From Pilbara Cyclones to Boarding School, Clare and Grace’s Story
For many Santa Maria boarders, home is hours away. For Grace in Year 11 and Clare in Year 9, home is De Grey Station, just outside Port Hedland, where life looks very different from the routines of a city school week.
In honour of National Boarding Week, their story offers a glimpse into the strength, adaptability and perspective that many boarders bring with them. Grace and Clare are sisters, but they are also young women who have already learned how to face change, recover from challenge and find joy in a life that asks a lot of them.
Life on De Grey Station
Growing up on De Grey Station has shaped both girls in obvious and quiet ways. Their family lives and works on a large cattle property, with their dad owning five beef stations and 30,000 cattle. Before boarding, Grace and Clare were homeschooled. Much of their learning happened online, with only one week each year spent meeting other homeschooled children in person.
That made the move to boarding school a significant one.
Like many boarders, they felt homesick at first. The shift from home, family and open space to a busy boarding environment was a big adjustment. But both girls adapted quickly, and that says a great deal about the resilience they carry with them.
A Childhood Like No Other
Life on the station is not just remote. It is hands on, physical and unpredictable. A typical day starts early, with a 6.00 am staff meeting at the shed. From there, the day might involve mustering, feeding cattle, vaccinating stock and helping wherever needed. Their dad flies a helicopter as part of the work, and the girls sometimes get to go up with him.
Their favourite memories of growing up together reflect that same mix of adventure and freedom. Grace loves that they grew up on a coastal station, where time at the ocean meant fishing, boating and seeing sea life up close. Clare’s heart belongs to the horses. She remembers “growing up around horses”, and both girls have their own. Grace’s is Woody and Clare’s is Laney. They have also competed in campdrafting before rodeos, another part of station life that most city girls would never experience.
Weathering the Toughest Moments
But alongside all that beauty and excitement is a life shaped by real hardship.
Grace and Clare have lived through several cyclones, and their memories are a mix of childhood wonder and real fear. When a cyclone was coming, the animals had to be brought in, with chickens and dogs inside and the horses protected as best they could. As young girls, they found some of it funny, especially having all the animals indoors with them, but they also saw the destruction these events could cause.
Cyclone Veronica stands out as especially frightening because of the cattle they lost after becoming stuck in the mud. More recently, Cyclone Zelia in February 2025 left a fresh mark. Their brand new machinery shed was destroyed, fences were ruined, and the April school holidays were spent repairing damage. Through it all, they kept going. Even the way they describe coping during the storm says something about their calm practicality. When the noise became too overwhelming, they put on headphones and try to sleep.
Boarding Life Through a Different Lens
Boarding, by comparison, is “very different”, as Grace puts it. Clare agrees. Station life is outdoors, active and open. Boarding means more people, more structure and a very different pace. And yet, both girls speak warmly about what boarding has given them.
For Clare, one of the best parts is simple. “Having your friends next door. They are basically built in friends.”
Grace values the understanding that exists between boarders. “The support and friends I’ve made here. I like boarding because we come from similar backgrounds and share the same problems.”
Both girls also speak highly of their housemothers. Clare says, “You can talk to them about absolutely anything and they are always there for you.”
Strength That Shapes Community
That may be what stands out most in Grace and Clare’s story. They come from a world of cattle, horses, cyclones and coastal mudflats, and they now live and learn in the heart of a busy boarding community. They have not left one life behind for another. They carry both with them.
During National Boarding Week, their story is a reminder that boarders bring far more than a suitcase to Santa Maria. They bring perspective, grit, humour and a depth of experience that strengthens our whole community.
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Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
