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Boarding L AUREN KENNEDY DIRECTOR OF BOARDING
Within the Boarding House, Hopetoun Hall, there are many examples of our College theme, ‘In Unity We Serve’. We have sixteen Year 12 boarders in the Boarding House this year, including a Prefect and Captain. All Year 12 boarders have had leadership training to prepare them for their important senior positions in the House. Together these girls work on, and promote, House initiatives, as well as being fine role models for all boarders. Our 2017 Boarding Prefect, Tegan Cavallari, has prepared a report on one of the initiatives held this year: “As a current Year 12 student who commenced at Hopetoun Hall in Year 8, I can say that throughout my time at boarding school, I have had countless opportunities to partake in a multitude of new, challenging and exciting experiences. As a Boarding House of up to 40 girls, we all share a close bond with one another and twice a year, enjoy what we call ‘Closed Weekends’. From visiting the Zoo to admiring the sand sculptures in Geelong, Closed Weekends never fail to entertain and involve each and every boarder while providing us with chances to see and experience sites of Melbourne which we wouldn’t usually have the opportunity to. This year, our Closed Weekend began after an early wake up call, as we all boarded the bus and took off to the Queen Victoria Market. We all loved exploring the market and looking at each of the items for sale, and for some boarders, having previously lived outside of Victoria, this was their first time visiting this iconic place. After a morning of shopping, we again boarded the bus, but this time we were going to St Kilda. We were all very keen to put our bathers on and go paddle boarding! With an instructor by our side, we got to spend hours paddling through the sea; first sitting down, then up to our knees, and finally we stood up.
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I have had countless opportunities to partake in a multitude of new, challenging and exciting experiences.
This didn’t last long – after about 60 seconds of standing up, more than half of us had already fallen in! Following this, we were all treated to fish and chips on the beach; the perfect end to an all-round wonderful weekend. As Boarding Prefect, I’ve come to appreciate and be thankful for the opportunities that Closed Weekends at the Boarding House provide for all boarders!”