At Fairholme College, we are renowned for providing a caring and nurturing ‘home away from home’ for our boarders. As one of the largest boarding schools in Australia, we make it our mission to ensure that we are also one of the happiest for our 200 girls.
At Fairholme it is our highest aim to provide a comfortable and relaxing environment for your daughter, underpinned by a safe, friendly and stimulating environment.
We know that for most of our Fairholme boarder parents the choice to send their daughter to a Boarding School is necessitated by their rural or remote location, and even as a necessity, this can be a difficult decision. However, once made, this decision will open the door to an exciting, new world full of possibilities.
Going to boarding school gives children the opportunity to make friends with people their own age in a supportive community. As well as academic studies, girls may participate in sporting and cultural pursuits and in the Boarding House, acquire the skills of negotiation, co-operation and sharing, all which contribute to developing the whole person.
Your daughter will be part of a large, vibrant community of girls who come to Fairholme to learn, to grow and to develop friendships for life. We know that we will never be able to replace her real home, but we do seek to work with you in the provision of a safe, structured environment with clear expectations and guidelines for growth and learning.
Like you, we have faith in your daughter’s future and we look forward to sharing her Fairholme journey with you.
The bright, vibrant and purpose-built living spaces and facilities at Fairholme Boarding cater for the learning and lifestyle needs of teenage girls and provide each boarder with a balance between personal privacy and communal living.
This room hums with the sound of happy girls at each mealtime.
Chefs and kitchen staff take a genuine interest in the girls and cook for them with health, nutrition and enjoyment in mind..
Our boarders enjoy sumptuous menu items such as oven baked salmon and barramundi with hollandaise sauce, asparagus and spinach, steamed new potatoes and Waldorf salad for dinner. Breakfast features an assortment of hot and cold dishes and fruit, lunch is a tasty hot dish with cold meats and salad available and there’s plenty of comforting baking on offer for sweet treats – ginger bread, banana loaf, sticky date pudding and blueberry muffins, to name a few.
Good table manners are important and will be encouraged, as will punctuality at the start of mealtimes. Following the philosophy of the living areas, girls will rotate tables at regular intervals to ensure all boarders have the chance to get to know others.
Fairholme College Boarding House is proud of the care given to each girl who calls it ‘home’.
This support and nurturing comes firstly from our dedicated, professional and experienced staff, and also from the other boarders themselves. Older girls support younger girls in the ‘Big Sister’ buddy system that has yielded many lasting friendships built on trust and time.
Boarding is a very special time in a girl’s life. We are keenly aware that while a girl lives at the Boarding House, their every experience, both challenging and rewarding alike, contributes to the greater fabric of their years spent growing into a young woman.
As such, our core network of the:
are thorough and intentional in helping the girls adjust to their new situation and environment, not only in their early days as a boarder but for each of their years under our care.
The main focus of our dedicated, experienced and professional staff is to provide the highest level of care to each individual girl. The wellbeing of our students, staff and community is our priority.
Pastoral Care in the Boarding House is intentional and aims to enable each girl to feel connected and develop a sense of belonging in their ‘home’ at the College.
Relations between all members of the boarding community, amongst the girls and with the staff are based on respect and trust and many lifelong friendships are formed. A restorative approach is used in dealing with all matters of conflict.
The vertical year levels on every floor and at dinner tables reflect the pastoral group structure at the College. A Pastoral Care committee operates in the Boarding House and implements initiatives promoting the wellbeing of each girl including the ‘big sister’ program, where older boarders support and mentor a new boarder during their first year.
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