Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

Our Boarders face similar situations when they first arrive. Having left home, they must adapt to a new culture, a new school—even a new climate—and learn to share personal space. Havergal’s Boarder families help to ease that transition and celebrate the tremendous diversity the Boarding School offers. New Boarding students quickly come to see that not only is there warm support and encouragement from the residence head, the dons and the housekeeping staff, but there is also the care and solicitude of the nurses in the Wellness Centre. So close do students become in such an environment, it seems they also have their own language, as explained by Honey Singh in the March 2005 BTI : It is important for the girls to feel at home “upstairs,” but Boarding students have also long stressed the importance of getting to know day girls. As Elizabeth Mounsey explained in the Winter 1996 edition of BTI : [i]t can be difficult for Boarders and day girls to meet outside of classes due to eating in different locations and storing their books in different places. The bio lab lockers are a long way from the fourth floor of the Boarding School … [B]oarder/day girl bonding events should be encouraged, such as Boarder/day girl exchanges, the Boarder/day girl lunches (of 1994-95), and house lunches. These events allow all the students of Havergal to spend more time together and realize that the differences between them are minimal and that they all do share the common bond of being a Havergal student. It is to the school’s credit that significant improvements have been made. For one thing, before the 1999 build, Boarders and staff shared a dining hall in the Upper School, while day students brought their lunches or purchased food in the small cafeteria at the end of the long corridor leading out of the rotunda. The 1999 build created a bright dining hall that is shared by all “Boarding School Lingo” BTI, Winter 1996

By Havergal’s centennial, there had, of course, been many changes to the Boarding School. For one thing, Boarders had to be in at least Grade 9, with the rare exception. Another significant change was the growing number of students arriving from outside Canada. As indicated by the following chart, taken from the 1994 Strategic Plan, fewer students from Ontario were enrolling, but many more were coming from the Caribbean, Asia and Africa: Not only has the demographic of the school changed, but also the approach to Boarders’ well-being has evolved. The guiding image of the training ship has been replaced by that of family. As Ms. Robson has noted, when we change the language we use, we change our perceptions, then our attitudes, then our practices. An article in the Spring 2007 edition of Torch outlined that approach, quoting Sheri Purvis, then residence head: The Boarding School has the advantage of being a small group within a large school. Due to its size and Havergal’s practice of creating ‘families’ for the Boarders, greater opportunities exist to mingle, to know one another and to learn of other cultures and traditions. 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 … Places of Origin of Boarders Strategic Plan, 1994

New Boarders’ Reflections

“New Girls” Ludemus , 1905

“Confessions of a New Boarder” Through the Vine , 2005, first edition

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