'Keeping Kids in the Country'

Leichhardt House Student Hostel (the Hostel) is governed by the Chinchilla Student Accommodation Association Inc. (CSAA); the primary function of CSAA is to take responsibility for the business issues associated with the operation of the Hostel. The CSAA Management Committee is responsible for defining and realising benefits for all Hostel stakeholders, monitoring risks, quality, and timeliness, approving budgetary strategy and helping balance the ongoing conflict between needs, priorities, and resources.

At the Hostel, our core role in education is to support isolated families, across the Western Downs region of Southern Queensland, through enabling their children to attend school. Only by providing high quality physical infrastructure and employing qualified and experienced, professional staff, can we encourage our community to move away from the trend towards urban schooling and ensure the existence of the farmers, graziers, professionals and tradespersons of the future by ‘Keeping Kids in the Country’. 

We strive to make residential life a positive experience for all Boarders by providing systems of care that recognise the individual and provides a nurturing, supportive environment based on trust, co-operation, and open communication. We endeavour to ensure that all Boarders are treated equally and try our best to establish a sense of community amongst Boarders who may come from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and family situations We believe that every member of the boarding community has a role to play in the creation of a caring ‘boarding family’ where we all look after each other and our environment: Autonomy, Resilience, Honesty, and Integrity are important life skills for all Boarders to learn and apply both as residents at the Hostel and throughout later life.

Leichhardt House has an open enrolment policy meaning that qualifying students (Years 7-12, 'isolated' students from the Western Downs region of Queensland) will be accepted into the Hostel regardless of race, religion, disability, educational needs or the school they will attend.

As numbers are limited, prospective Boarders are asked, at their earliest convenience, to return the completed Application for Enrolment Form in order to begin the enrolment process. The next stage, preferably during the term prior to the Boarders’ start date, requires the Boarder and Parent/Carer to attend an enrolment interview at the Hostel.