NATIONAL BOARDING WEEK 2023

As a boarding school, National Boarding Week is one of the biggest events on the calendar at Nudgee College. It is a celebration of all things Boarding, particularly the people who make up our diverse Boarding community.

While National Boarding Week officially took place from Sunday 14 to Saturday 20 May, Nudgee College extended the celebration, holding Evening on the Green on the Friday before. Dean of Boarding Mr Casey Brealy said Evening on the Green is one of Boarding’s biggest and most significant parent functions, which sees people travel from near and far to gather with fellow Boarding families to eat, drink, mingle and watch the Inter-house Boarding Touch Football competition.

“As always, it was a wonderful event with plenty of Nudgee College love in the air,” he said.

The National Boarding Week celebrations also extended to the Sunday after, with Casey, his wife and daughters hosting the Year 7 cohort for dinner in their backyard.

“This was just a really simple way of us showing them that they are a part of the Nudgee College family,” he said. “This is meant to be a home away from home for them, so it’s important we let them into our lives – having the boys over for dinner is just one way of us doing this.”

From a full Boarding Village barbecue to taking part in Boarding institution Rock Around the Clock, there were activities every day to celebrate the unique things that make up Nudgee College Boarding.

For the first year, Nudgee College hosted a South East Queensland Prefects dinner. This saw Prefects and staff from 11 schools attend a liturgy and share a meal together. Casey said this event was a great opportunity for boarders from different places, different schools and different cultures to get together and share their boarding stories. Additionally, it was a great opportunity for staff to connect and collaborate.

“One of the highlights of National Boarding Week from a whole community point of view was the significant space we occupied at Assembly,” Casey said.

“As well as emphasising that we’re a boarding school and not a school with boarders, it’s really important that our day students hear our boarding stories.

”It helps them to understand the challenges our boys go through, but also the joy that boarding can bring them.

“I often say it’s not only the boarders who benefit from a boarding education – boarders create diversity and can bring with them different ways of thinking. This, in turn, enhances the experience for all of our day students and benefits all within the Nudgee College community.”

At Assembly, Year 12 boarder Luke Cowley said being a boarder at Nudgee College provides many rich opportunities for which he will be forever grateful.

“The mateship that is felt between each and every boarder is like nothing you could ever experience,” he said. “I’m sure the bonds I’ve built here will truly last a lifetime.”

New Year 7 boarder Darcy Livet also spoke at Assembly about his Boarding journey so far, thanking the many staff for creating a home away from home and providing a relaxed and comfortable environment in which to live.

Written by Editor Ms Tiffany Keller