Outstanding Contribution to National Boarding Week Award Winners

2025 - NEW ZEALAND

BRUCE HOUSE - ST KENTIGERN'S COLLEGE

This year’s theme, ‘Threads of Connection’, was beautifully embraced by the Bruce House community, weaving together relationships, shared experiences, and community engagement across a vibrant week of activities. 

Each activity was carefully curated to foster meaningful relationships among boarders, staff, and the wider school community (see attached document). 

Throughout the week, Bruce House exemplified ‘Threads of Connection’ by strengthening bonds within the boarding house and with the wider school community, showcasing the vibrancy of boarding life through inclusive, engaging activities and empowering student voice and leadership, ensuring that every boarder felt valued and connected. 

2025 - AUSTRALIA

FAIRHOLME COLLEGE

At Fairholme Boarding, they embraced this year’s National Boarding Week theme, Threads of Connection, with enthusiasm and heart. Over the past 18 months, their focus has been on cultivating a culture defined by connection, belonging, and the belief that every student matters. This year’s theme aligned perfectly with their ongoing purpose and provided a meaningful opportunity to strengthen ties between their boarders, their families, and their day school community. 

At Fairholme, they often speak of their McLaren Tartan—the warp and weft that symbolises the strength, beauty and connectedness of their community. From this, the phrase “the threads that bind our Fairholme hearts” was born, capturing the essence of what it means to belong here. This year, National Boarding Week truly brought those threads to life, celebrating the friendships, families, and meaningful connections that make boarding so special. It was a week filled with gratitude, laughter, and moments that will stay with them—woven together to form lasting memories and a deeper sense of belonging. 

2024

THE ROCKHAMPTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL

The Rockhampton Grammar School is a Boarding School and is a community that embraces and celebrates its Boarding “status”. Boarding is the very heart of our great School. Each week we celebrate our Boarders, their journey and their experience with us.

National Boarding Week just “turns up” the spotlight on our Boarders. For us it was a week long celebration of all the amazing opportunities provided to our RGS Boarders.

The week commenced with a “first”. All Central Queensland Boarding Schools were invited to attend a special day of activities at our incredible Ritamada campus to mark the commencement of National Boarding Week. Almost 400 boarders were in attendance, for an opportunity to connect and reconnect with friends and fellow boarders. A special moment was captured on the beach front, when we all came together to spell out the letters “CQ”.

One of our key goals for the week was to bring our boarders and day students together. Several events were designed to achieve this, which included our “Pancake Treat”, which welcomed all students to school on the Monday morning, “Just Dance” in the Space Frame at lunchtime, bringing a palpable energy to the School and our inaugural “Bring A Friend To Boarding” event, where our boarders invited a day school student to “be a boarder” for an afternoon. There was so much more in the week, both as a whole cohort and individually in dorms. It was a great week to be a part of.

For us, the importance, was to celebrate being boarders, being a part of the whole school and being a part of our Central Queensland Boarding family. It was a fabulous week and it was easy to justify the School’s nomination. Our whole School Community deserves recognition for the School’s National Boarding Week celebration.

2023

ST JOSEPH'S NUDGEE COLLEGE

National Boarding Week has turned into somewhat of a festival at Nudgee! Each day throughout the week, we mark this special occasion in a slightly different way. In doing this, we attempt to pay homage to all of the wonderful components that make up our great community. In addition, in conjunction with other schools, we join in the wider celebration of boarding.

The activities included:

• Friday - Evening on the Green Saturday - Home Fixtures Sunday - Boarders' Mass
• Sunday - Presentation of the Photo Competition Winners
• Monday - Whole Village BBQ Tuesday - Boarding Assembly Tuesday - Singing Practice Wednesday - Bathersby Cup Thursday - SEQ Prefects Dinner Thursday - Rock Around the Clock
• Sunday - Year 7 Dinner at the Brealys’

The week was a resounding success and left all members of the community, boys, families and staff, feeling grateful to be a part of Nudgee Boarding. More broadly, it left all of us grateful for the opportunities that boarding education provides for all who are involved.