{"id":3929,"date":"2020-08-18T16:10:32","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T06:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/?post_type=article&#038;p=3929"},"modified":"2020-08-18T16:10:32","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T06:10:32","slug":"never-too-late-to-be-pleasantly-surprised-2","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/article\/never-too-late-to-be-pleasantly-surprised-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Never Too Late To Be Pleasantly Surprised!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After eighteen years supporting boys in a residential boarding environment I had up until last year, only experienced a horizontal system, a system of boarding across one age group.\u00a0 Shore accommodates boarders in a vertical system.\u00a0 School House for example has seventy boys living in the house, ranging from Year 7 up to Year 12.<\/p>\n<p>As I write this, I am forced to self-reflect and it has become crystal clear, that I have a lot to learn.\u00a0 I have, in the past, fallen victim to the notion that if one is told often enough, that something is true, one tends to believe it.\u00a0 This has been my experience with the horizontal boarding system.\u00a0 However, when you step out of that comfort zone and immerse yourself in a different world, the fog lifts and you can\u2019t believe how narrow minded you have been towards a system which offers so much.<\/p>\n<p>After my epiphany and with my short experience so far at Shore, I can unequivocally debunk some myths in realisation to boarding systems:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Horizontal system allows House staff to know the boys better<\/strong>. \u2013 The system doesn\u2019t promote a better understanding of the boys.\u00a0 \u00a0This depends on the individual staff members.\u00a0 Anyone who is genuine in \u2018walking\u2019 with the boys and who is \u2018present\u2019, will succeed in either system.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Horizontal system allows you to target individuals better<\/strong> \u2013 This is not true.\u00a0 I have been impressed with the way that the older boys in School House have taken ownership of acting as big brothers.\u00a0 \u00a0Although as Housemaster I appreciate the work of the House staff, the older boys add another dimension, ensuring that there are always other eyes looking out for the younger ones.\u00a0 It\u2019s also comforting for the younger boys to communicate with older boys throughout the school day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Horizontal system negates bullying from older boys<\/strong> \u2013 Nonsense! Back in the 1980\u2019s when I was a boarder, what is now called pastoral care did not exist.\u00a0 We did the right thing (most of the time) because we would get punished, not because it was the right thing to do.\u00a0 I remember if an older boy asked for a chip you very quickly handed over the whole packet!\u00a0 Today as the staff of the House have become more understanding and constantly demonstrate empathy to the boys, the boarders have followed with their relationships with each other.\u00a0 The interaction between the older and younger boys in School House is so genuine, it now becomes a constant reminder that we as adults can learn much from the boys around us.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Vertical system creates a divide between boarders and day boys<\/strong> \u2013 I have seen no evidence of this at Shore. Every day boarders take their lunch and eat it with the day boys.\u00a0 There is also a tremendous program in place where younger boarders are linked with city host families.\u00a0 \u00a0Boarders are constantly taking leave with their city host and during the holidays there are plenty of city folk enjoying their share of country hospitality.\u00a0 I know the Weston\u2019s have been a half-way house out west for a number of city folk.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We just finished to \u2018Speech off\u2019 with all the Yr 11\u2019s gosling for a podium finish for the 2020 \u2018Golden Boots\u2019.\u00a0 while I stood there listening, I scanned the all the residence of School House (1.5metres apart) listening intently to the presentations\u2026\u2026 And all I could think was, \u2018How good is this!\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Darren Junee<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_3930\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3930\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3930 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Health-snack-.....-sort-of.-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Health-snack-.....-sort-of.-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Health-snack-.....-sort-of.-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Health-snack-.....-sort-of.-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3930\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Health Snack &#8230; Sort Of!<\/figcaption><\/figure> <figure id=\"attachment_3931\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3931\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3931 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Issacs-birthday-2020-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Issacs-birthday-2020-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Issacs-birthday-2020-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Issacs-birthday-2020-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3931\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Issac&#8217;s Birthday<\/figcaption><\/figure> <figure id=\"attachment_3932\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3932\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3932 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/SL-Tutor-BBQ-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/SL-Tutor-BBQ-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/SL-Tutor-BBQ-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/SL-Tutor-BBQ-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3932\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SL Tutor BBQ<\/figcaption><\/figure> <figure id=\"attachment_3933\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3933\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3933 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Year-group-is-irrelavent--300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Year-group-is-irrelavent--300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Year-group-is-irrelavent--1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/d1dfwahqlx324v.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2020\/08\/Year-group-is-irrelavent--150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3933\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Year Group Is Irrelevant<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After eighteen years supporting boys in a residential boarding environment I had up until last year, only experienced a horizontal system, a system of boarding across one age group.\u00a0 Shore accommodates boarders in a vertical system.\u00a0 School House for example has seventy boys living in the house, ranging from Year 7 up to Year 12. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_category":[],"article_tag":[9],"class_list":["post-3929","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_tag-school-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_category?post=3929"},{"taxonomy":"article_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-boarding-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_tag?post=3929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}