From The Principal

Boarders Chapel Service and Lunch

On Friday 22 July, we welcomed back a group of Old Girls who were boarders at MLC School. They represented leaving years from 1951 to 1975.

It is interesting to reflect on this part of our history as many may not be aware of how integral boarding is to the fabric of the School. Certainly, when I meet Old Girls, their experiences as boarders is one they reflect on most vividly and the bonds they share are unique.

 Thank you to Archivist, Barbara Hoffman for her notes: 

“When MLC School opened on 27 January 1886, most of the 12 students enrolled were Boarders. By the late 1890s the number of Boarders had increased to 55. Over the next 60 years, the Boarding House population steadily increased, reaching its peak of 130 (its maximum capacity) in the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1976, a few months before the destructive fire of 7 January 1977, the idea to cease boarding at MLC School was already being considered by the School’s administrators. Boarding numbers had steadily declined from 130 Boarders in 1970 to below half that number by 1976.

Boarding at MLC School was established to accommodate students from rural and regional areas, and traditionally they had been both the heart of the Boarding House and the reason for its existence. Due to the devastating 1970s rural recession, the number of rural and regional Boarders plummeted, and by the 1970s the boarding population had changed to a blend of overseas students and local senior students who were boarding from Monday to Friday only.

The fire in January 1977 completely destroyed or significantly damaged most of the Boarders’ accommodations: sleeping dormitories, bathrooms, sitting rooms, kitchens, and dining room.  

Since the demand for boarding at MLC School was not there, the School Council decided not to rebuild the damaged and destroyed boarding areas and to phase out boarding at MLC School by the end of 1979.”

– Lisa Moloney
Principal

Image: Some of our boarders with examples of the uniforms of the day