A boarding tour that never leaves the chapel and the first-team oval has not begun. Those spaces are real. They are also the easy part. The household decision sits in the sleeping floor, the duty desk, and the Saturday that is not on the marketing route.
This list is orientation, not a script to game an interview. Schools differ. Confirm every answer in the current handbook. We do not enrol students and we do not rank tours.
See the house at the right time
If you can, visit on a weekend or stay until after prep. A Wednesday morning in a full day school tells you about classrooms. It does not tell you who is on duty at 9pm. If the school will not show the sleeping floor, ask why.
Staffing and after hours
Who sleeps in the house? What qualifications do they hold? How is medical after-hours care handled? What happens if a child is ill on a Sunday when day staff are gone? Ask for the written policy, not a vibe.
Saturday night
Who stays in? What is the programme when they do? How many boarders remain in a typical mid-term Saturday? A house that empties into a large day cohort is a different product from a regional full-board house. Neither is automatically kinder. Match it to your child.
Leave, phones and money
How do exeats work? Who approves a last-minute host? What is the device policy after lights-out, and how is it enforced? Where is cash or a card held? These answers age better than a scholarship headline.
Documents to request before you leave
The boarding handbook. This year’s tuition and boarding schedule, split by year level and by weekday versus full if both exist. The scholarship instrument if an award is in play. If the student would enrol from overseas, the CRICOS course code and the welfare pathway — then verify the code on the official register.
See how to choose and how fees work.
What not to ask this directory
We will not tell you which tour “felt best” or which house is safest. Child safety is a school and legal responsibility. If something concerns you, speak to the school and to the appropriate authority — not to a website inbox.
Research only
Contact admissions. If this essay and the handbook disagree, the handbook wins. School names on this site are listings, not endorsements.
Take notes the same way at every campus
Write the answers in the same order: nights, Saturday stay-ins, duty after 9pm, medical after-hours, devices, leave, fee PDF promised by date. If one tour was charming and one was blunt, trust the notes. Charm is a skill. A duty roster is a fact.
Take the child if they are old enough to notice the sleeping floor. A parent-only tour can miss the thing the student will live with: noise, light, and whether anyone their age is actually there on Saturday.
What a good “no” sounds like
“We do not offer weekly board in Year 7.” “The house is full for that year.” “International places are closed.” Those sentences are useful. They are not insults. Thank the office and keep the shortlist honest. This site cannot reopen a closed year.
Related
How to read a boarding handbook, Year 7 versus Year 9, FAQ. Research only.
After the tour
Send a short thank-you that repeats the facts you heard: nights, Saturday stay-ins, fee PDF date. If the office corrects you, that correction is the record. Charming conversations evaporate. Written nights do not.
Research only. Contact admissions.
Take the unglamorous photos if allowed
The duty desk, the sleeping floor, the noticeboard. Not for social media — for comparing two tours next week when memory has turned both chapels into one chapel.
Research only. Follow the school’s photo rules.
A tour that has not begun
Chapel, first-XV oval, scholarship headline, morning tea in the drawing room. Those stops are fine. They are not the house. Ask to see where the entry year actually sleeps, who is on the duty desk after 8pm, and what Saturday looks like when there is no fixture.
Questions that travel well: which nights are included; who stays in; how phones are handled after lights-out; how medical after-hours care works; who books flights; what happens if a parent cannot travel; where to download this year’s fee PDF. Write the answers down before you leave the car park.
After the tour, send a short note that repeats nights, Saturday stay-ins and the fee-PDF date. If the office corrects you, that correction is the record. Charming conversations evaporate.
If photography is allowed, take the unglamorous frames — duty desk, sleeping floor, noticeboard — for comparing two tours next week. Follow the school’s photo rules.
Related: how to read a handbook, Year 7 versus Year 9, FAQ.
Research only. Contact admissions. We do not enrol students.