Message from the

Director of Boarding

Term 2 | Week 2

There I was,  standing in the middle of the main drive, watching as a familiar, canary yellow, Ford Falcon disappeared down the drive, around the corner and out the gates, heading off on the long journey home to the small country town of Tumbarumba, in the Snowy Mountains. For a few brief moments, I stood there, willing them to turn around and reappear for one last hurrah but instead, I grabbed my bags, turned and set forth on what was to become a well-trodden path up to the Year 7 dorms. It was my very first day as a boarder and although I was nervous, I was also excited; excited about the unknown adventure which lay ahead and the wonderful opportunities on offer.

I see the same looks of excitement on the faces of the boarders here at KWS and each time I welcome new people through the door I remember my own experience and how difficult but also exciting that challenge can be. If you take the time to read a School’s glossy brochure, it will most likely say that a boarding experience helps foster independence, develop resilience and make friends for life and this is all true. Yet it means so much more. Boarding offers you the opportunity to belong to something special, and here at KWS, a community and history that stretches back to 1886 in the form of Wolaroi Grammar and 1928 in the form of PLC Orange. A community where you can be yourself, where you are encouraged to stretch yourself, safe in the knowledge that there is someone there to pick you up if you fail.

In my first month as Director of Boarding I attended a reunion luncheon in the DPA. I was sat next to an elderly gentleman by the name of Arthur, a spritely young man at the age of 93 who hails from Cootamundra. I told him who I was and how I had come to be here. I returned his question and waited to hear how he would respond. He was thrilled he had the opportunity to tell me a story about his boarding experience here at Wolaroi College back in the 1940s. He spoke stoically about how there had been snow on Mt Canobolas back in 1943 and he had slept on the open verandah of the Wolaroi mansion. The icy cold wind did not discriminate and seemed to find its way through the smallest of openings. I was intrigued. Intrigued so much that I asked him how many years he had been a boarder at Wolaroi. How many years were you a student here? Oh, just the one, he said. One year? Yep, only one. He didn’t give a reason why and I didn’t press him on it as the main course arrived and he got distracted! But it made me think. I walked away that afternoon wondering about just what kind of impact this place had had on him. What ‘special something’ had taken place during that year that would make those 12 months Arthur spent at Wolaroi so formative that at the grand old age of 93 he, the oldest professional wool classer in Australia, would hop in his tiny beat up car and drive the two hours from Cootamundra. It must be just that…. something special.

Boarding Schools are unique places. Comparatively there are few of them. Even fewer regional co-educational boarding schools. In that regard we are quite unique. We have well over 300 boarders from all parts of NSW and some from as far as the UAE. 165 girls and 145 boys. We have 40 boarding staff including Heads of House, Boarding Assistants and Housemothers. They come from all walks of life; teachers, university students, physiotherapists, chemists, dentists, builders as well as our gap year students from Botswana, Germany and South Africa.

In the past 12 months I have thought on what makes this boarding school so special.

Firstly, it's our boarders. They may not think about it often but it’s true. Our boarders are always open and welcoming of newcomers; they are proud of our school. They make people feel at ease. On 1 April this year, we held an Open Day for prospective parents. Many of our students, day and boarding, were involved in touring families around the campus and boarding houses. I was there and saw it first-hand. The impression our students gave as ambassadors of the school and importantly as boarders was exceptional. Parents were incredibly enthused by the way in which our students had looked after them and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Secondly, the staff. A successful boarding school has good people at the core. Staff who are dedicated to making the lives of their students the best that they can be. Staff who will go above and beyond when it comes to creating a home away from home. Staff who will stop at nothing to put others first and lead by example. When I look back at my own experience, the people I remember the most are those that treated you as family.

So overall, it is the people. People are what makes this school special and people are what makes our boarding community special. Ask any boarder and they will say their House is the best.

Next week is National Boarding Week and is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate all that is good about Boarding. Over the course of the week there will be lunchtime music recitals outside the dining hall, morning teas for boarders and staff, an Instagram competition, a whole boarding community photo opportunity and on Thursday evening an opportunity to be a boarder for an hour.

Whether you are a boarder or not, I hope you can get on board with these wonderful activities and help celebrate our unique and special boarding community. If you’ve always felt, deep down inside that you are really a boarder, then stand up and shout and be proud and get involved!

For those families in and around Dubbo, we will be attending the Dubbo Boarding Expo on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 May. Come along and say hi! 

Mr Matt Curran 

Director of Boarding