If you can’t find an answer to your question below, please contact boarding@ascham.nsw.edu.au
All boarders must have the following forms submitted prior to the start of the year
We have found that new girls settle into boarding life quickly and easily if they are prepared before they arrive. For many girls, it is the first time they have spent a significant amount of time away from home. Ensuring your daughter has basic personal and life skills, as well as discussing what will be expected of her when integrating into communal living, will assist in a smooth transition into the boarding house. Please refer to the Preparing for Boarding tab above.
Wake Up Time
The girls are woken from 7am so that they have time to get dressed in their uniform, make their bed, tidy their room, and pack their school bag for the day. The girls then have breakfast from 7.30am to 7.50am. Girls who have early morning sport or extra-curricular activities can attend breakfast earlier if required.
School Time
The girls sign out of the House and take their school bag to breakfast in the Dining Room, with the exception of Year 12 boarders who have breakfast in the House. The girls go straight to school from breakfast. All girls should be in school by 8:20am.
Recess and Lunch
Boarders go to the Dining Room at recess and lunch to collect food. They are able to eat in the Dining Room or on the school grounds, or attend lunchtime activities.
End of School
At the conclusion of the school day, girls return to their Boarding House where they are greeted by the Boarding staff. Afternoon tea is provided for them in their House kitchen. Girls are able to relax in the common rooms with their friends, take Local Leave to Edgecliff Centre or go on an Exercise Pass, or attend after school activities. All girls must sign themselves out on Orah if they leave the Boarding House and take their mobile with them so that Boarding staff can contact them if required.
Dinner
Dinner is served in the Dining Room for all boarders. Tuesday night is a Formal Dinner where special events, guest speakers and community announcements are scheduled. It is highly recommended that boarders attend Tuesday Formal Dinner.
Prep
Girls in Years 7 to 9 are required to attend Prep in classrooms. Academic staff from the day school attend Prep on a rotation as tutors to assist the girls with study techniques or to address specific problems. Prep sessions are kept quiet to allow girls to concentrate and work independently on their homework and assessment tasks. The girls are able to use their laptops for homework and research purposes. Headphones and small group work are also permitted in separate Prep rooms. After Prep, the girls are allowed to use their electronic devices until Electronic Devices (ED) hand in time when devices are locked in a cabinet for the evening.
Bedtime
All boarders are required to be in their own rooms 15 minutes before lights out. The timing of lights out is dependent on the Year group, with Year 7 starting at 9pm and Year 12 girls given the choice when they will turn their lights out.
Weekends
The Ascham boarders are offered many choices for weekend activities. Many boarders participate in Saturday morning sport while others prefer a more relaxed start to the weekend. Boarding staff offer activities either within their Houses or across the Boarding community for those staying onsite. They range from activities on campus to offsite outings and excursions, occasionally with boarders from other schools. Boarders are allowed Weekend Leave with a parent or guardian, or with a Host family from the day school, for four full weekends and two single overnights.
Boarding routines for different year groups are outlined under Routines and Leave.
Yes, Ascham offers Scholarships to new and current boarders. For more information on the application process, or to apply for a Scholarship, please visit the school website. Scholarship applications close in February of the previous year.
Ascham offers Day Girls in Year 9 the opportunity to join our Residential Program for one term. The residential experience places them in a social situation where they will learn to care for themselves, improve their personal organisation, manage their finances, live cooperatively others, and develop healthy sleep and study routines. Please contact enrolments@ascham.nsw.edu.au for more information.
Ascham Boarders can take leave from the Boarding House. The type of leave, the location and the duration depends on the individual year group. Types of leave include:
Parents are required to fill out an Annual Permission Form to indicate which leave their daughter can take during the year. These forms can be under Boarding Overview.
Leave allowances for each year group can be found under Routines and Leave.
Minor Leave is considered leave that has been approved through the Annual Permission Form that parents have submitted. Boarders are permitted to sign themselves out of the Boarding House without parent or host approval. Minor Leave includes:
Major Leave is considered leave that is not covered by the Annual Permission Form and requires approval from a parent and/or a host. Major Leave would include an overnight stay with a Day Family or a weekend outing with friends.
Annual Permission Forms for all year groups are available under Boarding Overview.
Ascham School uses Orah, a Student Management System that assists with managing leave and boarder movements.
Boarders are able to sign themselves out of the Boarding House via the Orah app to take Minor Leave, and must sign themselves back in when they return to the House.
Boarders are required to submit Major Leave via Orah, listing relevant details such as departure and return time, the address where they will be, as well as host details. The leave must be approved by the parent, host (if applicable) and boarding staff before the boarder can take leave. Boarders must sign themselves out of the Boarding House via the Orah app, and sign themselves back in when they return to the House.
All leave from the Boarding House is at the discretion of the Head of Boarding and must be taken in line with the guidelines and allowances listed under Routines and Leave.
All leave from the Boarding House is at the discretion of the Head of Boarding. Girls leaving the Boarding House must sign out and take her mobile phone with her. If leave is taken with a parent/guardian or a host family, leave must be submitted via Orah and approved by boarding staff prior. There are Boarders In-Weekends at the start of term and towards the end of term where boarders cannot take leave except in extenuating circumstances.
Leave requirements for each year group are outlined under Routines and Leave.
Yes – parents are able to take their daughters out with permission from boarding staff. Leave must be submitted through Orah and approved by boarding staff. Boarders can take leave any time from 3.30pm on Friday to 5pm on Sunday.
Boarders are also permitted to take weekend leave with a Day Family or a friend of the family provided the listed Host has endorsed the leave that has been submitted through Orah and approved by boarding staff.
The first weekend of term is a In-Weekend, meaning boarders cannot take leave except in extenuating circumstances. In-Weekends are an opportunity for the girls to enjoy an activity together and to foster a positive boarding community spirit. Dates for In-Weekends are found under Routines and Leave.
Boarders from Years 7 to 10 attend compulsory evening study, known as Prep, from Sunday to Thursday. Academic staff from the Day School attend Prep on a rotation to tutor the girls and help them achieve their academic goals. Boarders in Years 11 and 12 work in their own rooms in the Boarding House and are able to access Prep tutors as required. More information on Prep can be found under Boarding Prep.
Emphasis is placed on Boarder Wellbeing at Ascham, with programs being developed for each year group to take into consideration the different challenges faced at different stages of life.
Ascham boarders also participate in ongoing workshops and seminars that focus on wellbeing through improved nutrition and physical activity.
Ascham boarders enjoy meals prepared by professional catering staff that are designed with health and wellbeing in mind. There is a four-week rotation of menus which is adjusted pending feedback received and the seasonality of produce. More information, as well as weekly menus, are available under Dining at Ascham.
School and casual clothes for the boarders are washed and ironed by professional launderers, and delivered back to the girls. Towels and bedsheets are also laundered regularly. Laundry costs are included in our boarding fees.
The girls are responsible for maintaining a neat and tidy room. Boarding staff regularly check dorms to ensure that the girls are keeping their rooms clean.
Professional cleaners are onsite several times a week to undertake cleaning duties such as vacuuming and mopping floors, cleaning kitchens and bathrooms, and removing rubbish.
The Boarding staff develop activities and organize events each weekend for boarders who are staying on campus. These activities run from Friday night through to Sunday night, either for Boarders within their Houses or across the Boarding Community. They range from activities on campus to offsite outings and excursions, occasionally involving boarders from other schools.
In the event of an emergency, Boarding staff will call 000.
The Ascham Health Centre is open from Monday to Friday 7.30am to 4pm. It is closed on Weekends.
When a student is unwell, she will be treated by the Health Centre team. Outside of opening times, Boarding staff on duty and the Head of Boarding will liaise with the Nurse on call on weeknights when a boarder is unwell. The nurse on call will provide consultation over the phone and may choose to attend campus and open the Health Centre to care for the unwell student. If a boarder is unwell overnight, she will attend the HC in the morning for an assessment and HC staff will contact Boarder parents.
On weekends, the Head of Boarding and Heads of House are on rotational duty. Senior Boarding Staff will liaise with parents and the boarder may be treated by a doctor or taken to hospital. The Health Centre will be open if required.
There are 4 Boarding Houses at Ascham
Girls in Years 7, 8 and 9 are allocated dorms that can accommodate between two and six girls. Each girl has her own wardrobe space in her dorm. Girls in Years 10 and 11 have up to two girls in a room. Each girl has her own desk and wardrobe space in her dorm. All Year 12 girls have their own room allowing for privacy, comfort and a level of personal responsibility designed to prepare girls for student accommodation at university.
Raine House is primarily a Year 7 house, Mac House consists largely of Year 8 and 9 girls, Duntrim House is home to many of the Years 9 to 12 girls, and PJ House has single accommodation for the Year 12 girls only.
All girls submit room preferences where they can request friends to share a room with for the following term. Girls change rooms regularly to maintain a sociable and united Boarding Community. Girls in Years 9 to 12 are able to request a house they would like to live in for the term. Every effort is made to accommodate requests whenever possible.
Every boarding house at Ascham School has communal areas for girls to congregate and socialize with their peers. Common rooms have televisions and DVD players. The Boarding Houses also have kitchen facilities for girls to use.
Ascham School can accommodate more than 120 boarders. Boarders from rural NSW make up most of our Boarding Community, with boarders also coming from interstate and overseas. A quarter of our boarders come from families who live locally in Sydney but the girls choose to live in the Boarding House.
We welcome both current families and prospective boarding families to visit our boarding houses. To arrange a tour, please contact enrolments@ascham.nsw.edu.au.
Yes, the boarders are able to use the school facilities including the tennis courts, swimming pool, and playing fields. Certain school facilities can only be used with staff supervision or approval.