Boarding Schools Expo Australia

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Blog – Homesickness

Torie Burton

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Fast-tracking tolerance & independence Like it is for any young person starting a new school a long way from home, the year has been a mix of excitement and homesickness for Torie Burton, a Year 7 boarder at Pymble Ladies’ College in Sydney. Staying active seems to have been the key to both enjoying the…

Georgia Porteous: message to my younger boarder self

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Georgia Porteous recently graduated from Kinross Wolaroi School. A boarder from Dubbo since Year 7, she was excited about boarding school for several years prior to starting. So much so, some were worried boarding may not live up to her high expectations. She looks back over the past six years of her boarding life to…

Jodie Crowe: boarding is an adjustment for everyone

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Living 50km north of Moree, Jodie and Andrew Crowe had discussed the idea of boarding school before the first of their six children arrived. It was something they felt was right for them but would take some adjustment as each child left home. As for choosing what schools would best suit their children, it was…

Prudence Brosnan: opportunities and sisters

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Prudence Brosnan is one of the Boarding House captains who co-leads the St Margaret’s sisterhood living on campus. She hopes to inspire, motivate and encourage her fellow ‘sisters’ to take full advantage of their St Margaret’s boarding experience and all of the opportunities available. From Thallon in South West Queensland, Prudence had to adjust to…

Eloise Wilson: growing through boarding

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Year 8 student at Pymble Ladies College, Eloise Wilson of Narromine is a most composed and eloquent young woman. She sat down with Boarding Schools Expo’s Kim V. Goldsmith recently to share her experience of being a boarder. What has boarding been like for you? I was definitely a bit homesick at the start. But…

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…

Final Week of Preparation

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You may be thinking about managing your child’s homesickness, but before homesickness sets in there will be a wave of other emotions experienced before you set off for boarding school. Excitement, anticipation, nervousness are just a few that both parents and children may feel. Children take cue from their parents. If parents are relaxed, soothing,…

Tackling Homesickness

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What do a Spanish A-League footballer, a British actor, an Argentine-based charity worker, and an Olympic gold-winning rower have in common? Homesickness. It’s no surprise that this has been our most popular topic on our blog, because it is felt by not just children but by parents too. My 29-year-old daughter phoned me just last…

What to include in a care package

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Now that our students have had a few weeks to settle in, they will start to think about home – particularly if they are at a school where they don’t have any free weekends for the first few weeks. A care package is the answer. Care packages don’t need to be lavish. They are just…

That sinking feeling – Dealing with homesickness

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When we’re in the thick of the summer holidays, it can seem like an eternity until the school year starts again. Then one day the children are shipped off and parents are left with a ringing in their ears that was once filled with the noise of the kids. And it’s not just us parents…

Post-Holiday Tips for Boarders

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For many boarders, returning to school after the Easter break will be tough. It’s common for homesickness to come and go for the first couple of terms when children are tired and on their own or when they’ve just spoken to their parents on the phone. Sometimes they are having a great time, making new…

Dealing with homesicknes – part 2

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Introducing our guest blogger: Mrs Judy Duffy, current Head of Boarding for Kambala Girls’ School in Sydney. We know its getting to that tricky time in Term Two, where the newness of everything has worn off and boarders can start getting a bit homesick and holidays seem far away.  We asked Mrs Duffy to share…

Dealing with homesickness – Part One

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Homesickness affects people in different ways and often at different times. Sometimes it’s fleeting, other times it can hang around for a while. Everyone experiences it at one point or another and it is completely normal. But it can lead you to be tearful, upset, grumpy, moody and off your food. You can feel like…