St Joseph’s College is unique among Australian schools because of its strong commitment to boarding education.
With around 50 per cent of Joeys students enrolled as boarders (either weekly or full), the College is one of the largest boarding schools in the Southern Hemisphere. Boarding and day students share fully in the life of the College and there is no separation based on enrolment – all in the College community are united and work together as one.
There are two different boarding options for students:
Weekly boarding students leave St Joseph’s to the care of their parents after they have completed their full sporting commitment on Saturday. They return to the College Sunday evening or Monday morning. This is an excellent option for students who live close enough to the College to travel home each weekend. Many weekly boarders live local to the Hunters Hill area and have chosen the boarding option because of the opportunities it provides.
Full boarding students stay at the College seven nights a week during term time. Full boarders are allowed overnight leave with their family any Saturday night during term, provided parents have submitted a leave request.
A range of enjoyable weekend activities are arranged for boarders, including movie nights, trips to sporting events, beach visits and barbecues.
Each Year 12 boarder has his own comfortable study-bedroom, with access to shared relaxation and recreation areas. The Year 12 bedrooms, bathrooms and boarding area underwent a complete refurbishment in 2009 and provide students with modern, functional spaces for both living and studying. Borders in Years 9, 10 and 11 live in well-equipped, purpose-built residential blocks. Junior boarders (Years 7-8) live in the main building, where dormitories underwent a full refurbishment at the start of 2014.
Because a significant number of students live at the College full-time, and others are present well beyond the limits of a normal school day, St Joseph’s is a second home for all its students in a very real way. A wide variety of young men, individually different and from a range of diverse backgrounds and geographic locations, learn to live, pray, work and play together.
It is very common for day boys and their families to express interest in finding out if a boarding education at St Joseph’s is a suitable option for them. To help answer this question, St Joseph’s offers a three-week trial boarding program for day boys.
Current day boys that would like to experience boarding life at the College are able to do so for three weeks, free of boarding fees. During this time the boy and his family will be able to assess if boarding is the right option for them.
For a boarding trial to be approved, College boarding staff must be satisfied that the individual student has the capacity to settle well into boarding and will potentially benefit from the experience. Staff and the family will then decide on a suitable three-week period for the boarding trial to take place. This will be dependent on space being available in the relevant section of the College.
At then end of the trial the boy can choose to return to his status as a day student, having his questions about boarding life answered. Alternatively, if the student, his family and College staff agree boarding is a suitable option, the College will facilitate a change in enrolment from day student to boarder. This change in enrolment would take place at a time that is practical and suitable for both the family and the College.
If you would like your son to participate in the boarding experience please email the Head of Boarding, Mr John Reading, on jreading@joeys.org
In your email please indicate three different three-week periods for the trial to take place (as your first preference may not always be available). Please also indicate the boarding option you would like your son to trial (e.g. full boarding, weekly boarding returning Sunday or weekly boarding returning Monday morning).
Twitter