I’ll Be There For You: Boarding Week 2022

“Living in a house with 37 sisters might sound like a lot of fun, and for the most part, it is. But we fight from time to time, just like you would with your siblings."

Sarah Currell, Head Boarder, made this comment during a presentation to staff on Monday as part of Boarding Week. Sarah and Bronnie Goss, Deputy Head Boarder, gave us an insight into what being a boarder is like through their presentation titled ‘5 Things Boarders Want Teachers to Know’. 

Here are those 5 things:

  1. Know that we are boarders and where we are from.
  2. Know that we can have days when we find boarding hard. Some days we might not give 100%, please look out for us on those days. On other days we will be our usual happy selves, and we will be fine.
  3. Know that on exeat weekends and during holidays we like to spend time with family and friends and work with our parents on their properties or in their businesses. This leaves little time for schoolwork or study.
  4. Know that we follow a daily schedule, which we really like. Although sometimes we would like to have dinner when we want it, not when it is our turn to go to dinner.
  5. And a couple of other things:
    • we miss our pets and family more than we show, 
    • it can be difficult to get materials for classes, so we need at least one week’s notice, 
    • we love the chips at RED Fish!
Boarders in their town tops

During Boarding Week, the girls were excited to receive red boarding hair ribbons, which they are wearing proudly. In Pastoral Care Time, boarders ran the Homerooms. During these sessions, the boarders shared videos titled ‘A Day in the Life of a Boarder’ made by the Year 12s and ‘Our House’, a virtual tour of Sylvester House made by the Year 7s. The videos prompted many questions from day girls to the boarders, creating conversation and giving the day girls opportunities to learn more about boarding and rural life.

Boarders and staff who were boarders at Santa Maria were invited to wear their town tops on Friday, sparking conversation about where they are from. The staff, including our Principal, Mrs Oaten, also shared their favourite memories with the community in two videos on our Facebook page. We also highlighted our Year 12 boarding leaders across social media during the week, sharing their boarding stories.

Boarding Week wouldn’t be the same without a celebration dinner featuring the boarders’ favourite foods, as voted by them. The menu consisted of chicken ‘parmi’, chips and salad. And for dessert, our version of ‘Get Chunky’ (biscuit, ice cream and lollies).

Now we thought we should add a disclaimer here 🙂. This is an absolute special occasion dessert. We assure parents that the girls don’t eat dessert like this all the time, although we are sure some would love to!

Boarders sharing their stories with Year 5s during PCT

Our boarding community is made up of dedicated, loving and heart-filled staff. These are just some of the words the boarders used when asked to list the things they loved most about our boarding staff. Below is an image of some of the characteristics boarders identified in the staff.

Thank you to Tracy Webster, Head of Boarding, and the boarding staff. You are very much appreciated and valued highly by all in our community.

Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation.  Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world.  Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD.  We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.

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