Term 3 has got off to a busy start with Year 12 girls returning early to sit their trial examinations. They approached these with focus and determination and are now working hard on what is their final full term with us. As always after a break, it was wonderful to see everyone back in house, to hear of their holidays and to have the house filled with squeals of joy at seeing friends for the first time in three weeks!

The girls returned to the boarding house excited for our newly refurbished gym to be open for use. This project has been almost twelve months in the making, with the girls being surveyed last year about the gym and what they would like to see available for them to use. Based on this, we have freshly painted the space, included some plant life and have three Pilates reformers, new weights/dumbells/kettleballs, hip and leg thrust machines and also a stair master. The girls are certainly making use of the new equipment to keep fit both physically and mentally.

Preparations are well underway for the Boarders Fashion parade on Friday 15th August. We have been overwhelmed with donations from our boarding family but also the wider South Australian community. Everything is in place for a fantastic night to support the Bhadaure School in Nepal and the girls have some amazing local brands to showcase. We will be joined on the night with a group of boys from St Peter’s College to assist with the modelling. Ticket sales will close this Friday, so make sure, if you are intending to come, that you grab your ticket at: trybooking.com/DCMRS

We have welcomed new staff in the boarding house this term, Ms Jo Winter has joined us as a boarding supervisor, Ms Bhaavya Arora as a Mathematics/Science tutor and we welcomed back from a term away, Ms Emma Lane. We had a productive day of staff training prior to the girls return, with staff completing a Fire Safety course. This training covered essentials around managing fire emergencies and also the correct use of fire extinguishers. Great training but one we hope we never have to use!

Last week I attended the Isolated Children’s Parents Association of Australia (ICPA), National Conference, which was held here in Adelaide. The mission of this organisation is to advocate for equitable access to education for all geographically isolated children across Australia. This group do an amazing job in advocating to our lawmakers, boarding representative groups but also in providing an invaluable support network to each other in the challenges they face in educating their children from remote distances.

Carolyn Matthews
Head of Boarding