Bunya boarding plans going ahead

Dalby State High School are offering weekly boarding at their Bunya Campus for a reduced overall cost.

BOARDING AVAILABLE: Dalby State High School's Bunya campus will now be offering weekly boarding at a reduced overall cost. Picture: Meg Gannon

THE Bunya campus of Dalby State High School will now be offering weekly boarding opportunities for a reduced overall cost.

The boarding facilities are intended for students whose family homes are outside of Dalby. The new weekly boarding arrangement will allow students to return home of a weekend instead of at the end of the term, as is the custom with many other boarding schools.

The reduced cost of boarding comes because students have the ability to return home on weekends, and won't be using the facilities of the school.

Principal of Dalby State High School, Dean Russell, is hoping to see more enrolments within the campus as a result.

"We started in the very first year with about 15 students boarding,” Mr Russell said.

"We've got about 70 expected to be at the campus next year so we've seen that steady growth over that period of time.”

Weekly boarding is targeting a niche group of students who attend Dalby State High School.

The principal believes the new boarding arrangement will attract families who aren't too far away from Dalby, but far enough that travelling to and from the school daily becomes an inconvenience.

"Weekly boarding is specifically designed for students who live close enough to Dalby that this is an option for them,” Mr Russell said.

"We're starting to see more and more interest from families who live one or two hours out of Dalby where it's too far to stay at home and come to school each day, but the option to go home of a weekend is actually quite easy and quite convenient.”

Families will also be able to save money under the new arrangement, while students will benefit from being able to return home at the end of the school week.

"For those families, they're obviously saving money because we can offer the boarding fees for a little bit cheaper because they're only there for five days out of the seven,” Mr Russell said.