‘Boarding saves so much time’: Why city student Sabine chose to live at school

May 19, 2023 journo

When Sabine Walton enrolled at a boarding school in Normanhurst three years ago almost all the girls in her shared dorm room were from the state’s north-west.

“Our family home is in the city, so I definitely stood out among the boarders who are mostly from farms and regional towns,” says Sabine, whose family home is in Dulwich Hill, about a 50-minute drive in peak hour from the all-girls private school.

Year 10 boarding students Sabine Walton (left), from Sydney’s inner west, and Sophia Terry, from Bowral, in a dormitory at Loreto Normanhurst.Credit: Louise Kennerley

“It was daunting at first. I definitely could have been a day girl, but boarding saves so much time commuting,” she says.

The year 10 student at Loreto Normanhurst in Sydney’s north-west is one of about 5900 boarding students across the state. They include about 1000 students whose families are from metropolitan areas but are enrolled in boarding schools.

Australian Boarding Schools Association chief executive Richard Stokes said city-dwelling parents who opt to send their children to boarding school – either as weekly or full-time boarders – are attracted by the lack of travel time and the extra academic support that schools can provide with supervised study time.

“Especially in year 11 and 12, boarding provides great structure for kids and that study time with tutors or homework helpers,” he said.

Year 10 boarding students Sophia Terry (Bowral), Mia Wallace (Tamworth), Sabine Walton, and Sophia Lampe (Narrabri) at Loreto Normanhurst.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Across Australia there are about 20,490 boarding students and, while the number of boarding schools has grown from about 150 a decade ago to about 200 last year, enrolments have remained consistent since 2012. The impact of the pandemic meant international boarding student numbers halved and are yet to recover, said Stokes.

“International students are just not returning as energetically as we would have hoped,” he said, adding that three boarding schools in Victoria and Tasmania were forced to close in the past three years when overseas students disappeared.

There are 47 boarding schools in NSW, most being high-fee private schools that charge up to about $73,000 for boarding and tuition at schools such as Kambala and King’s. At the co-educational Red Bend Catholic College, in the state’s Central West, fees are about $25,000 to board in the senior school.

The NSW state president of the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association, Tanya Mitchell, said the cost of boarding school was now “out of the realms” of what most families could afford.

Mitchell said of three public boarding schools in regional NSW, which generally charge about $13,000 for the year, two are co-educational and one is an academically selective all-boys school in the state’s north-west. “Especially for families from the north-west of the state, there are no public all-girls boarding options. And some fees are making it difficult if families want or need a boarding option.

“Families are telling us they really would like that public all-girls boarding school option,” she said.

But in Sydney, schools including Loreto Normanhurst and Knox Grammar, both of which charge upwards of $60,000 for tuition and boarding, principals claim that demand for living on campus is on the rise. At Loreto, where there are about 200 boarders, the school is planning a $130 million redevelopment that will include a new six-storey boarding house.

Knox Grammar principal Scott James said most boarders at the all-boys school were from rural NSW or overseas. “Even though boarding is declining in some countries, there is still demand from parents, and from families with current day students wanting to change to boarding,” he said. “It generally reflects the busyness of parents.”

All-boys St Joseph’s College in Hunters Hill was a boarding-only school until about 25 years ago, with more than 900 students, principal Michael Blake said.

“With numbers declining, the school began to enrol day boys to remain viable. The school now opens to day students with extracurricular activities until 8pm,” he said.

About half of the 1000 students at St Joseph’s are boarders, many from Dubbo, Hunters Hill, Tamworth, Gladesville and Mudgee. “But there are boarders from Hunters Hill too … there are some whose bed at home is less than 100 metres from their bed in the dorms,” Blake said.

When Sabine started at Loreto in year 7, she was just one of two boarders who were from the city. “We now have girls from the Central Coast area, and even the inner city from Roseville and Paddington.”

“I enjoy having the independence; the only downside is homesickness, but I go home most weekends, which makes it easier,” she said.

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