Ever since Jeanie Hood opened her school in Castlemaine on the 4 February 1896, St Catherine’s School has always had boarders. Reading the School’s History Book, St Catherine’s A Centenary Celebration 1896-1996 edited by D.E and I.V Hansen, the impact of boarders permeates many of the chapters. The list of boarders’ requirements on p.53 includes such items as:

• 2 simple dresses for evenings (one of which must be velvet)
• 24 handkerchiefs (12 in reserve)
• 4 table napkins and 1 napkin ring with name attached
• 1 pair galoshes
• 4 bath towels

How things have changed? Today our boarders arrive with their school uniform, casual clothing, toiletries, bedding and personal items. Towels, sheets and pillowcases are provided and we use paper napkins in the dining room. The days of dressing for dinner are long gone!

Boarding has always provided the opportunity for students who live at a distance from their school a chance to enrol and participate fully in the life of the school. Sporting teams, musical ensembles, debating teams and drama productions have always included boarders. In recent years many families who live in Melbourne have also seen the value of boarding, whether to benefit from the structured homework sessions each evening or to suit the needs of particular families. Throughout Australia there has definitely been an increase in casual and day boarding at many boarding schools.

In 2021, there are limited opportunities at Illawarra available for day students to become either:

• Casual boarder – this occurs for a number of weeks or a full term. In the past this particularly suited parents who travelled overseas (hopefully again in the future) or when a family is renovating.

OR

• Day boarder – where a day student comes for an extended day to the Boarding House. This covers the time from afterschool to 8:15pm on a weeknight. Girls have afternoon tea, dinner and supervised prep (homework) at Illawarra before bring collected by a parent at 8:15pm. There are qualified boarding staff at Illawarra who can assist with homework.

If you would like any further information about boarding, please feel free to contact me on scollister@stcatherines.net.au