Boarding Schools Expo Australia

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Blog – Boarding Schools

The changing face of contemporary boarding: Part 1

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The days of ice-cold showers in open area bathrooms, unidentifiable food, military-style dormitories with regulation bedspreads (hospital corners, please) and white sheets stiff as boards with starch, are long gone in Australian boarding schools. Along with banishing the austere living conditions of decades past, went the idea that boarding was just a place to live…

Mel Scolari: happy schools mean happy children

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Mel and Ado Scolari of Narromine are parents of three children aged between 12 and 19, who have been or are currently at boarding schools in Sydney. They went into the process of choosing schools with a very clear idea of what they were looking for. Kim V. Goldsmith caught up with Mel to talk about…

Taking the fear out of finding a school

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It sounds daunting and expensive, and while that may be so, think of the prospects it offers our children. I was a boarding school child and yes, I was miserable and homesick at times, but there was so much I learned…not that I thought so at the time. Largely, I learned to be resilient by…

The process of settling into the new school year (Part 2)

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The first month of the new school year is almost at an end and before the term gallops away we look at part 2 of our Q&A with ex-boarder (Kinross Wolaroi School, 2014), Kate Ponder, we talk more about some of the issues unique to boarding, that arise for some children in those first few weeks…

The process of settling into the new school year (Part 1)

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Our communications specialist at Boarding Schools Expo, Kim V. Goldsmith, is an ex-boarder of Ravenswood School for Girls (1987) who clearly remembers her boarding days, particularly that first year and the first weeks of the new school year. She caught up with Kate Ponder of Louth (pictured), ex- boarder of Kinross Wolaroi School (2014) and…

The Ultimate Packing List for Boarding School

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It’s back to school time already and often it’s hard to know what to pack for your child if it’s their first time at boarding school. Often it’s the little things that aren’t listed on the official school packing list, which can be the most useful We have compiled this list after speaking with a…

What to pack in care packages

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Before long, parents will be packing up their children to return to boarding school after the winter holidays. So what else goes into their bags to help them settle back in after the winter break? Ugg boots and a warm doona are the top of many boarders’ lists of must-pack items. Others stock up on…

One size doesn’t fit all

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When choosing the right school, it’s not like buying clothes – one sizes doesn’t necessarily fit all and you can’t take a few home and return the ones that don’t fit. A parent at one of our exhibiting schools told us this week about how well her son had settled in at his new school….

Don’t forget about the parents’ needs

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We have spoken to lots of parents recently about the issues they consider when choosing a boarding school to meet the needs of their family. While the Boarding Expo team advises parents to start by thinking about all the aspects of the school experience and consider what is important to their child – whether his…