Message from the Principal

Celebrating National Boarding Week

As National Boarding Week is celebrated across the country, this is a fitting moment to acknowledge the unique contribution boarders make and to show empathy with our Boarding community at Westminster.

Most of our Boarding families make the difficult emotional and financial decision to send their children to Boarding School. Educational resources in regional areas often cannot provide the vast array of opportunities that a Boarding school like Westminster can. Like all our families, Boarding parents strive to give their children the best education possible, but to do so their children must leave home, some at the tender age of 12. Boarding becomes their home away from home, and their fellow boarders an extended family.

Boarders, with their resilience, emotional fortitude and can-do attitude, play a vital role in shaping the culture of Westminster – something they have done instinctively since the first day of Westminster School in 1961. With 179 boarders currently in residence – including third-generation boarders and children whose parents met while boarding at Westminster – Boarding life has always been a distinct and valued part of our School’s identity.

Our boarders and Boarding community enrich the School experience for all. Friendships are forged between boarders and day students. The sharing of experiences, life and perspectives, along with the sense of connection across different backgrounds, contributes to a culture of belonging that defines the Westminster experience.

National Boarding Week also presents an important opportunity to acknowledge and empathise with the very real challenges many Boarding families are currently facing. Much of South Australia, and parts of Victoria and New South Wales, are experiencing the impact of severe drought, placing enormous strain on communities across the country.

To those Westminster families facing these challenges, please know you remain in our thoughts, and our community stands ready to support your child and assist you from afar.

Thank you to all who have contributed to the spirit of National Boarding Week. It has been a meaningful and insightful time of reflection and celebration of all that Boarding brings to Westminster.

Warm regards,

Simon Shepherd

Principal