Accommodation and Residential Facilities

The boarding residences at Hurlstone Agricultural High School provide students with a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment that balances independence, wellbeing, and community living. Designed to support both learning and residential life, the facilities help students feel comfortable, connected, and at home while living away from their families.

Students live in modern residential accommodation that includes spaces for rest, study, recreation, and social connection. The boarding environment is structured to support healthy routines, positive relationships, and the development of responsibility and independence within a caring and supervised setting.

This page provides information about the accommodation and residential facilities available to boarding students, including student rooms, shared living spaces, study areas, recreational facilities, dining spaces, and the supports in place to ensure students feel safe, supported, and connected as part of the boarding community.

Dormitories and Rooms

Dormitories house students in two blocks with a variety of room types. There are specific protocols to follow in this type of community. Students should not be in the dormitories of other students unless invited to be there, at appropriate times. Boys are not allowed in Girl’s dormitories and vice versa. Students are responsible for their dormitory's appearance and are to look after the allocated furniture and space. Additional furniture should not be brought to school and is not permitted in the residential setting. Special furniture requirements should be discussed with the Deputy Principal – Boarding. There are processes in place to assure the starting condition of allocated dormitories and rooms are assessed before students move to a new room or leave the school. Dormitory guidelines for decoration and use can be found below.

The following items are supplied at enrolment:

• Mattress (King Single) that will remain with the student throughout their enrolment. Replacement is at the cost of the family.
• Laundry Bags – One net underwear bag and one large nylon bag to hold all washing. Replacement is at the cost of the family.

Each year, as part of their dormitory fit out:

• Key that provides access to their room/dorm, furniture key that provides individual access to wardrobe, desk drawer and cupboard and a building access fob that is programmed for the hours of use – all replaced if required at the cost of the family.
• The rooms will have a desk chair, rubbish bin and night light (in rooms with a power point over the bed).

Room/Bed Inspection (BI) Procedures

It is a student's responsibility to always keep their space tidy and safe. Regular inspections each day will confirm the state of the dorm room (this includes a weekly inspection of their cupboard spaces). Staff at any time, may require a student to tidy up, especially if there are items on the floor that block safe movements. Please refer to “Right Place Right Time” document.

BI

• 7.20am: all boarders must be dressed ready for school for BI. Staff on duty will check your room and assess readiness. If instructed by the duty team, you will need to tidy your room or adjust your uniform before going to breakfast. You will only leave for breakfast after your room and your uniform has been checked by a duty team member. If you are not dressed for school and/or your room is untidy you will ‘fail BI’ and will be issued a reinspection at 3:30pm and a 7am reflection.
• Thursday morning BI will include a wardrobe check. The wardrobe should be open to check. If the wardrobe is untidy, rather than a fail, the student will be referred to the Head Teachers Welfare who will support them with cleaning up their space.
• Living area in dorm rooms/spaces should be neat and tidy i.e. items of clothing, shoes, books, food etc. should be off the floor, bed should be made and student should be dressed in the correct uniform.
• Laundry to be washed as per laundry roster. Washing frequency is monitored, if sheets are not put out you may be escorted over to strip your bed to have the linen washed.

Privacy and Personal Space

All students have a right to privacy and personal space. Students and staff are asked to respect each other’s privacy and follow the basic practices of knocking and announcing themselves before entering a bedroom. Boarders are to seek another boarder’s permission before entering his/her personal area within a dormitory.

Dormitory Monitors

Dormitory monitors play a leadership role, which is highly valued and respected and support the younger students in the boarding school. They reside in a separate, smaller room within the dormitory and act as a confidant and support person for the junior boarders. Dormitory monitors receive specific training for the role.

They provide an extension to the residential team and have a connection with the dorm members to help manage minor internal issues that develop and escalate more serious concerns to the duty team if needed.

Closed Circuit TV

There is CCTV (no audio recorded) in the corridors and externally in both T and U blocks as an additional measure to support our duty of care for our students. The vision is not actively monitored but is available if it needs to be checked in 42-day loops. Details of the Privacy Notice – Oct 2024 is available in the Boarder Parent Welfare MS Teams.

Common Rooms

Each residential block has two common rooms which are available during free time and are utilised for student passive recreational activities such as watching television, playing cards, board games, collaborating on schoolwork and preparing snacks. Students are responsible for cleaning up after themselves and contributing to the general daily cleaning roster.

There are two common rooms in each of the residential blocks, one upstairs and downstairs. The downstairs common room is an indoor/outdoor room and students can enjoy the outdoor furniture or the lounge bean bags or tables and chairs. The common rooms will provide access to hot water, toasters, sandwich makers, microwaves, dishwasher and fridge, ironing board and iron.

Posters and Advertising

Students may place posters on laminex surfaces (e.g. wardrobe doors) with blue tac in their dormitory area. Students are not permitted to fix any items to the gyprock/plaster walls. All student spaces have a pinboard that can be used to display items. It must be noted that posters that are considered offensive, inappropriate or in poor taste are not permitted.

Posters or any items (such as cups, clothes, doona covers etc) that advertise cigarettes, alcohol, drugs or other provocative material are not permitted under DoE guidelines. Students will need to ensure they keep the surfaces clean of blue tac when they change or move posters.

News from Home

Students enjoy receiving letters, packages and phone calls from home. Parents and other family members are encouraged to contact students as often as practical. Phone calls are not permitted during mealtimes, during prep and in the last 20 minutes before bedtime, and should not be made before 7am on weekdays or 7:30am on weekends.

However, if things go wrong and imparting bad news is necessary, it can be very difficult for a young person who is a long way from home to receive bad news over the phone. Therefore, parents/carers who need to deliver bad news to their child are asked to contact either the Head Teacher Welfare or the Deputy Principal prior to speaking with them so that we can ensure appropriate support from staff and/or friends is available when they receive this news.

Drugs and Alcohol

The possession of non‐prescribed drugs, drug‐related implements, smoking, vaping or taking an illegal drug, is against the law, DoE (Department of Education) policy, and school rules. Furthermore, the school is obliged by the New South Wales DoE to report such illegalities to the police, and the DoE. Students found to be in the possession of or consuming alcohol on the school premises or smoking or vaping are suspended.

Students are disciplined in accordance with DoE policy.

Electrical Items

DoE regulations, policy, and Work Health and Safety (WHS) requirements ensure all electrical items brought into the school must be in a serviceable condition, tested and tagged every qualifying period with the tag clearly displayed.

Depending on the item, most electrical items require testing and tagging every 12 months. Items that are not tested and tagged must be removed from student use until it can be tested. It can be arranged for HAHS maintenance staff to conduct inhouse testing and tagging on most common electrical items. New students will be given a time that they will need to leave their electrical items out for their initial testing.

It is recommended that students bring one power board, with a circuit breaker to be used on the power point under their student desk. These will need to be tested. Electrical items such as hair straighteners and stereo equipment should be turned off when students are out of dormitories. Students are not permitted to use the power points above the bed to charge items. These must be charged at the student desk power point/ power board to reduce the risk of fire, when not in use.

The use of a stereo system is permitted however, volume must be at a reasonable level to not to disturb other boarders or residential staff.

Energy Conservation

In these modern times with contemporary national issues, the school aims to save resources wherever possible. Boarders are asked to assist with conserving energy by turning off electrical equipment such as lights and radios when not in use or when leaving rooms, dormitories and common rooms.

The new dormitory buildings have motion sensor lights in all common spaces and hallways, but students must remember to turn off desk lamps, room lights and other items plugged in when they leave their spaces.

As part of the school’s efforts to conserve natural resources, every effort to save water is encouraged. Students are requested to have shorter showers and ensure taps are turned off properly when not required. They should also report leaking taps or other service issues to the duty team so they can be promptly repaired.

Laundry Needs

Located next to our Wellbeing Centre, HAHS has an in-house commercial laundry, which offers laundry services to all boarders. All boarders should drop off their laundry on the designated mornings to the laundry and collect it at the end of the day. The laundry will take clothing items on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. All students are required to strip their beds on Wednesdays and drop off their linen for laundering before school.

All clothes, garments and items for washing must be labeled and placed in their laundry bag and accompanied with a laundry manifest to assist laundry staff reconcile and identify items if a name label comes off during the wash cycle.

It must be noted that boarders may choose to wash and dry their own clothes in the domestic washing machines also provided in the dormitory laundry; wet washing is not to be hung in dormitory areas, out of windows or on railings. Access to the dormitory laundry facilities can be gained by seeing a duty team member. Clothes lines are available if a student needs them (beside the laundry). However, all sheets, blankets, mattress protectors and towels must be washed in the commercial laundry so it can be washed in hot water for hygiene purposes.

Security

An external security contractor is engaged to provide overnight security for the boarding sector. They are in the duty room and undertake several random patrols during the night.

Students are issued with a fob that is programmed to permit their entry to their dormitory buildings. The fobs are programmed to provide access at specific times and if students need access outside of these times, they will need to use the intercom located at the middle door of the building (next to the downstairs common room).

There are security cameras throughout the common spaces in the buildings and the buildings are alarmed overnight.

Boarders should ensure they secure their personal items in their wardrobe and lock it with their personal and unique furniture key to prevent theft and use by other boarders. They should also ensure their windows and doors are closed and locked whilst at school for the day. Ensuring personal items are put away and not left in common spaces such as common rooms or bathrooms will reduce loss and potential theft.

All boarders are issued with a room/dormitory key and should lock their doors of their rooms when they leave to prevent possible incidents of theft. Valuables should be always locked inside wardrobes or desk cupboards.

All students should ensure all their possessions are clearly labelled with their name and should report any missing items immediately to the duty team leader.

Fire Safety Equipment

The school operates a back to base fire alarm system and security alarm system monitored by Chubb and School Security Unit respectfully.

Alarm screamers, fire hoses, fire extinguishers, emergency lighting, exit signs, smoke detectors, door closers and door handles are all considered vital safety equipment to save lives. Whilst these systems undergo regular inspection and tested through each scholastic year, they must always be in a serviceable condition to help save lives, therefore, deliberate tampering or interfering with safety equipment is forbidden and is a criminal offence and will be treated as such. As such, students are not permitted to cook (beyond using the appliances supplied) in the commonroom and NO food preparation is to occur in their dormitories. Candles are also NOT permitted in the boarding school.

Any damage to this equipment must be reported immediately to boarder administration for immediate action and/or repair.

Students must not leave items charging in the power point above their beds when not in use. These must be charged on the desk.

Maintenance and Breakages

The school has a dedicated maintenance team to maintain and/or repair essential services, infrastructure, buildings and equipment.

The school expects students to respect and care for their surroundings, facilities, or services, however, also understands that accidental damage or breakages will occur to school property or equipment at times. In such an event, it needs to be reported immediately to the duty team so they can report it for prompt repair. The school will meet the costs of accidental damage.

Damage to the building or furniture must be reported. This may be part of the limited defect warranty in the first 12 months of our occupation. Damage that is deliberate, will need to be paid for out of the security bond paid on enrolment (and additional costs above that, will also be the responsibility of parents to pay).

Rooves and Trees

If a ball or other property lands on a roof or in a tree, students should refer it to the duty team leader so they can request for possible retrieval by maintenance staff.

Due to the high risk and potential for injury, students are never permitted to climb on roofs or up trees.

Farm

As one of the largest selective agricultural high schools in the state, we are blessed with a magnificent school farm within the confines of the Glenfield precinct. The new farm hub will be delivered for our use later in 2024 and will include more intensive operations of our enterprises. The farm operates a range of enterprises for agricultural educational learning outcomes and is a key focal point why many students select HAHS as their high school of choice. Many boarders become involved in daily farm activities through agricultural classes or through the school’s Rural Youth group program. The Rural Youth Program allows students to develop leadership skills and links to the farm and agriculture. All our show teams emerge from this training program. Please contact your Agriculture teacher about joining the Rural Youth group.

Library

Life as a Boarder The school library is open for all students from 8.30am to 5.30pm and for boarder students from 6.00pm to 8.00pm Monday to Thursday. Students should check in with the duty team before moving to the library after school hours.

Outdoor Common Spaces

There are outdoor extensions to the common rooms in both T block and U block. The indoor recreational areas have a variety of furniture that should remain inside the building on the carpet flooring. The sliding glass doors, allow the space to be opened. There is additional furniture provided in the outdoor area that is designed to be utilised outside. The provision of chair pads has been made for students to take outside to utilise on the bench seats. These spaces are specifically used for the residents of the residential block, i.e. the T block outdoor common room extension is for the female students and U block for the male students.

Additional outdoor common spaces include the grassed area adjacent to A block (on the residential building side). This can be utilised by all students. Picnic blankets have been provided to use to sit in and should be returned to the common rooms when students have finished with them. There are outdoor picnic tables on the asphalt beside the dining hall which can also be utilised by all students.

Sport Facilities

The school has a range of sporting facilities available for all student to access during school hours and for boarders to use during after school hours. This is accessible by requesting permission from the duty team. The boarding school provides regular access to the school gym.

Facilities include the football field, outdoor sand volleyball court, undercover basketball courts, cricket nets, undercover netball courts, and three tennis courts. Students can access the gym when there are appropriately trained staff to support them.

Recreational Activities

Student recreation activities are scheduled throughout the term. Those organised by the school will be placed on the Boarder VOR Sentral calendar and advertised to parents and students in the appropriate MS Teams. Many activities on the calendar are accessed ad hoc on weekday afternoons. Activities that involve outings beyond regular shopping and local trips, will have permission notes and sometimes payment that will need to be returned before the event. Students should pursue hobbies and interests in their free time. Many students join extra-curricular groups that are run outside of school hours or join a community sport or group. Students are supported with travel training to local activities and will need to travel independently to community sports and activities. It is best to choose an activity that can be accessed by public transport (we will do our best to ‘travel train’ students and encourage students to join as a group). Parents can also consider using rideshare transport. Before joining a new external group, we encourage parents to contact a Head Teacher of Welfare who can provide information and advice.

The list below shows some external sporting and interest groups that students and families may be interested in contacting, found in our local area or are easy to access by public transport:

Gaming and Technology Policy

There are new specific guidelines that are being implemented regarding gaming and incorporate screentime recommendations. These have been developed with consultation from students, parents and boarding school staff. Staff have been trained in supporting and recognising gaming addiction. The guidelines are designed to support personal regulation and safe gaming and recognises the positive aspects of gaming along with providing guidelines for balance. The material that is used at school must be age appropriate, according to the Australian classification system. Games or viewing material that are not within the PG or G rating group will be confiscated. Gaming is to occur in common spaces only and abide by the restrictions outlined in the policy. It is advised that families read the policy carefully before bringing in equipment to game.

When the boarding school offers organised trips (with school bytes permission notes) there will be no gaming during that time on the trip AND for those left at school to encourage social engagement for all students. The policy can be found here.

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