Term 2 is well underway, and this week is incredibly busy. In particular, this week is National Boarding Week (NBW), where schools across Australia recognise and celebrate the boarders in our community.
At SPSC, we have 90 boarders who contribute significantly to the diversity and culture of our school, with boys coming from rural central Australia to parts of Europe and Asia. Unlike other schools, St Peter’s College has its boarders in a single House, School & Allen House. We are a boarding school, not a school with boarders. This structure fuels the camaraderie and brotherhood shared in the boarding house, helping the School feel like a second home.
Being a boarder myself, this week is an opportunity for me to reflect and thank all of the people that make boarding possible for us. I know what it feels like to live away from home, to miss family dinners, birthdays, conversations in the car and the ordinary routines that many day students take for granted. Boarding is a great privilege, but it also asks a lot of you. You learn to be independent, to manage your time, to get yourself organised and to keep going on the days when you would rather be at home.
I’d be lying if I said that boarding didn’t come with its challenges. There are days when we boys feel tired, miss home, or find it hard to balance school, sport and life in the House. What makes the difference is the care around us. Thank you to the staff that work around the clock to make sure that we are not only safe and cared for, but are actually enjoying our time here at school. Our time here wouldn’t be the same without all of their care, so thank you.
To celebrate this week, there are a couple of activities to help connect the day school with our boarding community. This included a BBQ fundraiser to help raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), which provides critical medical support to rural and remote communities. This is especially important to many of our boarding families, who understand how vital the RFDS is for people living outside major cities. Along with the RFDS fundraiser, we ran a donut sale to raise funds for Do it for Dolly, a cause that raises awareness for suicide prevention, and reminds us of the importance of kindness, inclusion and looking out for one another. We also played a game of touch rugby against the Seymour boarders, helping to build connection between boarding communities while raising further funds and awareness for the cause.
Along with the fundraisers, a Boarders vs Day Students tug-of-war competition was introduced this year, bringing some friendly rivalry to the week while helping to strengthen the connection between boarders and day students. Staff and special guests have also had the opportunity to tour the boarding house, giving more people a chance to see what daily life in School & Allen actually looks like beyond the school day.
Boarding Week is a chance to celebrate all of this, but it is also a reminder that boarding is built on people. It is the boys who look out for one another, the staff who give so much of their time and the families who trust the School to care for their sons while they are away from home. I am proud to be part of School & Allen, and grateful for the friendships, support and sense of belonging that make it feel like home.
Henry Burton
School Captain
