Director of Boarding

Megan Christie

The term seems to be moving at an extraordinary pace and it is hard to believe we have passed the Term One hump. For our boarders, this is an exciting point in time when they realise they are only 4 weeks away from travelling home and seeing their families again. Hopefully, this knowledge can give them strength to continue to work hard to successfully complete their exams and assessments that always accompany the end of term.

The rhythm of boarding life is very much in place. Monday to Thursday afternoons consists of a study regime that will assist your daughters to engage fully in their academic pursuits. Your daughters are ably supported by our boarding supervisors, while our academic teachers also offer workshops and tutoring as required. Our expectations regarding boarder study is that it is quiet and productive. To ensure students are making effective use of this time, all students must be at their desks in their own rooms and mobile phones must be off and away. I have been very pleased with the girls’ dedicated approach to study time.

Our Recreation Program has amplified in the last few weeks with the start of Block Sport and Club Sport. Girls involved in club netball, touch and league teams have started their fixtures and have been attending training session during the week. It is wonderful to see so many girls focusing on their health and fitness by regularly attending our Castle Hill and Strand walks and runs.

As a reward for their excellent leadership in boarding the Year 12’s went to the Stadium Open Day. The Week 5 “Gotcha” winners also received this special reward for being respectful, responsible and safe. This year, each of our Year Levels will plan and coordinate an in-house activity. To lead the way, our amazing Year 12 students ran a Trivia Night on Friday 28 February. The night was a great success with the team – Flora, Shaniqua, Jermia, Nitaray and Willimina – being crown our trivia champions.

Well done to our Boarders of the Week:

Week 4 – Kenya Mari, La’Shauna Nathaniel and Danielle Gesa

Week 5 – Eva Pascoe, Sierra Sibley and Whitney Nai

Last weekend our Year 7 Boarders welcomed their families to the College as part of our first ever Mid Term Carers Weekend. So far the girls and their families have enjoyed some quality family time, and a Welcome to Country Dinner on Friday night. A special thank you Aunty Jenny for delivering the Welcome to Country and to Aunty Gladys for giving the blessings.

I would like to congratulate Alex O’Neil on her appointment of Senior Boarding Supervisor. To achieve a more targeted approach to our students overall wellbeing, the Senior Boarding Supervisors have added responsibilities in either the Juniors Years (Years 7 and 8), Middle Years (Years 9 and 10) or Senior Years (Years 11 and 12). Please familiarise yourself of Year Levels appointed to each of our amazing Senior Boarding Supervisors.

Sarah Amos – Senior Years (Years 11 and 12) samos@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au

Alex O’Neil – Middle Years (Years 9 and 10) aoneil@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au

Amanda Sinclair – Junior Years (Year 7 and 8) asinclair@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au

Miss Sarah, Miss Alex and Miss Amanda are there to support you with any boarding issue or concern you may have.

For administration issues including leave please email boarding@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au or ring Boarding Reception on 07 4753 0307 and you will reach Hayley Mazzoni our Boarding Assistant, and she will direct your call. Could I please remind parents and guardians that weekend leave requests must be submitted by Thursday 8:30am. I ask you to support us in this large task of ensuring that all girls’ weekend leave is logged in REACH and that consent is obtained by the parent and host early to ensure a smooth sign-out process. Please note that weekend leave commences after school on Friday afternoon. Boarders are required to return to the Boarding House not later than 6:00pm.