Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

S C H O O L L I F E

Boarding “Boarding provides valuable opportunities to learn how others approach daily routines, religious beliefs and even study skills, while also demonstrating just how much we share” — SHERI PURVIS, TORCH , SPRING 2007

Miss Knox, whose responses are recorded in Havergal: Celebrating a Century 32 : The first seven Boarders were a challenging lot. Their opening sallies made an indelible impression on the new principal. “I remember wondering what standard of work could be attained, for the first Boarder, a girl of sixteen, opened proceedings by saying: ‘I never read a page of a story book and I don’t want to. I hate reading.” Number Two stipulated … six hours a day practising [sic] without lessons of any kind or sort. Number Three, with the merriest twinkle in her eye, acknowledged she was out for a good time and meant to keep things going. Number Four, with tears streaming down her face, said: ‘Don’t touch my trunk for a week. I am terribly homesick, and my mother says to keep my trunk packed for a week, so that I may go home any minute.” Number Five said she hated coming and meant to stay not a minute longer than she had to. Six and Seven kept a discreet silence and took stock of their companions and surroundings. We cannot know how these early Boarders came to be as they were, but the challenges they and Miss Knox faced should not be underestimated. Homesickness continued to be a concern, as a 1904 Ludemus article titled “The Letter Table” made clear:

Boarding, Havergal: Celebrating a Century.

It is rarely easy for young people to leave home for a new school, to leave all that is familiar. It is not surprising, then, that along with steamer trunks packed full with their belongings, Havergal’s earliest Boarders brought a range of attitudes and expectations, which they apparently felt quite comfortable sharing with

“The Letter Table” Ludemus, 1904

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