It was lovely to welcome all our girls back to the boarding house after the holiday break. Everyone returned in good spirits and eager to have the term underway. The focus of the first two weeks was in farewelling our gorgeous Year 12 cohort.
They commenced their boarding house farewell with an outing to Friend of Franki in Hyde Park, where they each made a charm bracelet which is one of their farewell gifts from the house. The girls all chose one charm the same, a lock, to signify that they share a common connection. We enjoyed dinner out together and returned to the house in high spirits.
One of our Year 12 boarders, Annika Hancock, exhibited her year-long folio work in the Year 12 Art Show. Her pieces were quite the talking point of the exhibition and reflected all her hard work and efforts over the year.
The Year 12s enjoyed a sleepover on Wednesday night in the green room with sleepover bags and the Barbie movie for entertainment. I'm not sure how much sleeping was done but a good time was had by all! Thursday night, the girls were farewelled by the boarding house. With a spring theme, invited guests, and a special appearance by Mr Manifold, there were beautiful, thoughtful, and heartfelt speeches from the girls to their special Year 12. At the dinner, the girls received their handmade charm bracelets and in keeping with the spring theme, a celebratory bunch of flowers. The night was planned and led by our new House Captains, Bea and Mimi. Annabel and Ella made thoughtful final speeches as the outgoing Captains. Both our old and new Captains did an amazing job on the night.
Whilst the focus has most definitely been on farewelling our Year 12s, there have been activities which the girls have enjoyed over the first two weekends. They enjoyed a Paint and Sip with mocktails, where many fine self-portraits were painted. A group of girls enjoyed a Sunday spring outing to the Adelaide Hills, where they each picked a bunch of flowers for their rooms. It was a lovely outing and a stop at Yochi on the way home made the morning complete! Weekend activities are such an important part of the boarding program and experience and really do help to foster that all-important sense of community.
Last week our Boarding House Captains for 2026 attended a day of leadership training run by the Australian Boarding Schools Association (ABSA). Our new leaders worked their way through the program run by Burn Bright alongside 200 other boarding leaders from not only Australia but also overseas. It was a great opportunity for Bea and Mimi to further develop their leadership skills and to meet with student leaders from around Australia.
This week the Year 12s have been working hard preparing themselves for their upcoming exams. They have been working diligently and with focus and are well placed to do their best. We will all wish them the best of luck as their exams start next week.
This week we also announced the winning family in our inaugural Mary Home House Cup, which was the initiative of this year's Captains, Ella and Annabel. We enjoyed a celebratory supper with the most enormous cake, decorated in red for the winning family: Dutton. Congratulations to Dutton and we are so proud of the lasting legacy that Annabel and Ella have left here at Mary Home House.
Carolyn Matthews
Head of Boarding
