Boarding Support

Health care

Our boarders have access to 24-hour medical care on campus. Our Health Centre is located within the boarding house, with day nurses on duty during weekdays and on call at the weekend. A night supervisor is on duty from 10.00pm to 6.30am every night to ensure that there is always a staff member available to care for our girls. A doctor also visits the boarding house each week and support is available to take girls to off-campus appointments. There are several other on-campus therapy services available to our boarders.

Academic support

Prep time, or study time, is held from 6.00pm to 8.00pm, Monday to Thursday. It provides our boarders an opportunity to complete homework, as well as additional background reading, revision, and study for tests and exams. St Mary’s employs a Boarding Academic Support Co-ordinator, who helps our boarding students with their academic endeavours and manages the tutoring, study skills and prep programs within the boarding house. She is available to support our girls during prep time every night. Tutors are available throughout prep time and can also be booked for private tuition. St Mary’s has more than 20 tutors available to support our boarders. 

A ‘Quiet Time’ session is conducted every Sunday from 2.00pm to 4.00pm, providing our girls another opportunity to study and prepare for the school week. Tutors are available to the girls during ‘Quiet Time’. 

Our boarding parents are invited to liaise with teachers to discuss their daughter’s progress at specially designated Boarding Parent/Teacher Interviews.

Beyond Boarding Program

Our Beyond Boarding Program ensures that our boarders leave school with the necessary skills and tools to flourish in the world beyond St Mary’s gates. Some life skills covered in the Beyond Boarding Program include cyber safety, advanced study skills, financial literacy, learning to drive initiatives/road safety, mindfulness, yoga, healthy eating, positive relationships and friendships, writing a resume, self-defence, basic cooking and laundry skills, and first aid. The skills taught in the Beyond Boarding Program create a life curriculum that helps our boarders begin life after school feeling confident and prepared.

A family approach

Parents and carers are valued members of our boarding family. We invite parents and carers to join us for a meal whenever they are in Perth and organise regular functions and events for our boarding parents and carers. Boarding parents also receive a weekly update from our Head of Boarding to help them stay connected with their daughter’s life in Anne Symington House. 

In case you were wondering, our boarding house has a parents’ flat, which is available for boarding parents to rent for up to four days.