The past few weeks have passed very quickly as everyone has been busy with sporting, academic and life commitments. We all enjoyed an exeat last weekend, which was a great opportunity to spend some time away from our daily routines and enjoy downtime with family and friends. For some members of the house, it was the first time they had been home since the start of the school year.
Our family dinners have continued on Thursday nights, with short, fun competitions held at the conclusion of dinner and points being collected by a number of houses. We have enjoyed a newspaper fashion parade, picking up cotton wool balls with our noses, rolling an Oreo biscuit from our foreheads into our mouths and, this week, we will be sorting M&Ms with no hands. These activities are terrific for bringing the girls together and lifting the mood towards the end of the week.
Our house leaders have been hard at work making plans for National Boarding Week, which will be held early in Term 2. This is an Australia-wide celebration of the unique experience that boarding offers, and our leaders have big plans underway for the week. More to come on that in the near future.
All girls have been busy with their sporting commitments and this week our rowers will face their ultimate challenge of the season with the Head of the River. We wish our rowers all the very best for the regatta and hope their early mornings and busy afternoon schedules will pay dividends.
The Swimming Carnival was a popular event, as always, and our girls were certainly loud and proud when they came onto the pool deck with their chanting, posters and costumes. We were very keen to repeat our winning performance of 2025 in the eagerly anticipated Boarders vs Day Girls annual race. The event was a closely contested lilo paddling challenge, with the day girls narrowly edging us out. It was wonderful to see friendship, camaraderie and community spirit on full display, and the girls are already determined to return next year with a win.
Activities are also a feature of the boarding calendar and we have had a number of them throughout the term. Trips to the Fringe Festival, flower picking and an outdoor cinema night are all planned in the coming weeks.
The Year 12s are acutely aware that they are in the final part of their last Term 1 and are already marking off a number of final experiences on their calendars. They have all been working with focus and determination and are to be congratulated for this, as well as the excellent example they set for the younger girls.
Boarding parents have not been left out of the fun and recently enjoyed a fantastic trip to the Riverland for the annual Boarder Parents Weekend. We kicked the weekend off with a casual dinner at the Renmark Club and the launch of the River Redgum Challenge, which saw teams competing in a number of activities. On Saturday we enjoyed a leisurely boat trip to our lunch destination at an old wool store on the banks of the mighty Murray River, and in the evening a delicious meal and signature cocktails at 23rd St Distillery. The winners of the Redgum Challenge were announced and we are all now looking forward to next year’s event on the Yorke Peninsula.
