Anne Symington House is designed to be your home away from home. The boarding house is in the heart of the St Mary’s campus and is the hub of all things boarding.
St Mary’s prides itself on maintaining modern and contemporary facilities within Anne Symington House and is proud to accommodate all boarding facilities under the one roof.
These include:
There are six bedroom wings within the boarding house, each one accommodating girls from Years 7 to 12. Younger girls share a bedroom, while girls in Year 12 enjoy the privacy of having their own room. Bedrooms are bright and modern with reverse cycle air conditioning, individual study areas, and wireless internet connectivity.
The girls enjoy spacious common rooms and large recreation areas. To enhance the girls’ school and recreational life balance, they also have access to a number of school facilities including the tennis and basketball courts, the 50m swimming pool and diving pool, and wide open spaces within our large, tree-lined school campus, surrounded by unspoilt bush.
We are blessed to be only a seven-minute walk to the pristine beach and a ten-minute walk to Karrinyup Shopping Centre.
Boarders also have after-hours access to the library, IT centre, music and fitness centres.
Attending boarding school is a big step in the life of any young woman. At St Mary’s, our aim is to help your daughter settle in quickly and we have a range of programs available to make the transition as easy as possible. Our welcome gifts and positive quotes create a homely environment that helps the girls quickly adjust to living away from home.
Anne Symington House has a dedicated team of staff committed to meeting the pastoral needs of each boarder, which begins with our Head of Boarding, Mrs Tina Campbell, who lives on campus with her family, and is a member of ABSA (the Australian Boarding Schools Association).
Each year group has their own house mother who works closely with each girl and her family to develop a close relationship and an in-depth understanding of each girl in their care.
In addition to their ‘Big Sister’, girls are mentored by the girls in their wing. Anne Symington House is divided into six wings, each with a Wing Captain in Year 12. Accommodating girls from all year levels in each wing provides a wonderful sense of community and support, especially for the younger girls, and helps to create a sense of family, which is so important to us here at St Mary’s.
The boarding house also maintains active lines of communication with parents and regularly asks for feedback to ensure that we provide a first-class level of care for your daughter.
A Look Inside Program
Helping your daughter become familiar with St Mary’s begins when she is in Year 4 and she joins the Look Inside program. A highlight of the program is the annual A Look Inside Day for all girls in Years 4 to 6 who are enrolled as future boarders. A Look Inside Day gives our future boarders a chance to familiarise themselves with the campus, and, more importantly, connects them with other girls who will also be joining the boarding house in future years. Activities during A Look Inside Day include attending fun introductory classes, having lunch in the boarders' dining room, and attending the Lower School Production in our Performing Arts Centre.
Big Sister: Little Sister Program
The Big Sister: Little Sister program ensures that each Year 7 and 8 student is assigned to an older girl who acts as a guide/friend and mentor to her and supports her as she begins her boarding journey with us.
Perth Pals Program
When your daughter is in Year 6, St Mary’s starts welcoming your whole family into the boarding community. This starts with the allocation of a Perth Pal, a day girl, who, together with her family, will write to your family, introducing herself and offering to assist you as you begin the transition to becoming a boarding parent. The program looks not only to connect the girls, but also their parents into the wider school community.
Health Care
St Mary’s provides 24-hour access to medical care for all boarders. The Health Centre is located within the boarding house, with day nurses on duty during weekdays, and on call at the weekend, and a night nurse on duty overnight from 10.00pm to 6.00am. A doctor visits the boarding house each week, and a courier is available to take girls to appointments off campus. A physiotherapist and a beautician also visit the boarding house weekly to support the girls.
Maintaining Connections With Home
We understand that communication with your daughter is incredibly important whilst she is away from home. We actively encourage regular contact with family and friends and the Boarding House Administrator and other boarding staff are always available to girls and parents throughout the day and evening. Girls have access to a number of telephones as well as their own email address, and most girls have their own mobile phones. There is also access to SKYPE to communicate with home, for the boarders at St Mary's, whose parents welcome this form of communication.
Prep time (or study time) is held from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, Monday to Thursday and is intended to provide the opportunity for homework to be done, additional background reading, revision, and study for tests and exams.
Tutors are available throughout prep time and can also be booked for private tuition from 8.30pm to 9.00pm. St Mary’s has more than 20 tutors available to the boarders.
Quiet time is also held each Sunday from 2.00pm to 4.00pm and is another opportunity for the girls to study and prepare for the school week with tutor support again available for the girls.
Our Boarding Academic Support Teacher, who specialises in Mathematics, is dedicated to assisting the boarding students with their academic endeavours, and manages the tutoring, study skills and prep programmes within the boarding house.
In order to ease the girls into the academic expectations of Senior School, support is introduced once they begin the Look Inside programme in Year 4.
Beyond Boarding is an exciting new initiative, exclusive to St Mary’s boarders from years 7 through to 12.
Specific to each term, this specialised program aims to ensure that the boarders living at St Mary’s leave school with a unique set of skills to prepare them more fully for life outside our school gates. ‘Beyond Boarding’ offers a range of excellent activities, events and presentations pertinent to each year group.
Life skills covered in ‘Beyond Boarding’ include cyber safety, sewing, personal hygiene, advanced study skills, learning to drive initiatives/safety on the road, mindfulness, yoga, healthy eating, positive relationships and friendships, table manners, writing a resume, financial literacy, gratitude, service learning opportunities, self defence, basic cooking and laundry skills and first aid. Additional practical options such as barista training and RSA courses are also available to our boarders, along with specialised university pathway and TISC sessions for Year 12 students.
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