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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. A hot lunch is provided in respective campuses, either Middle or Senior School.
  • After school, boarders return to their residences 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 after which supervised homework time starts for at least one and half hours.
  • Private study continues for senior students as they wish, with helpful tutors available until 10 pm.
  • Wifi enabled devices are locked away from 9.30 pm for the juniors (Years 7-10).
  • 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 Girls’ 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 Boys’ 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 Boys’ Board­ing House I dis­cov­ered that there was noth­ing more relaxed (although it may sound strange) than liv­ing with more than 60 oth­er boys in the same house! To start off, it was amaz­ing to me how each staff mem­ber of the Boys’ 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 Boys’ Board­ing House meet­ing I attend­ed; ​“play as many sports as pos­si­ble and abide always by the 4 Rs: respon­si­bil­i­ty, resilience, rela­tion­ships, and respect”. These 4Rs pro­vide the basic guide­lines for any­one who lives and works in the Boys’ 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 (Year 12)
Boarding House Catering