Boarding School Team
We have a dynamic Boarding House staff with unique sets of skills and experience, that best cater to the diversity of the girls within the Boarding House.
The Boarding School TEAM
Boarders are cared for by the Director of Boarding, the Assistant Director of Boarding and an assortment of full-time, in-residence Boarding House Supervisors whose focus is to meet the needs of each individual boarder.
Our residential management team act as the liaison between boarding school students and the boarding community including MGGS teaching faculty (the Director of Middle Years and Senior Years), wellbeing support staff (wellbeing coaches, wellbeing coordinators and the School Counsellor), and most importantly – parents. By maintaining open communication with girls and their parents, our Boarding House Supervisors safeguard their welfare.
The boarding school team play a ‘hands-on’ support role, steering girls through the ups and downs of adolescence within a residential environment.
Staff are tertiary educated and chosen for their particular and varied skills and interests. Each residential team member is not only a positive role model to the girls, but also available for continuous, informal academic support.
BOARDING SCHOOL STAFF
Director of Boarding
Diploma of Teaching, ATCL Speech and Drama
It is the connection you have with the girls that makes the role so rewarding. The time spent listening and working together to discuss options and decisions of their plans and futures is a real privilege.
Director of Boarding, Amanda Haggie, is a trained teacher with experience as a Facilitator and Trainer in both the education and health sectors. She has worked in the area of mental health and wellbeing, health promotion and has also had experience working with students with learning and behavioural difficulties.
Amanda’s focus in the last ten years has been in boarding schools in both New Zealand and Australia. She was most recently the Director of Boarding at St Hilda’s Collegiate in Dunedin, NZ; home to 150 boarders.
Upon emigrating to Melbourne with her family, Amanda has spent the last two years in a Head of Boarding role at the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS). She comes to Melbourne Girls Grammar with a wealth of knowledge and experience working with adolescent girls.
Amanda strives to provide security and reassurance to families and caregivers that their daughter(s) will be nurtured and cared for as individuals in a homely environment. The girls will also be supported in their endeavours to achieve their potential through their studies, sport and cultural interests.
The Boarding House is a strong structure for the girls, it is a responsive and individualised experience, where staff work at meeting the needs to cater to our ever-changing global and interconnected world.
Assistant Director of Boarding and International Student Co-ordinator
Boarding TEAM Diversity
It is this matrix of strong women and girls in the Boarding House that creates an independent and exciting environment where girls thrive. Our Boarding House is home to a team of six residential staff who support the girls on a daily basis and live onsite. In addition, a team of casual staff members work closely with the girls in the afternoon and on the weekend.
Our Boarding House team have diverse sets of skills and experiences, with qualifications ranging broadly from fields of teaching, nursing and psychology, to the arts and law. This breadth of knowledge and expertise is a great asset to our program, as each girl has the ability to relate to a member of the Boarding House team, building strong connections and rapport effortlessly.
It is our team’s professional knowledge, language skills and experience living and studying abroad that attracts the girls to share and have conversations about life in Melbourne and beyond. Support is provided to girls beyond their day-to-day routine, including with the transition to Melbourne life, their learning and social and emotional development.
I remember my teachers with gratitude and fondness and they still affect my actions and priorities.
Boarders’ parents group
The role of the Boarders’ Parent Group is to provide an opportunity for parents and staff to work together for the benefit of the Boarding program at MGGS. The group meets once a term with the Principal and the Director of Boarding to discuss initiatives, achievements and community matters.
We ask our parents to contribute to the whole School community when possible.
Boarding House parents of Victoria, Anthony and Maureen L discuss their family’s Melbourne Girls Grammar Boarding School program experience.
As parents, we did not know what to expect from a girls’ boarding school. At one of the meetings before the start of term, we met some of the Boarding House staff as well as Victoria’s teachers to address any issues or questions we may have.
We wanted a small school that emphasized academic excellence, character building, and instilled values that would last for a lifetime.
Maureen L
We had our questions answered and by the end of the meeting, we appreciated that the Boarding House staff had a genuine interest to get to know Victoria well in order to help her with the transition. We were happy to know that open communication is encouraged between parents and the School.
We are glad to have chosen MGGS for Victoria and we are delighted that Victoria is fitting in so well into school and boarding life.