From the Director of Boarding
Dear TGS Boarding families,
It is hard to believe that we are past the halfway mark of Term 1. I commend our boarders for the manner in which they have given their best in all their endeavours and the boarding staff who look after them have my gratitude as well. It is clear that our staff know the boys in their Houses and provide an exceptional level of care.
The Boarding Parents' Drinks on the Lawn is mentioned throughout this edition of The Boarders' Telegraph, and it was a wonderful afternoon that was enjoyed by all. The credit must go to Kym Wright who was adamant that we needed to have our own specific boarding get together and that the fourth weekend of the term was the right timing. For the parents who drove hours to get to TGS and share the afternoon with our boarding community, the effort was greatly appreciated. I know that all our boarding staff enjoyed the chance to gather and develop those relationships which make our boarding program so special.
Whilst the afternoon was mainly for socialising, I did have the opportunity to address the gathering and once again outline the priorities for TGS Boarding in 2023. As the academic tradition of Toowoomba Grammar School dictates, our primary focus must be upon supporting our boarders in their studies. Alongside this, our boarding staff will be engaging with the boys to develop their character and there will be a variety of opportunities for them to learn strategies and develop habits that promote wellbeing. I am confident that by doing so, your sons will have a positive boarding experience, so that ultimately, they will graduate with the skills to be independent, well balanced, and young men of good character.
Over the course of this week, I was able to conduct meetings with all of the Senior boarders in year level meetings. The meetings were an opportunity for me to share these priorities with the boarders themselves so that they can hopefully understand the outcome we are trying to achieve when changes are made to the Boarding Program. I have enjoyed collaborating with the boys as the questions that were asked, and the discussions we had, reaffirmed to me the importance of student voice and being able to get feedback about ideas.
One idea that I am eager to trial with our boarders, is having Tuesday and Wednesday evenings as a ‘central’ prep night during the assessment period. In doing so, I hope to address the desire expressed by boarders, and by parents, that there is more access to specialist help from teachers. As the remainder of Term 1 concludes, it will be interesting to witness how this trial progresses and if it is more effective to concentrate our resources in the one classroom block with all the boarders in it, rather than dispersing the resources across the six boarding houses.
To conclude, I would like to remind you that there have been some changes to the Boarders' Recreational Activities for Term 1. These mainly have to do with Marist Ashgrove changing the day of their touch carnival to Sunday, 19 March. This has then resulted in the Reds match at Suncorp being taken out of the program. Instead, our boarders will be able to watch the return of the Western Clydesdales to the Q Cup on Sunday, 12 March, with our Reds supporters having to wait until Term 2 and the Reds vs Blues match to show their support. There is a link to the revised program available to download here.
Kind regards,
Nick Byron
Director of Boarding
