This year on 18 May, St Catherine’s will celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the opening of the refurbished National Trust Property, Illawarra, as St Catherine’s Boarding House.

Since 2007, Illawarra has been the School’s sole boarding facility and is currently operating at capacity. At the commencement of the School year we welcomed 18 new boarders to Illawarra from Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, Hong Kong, Malaysia and China. The new boarders are settling in well and discovering the range of Co-curricular offerings in the Senior School and the convenience of living so close to the city.

At the beginning of each School year, it is important to make all our new boarders feel at home at Illawarra and aware of all our routines. For some students they may never have shared a bedroom before, been responsible for their own washing or had to commit to 90 minutes of homework each School night. As we approach the end of first Term, all the boarders have settled into their homework session after dinner well, and our Senior students are working independently in their rooms.

We also welcomed a number of new staff members to Illawarra and they have all brought different strengths and academic backgrounds to our Boarding House. All staff are available to assist the boarders with their studies and wellbeing.

The girls are enjoying our new trampoline that was provided by the Boarders’ Parents who raised funds at previous School Fairs. We are very grateful for the ongoing support of our parent group. This year Renee Morton (’87), an Old Girl of St Catherine’s and mother of Ruby in Year 10, is our representative on the PFA. Last week we also hosted the PFA meeting so the representatives could have an opportunity to visit Illawarra and understand how it operates.

Term 1 is a busy time for our boarders. As the new boarders discover everything that School has to offer, our returning boarders are busy signing up to Sport, Music, Debating, Community Service and Performing Arts activities. Two of our boarders are busy rehearsing for the Senior School musical each weekend and next week the Debating competition at Scotch College commences. Boarders have also represented St Catherine’s in Tennis, Softball, Swimming and Rowing programs. Many of our boarders learn musical instruments and participate in both the choral and ensemble programs. Another highlight of Term 1 is the chance to have a few barbeque dinners on the Eastern Lawn of Illawarra.

The relationship between parents and the Boarding House is crucial and an important part of my role is to develop close relationships with our parents and guardians. This week I am writing this report from Hong Kong where I am representing the School at the 2018 AEAS Australian Schools’ Exhibition. I am also having a meal or a cup of tea with many of our families and visiting the School’s agents in Hong Kong.

Over the next few weeks three of our boarders will be representing their country in three different sports. We wish Jemima Wilcox (Year 7, Basketball), Kayla Jackson (Year 8, Netball) and Penelope Drummond (Year 10, Cricket) successful and enjoyable competitions and we look forward to hearing about their sporting endeavours when they return next term.