COUNTRY CONNECTION
REGIONAL BOARDING SCHOOLS OFFER UNIQUE BENEFITS FOR FAMILIES LIVING ON THE LAND.
A guide to regional boarding schools across Australia.
LEAVING HOME FOR boarding school at the tender age of 12 is a nerve-wracking time for many kids, but for those coming from the country, a school with strong links to the land can help to ease the transition. At a regional boarding school, students are likely to find a familiar rural environment that reflects their upbringing: think working farms and bush-fringed campuses. “One thing that a lot of country people really like about regional boarding schools is that they’re a little more closely connected with the country,” says Australian Boarding Schools Association Executive Director Richard Stokes. “Some regional schools are big — bigger than some of the ones in the city — so it’s not often about size, but the culture of the school itself.” “I call it that country heart,” adds Candi Dempster, principal of Columba Catholic College. The Prep to Year 12 school in Charters Towers, Queensland, has 500 students including 112 boarders. “In a regional setting, you have a lot of that really deep-seeded country heart and hospitality that affects the [school’s] values. That pride and dignity of being good men and women, and being able to persevere and be resilient when things are tough is, I would like to think, part of the reason schools such as ours thrive.” Columba’s campus includes an agricultural and veterinary science centre where students are taught modern farming techniques (they’re hoping to soon include drone aviation for mustering livestock). “We have many families who have been on the land for hundreds of years, and these students are now learning more advanced, contemporary techniques to take back into their farms,” Candi says. At Kinross Wolaroi School in Orange, NSW, an initiative called The Regional Experience Enterprise sees all students from kindergarten to Year 12 participating in hands-on rural projects ranging from local industry internships to sustainability exercises. Creating opportunities for the school’s 300-plus boarders to spend time on the land is a crucial part of settling in. “We have a farm just outside of Orange that is well used by our boarders, so for a lot of them there’s not as much culture shock,” says the school’s director of boarding, Matt Curran. “Making sure that we plan engaging and exciting activities on the weekends is hugely important for us and we’ve made it a focus of ours to move away from traditional boarding school activities, like going to the movies or tenpin bowling, but rather going out and using our farm. We recently planted some small native seedlings, which is part of our sustainability project, and we’re looking at mountain biking. There’s scope to do lots of different stuff.” For regional PR specialist Georgie Robertson, memories of being sent from her family home in Ivanhoe, NSW, to Sydney for boarding informed her choice to enrol her daughter at New England Girls’ School (NEGS) in Armidale. “I absolutely loved my time in Sydney but it was really tough for the first couple of years and I was terribly homesick,” Georgie recalls. “I think if I had been sent to a regionally based school it would have been a much easier transition.” The outdoor lifestyle and slower pace of the country location “allows the students to really focus,” Georgie adds. “NEGS has an incredible campus and there is such a sense of space. It’s not uncommon for the girls to be visiting a litter of piglets that have just been born or taking care of the school’s chickens down at the vegie patch… I think that’s a pretty unique experience for any student.” Ultimately, a regional school’s biggest drawcard may be its proximity to home. A doable drive to Columba Catholic College was the clincher when Terressa and Greg Ford were looking for a boarding school for their sons. Based on a cattle station in Hughenden, Queensland, the family wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be isolated from each other. “The reason we ended up choosing Columba was so we could be closer and we could still be involved with the school,” says Terressa, who, as a teacher, was heavily involved in the boys’ primary schooling. “We’re close enough that if there’s a school event on and we’re able to go, we can go. It’s not a major drama or expense to get there. And the beautiful thing about Columba is it has family units available at school so you don’t have to pay for accommodation.” Excellent education, sport and performing arts opportunities are more enticing factors, with some schools even partnering with sporting bodies for coaching and elite pathway programs. To bolster its already extensive sports program, in early 2019 NEGS will cut the ribbon on a $1.5 million sporting centre with a hockey turf, full-size rugby field, six netball courts, two tennis courts and a six-lane athletics track that will be available to the wider community as well as the school. Another big consideration, especially for those feeling the ongoing financial effects of the drought, is cost. “Regional boarding schools are much cheaper,” notes Richard, adding that the difference between city and regional boarding fees can be as much as $30,000 a year. One more advantage: regional boarding schools are highly attuned to the emotional needs of those who are struggling with the drought. “The boys and girls who come away from home sometimes feel as though they’re leaving parents and siblings to deal with the challenges, so it’s recognising that that’s going to have an effect and ensuring the necessary conversations and support’s in place,” says Matt. Terressa says the tight-knit school community her family enjoys at Columba is a real comfort. “Every time I walk into the school everyone knows who I am,” she says. “It’s just got that beautiful atmosphere about it that they’re a big family — it’s nice to know that my kids have that.” For more information, visit boarding.org.au
“Some regional schools are big — bigger than some of the ones in the city — so it’s not often about size, but the culture of the school itself.”