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Boarder Lines
Welcome back!!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your girls. I know the Year 12 girls were busy getting lots of study done (I believe some of them even used it as an excuse not to help out on the property?). I was fortunate enough to travel over to Bali in the first week with Ms Kennedy (English teacher) to a yoga retreat. I really needed to get a hit of warm weather before coming back to Sydney’s winter and Mudgee Field Days.
Over the holidays there has been painting and other maintenance done in the boarding house, not to mention many girls coming in from other Mary Aikenhead Ministry schools around Australia to take part in the Street Retreat, run by Ms McLean. Lyn cleaned the rooms from top to bottom moving beds and mattresses, getting things ready for the girls’ return, not to mention finding pieces of missing jewellery and other bits and pieces that had gone “missing” in the first semester.
Ms Gurr, Ms Moore, Ms McCabe (Linda) and I made our way up to Mudgee Field Days for the last few days of the holidays, and while it was FREEZING, it was a wonderful experience. We connected with many past students and their young families and had the opportunity to have a dinner with the Campbell’s, O’Brien’s and the Gelland’s at Cob & Co. Ms Gurr has told me that Mudgee used to be a place where many families sent their girls to St Vincent’s, so in her words: “we’re taking it back”.
We all got to wear our new “boarder’s jersey” and I have to say - the other schools were jealous! On a hot tip from the Bennett family (they had three girls here), I purchased some BLAX socks to keep me warm for the second day, and I’ve been wearing them ever since.
We have come back to school at a cracking pace with Parent/Teacher Nights for juniors and HSC Trials preparation for the Year 12’s. I hosted parents for a drink and light refreshments in my office the night of the Parent/Teacher interviews. It’s a great opportunity to meet other parents in an informal setting, and personally I find it a great opportunity to hear all about the girls in class.
The first weekend was In Weekend and Heidi and Clare did a wonderful job getting it all organised. The girls had “Mini Vinnie’s Olympics” on Friday night, a movie night on Saturday and then Skyzone Trampolining on Sunday. It was a fantastic weekend and an opportunity for the Year 12 group to give back to the boarding house. Later on in the term there will be many events held to thank, celebrate and congratulate Year 12, so this seemed to be a fitting way to begin.
Last night was the Fashion Parade run by Ms Stella O’Toole, Ms Emma Palmer and the Art Department. Girls from Years 9-11 showcased their creations and the Houses sent down a team also. Ms Liz Young was kind enough to invite me to walk the catwalk with Aikenhead, which was a bit nerve wracking, but I was glad to have the support of the Years 7-10 boarders who all came along. Back in the dining room for a later dinner, we all congratulated Alice Sheather on winning a scholarship to study at the prestigious Whitehouse School of Design.
On the topic of the dining room, this term Year 12 girls have taken on the role of “Dining Room Prefects”. They collect phones, organise grace, announce table of the week, invite girls for dinner, liaise with kitchen staff and keep the place in good running order. This is something that we are trying for the term in the hope that it will be a bit of a legacy that they leave for future Year 12’s. The girls can enforce consequences for poor behaviour and are now charged with the responsibility of making sure the younger girls live up to the expectations set by their example. It also means that it is vital for the senior girls to set a good example.
Boarding House Newsletter | Term 3 | 24 July 2014
From the Head of Boarding
Grace, Bridget and Jedda with their
Skyzone socks
Alice Sheather winning her scholarship
Well I look forward to a great Term 3 with you all and continue to encourage parents and families to contact me at the College with feedback, comments or ideas. You’ve been so supportive and I’m ever grateful for your help.
Year 12 Careers Advice
Ms Marshall and I have been discussing opportunities for the Year 12 girls to have some time with her to discuss university preferences, entry processes, courses etc. We have arranged that after Trials Ms Marshall will be available between 2:30pm and 4:30pm on Monday 18 August and Tuesday 26 August. I will book each of the girls a 20 minute appointment with her on those days.
It is important for girls to take up this opportunity, especially as forms and applications are often made online or are due when they are at school and don’t necessarily have a parent at hand to assist them. Girls may also be unaware of programs and opportunities, and Ms Marshall has knowledge and expertise in this area. Please encourage your daughter to take advantage of this opportunity for boarders.
Year 8 RAP
A few years ago I trained as a Resourceful Adolescent Program facilitator. This is a program that was created at the Queensland University of Technology. The program is described as: “The Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP) was developed to build resilience and promote positive mental health in teenagers. RAP aims to increase the psychological resilience or resourcefulness of young people and draws on research of successful treatments for adolescent depression and the known psychosocial risk and protective factors at the individual, family and school level.” http://www.rap.qut.edu.au/ Over the next six months I will be facilitating this program with small groups of Year 8 girls. Having had conversations with the girls as well as many parents I feel that our Year 8 girls will benefit from the opportunity to
participate in reflection activities, guided conversations, role plays and to learn conflict resolution skills and relaxation techniques. I have spoken to some girls last night and they are keen to give it a go. The program is run in 45 minutes sessions and will run for 4 or 5 sessions (depending on the needs of each particular group of girls). I will run it in my office after dinner once a fortnight. If you have questions, ideas, would like
to know more or would like to have a
conversation about this please give me a
call at the College.
See you next week!
Rose Reid
Head of Boarding
From the Head of Boarding (cont)
Boarders’ at the fashion parade
Ava and Bridget show off
the new jersey
Mudgee Field Days
Last weekend was the boarders’ In Weekend. It was a wonderful success and we were thrilled that the girls all enjoyed themselves. It really hit home to the Year 12 girls who realised this would be their last In Weekend ever!
It kicked off on Friday night with the highly competitive Vinnies Olympics!! The four boarding teams: Pink, Blue, Orange and Green were extremely enthusiastic and all looking to take home gold. There were a variety of highly skilled sports which displayed the phenomenal ability of our boarders, including apple bobbing, freestyle dancing, over-under, balloon popping, not to mention our personal favourite, ‘donut on a string’! For ‘donut on a string’ we hung jam donuts from the clotheslines in our courtyard and our ‘Olympians’ had to eat them without using their hands, lets just say the phrase “bitten off more than you could chew” really applied to this situation!
On Saturday evening we had a movie night in Tarmons, where the girls demolished the popcorn, and there were a few tears from the Nicholas Sparks movie. On Sunday we caught a bus to Skyzone at Alexandria, an indoor trampoline park - the boarders were literally bouncing off the walls!
This was definitely a highlight for many of the girls, with many fun activities including a foam pit and trampoline dodge ball games! Overall, it was a wonderful weekend which provided
everyone with an opportunity to spend time together as a boarding community.
We’d like to thank all of the girls for their enthusiastic participation and willingness to help out, particularly to Year 12 who demonstrated great leadership within their groups. Also, a big thank you to Ms Reid for helping us to organise this great weekend, it is much appreciated!
Heidi Schiller
Boarders’ ‘In Weekend’ Report
The Green Team
The Orange Team
Shana Morales
bouncing along!
Lucy Musgrave
flipping out!
Term Dates 2014 TERM LAST DAY OF SCHOOL BOARDER’S RETURN
2 Friday 11 April Sunday 27 April from 3.00pm
3
Friday 20 June Monday 14 July from 3.00pm
4 Thursday 18 September Monday 06 October from 3.00pm
Friday 05 December 2015 tba
BOARDING HOUSE CONTACT DETAILS
OFFICE HOURS:
MONDAY - FRIDAY 3.15pm-5.00pm
SATURDAY - 6.00am -5.00pm
SUNDAY - 8.00am -6.00pm
Head of Boarding - Ms Rose Reid
Office: Extension 225
Monday to Friday 8.30am - 6.00pm
=========
College Nurses
Anita Stewart and Cate Behenna
8.00am - 4.00pm Monday to Friday
12.00pm - 3.00pm Saturday
9.00am - 12.00pm Sunday
Extension 236
mobile 0419 694 924
=========
Coordinators email
addresses:
LOCATION TELEPHONE NUMBER
BOARDING FACSIMILE
BOARDING PHONE NBR:
DAY SCHOOL PHONE NBR
DAY SCHOOL FACSIMILE
DAY SCHOOL EMAIL
02 9358 3237
02 9356 4329
(Then dial extension as listed below)
02 9368 1611
02 9356 2118
Boarding Office
Head of Boarding
Years 7 & 8
Years 9 & 10
Years 11 & 12
Year level phone extensions
BOARDING STAFF
ON-DUTY MOBILE NUMBERS
Extension 265
Ext 225
Ext 240 - Linda McCabe / Laura George
Ext 244 - Nanette McManus / Maggie Flower
Ext 241 - Janette Gaffney
Ext 229 -
Ext 245 - Years 7 & 8 Corridor
Ext 246 - Years 11 & 12 Corridor
Ext 247 - Years 9 & 10 Corridor
0417 681 112 Years 7/8
0458 249 256 Years 9/10
0409 745 469 Year s 11/12
@boarding
