses:

JB-Attending University to pursue a career in Physiotherapy 

LS-Attending LaTrobe University and studying Computer Science

BM-Attending ANU Canberra and studying  Design

LC-Agricultural Business Management

QUESTION 4-What is the best thing you have enjoyed most whilst boarding at MEBS?

Responses:

JB-Creating lifelong friendships with people from various years 

LS-I enjoyed the free time after school and being able to chill out down the street and go to the Gym when I could.

BM-I have really enjoyed meeting so many different people at MEBS during my 6 years here and have made many friends for the future.

LC-The change of scenery involved with attending a  new school and a different living environment.

Whilst at the moment there are many positive outward signs that things are travelling pretty smoothly in our ‘RICE House’ Community I am fully aware that things can change quickly sometimes. Wayne, Naomi & myself are always on the alert for sudden changes in behaviour and/or moods from some of the boys which we will bring to your attention.

If you have any queries or concerns with your sons please don’t hesitate to contact me on my mobile- 0477 867769 or email - mctaggartm1@ww.catholic.edu.au.

Kind Regards

Michael McTaggart | Boys’ Coordinator

Junior Boys (Years 7-9)

Welcome back to the Junior Boys and their families. 

The weather is improving and with more sunny days the boys have been getting outside and playing more outdoor sports. The most popular are Cricket and mixed netball, mixed basketball and touch footy.  Indoor games including cards have been very popular also.  

Zep the black Labrador has been back visiting the boys and making himself at home. It’s great to see the boy’s so happy to see him and enjoy playing with him.

Naomi Barton | Junior Boys' Supervisor

Senior Boys  (Years 10 - 12 )

Term 3 has been a very busy term for the students. The year 12 students have just completed their HSC trials, which has been a great insight into the HSC exams. Our year 11 students will get a taste of exams in week 8 of this term.

We also have a number of students participating in sporting teams for both colleges.

Angus travelled to Young with the Kildare Opens side for Rugby League. Kildare played 3 games and convincingly won all three games. Angus played ⅝ in all the games and is looking forward to travelling to Wollongong on the 31st of August to play in the grand final against Xavier College, Newcastle.

Round 1 on 24th July was Kildare vs TRAC. End result was a 1 - 1 draw with a dying minutes goal securing our first point of the competition. Kildare's team has a total of 5 senior soccer players with the remainder being mainly Yr 12, Aussie rule players so a good result considering our experience against a reasonably strong TRAC lineup. Round 2 was a bye for Kildare, with Mater dei defeating TRAC 3 - 2. Round 3 on 7th August saw Kildare take on the favourites, Mater Dei. Finishing the first half 2 - 0 up, had a very strong Mater Dei outfit of predominantly representative players, asking questions. A few brain farts in our defence saw Mater Dei draw the match level 2 - 2 at full time. With these results, Kildare finished 2nd in pool A, left to take on Wagga High (1st in Pool B), Monday 14th August, at 4:30 pm, to make the grand final against the winner of Mater Dei vs TRAC

Ronan.

Wayne Galvin | Senior Boys' Supervisor