SAINTS BOARDING 

Holidays

As the term break approaches, I wish to remind families of the finishing dates for both colleges:

              St Monica’s College – Final day, Thursday 15 September 

              St Augustine’s College – Final day, Friday 16 September

All boarders at St Monica’s are expected to attend the final day of school, and therefore the travel day home will be Friday 16 September.

St Augustine’s full-time boarders will be permitted a travel day on the Friday to ensure that they can leave the College on the last day. Weekly boarders who travel a short distance home must stay until the final bell of term.

A leave request form (available below) must be submitted to the relevant college principal if a valid reason exists for a student to miss any day of school before the end of term. St Augustine’s boarders do not need to submit this form if travelling home on the Friday.

Flight Itineraries

Families, please forward flight details to the respective heads of residence for the end of Term 3 and the start of Term 4. Please send these through as soon as possible so we can coordinate transport. Staff will be on holidays after September 16, therefore, I ask you to ensure that details of return travel to Cairns are emailed asap. 

Requesting Leave from the Day School

Further to my letter last month, I want to remind families of what's involved in applying for leave from either St Augustine's or St Monica's. Understandably, there are occasions when your son or daughter may need to be absent from classes for a day to catch a flight or other valid circumstances (such as a family or sporting event or a full-day medical appointment). 

In such situations, special leave forms, available below or on each college's Parent Portal, must be completed and left at the respective college office. This procedure is totally separate from recording leave via REACH. Boarding staff cannot grant leave from either day school, and final approval is given by the relevant college principal, Mr Glen Seivers or Ms Edna Galvin. 

If you have any questions about completing these forms or leave in general, please do not hesitate to contact me or your child’s respective college. 

Leave Request Procedure

Recently, boarders have been submitting numerous very late leave requests to attend various events and activities. This has placed a great deal of undue pressure on our heads of residence, Transport Coordinator and drivers. To ensure maximum efficiency and to avoid  staff headaches, below is a summary of the leave application process that all boarders should follow. This table is also in the Boarding Handbook. 

Boarders of the Week Awards

Congratulations to our Boarders of the Week for week 7. These students have demonstrated a willingness and commitment to be positive role models in the boarding community in recent week. Well done to the following students:

Junior girl - Christina Atkinson

Junior boy - Leo Pezzelato

Middle school girl - Indiana Leighton

Middle school boy - Bruce Mountford 

Senior girl - Milly McMahon

Senior boy - Anthony Yellub

Groote Eylandt and Gove Visit

St Augustine’s and St Monica’s staff are enjoying a visit to our boarding families on Groote Eylandt and Gove this week. We have been catching up with families for a meal in both locations and fly back to Cairns tomorrow. This visit also gives us an opportunity to meet with families considering boarding with us. 

Weekend Outings

The boarding community has enjoyed two beautiful weekend outings of late to Lake Eacham and Hartleys Creek walking track. Both activities were fun, and the students made the most of them.

As you read this newsletter, our boarders are enjoying a free long weekend. Today was a student-free day and those who stayed in boarding ventured to Josephine Falls and will take part in a variety of activities tomorrow.  

Like any other free weekend,  boarders are expected back in residence by 8pm on Sunday night, unless a Monday morning return has been discussed with the relevant head of residence.

Birthday Celebrations

As you can see below, birthdays are a big thing among our boarders, and everyone in the residence gets involved in the fun and the food. This week, Oliver Heweston turned 14, Patrick Arnold 15 and Lilly Cowley 14. Clearly, everyone had a good time.