In 1921 Southwell boarding started with a gift and since then the Southwell Boarding House has sat at the heart of the school and served thousands of students as a home away from home.
The new, state-of-the-art Boarding House has been made possible through the immense generosity of Otorohanga couple John and Sarah Oliver and their significant gift towards the construction of the new Boarding House.
John attended Southwell from 1946 to 1950. His uncle Mr Robert Oliver was Southwell’s first student and his father, Ian and uncle Brian attended a few years later. John and Sarah’s son, 17 grandchildren and many extended family have also attended Southwell with the majority of them boarding.
The Oliver family’s loyalty and commitment to Southwell stems back five generations to John’s grandmother Violet Constance Oliver who during the 1920’s was able to financially support the school during difficult times.
John and Sarah’s ethos of ‘Give with a living hand’ has enabled this impressive project to come to life, for the benefit of many Southwell generations to come.
“Boarding is in Southwell’s DNA and five years ago we started to develop ideas of what a new Boarding House would look like”, Headmaster Jason Speedy says. “Boarding allows families from within the Waikato and other regions to gain a Southwell education and for local families to gain from the immense benefits of boarding.
Boarding is an education in itself, where the skills of developing relationships and learning to be tolerant, patient, accepting, collaborative and developing independence is constant” Jason Speedy believes boarding leaves a significant impression on the mind and manner during these incredibly shaping years that lasts a lifetime.
Boarding Today
- – Very flexible and adaptable to family needs and situations.
- – Family-style environment with tremendous leisure and relaxation zones, passive to sporting, just a stride away.
- – Students arrive for their weekly boarding either on a Sunday evening or Monday morning and go home for the weekend either Friday afternoon or after Saturday sport.
- – We have a mix of boarders from other regions to students who live locally.
- – Short Term stays of several days / a few weeks are available on request.
- – Southwell boarding is a caring family-based environment.
- – Catering for 50-60 students, it’s personalised and extremely relational.
Reflections Head Boarders
Maddy Darke
This is my second year boarding and I have loved every moment of it and made lots of friends and met lots of great people.
The things I most love about boarding is how everyone looks out for each other and we’re all a big family with our own silly little quirks and funny personalities. I also love the environment the Tutors and Housemasters encourage, and seeing everyone grow and help each other out.
I love how the Boarding staff plan fun events and activities like baking nights and valentine celebrations.
Fiachra Kelly
In the Boarding House I enjoy the nice mix of freedom and structure. I particularly enjoy going over to the music room after school and playing the drums. I also enjoy playing basketball with the tutors and the other boarders.
One of my favourite meals here at Southwell would have to be the steak that we have at Southwell barbecues together with chips and mashed potato.
I enjoy the company of my friends because they let me be myself and we enjoy each other’s company.
The tutors here at Southwell inspire me to help other people succeed and achieve great things in life. I might become a tutor here myself when I finish school. In the past three years I have met so many new people from around the world and I have made some lifelong friends.
