Dear Boarding Families,

Welcome to Term 4, Daylight Saving, HSC Exams for our Year 12 boarders and the beginning of Year 12 coursework for our Year 11 students. Already in the shops we see signs of Christmas unfolding with a steady pace. With a 9 week term and, at the time of publication two weeks completed, the remaining weeks will go quickly. Stay safe, stay well.

COVID-19 Update

In Term 3, we informed parents on a number of occasions about the restrictions placed on Boarding Schools due to the ever changing pandemic by Catholic Schools NSW who work closely with the State Government agency, NSW Health. We take this opportunity to remind parents/carers that we are operating within the regulations for Boarding Schools that are determined by these statutory bodies and that decisions pertaining to boarding are not being made at a local level. Mount Erin, along with its sister/brother school, St Francis in Leeton operate under the same guidelines provided by Catholic Schools NSW for all Boarding Schools under their jurisdiction in New South Wales.

While regulations for the general public may be easing in some areas, boarding is viewed as high risk areas due to the number of students and close proximity of staff and students. It is therefore not possible to align what is happening generally with COVID-19 restrictions with requirements in boarding as they are being managed quite separately by government.

We have been fortunate to have been able to allow students to undertake some off campus activities on a case by case basis where we have been advised that is deemed safe and/or essential. We will continue to keep parents/carers and boarders updated as further information becomes available from CS NSW through CEDWW. Please be assured that we are following the necessary COVID requirements and at all times, the safety of the boarding students, staff as well as the integrity of the Boarding House are our highest priorities.

Modified Evening Routine

Trialing of a modified evening format to create time/space and flexibility has begun after a number of meetings and discussion with students and staff.

Activities occur between 4pm and 5pm during the week. From 5pm until dinner, students have personal/dorm and on campus time where they can choose to read, nap, watch TV, shoot some hoops, collaborate over study, play games, shower, sign out to the oval or basketball courts or attend BRC meetings etc. The start of dinner has been moved to 6pm. Study begins at 7pm with all study now being undertaken in Mount Erin in set study areas. So far the new routine is proving to be popular. A survey will be provided to students to provide feed back for discussion at BRC.

Emergency Evacuation

Mount Erin has had a new Fire Panel installed during the recent school holiday period which monitors emergency evacuations due to fire/ smoke.

This was put to the test at 3am on Thursday morning with all students and staff evacuated safely. We have to commend the students for quickly and efficiently responding to the alarm which was the result of a faulty smoke sensor in the ceiling space of the Junior Girls' Dorm. This has now been rectified.

Activities Program

The Term 4 activities are underway and details have been included in this edition of Boarders' Buzz.

Junior Boys Staffing

Mr. Michael (Mick) McTaggart has been graciously filling the role of Junior Boys' Supervisor since the beginning of Term 1 whilst we have been advertising for a permanent person to fulfil this role. Mr McTaggart also works as a support staff member at Kildare during the day. He will be leaving his Boarding role at the end of October to spend more time with his family and concentrate on his day position. We would like to thank Mick for his dedication, enthusiasm and hard work at Mount Erin which is greatly appreciated by all, especially the Junior Boys.

Ms Robin Bussenschutt will continue to work with the boys two days a week, (Monday and Tuesday)/ Wednesday morning for the remainder of the term and it is hoped to have replacement for Mr McTaggart to work with Robin for Wednesday and Thursday and Friday morning before Mick leaves.

The contact number for Junior Boys Boarding is common to both Junior Boys Supervisors:

Mobile - 0455521016

Staff Contact/ Duty Hours

Currently, the four Supervisors begin duty from 3pm Monday and end their duty for the week each Friday at 9am. They are not on duty during the day between 9am and 3pm.

It is therefore important for parents to understand that any communication regarding leave or requests should be made to the Boarding Office, the Boarding Administrative Assistant or the Leader of Boarding. We ask that parents try to make requests for leave, appointments, transport and activities well ahead of the time, and not confirm an activity that requires transport until this is discussed and confirmed.

Transport

Mount Erin has a 7 seater Kia and a transport officer, Mr. James Mortenson. The main purpose of transport is to cater for essential dental/medical appointments between 3.30pm and 7.30pm from Monday to Thursday. In order to cater for school events and private off campus activities, it is essential that advance notice is provided to the Boarding Office via REACH in order to have in place the transport arrangements for each day by 2pm to ensure safe and efficient drop off/pick up especially on busy days. Transport will be provided for non essential activities during this time if possible.

We are mindful that some parents are still experiencing difficulty accessing boarding through REACH. Some helpful tips are located in this article. If this continues to be an issue, please contact Ms Amanda Hilton in the Boarding Office on 69236199 during Office Hours.

Please Note: In the event of an emergency situation requiring the use of the boarding car, priority will be given to the use of the car for this purpose. If a student activity goes beyond 7.30pm, parents will need to organise their son/ daughter's return either by an approved host or by taxi.

REACH Updates

If parents are experiencing issues with REACH, the following information may be helpful:

Reach Login in details must use first name.surname
A configuration issue (student does not have their year/house settings correct or perhaps parent is trying to create a leave that requires a host name without a host)- Boarding will fix this once notified of any difficulties.
When logging in for the first time after non use you may be prompted to enter / search for a school address:
As REACH was set up some time ago, it was done so under Kildare Catholic College. Your school's portal is called Kildare Catholic College. Searching Kildare will find the school.
No calendar? Refresh the app by Closing it and then reopen. The app uses the device browser to view the app and the device browser has blocked the screen from displaying the calendar.

We are meeting with the Managing Director of REACH, Mr. Garry Jowett and members of the College IT Department this term to look at ongoing issues. We will communicate outcomes of this meeting with Boarding Parents/ Carers at the conclusion of this process.

Transport Survey Responses

Thank you to parents/carers who completed the survey last term. The survey had two main purposes; to identify the modes of transport and costs for boarders (costs vary considerably according to the distance of boarders from Wagga) and to identify concerns with the current transport arrangements. With a response rate of only 30% it has not been possible to obtain a clear overview of the perspectives of our boarding families. However, of the 27 responses received, 19 are currently travelling by bus to and from boarding with travel costs ranging from approximately $150 to $950 per term.

The cost of bus transport was identified as a barrier by some respondents who are not using the bus service, while others cited scheduled travel times and reasons around convenience for their choice of transport mode.

In response, a letter has been sent to the local State Members requesting their support with alleviating some of the residual transport costs for boarding families.

We take this opportunity to further remind boarding families that some financial support is available through the School Student Transport Scheme.

Students Leaving Mount Erin Boarding

Year 12 students and parents/carers are reminded about the need to complete exit processes from either College and Boarding. All text books must be returned, library books and computers must be returned. Any remaining fee balance is also to be paid. All personal items have been collected to take home.

Boarding house accommodation must be left in a neat and tidy condition upon exiting. Departing boarders are asked to contact the Boarding Office who will sign out students as they complete this process.

We have waiting lists for both Boys Boarding and Girls Boarding for 2021. Please advise boarding by the end of October if your child is to returning to Mount Erin 2021 so that places can be filled.

Mr John Bussenschutt

Leader of Boarding

~Click on images to enlarge~

Mr John Bussenschutt

Leader of Boarding

Co-Captains' Page