From the Head of Boarding 

Dear Boarding Community,

Welcome to the first edition of Boarders' Buzz for 2023. Mount Erin welcomed our returning and new Boarders from Sunday 29 January 2023. We have just completed our 4th week of Term 1( Friday 27  for Staff return is considered as Week 1) and already the boarders are fully immersed in College and Boarding activities including the two College Swimming Carnivals. Congratulations to all of our boarding students who competed for their day school houses.

Advocates for Boarders.

An email from a concerned parent recently asked me to be an advocate for the Boarders over some changes being implemented by their College reminded me about my decision to become involved in Boarding over 20 years ago. As a teacher and Head of Day School House at a Boarding and Day school in Adelaide, I had responsibility for a number of boarders in my direct care. They sometimes had a uniform that was not ironed, often looked tired and sometimes unhappy, missing home, family pets, and friends. I was keen to make a difference in the lives of young people who due to circumstances had to live away from home in order to study at a school of choice. Boarding in the 21st Century is a much more caring, supportive, and open institution than its 20th-century version but young people still require close, caring support. Weekly boarding has become a large part of most Boarding schools in Australia and around the world providing a balance between quality family time on weekends creating resilience and confidence to live away from home whilst studying.  

It is a big responsibility as a teacher, to look after students during the day, and on excursions and camps. It is a huge responsibility to look after young people in Boarding - something that I and our Boarding staff take very seriously. As Head of Boarding at MEBS and as a Level 4 Boarding Practitioner, the care, the progress spiritually, academically, and well-being of Boarding students are at the forefront of my role at Mount Erin. Most importantly, we can all be advocates for Boarding and for our Boarders.  

College Opening Mass 2023

I had the pleasure of attending Kildare and Mater Dei opening Mass at the beginning of the term. As part of Mater Dei’s Mass, the College Student Leaders were presented with their badges of office after being blessed by Father Rafter. Along with the College Captains and House Leaders, Zara English and Katherine Oakes were both presented with their Mount Erin Boarding House Captain badges.  Kildare Boarding Captains were presented with their Boarding House Captain badges at a Mass in Term 4 2020.

New Staff Structure

The intention was to have in place for Term 1 2023, two Coordinators - one for boys and one for girls. However, sometimes the best intentions go awry. We are now expecting this new staffing structure to operate fully from Term 2. As part of their role, of the two Coordinators will form the main contact 24/7 with regard to all aspects of the Boarding students' residential life on behalf of the Head of Boarding. The Supervisors will continue to manage their Year level focus groups including Leave  - the Coordinators will be able to deal with information and matters received during the day and communicate/ manage this information more effectively beyond 4 pm each day. Our Administrative Assistant will be focusing on supporting the Head of Boarding with meetings, strategic planning, and marketing of MEBS. We will publish the Coordinators' contact details as soon as these two key staff members are in place. and have been introduced to the MEBS Community.

College Opening Mass 2023

I had the pleasure of attending Kildare and Mater Dei opening Mass at the beginning of the term. As part of Mater Dei’s Mass, the College Student Leaders were presented with their badges of office after being blessed by Father Rafter. Along with the College Captains and House Leaders, Zara English and Katherine Oakes were both presented with their Mount Erin Boarding House Captain badges.  Kildare Boarding Captains were presented with their Boarding House Captain badges at a Mass in Term 4 2020.

Mount Erin's dorms now have names. 

The girls' Boarding House is now known as NAGLE HOUSE named after the founder of the Presentation Sisters - Nano Nagle, a pioneer of Roman Catholic education in Ireland, and who founded the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM), commonly known as the Presentation Sisters.

The boys' dorm is now known as RICE HOUSE named after Edmund Rice a Roman Catholic missionary and educationalist. Edmund was the founder of two religious institutes of religious brothers:

the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers.

The Boarders will have a chance to design a crest for each Boarding House as a competition - a prize will be presented to the successful designer (s). The Boarding House Captains and the BRC will be presenting this competition to House meetings in Week 6.

MEBS Dining Room

The Mebs Dining Room has received a new vinyl floor covering which makes a major difference to its appearance and to cleaning.  It has been proposed to complete the walkway section between Nagle's courtyard and Rice with the same floor covering during the next school holiday period. Painting of the dining room is also planned during this time.  The relocation of the two bain-maries to the dining room has created a more efficient use of the Dining Room and a safer walking passageway between courtyards. 

MEBS Food Survey

The House Captains and the BRC are in the midst of developing a Food Survey in collaboration with our Catering manager which will be shared with students, parents, staff, and the MEBS Executive Operations Committee for feedback. We thank you ahead of time for taking the time to complete this important survey. As in previous years, MEBS Dining Menu is guided by the Australian Guide to Healthy Living 

John Bussenschutt I Head of Boarding