PREP (STUDY) IN BOARDING

Student activities and outings need to be managed in order to minimise disruptions to prep. Students who are unduly absent may have their activities reviewed by their house parent.

Prep is conducted under the supervision and guidance of the house parent with support from prep tutors. Any request to miss prep must be cleared with the house parent. Please do not contact your child during prep; this time is for school work, study or wellbeing workshops.

Prep is held on week-nights during the following times (this is a guide only and is subject to change):

• Years 9 and 10 – 6.30-8.00 pm (in classrooms)

• Year 11 – 6.45 pm–8.15 pm (in shared space in the boarding house or in rooms with doors open)

• Years 12 and 13 – 6.30-8.30 pm (in own rooms or in shared space in the boarding house with doors open).

If you require a private tutor for your child, we prefer the tutor to come to the boarding house rather than have the student travel to them. This ensures greater safety for the student and provides supervision of the tutor while they are with the student. Should students wish to use a private tutor on-site, this person must be police-vetted (which can take up to six weeks) and must be approved by a deputy principal and the director of boarding before permission is granted.

In preparation for the 2025 academic year, particularly by our junior boarding prep tutor Ngarangi Mason, our boarding staff have been planning additional lessons and activities focused on helping our boarders improve their study skill, time management and utlisie their technology to optimise their academic potential.

Prep Expectations

Boarders have daily allocated study time in boarding. This time is focused and targeted on school work. It is vital that this time is used effectively. Executive skills such as organisation, planning, time management, self-regulation, and accountability are required to make the most of time spent on studying. 

With the guiding premise that students are not passengers in their learning, students are expected to be independent learners and therefore prep time will be used to: 

1. Complete work set from class during the day 

2. Consolidate work already discussed or taught in class 

3. Reinforce effective study habits for independent study 

4. Prepare for the following day’s classes (there is always prep to be done) 

5. Work through assignments and assessments that are due. It is important to note that while prep is supervised, students are ultimately responsible for completing all work set. If students have additional prep and require more time they are obviously free to use hours outside of prep where they don’t have other commitments to complete all required study.

Misuse of prep time 

Those students who are unable to use prep effectively either during prep or evidenced by staff feedback from school, will: 

1. Be moved to an area within the Boarding House where they can be supervised throughout the entire prep time by a staff member or senior boarder. 

2. Director of Boarding consideration for duration of supervised prep based on feedback from teachers and/or evidenced from prep time itself. 

3. Have their prep checked both before and at the end of prep time each night. 

   a. Students will have completed all set work 

   b. Written questions to check understanding when next in that class 

   c. They will be able to show evidence of preparation for each class for the following day i.e. reading, making notes, writing questions on their devices or exercise books for the upcoming class.

Thank you very much in advance for your support of our boarders meeting our prep expectations and thus their academic potential. More information will be shared regarding whole school academic supports in due course.