We welcomed a number of our Glennie boarding mums to the 2022 Boarder Mothers’ Lunch at Gip’s Restaurant this term. It was a very special occasion as we celebrated the character and resolve of our boarding community.
Boarding Captain, Charlotte Drynan and Vice-Captain, Penelope Lawson shared two very touching tributes to our boarding mums, with Charlotte sharing a very sentimental message to her own mum, ‘I know it must have been just as difficult for all of you to leave your girls at the doors of the Glennie boarding houses, as it was for all the girls leaving you, so thank you for trusting us and this school with our futures, I know that every one of these girls in this room will make you, themselves and Glennie proud. So thank you mum, for helping me become all I can be.’
Principal, Ms Mary Anne Evans thanked all of the mums in attendance for not only their trust and faith in Glennie, but for raising young women of integrity, respect, compassion, and courage.
From Charlotte Dryan
Good afternoon Ms Evans, Ms Jones, girls and most importantly, mothers, aunties, grandmothers and guardians we are so grateful to have you here today with us. I just want to begin by thanking each and every one of you, your dedication, care and support for the girls here in this room does not go unnoticed, and is greatly appreciated by them all, (even if they sometimes forget to tell you themselves).
Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to attend The Glennie School, it is something that I know, I could never thank my own mum enough for (thanks megsy), it has allowed me the opportunity to learn amongst like minded people, instil the Glennie values of courage, integrity, care, respect and compassion, participate in co-curricular activities that I wouldn’t have otherwise had access to, and most importantly, live here with the people I now call some of my best friends.
The boarding experience at Glennie cannot be understated, it’s cliche and I’m sure every girl in this room has heard it before, but these girls do truly become lifelong friends. The memories shared here in boarding cannot compare to anything else, and don’t get me wrong, whilst living with 128 teenage girls 24/7 can have its challenges, the pros strongly outweigh them.
Living together entails so much more than just sleeping under the same roof, we all have experiences of laughing together, crying together, stress studying for exams the next day together, movie nights together, being concerningly excited about Churgers for lunch together, celebrating each other’s wins together, sneaking extra food from the kitchen together, experiencing floods, fires and drought together and even experiencing history-making pandemics together and of course, so much more.
All of these, we would never have experienced if we weren’t lucky enough to attend here. Glennie teaches us to be All We Can Be, however I believe this may initially begin at home, with your support that helps us strive for our goals and dreams, your dedication of driving us to all our extra-curriculars, your trust in us to get it wrong sometimes, and your care that allows us to discover who we are.
I know it must have been just as difficult for all of you to leave your girls at the doors of the Glennie boarding houses, as it was for all the girls leaving you, so thank you for trusting us and this school with our futures, I know that every one of these girls in this room will make you, themselves and Glennie proud.
So thank you mum, for helping me become all I can be.
From Penelope Lawson
Before I was a boarder here at Glennie, my sister was. They taught me all about the Glennie community which I was inevitably going to join. About the day school and about life as a boarder. Warning me about how noisy and rowdy it could get and letting me know how supportive people would be.
And before my sister was a boarder at Glennie my Mum was. She loves telling us stories about how the school has changed and all memories she made. Like how she was one of the first boarders to live in brown house just after it was built, staying there for most of her time at Glennie. Before then her boarding house was manning theatre which was just a long row of wooden bunk beds separated by curtains and wooden wardrobes. Or the traditions which have been lost over the years, one of her favourites was the old founders day tradition, where the year 12’s would put baby powder footprints throughout the boarding houses, as the footprints of the ghost of Benjamin Glennie. She even changed the Day School, by being so bad at English that they had to create a whole new subject which you may know as language Skills.
Even my little brother thought he would be coming here, until he realised boys weren’t allowed.
It’s always great learning about how much Glennie has changed and the ways it has stayed the same. Although there were a few drawbacks, like having to go to every speech day including my sisters before I even was even a Glennie girl because ‘I went through it so you do to.’ We didn’t get away with much, and I wouldn’t change it for a thing. Thank you mum for letting me come to Glennie, and make all the memories that I have, because time has gone too fast. And for pushing me to do better in the ways that matter.
My mum taught me that the old song ‘you make lifetime friends in boarding’ is completely true, and I have a few Aunties who can attest to it. That you need to live in the moment and make as many memories as you can because your time here will fly by and to never complain because there is a good chance that you will be pleasantly surprised. Thank you Mum even though you can’t be here today.
