Boarding is our home away from home. Some things are done differently from home mostly because of the large number of girls we are responsible for. For a small number of girls, RGGS has been their home since January.
We are fortunate to have seven girls from Papua New Guinea in our boarding community. They are a wonderful, vibrant and respectful bunch of girls. They, due to Covid 19, have not seen their parents since they left home in January. These girls have remained upbeat and resilient despite this. It is important to think of these young ladies, aged as young as 13, when we think we are having a rough day. During our holiday breaks this year these girls have gone to stay with their families who reside in Queensland or the Northern Territory. They have also been cared for during these breaks by some of our RGGS families and staff. These families have given our girls their time, love and wonderful experiences. In five weeks we will be enjoying our September holidays and we will be relying again on the goodwill of their families and our RGGS families to take them into their homes. As international students, the hosts of these girls must all have Working With Children blue cards (this includes every adult staying in the home at any time). We ask those families to list what their plans are for the break so we can gain permission from the international parents. It is quite an involved process but after speaking to our hosts, they say it is very rewarding. Our PNG girls are also living by expectations held by the host family which is giving them insight into how others live. If your family would be interested in hosting our girls for all or part of the break please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information. Our PNG families are missing their daughters but are very grateful to have such wonderful people looking after their girls.
Have a great weekend. Deanne and I are looking forward to catching up with some of you in the Moura/Biloela district.
Ms Stacey McCarthy
Head of Boarding
Comments