Boarding, Term 1

These two weeks have flown by; I am amazed at the weather here in Launceston and they say it rains in Tasmania!! Well, as I write this newsletter, I can hear it bucketing down. A big thank you to the parent group for your patience with our current restrictions regarding coming into the Boarding House at the start of Term 1.

I will let you know as soon as it lifts, as a comparison we didn’t think in Western Australia we were really hit by COVID-19 but after talking to my family back in Perth and some mates from my old school, the state is now all wearing masks, the Boarders were sent home for another week, and the teachers are wearing masks as they start the year teaching this week, so it’s in our interest to do best practice when it comes to keeping our children safe.

This year has seen a lot of staff changes and I have been really impressed with the calibre and commitment from all staff. They have been working together to ensure your child is part of a safe, happy, valued and understood environment. We are still very much in a disruptive pandemic and will need to continually monitor that space, this has meant we may still face possible travel restrictions, boarding house closures, tight leave and recreation restrictions as we navigate throughout the year. The ability to be adaptable, flexible and resilient are some of the most important 21st century skills that will help define a person’s success in the world of tomorrow and I have been very impressed with the way our students have handled it. This extends to our parents who have also had to navigate change and have done so with such good grace.

Ash Keatch
Head of Boarding

I have sat in presentations by Dr Donna Cross who is at the forefront of pastoral care research and a revered figure in Western Australia. One of her key messages about the pastoral care and mental health landscape for adolescents is the importance of peers as pastoral carers and how trusted peers generate the most powerful response when a child is in distress.

It is so important that we upskill our older students in mental health first aid, so that they know how to calm a friend in distress, as well as how and when to pass problems on to trusted adults. It also reaffirms to me the advantages of a vertical pastoral care structure whereby older student leaders are more integrated into our boarding system to be there to help guide the younger students on their boarding journey and give them good role models. I have seen this in action this week within our own boarding community and look forward to working in this space.

The first week saw our Boarding “Beating of the Bounds” ritual with Reverend Paul Grayston or “Revy G” as the kids affectionately know him.

As a group we walked around, and the students read a prayer at different significant spots around the campus. One stop was at a lone pine tree which commemorated the tenth anniversary of an ex-boarder, Cpl Richard Atkinsons, since he was killed in Afghanistan from an IED as a Combat Engineer.

We sat down to a formal dinner with the Headmaster and Head of Senior Campus, provided by Scott and his catering crew, and the new boarders were presented with a boarding badge by our Grade 12 Boarding leaders, Sarah and Abraham.

Another event was O week consisting of games each evening, Ms Casson took the reigns of this week and put together activities to help ice break the students, new and returning, into the boarding houses. Ms Durkin’s Team took out the week with her proudly showing that winners are grinners.

TJ opened the Gym to some early risers and had them working up a sweat before breakfast, while on the other side of the oval at night we opened the pool for Niall, David, Davia and Grace to enjoy a dip in the heated pool.

I managed to drive out and see the Grade 7’s on the first day of their camp. It was blowing a stiff breeze, the groups were doing a Trangia lesson on camp cooking and I arrived at dinner time to try a very tasty Spaghetti Bolognese, before leaving them to sleep in their tents.

I am delighted to say REACH is up and running, we had to work through some issues, but we have managed to sync TASS with REACH and can now start to look at improving the movements of our students. We are working with students and staff in this space, to assist parents to be able to understand and use.

Please refer to document here: PRIMER Parent Launceston Grammar

I have had several conversations with various parents over the food here in Boarding. The great thing about our catering company Chartwells is they produce the same menu Australia wide and can slightly modify the menu to suit our needs.

They use ‘smart foods’ which is checked by a nutritionist before menus can be rolled out. We have a high volume of students with various food allergies and I have been impressed with how Scott and his team have adapted to suit their needs.

I am involving the student leadership group sitting down with Scott on a fortnightly basis to discuss our menu to give constructive feedback on both what was great and what did not go down so well with the boarders. The reality is not everyone will be pleased 100 per cent of the time, but they are using a four-week cycle process for the menu.

Please refer to the menu here: Launceston Grammar 2021 Autumn Residential Menu – Dinner Option

I have kicked things off this weekend by visiting Flinders Island with TJ and we were blown away by the size of the Island (not the wind).

It was great catching our Boarding families on the Island and TJ’s comments to me on the way back about how much it has meant for him to see where the boys and girls live ,so he can link lived experiences with what the boys and girls call home when having conversations about what we both experienced.

Community Engagement Team are working with us to ensure you know of our movements and you will receive a flyer when we are near you. If you are in the region when we are visiting, I would love to catch up and see you.

Please feel free to pass on to any prospective families that you may know in the area as we are also available to discuss boarding with them.

My contact details:

AKeatch@lcgs.tas.edu.au or 0403 799 321

I wish everyone a safe and happy fortnight and look forward to catching up with you as we continue our community engagement runs to see you all in your own communities over the term.

The Boarding House Family