Don’t Look at the Trees, Climb Them

from The King's School Gazette January 2021

Convoy of Hope

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Wanted: A home suitable for a growing family with a penchant for house guest and a large garden with room for a dog and a menagerie of other animals, nestled in a quiet country village community with like-minded neighbours, flourishing with entrepreneurial new industries - office space available and working from home an attractive proposition. Add into the mix, excellent local amenities including a fabulous IB PYP Pre-Kindergarten to Year 6 coeducational day and boarding school, where riding boots are part of the uniform and the girls get to wear irresistible red Akubra bobby hats. Transport needed? Find bus services running past your garden gate.

Listings show: Southern Highlands, New South Wales.

“Underpinning life at The King’s School, Tudor House are the School Values, woven as a thread through day-to-day life. From the ‘small stage’ that is Tudor House we prepare our students for the ‘world stage’ by providing a values distinctive education”

Local real estate agents inform us that their stock is in hot demand from families moving from the congestion and noise of the city to the green pastures of the Southern Highlands!

Throughout 2020 with the topsy-turvy situation caused by COVID-19, the world wide pandemic clouding over us, the Southern Highlands region has become a popular landing place for families looking for a lifestyle providing their families with room to grow.

At The King’s School, Tudor House one third of the boys and girls who’ve enrolled in 2020 have come from metropolitan areas, relocating to the Southern Highlands. From their first visit (sometimes just calling in as they’ve driven past the sign outside), families have identified what they’ve been missing at previous Schools - the benefits associated with having lots of space!

- both young boys and girls from relocating families can attend the same School. Parents with busy lives can take advantage of casual boarding arrangements, by booking their children into Medley House for sleepovers and out of hours care when required - knowing that their children are safe, well and busy at School. Tudor House is a community, creating a sense of belonging for all family members - hopefully with more face-to-face events in 2021.

While all Schools in NSW must be registered to teach the New South Wales Education Standards (NESA) outcomes. Tudor House is also authorised by and accountable to the International Baccalaureate, as a Primary Years Programme (PYP) School! As an IB School, Tudor House is officially part of a global community of schools committed to developing knowledgeable, caring young people who will be ready to negotiate their futures successfully and make contributions resulting in a more harmonious and peaceful world. By learning through inquiry and selfreflection, our students develop knowledge, conceptual understandings and skills that empower them to make a difference in their own lives, their communities and beyond.

Few city Schools also have large, light airy (all air conditioned) classrooms opening onto courtyards, with specialised learning spaces for Art, Woodwork, Music, STEM in the iHub, French and a huge library in the centre of the learning precinct. Additionally there are communal meeting areas such as the War Memorial Assembly Hall, the Chapel and the infamous Dining Room where the students enjoy a sit-down lunch. Moving outside to the tennis courts, swimming pool, playing fields, dams, low ropes course, archery range, Kahiba base building area, ‘Scout’ huts for Camping and paddock to plate precincts - it’s easy to see why the Kahiba Outdoor Education program is such an integral part of everyday life at Tudor House. With buses to take the students to Rosthwaite Farm to participate in an equestrian program and local water polo, our boys and girls enjoy extensive co-curricular opportunities onsite and offsite. Underpinning life at The King’s School, Tudor House are the School Values, woven as a thread through day-to-day life. From the ‘small stage’ that is Tudor House we prepare our students for the ‘world stage’ by providing a values distinctive education. As per our School Mission Statement, students are expected to live a life in service to others, as thought leaders, to make an outstanding impact for the good of society, demonstrating: humility, honesty, respect, responsibility, integrity, compassion and excellence.

We encourage families thinking of moving to the Southern Highlands for a tree change, to do so soon! Tudor House is no longer a ‘secret’, as word-of-mouth has been a powerful tool in highlighting it’s many wonders.

Anni Sandwell Head of School, Tudor House