From Kulin to Penrhos - Grace's story

Our daughter, Grace, completed Year 12 as a boarder at Penrhos in 2025. She was awarded a Red Dragon Scholarship when she began in Year 9. We will never forget the phone call we received on our drive home to Kulin from Perth offering her this opportunity. We laughed and cried that day – it felt like we had won lotto. Grace was so excited to begin at Penrhos, meet new friends and make the most of the opportunity she had been given.

We would like to sincerely thank the Penrhos College Foundation for granting Grace the opportunity of a Penrhos education – it has truly been life-changing for our family. Our second daughter, Maggie, also joined Penrhos in Year 9 in 2024 and without the support of the scholarship, it would not have been possible for both our girls to attend the College.

Grace’s experience as both a student and boarder at Penrhos has exceeded our expectations. She has always been determined, but seeing her independence and confidence grow within such a positive and nurturing environment has been wonderful. The support available to her whenever needed has been outstanding. We feel especially fortunate that Grace has had Henrik Beasy as her Head of Year. He has taken the time to truly know both Grace and our family, ensuring she has felt supported throughout her four years.

During Year 11 and 12, Grace has also benefited greatly from the guidance of Emma Devon and the English support team. Her results in English have improved significantly thanks to their care and encouragement. In general, all of Grace’s teachers have been wonderful and available to help when she needed it.

In the Boarding House, Liz Langdon and her team have always been warm and welcoming, and responsive to any concerns. Sending Grace to boarding school was not a decision we took lightly – we considered moving our whole family to Perth, but we have a great life based in Kulin, surrounded by extended family and a strong community. We didn’t want to leave this behind – knowing that Grace was going to a safe, positive, nurturing place where she could really spread her wings was really important to us. The Boarding House has truly become Grace’s home-away-from-home. We also appreciate the wide range of recreational activities on weekends, which are included in the fees rather than as an unexpected extra. Most importantly, Grace has built beautiful, lasting friendships with both boarders and day girls.

We have no doubt that Grace is ready to take the next step in life. Her independence has shone through over the past few months – organising her own summer holiday jobs and making decisions about university next year. Penrhos has played a big part in her confidence to make these decisions.