Boarding Life

Te taki tino ma is an underpinning philosophy behind the boarding way of life and our framework of living the College Vision of Building Better People for Life. Translated, it means; "To lead the rest and be your best". This is an aspirational statement designed to encourage boarders to make the most of the opportunities available to them for personal growth. Being "your best" is about striving to reach, or extend, your personal potential which can manifest itself in any facet of life here at St. Andrew's College. For some, it could be in the classroom. Others, in the Arts or on the sports field but, for all boarders we want them to be working hard to lead the way in being good people. Good people make a great community. Respect, inclusiveness, empathy and consideration for others, manners and pride in appearance are all areas we strive to live the te taki tino ma way. We do our best to acknowledge and celebrate the small successes as well as the big achievements.

When a student joins the boarding house they receive a badge to wear on their blazer which identifies them as part of the boarding community but also represents what we want our young people to strive for. It connects us and makes every boarder part of the journey together. As a collective we have pride in being part of the boarding community and understand the advantages that can come with being a border. 


The Boarding Advantage

The Boarding Advantage is an acknowledgement that students who live here, have the added bonus of learning skills beyond the classroom. We appreciate the opportunity exists so we put a lot in place to add as much learning from the experience as we can. Through boarding life, our students learn essential skills for life, including:

Self-Management and Independence: Boarder's soon learn to stand on their own two feet. Managing leave, communicating with staff, passing room inspections and following house rules all help to develop independent young men and women. 

Socialisation and Tolerance: Living with a lot of other people can be great fun but it also comes with it's challenges. Over the course of a year, boarders can expect to live with at least three different people. There is some degree of choice at times, but part of the experience is about learning to live with others, appreciating people's differences and broadening friendships. 

Routines and Organisation: Boarding life is routined - it has to be. The daily structure allows boarders to learn the art of being organised and routines like or prep structure, ensure that boarders are free of distraction and in a position to prioritise their learning. 

Engagement and Personal Development: Being on-site comes with the huge advantage of having everything on your doorstep. Access to our gyms, turf, courts, fields and fitness centre are wonderful for aspiring athletes or those who just want to be active. The ability to access music suites or art rooms and participate in additional co-curricular activities like dance, debating or robotics mean boarders can be involved in as much as they can handle. It also makes getting to rehearsal for our productions or ballet academy very straight forward.  Boarders are also provided further learning opportunities along the way. Whether it be as part of our junior prep programme or in our leadership development seminars for Year 12's, we understand the special advantage of having a platform to provide more learning for our young people as part of their experience. 

Leadership Development and Opportunities

The Boarding House aims to provide opportunities to develop leadership through a number of in-house boarding initiatives. Much of Years 9–10 revolves around leading self, as well as developing good routines and self-management skills.

Year 10 students are provided with leadership awareness training in preparation for Middle School Leader positions, should they wish to apply.

Kaitiaki and House Focus groups provide opportunities for Year 11–12 students to lead small groups of their peers and help organise small activities. In Year 12, boarders are exposed to leadership seminars and guided through the process to apply for leadership roles within Boarding and the College.

All Year 13 students assume a natural leadership role in the Boarding House. Our Kāiawhina are expected to take on leadership duties to help with daily operations and role model positive behaviour to younger boarders. Our Sports Houses mirror that of the day school, but also provide Year 13 students an opportunity to actively and collaboratively lead events across boarding.

Monday to Friday

Morning:

The School Day:

Leave during the school day: Assistant House Managers must be informed by boarders each morning regarding leave and medical appointments outside school. Students sign out either at the Middle School or Senior College receptions. The College Registered Nurse will be notified when a student has a health-related appointment by the Assistant House Manager for any follow-up which may be necessary.

Evening Routines:

Dinner

Dinner is available in the Strowan dining room from 5.30 pm – 6.15 pm. Late teas are available after this time. Boarders will learn how to complete this process.

Prep

Prep is supervised between 6.15 pm – 8.30 pm. A minimum of 1 hour 30 minutes will be allocated for Prep, however times vary for each year group and other events.

After Prep

Bedtimes

Students are to be in bed with lights out at the following times or according to individual house routine. The bed call will be given 15 minutes before bedtime. Students may read using reading lamps according to individual house policy. Students should have ready access to footwear and a warm jacket in case of emergency evacuation.

Friday Routines

Saturday

Sunday

Duty staff are available to sign students out for early sport leave.

Our catering staff aim to help boarders develop good eating habits, by providing a healthy and balanced selection of food for growing and active young men and women.

Suppers are provided and extra snack food is available on request to the Assistant House Managers. If you would like to discuss your son’s or daughter’s special dietary needs and nutritional requirements, such as allergies, please do not hesitate to contact the Assistant House Manager who will communicate their needs with our Catering Manager.

We expect all students to behave with courtesy at mealtimes. This applies to table manners and to their interactions with other students and staff. When you have a large group of people living together it is necessary to have an orderly system. Late or early meals can be arranged on request, with student responsibility to order. Use of mobile phones is not permitted at meal times.

BREAKFAST
Weekdays 7.00am–8.15am
Saturday 7.00am–9.30am: 7.00am–8.00am (Continental) 8.00am–9.30am (Cooked)
Sunday 7.00am–10.00am: (Continental) 10.00am–11.30am (Brunch)
*These times are subject to change. 

LUNCH
Weekdays 12.35pm–1.00pm
Saturday Packed lunch available up to 9.50am
Sunday 10.00am–11.30am (Brunch)

DINNER
Weekdays 5.30pm–6.15pm
Weekends 5.30pm–6.15pm
Late dinner available

If a boarder requires a packed lunch for a sporting or school day trip, this is arranged through the tutor, coach, manager or Teacher-in-Charge at least the day before.

Prep runs Monday through Thursday evenings. It is a requirement for boarders to be in prep and is treated as a priority. Prep is supervised by Tutors and other staff who are there to assist and manage the prep spaces which include classrooms and the Green Library and Innovation Centre. Frequent non-performance during this time will be reported to the House Manager, form tutor, or year group Dean.

Years 11–13 Students
Prep is to be a productive work period for which absolute silence and minimum of movement is permitted. All work during this time must relate to the student’s particular academic programme. 

Students must behave with courtesy while working, so that they do not disturb other students.

Students are not permitted to receive or make phone calls during Prep. Phone use will be monitored and managed as required by duty staff. 

Years 9–10 Students
The focus for prep at this level is slightly different and designed to help develop good leaning habits for NCEA years and provide the opportunity for wider growth and development. We acknowledge that homework requirements from teachers do vary, so one of the aims of the junior prep programme is to develop a mindset of boarders completing 'homestudy' rather than set homework. i.e. what do they do when they have no set homework?

Each prep night begins with 45 minutes of sustained silent study. The second half of prep routines provide options for the students who can choose to:

i)  continue with individual work in a quite supervised environment;

ii)  work in a collaborative learning space;

iii) complete supplementary work designed to develop learning skills.

The Boarders’ Council is an initiative designed to give boarders an opportunity to be involved in house operations. The Council is completely student elected and consists of a male and female representative from each year level. In addition, an International and a ‘Long Distance’ boarder is also elected. The Council is chaired by the Heads of Council (Year 13) and meetings are held at least once a term after feedback has been sought from the wider student body. The Council report directly to the Director of Boarding where requests or initiatives are considered, and responses made.

Boarders’ chapel services are an important part of the term, where we pray and celebrate together.

All students attend a weekly daytime chapel service and two boarders’ chapel services each term.

The dates of these services can be found on the online Term Fixtures calendar by clicking here.

The College chaplaincy team run these services.

Students are required to wear appropriate smart casual dress or full school uniform. Attendance is compulsory and any apologies need to be made by the student to the Director of Boarding.