Some places will gently change the course of your life.
For Prue Ritchie, it was Bourke.
Fresh out of school, she arrived as a young governess expecting to spend six months in remote New South Wales before heading back to Sydney. Instead, she met the man she would marry, built a family and found a community that would shape the rest of her life.
Today, Prue is the General Manager of Bourke’s Preschool and Long Day Care Centre, Barwon Woman of the Year and a passionate advocate for early childhood education. She’s also a mum to three children at boarding school, with her eldest now navigating the final months of Year 12.
What struck me most during our conversation wasn’t just her commitment to rural Australia. It was how naturally she spoke about choosing a life that many people would see as difficult, but one she wouldn’t change for the world.
Like so many rural families, Prue and her husband made the decision to stay where they loved living, knowing that one day it would mean sending their children away to access the educational opportunities they wanted for them. It wasn’t a decision made lightly, but it was one grounded in the belief that children can grow up with both the gift of a country childhood and the opportunities that boarding school can provide.
One of the most fascinating parts of our conversation centred on Prue’s eldest son. Long before boarding school became a reality, their family was navigating ADHD, learning differences and the challenge of accessing early intervention while living remotely.
She spoke openly about the kilometres travelled to appointments, the revolving door of speech pathologists and occupational therapists, and the sheer complexity of trying to navigate support systems that often feel overwhelming for parents. Listening to her, I realised something I’d never really considered before.
Boarding school didn’t begin in Year 7 for their family.
It began years earlier.
It began with deliberately building resilience, confidence and independence, and making sure their son had the support he needed long before he packed a suitcase. Prue believes those early years of intervention are one of the reasons he has gone on to enjoy such a positive boarding experience.
As someone who now leads one of the most important early childhood services in remote New South Wales, Prue sees both sides of the story. She understands what it’s like to advocate for your own child while also recognising how much harder that journey can be for families facing financial hardship, social disadvantage or limited access to services.
Her passion for early childhood education isn’t driven by policy or statistics. It’s driven by lived experience.
We also spent time talking about boarding school itself – the importance of choosing a school for the right reasons, looking beyond reputation to the quality of pastoral care, and trusting boarding staff to become part of your parenting team. For families living hundreds of kilometres away, that trust becomes everything.
As her eldest son approaches graduation, Prue reflects on the emotions of Year 12, the endless weekends spent travelling to school events and the bittersweet reality that the boarding journey is beginning to come full circle. Like every boarding parent, she knows that no matter how independent our children become, we never really stop being their biggest supporters.
There is plenty of humour throughout our conversation too. We laughed about the day her future husband crossed a flooded creek in a tiny aluminium boat to visit her while she was governessing – a story that has become part of family folklore – and about the unexpected gift COVID gave their family, confirming for their son that boarding school really was where he wanted to be.
Perhaps my favourite moment came right at the end.
I asked Prue what she would say to that young Sydney girl arriving in Bourke all those years ago, believing she was only staying for six months.
Her answer was beautifully simple.
“I wouldn’t change anything.”
It’s hard to imagine a better way to sum up this conversation.
Because while remote life asks a great deal of families, it also gives back in ways that are impossible to measure. It gives purpose, community, lifelong friendships and an extraordinary sense of belonging.
Prue’s story is a reminder that sometimes the life we never planned becomes the one we were always meant to live.
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