Boarding
MS MARGUERITE DUNNE, HEAD OF BOARDING Fairholme is one of the largest all-girls Boarding Schools in Australia and 2020 has seen our Boarding House continue to be a leader in providing residential care for girls in Years 5 to 12. Our boarding students continued to contribute approximately 30% of numbers to the Middle School and 40% of girls in our Senior School. We welcomed two Yr 5 Boarders during the year and so students ranged from 10 years of age right through to 18-year-old girls in Yr 11 and Yr 12. As in previous years, most Boarders came from regional South-West Queensland and North-West New South Wales, but we also have many girls from Central and North Queensland, and further away from the Northern Territory and Victoria, with a small number whose parents reside overseas. This wonderful mix of girls brings real diversity to the Boarding House, which benefits all the girls. In January, we welcomed over 50 new girls from Year 5 to Year 11 into our
Boarding House. This was an increase on previous years, and it is obvious that our modern facilities are attractive to new girls and their families. Many girls comment on the refurbished rooms and how much they value their own study and storage spaces, vanity units and access to common rooms and kitchenettes on each floor. A lot of the rooms also enjoy beautiful views over Webb Park and the escarpment or our Fairholme gardens and lawns. The Fairholme Health Centre, with a registered nurse on duty 24 hours per day each day of the school year, is also reassuring for our families. Boarding provides such a positive experience for all our girls. They learn to be more responsible for their own belongings and space and to be flexible and resilient as they negotiate and collaborate with the other girls with whom they share a room, bathroom and breakfast and dinner table. Our Boarding staff observe great development in our girls’ maturity and ability to co-operate with others and
to be independent and organised in their approach to their daily tasks and towards their study. Our boarding students also benefit from the proximity of the Boarding House to Fairholme's day school. So many of the boarding girls use the sporting and performing arts facilities after hours and take advantage of their easy access to after- and before-school training, rehearsals and other sporting, academic and cultural co-curricular opportunities. Another plus for our boarding girls is their supervised ‘prep’ or homework time. Teachers from the day school are rostered to support the girls while they do their academic study each week night and Sunday afternoons. Many students find this focused quiet and independent study time vital as they rise to meet the academic challenges that their subjects provide for them. The girls also benefit from the positive and reassuring messages provided to them by our weekly Devotions and
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