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A balance of work, recreation, good nutrition and rest are key to every day of boarding at Pembroke.

A typical day in the life of a boarder at Pembroke...

  • Starts with both boys and girls coming together to eat a healthy breakfast in the refectory from 7.30 am.
  • This is followed by a busy day at school.
  • If a boarder is unwell after waking they would speak to boarding staff. The school nurse would then visit the boarding house and assess the unwell boarder who would be in the boarding house infirmary. The local doctor surgery is a very short distance from the boarding house, should a sick boarder need a doctor’s consultation.
  • Boarders take their musical instruments to school if they have an instrumental lesson that day and their Physical Education uniform is also taken if timetabled for Physical Education.
  • A hot lunch is provided in respective campuses, either Middle or Senior School.
  • Senior boarders may return back to the boarding house if they have a “free study period” in lesson 6 on any school day, much like a day school student may return home if they did not have a formal last lesson on a school day.
  • After school, boarders return to the boarding house at 3.30 pm and enjoy a healthy afternoon snack.
  • Time after school is spent involved in school sport, doing private study or relaxing with friends.
  • Dinner is all together again in the Refectory at 6 pm.
  • Supervised evening “Prep” (homework) starts at 7pm (Sunday to Thursday inclusive), for at least one and half hours each night.
  • Private study continues for senior students as they wish, with helpful tutors available until 10 pm.
  • Wifi enabled devices are locked away in the evening for students in Years 7-11.
  • Lights out are from 9.30 pm and bedtimes are staggered for the different age ranges.

I came to Aus­tralia in 2016, and I have spent three years at Pem­broke as an inter­na­tion­al stu­dent and as a board­er in the board­ing house. I was scared and fright­ened on my first day at Pem­broke and I did not know any­thing about this new study envi­ron­ment, and I did not know any­one. Nev­er­the­less, when I calmed down and went into the class­room, my teacher and class­mates were so friend­ly that I got involved in the class much more quick­ly than I imag­ined before. After a while, I made some new friends and got famil­iar with Pem­broke. Liv­ing in the board­ing house makes me feel like liv­ing at home. There are many love­ly house super­vi­sors who help us with every­thing, and they are like our friends as well. Three years of board­ing life has slipped away so fast and now I have to say good­bye to these unfor­get­table experiences

– Cathy (2019 Leaver)

The day I arrived at the Pem­broke board­ing house I had no idea what to expect. I knew noth­ing about board­ing hous­es and how they oper­at­ed, or how I would car­ry out my nor­mal rou­tine such as show­er­ing, brush­ing my teeth, etc. So, when Dad dropped me off at school, I was set for a new chapter. 

Through­out my first week in the board­ing house I dis­cov­ered that there was noth­ing more relaxed (although it may sound strange) than liv­ing with more than 30 oth­er boys in the same house! To start off, it was amaz­ing to me how each staff mem­ber of the board­ing house was so ded­i­cat­ed to the care of all stu­dents. As well, as a com­mu­ni­ty of board­ers we all con­stant­ly step up to help some­one in need, even if it be for the lit­tle things like a spare tooth brush, some tooth­paste or giv­ing you the maths home­work you for­got to do. 

I remem­ber the two things that were said to all new boys at the first board­ing house meet­ing I attend­ed;​“play as many sports as pos­si­ble and abide always by the 4 Rs: respon­si­bil­i­ties, resilience, rela­tion­ships, and respect”. These 4Rs pro­vide the basic guide­lines for any­one who lives and works in the board­ing house. For me, board­ing at Pem­broke has pro­vid­ed a ter­rif­ic atmos­phere of friend­ship and recre­ation, and one that I believe helps remove the stress of day-to-day respon­si­bil­i­ties asso­ci­at­ed with school.

– Alex (2020 Leaver)
Boarding House Catering