The last few weeks in the Boarding House have been busy with lots of events.

Our Year 12s finally all departed the house last week and there were lots of tears and hugs; they will be very much missed by us all. Although, a number of them have been popping in to say hello!

We have announced our in-house leaders to their roles for 2026 and will work closely with our House Captains, Bea and Mimi, to support them in their role of leading the house.

Year 7–10 Boarding House Coordinators: Sophia Holmes, Khloe Lam and Stacey Major
Year 11/12 Boarding House Coordinators: Polly Matters, Greta Pratt and Anna Rasheed
Events/Celebrations Coordinators: Annabelle Basham and Whitney Johns
Activities/Events Coordinators: Lucy Allen and Indy Holman

Our new leaders will be hard at work over the remainder of the term, helping with key events, including our orientation sleepover for our group of 2026 new girls, our final Boarders’ Birthday dinner for the year, and planning events for the start of next year. There is a lot of work to be done, and the girls have lots of great ideas and enthusiasm which stands the house in good stead for next year.

Our 2025 House Captains, Annabel and Ella, as part of their leadership plan for the year, decided to introduce family groups to which girls were allocated when they arrived in the boarding house, and to run a family group competition over the course of the year. Families would compete against each other in competitions for points and the family with the most points would be awarded the Mary Home House Cup in Term 4. It was very exciting to announce our inaugural winners of the Cup, who were the Dutton family. We held a special supper to celebrate this, with an enormous red cake being enjoyed by everyone! Huge congratulations to all the members of the Dutton family on their win, and equally to Annabel and Ella for creating and bringing to fruition such a wonderful addition to our boarding house.

On Sunday, 9 November, we hosted our Thank You Afternoon Tea on Memorial Lawns for families who have helped our boarders out over the year. It may have been with transport, a meal, words of encouragement, or a place to stay. We all enjoyed some spring sun, great company, food and drinks and the opportunity to say thank you to the amazing families who support our girls.

Last Sunday night we hosted our orientation sleepover for our new 2026 boarders, where we welcomed eight new boarders in Years 9 and 10. Our House Captains, Bea and Mimi, put together a fantastic evening of events to help orient the girls to life in the boarding house. They enjoyed meeting their new family group and their Buddies and Big Sisters. A friendly netball competition was held, a scavenger hunt helped them get familiar with the various parts of the house, and of course a trip to Yochi completed the night. The girls got used to handing their tech up at night and understanding emergency procedures! They then enjoyed their morning at day school before heading home.

I am very pleased to announce that the 2025 Boarders Fashion Parade raised an astonishing figure of $14,958. A huge thank you must go to Alice Duncan for all her hard work in sourcing the brands which were modelled on the night and the donation of items which were raffled or auctioned, and of course our auctioneer, Joe Murdoch. The donation of items which we were able to sell all contributed to the fantastic result. The girls and St Peters boarders were brilliant in modelling the garments, and the girls who sold raffle tickets, showed people to their seats, and helped set up and pack up all contributed to the success of the event. To the staff who worked away in the background, assisting with the organising, make-up, getting the runs on stage, and selling drinks, it was truly a whole-house event. To the Wilderness community who continues to support the night in raising valuable funds for the Bhaduare School, it is just an amazing result. We were supported by an incredible array of South Australian families and businesses. Thank you to everyone for your contribution to the night and for allowing our boarding community to support another boarding community educating young women.