“While this is a constant cycle that is hard to avoid, boarding teaches you how to navigate the low periods and ultimately use it as a learning lesson for future experiences.”
We have been boarders since Year 7.
Over the past five years, we have found one of the most valuable lessons that boarding can teach teenage boys is the ability to self-navigate and overcome challenges.
Entering a boarding house is the first time many boarders have stepped away from the comfort and security of their parents and guardians. Although this can be a daunting experience, one of the things that this unfamiliarity creates is the ability to organise yourself. With a larger workload than previous years, a greater number of commitments, and the absence of parents and guardians, you are required to quickly learn the basic skills of organisation. While this may take a while to learn, after a few weeks the boys will be well and truly on top of their daily routine, academic load, and external commitments. Likewise, the unfamiliarity of boarding and the constant challenges high school throws at you will provides boarders with the ability to overcome challenges. During their time in boarding, they will be faced with the highest of highs, and sometimes the lowest of lows.
Boarding also teaches you how to act within a community. Along with their academic and co-curricular load, boarders have to maintain their own personal area while working with their friends to keep their House neat and tidy. Boys work together to make sure multiple essentials to living are maintained. Each morning we empty the bins and then clean the dishes in the evening after prep (homework sessions). Boys are also required to manage their assortment of clothes to ensure the washing within the House runs smoothly. All these shared chores teach you how to work within a community. You learn not only about personal responsibilities, but the importance of working together, sharing the workload and its significance in maintaining a well-functioning community. Considering plan to attend university or get a job, boarding prepares them not only to be self-sustainable beyond school, but how to function within a community. While boarding will come with its challenges, it is a very memorable experience which allows boys to leave Toowoomba Grammar School as men of good character with the strength and resilience to face challenges in life, and knowing the importance of giving back to others.
But the boarding experience offers so much more - boys make lifelong memories and friends that, like their skills, will last and serve them far beyond the School gates.
Fidelis in Omnibus
by Stuart Officer and Alistair McKay - School Prefects and boarders
Latest Blog
Disappointment: A Necessary Part of School Life
Schools are inherently hopeful and happy places. Their natural focus on growth, connectedness and preparing youth for a better future creates an optimistic atmosphere in which ambitions are born. These positive emotions and experiences lay the foundation for our expectations and while these can be highly motivating, they come with a catch: the greater our expectations, the greater the disappointments, too. Disappointment is not a popular feeling. Rightly so, not many of us wish to feel sad,…
Boys and Belonging at TGS
As a boarding master of adolescent boys, my role fundamentally concerns pastoral wellbeing and character development to support a successful academic journey. A positive sense of belonging — where boarders feel safe, supported and heard — is fundamental to an effective boarding environment. As such, I felt there was a distinct connection between the International Boys’ Schools Coalition’s (IBSC) theme for the 2024–25 Action Research Cohort, “Boys and Belonging” and what I believe is best…
Fostering Growth and Resilience
This philosophy is vividly demonstrated through our Junior School MATES program, an initiative designed to equip boys from Prep to Year 6 with the skills they need to thrive both in and out of the classroom. Year 6 leader Hugo Seaby epitomises what the program is all about. As a leader in Stephens House, he explains its importance: “It’s about spending time with the younger boys and learning about honesty, respect, kindness and other attributes like that.” He said that it’s helpful for the…
Preparing for the Future of Work
For months I have been watching the earthworks being undertaken ahead of construction for the new DET Centre at Toowoomba Grammar School with interest. It is hard to miss, given that the Headmaster’s residence, our family home, is right next to the building site. The vibrations can be unsettling, and the noises are constant. However, each day reminds me of the important work underway to secure a part of the School’s future. Soon, all boys at TGS will have the opportunity to immerse themselves…
“Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”
Whether it was American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson, Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, or even UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s father who coined the phrase “watch your character, it becomes your destiny,” it was Dr Linda Evans who gave it real relevance to a theatre full of students, staff and families. After a decade and a half in charge of Toowoomba’s respected Fairholme College as Principal and some 22 years in total on staff, Dr Evans will leave the institution she has led and loved by…
Preparation for Boarding: Practical Tips and Tricks
In fact, I’ve coined the phrase “the clearer the runway, the smoother the landing” as a neat summary of this observation. A great deal of boarding experience can be initiated at home in the weeks and months leading up to your son’s departure, helping him prepare psychologically and logistically for his upcoming journey. At TGS, we acknowledge that the boarding journey for boys and families starts long before they enter the house in late January. In the mind of a new boarder and their family,…
Exploring the Role of Neuroscience in Supporting Teenage Boys
Recent insights from neuroscience reveal that the teenage brain undergoes significant changes, particularly in the frontal lobe, which is essential for decision-making, impulse control and emotional regulation. By leveraging this knowledge, we can create supportive environments that guide our boys through the complexities of their teenage years.The Prefrontal Cortex The prefrontal cortex, located in the frontal lobe, is one of the last areas of the brain to mature, significantly impacting…
Wellbeing and Character Development Program — Benefiting Students and Staff Alike
In 2024, the School re-established the Head of Pastoral Care position. The role will be pivotal in supporting all staff to foster a supportive and nurturing environment at Toowoomba Grammar School. Integral to the role’s success is the parallel expansion of the Wellbeing and Character Development (WCD) program to yield multifaceted benefits for both staff and students. For staff, the Head of Pastoral Care provides guidance, support and resources, aiding in their efforts to address students’…
Nurturing the Seeds of Leadership
Early exposure to leadership roles helps children develop character traits such as responsibility, empathy, resilience and integrity. As a School, we provide the opportunity for the cultivation of leadership skills in our young boys. From the formative years in Prep through to the adolescent years of Year 6, the importance of fostering leadership qualities cannot be overstated. In our modern world, where adaptability, resilience and initiative are regarded as quality attributes, nurturing the…
