For over 20 years, The Boarding School Collective (formerly known as Boarding Schools Expo) has been connecting rural and regional families with Australia’s leading boarding schools – through face-to-face events, heartfelt conversations, and trusted community connection.
We exist to make boarding education feel accessible, achievable, and real. By bringing schools and families together under one roof, we help parents explore options with confidence, ask the right questions, and find a school where their child will thrive.
Proudly regional and family-run, we’re driven by a simple purpose: to open doors of opportunity for every child – no matter where they live. Because every student deserves the chance to dream big, belong, and build a bright future.
At The Boarding School Collective, our purpose is simple yet powerful: to open doors to boarding for every family, no matter where they live.
For 21 years, we’ve stood alongside rural, regional, remote and overseas families as they navigate one of the biggest decisions in their children’s lives. We believe that with knowledge and connection comes agency and strength – and it’s our role to ensure families feel informed, supported, and confident, from the first stages of research through to the boarding journey itself.
We are here to bring schools and families together – human to human, story to story – so that boarding schools are not only visible, but truly accessible.
Always guided by our values of Transparency, Living Boldly & Vibrantly, Authenticity, and Kindness, we create spaces where families can explore possibilities, ask questions, and make decisions that shape futures.
Because every parent deserves to see boarding as possible. And every child deserves to see it as theirs.
Over two decades ago, we began with one event in Dubbo.
Fifteen boarding schools from Sydney and regional NSW put their faith in this ‘new’ model and turned up. So did 60 rural and remote families – some driving more than 400 kilometres to explore the possibilities of boarding for their children.
From that small but powerful beginning, The Boarding School Collective has grown into something extraordinary. Over 21 years, we have welcomed close to 17,000 children and 7,500 families through our doors. We’ve delivered 69 in-person events and three online, making us the only face-to-face, relationship-first boarding school expo for regional and remote families in Australia.
Almost a generation on, our purpose has never changed: to bring boarding schools to the bush so that every family – no matter how far away they live – can step into a welcoming, intentional space where boarding is not just a dream, but a real and attainable option.
At the heart of what we do is connection. Our expos are about people, not pamphlets – warmth, storytelling, and genuine human contact. Families don’t wander in by chance; they come with intent, curiosity, and often, a mix of excitement and nerves. Schools meet them where they are – in their own communities – and together, they build the kind of trust that can only be formed face-to-face.
We exist not only for families who choose boarding school but also for those who have no other option. For some of our more remote families, boarding school isn’t a preference – it’s the only pathway to education. That’s why we continue to hold events in places like Mount Isa – with our third expo scheduled there in 2026 – in Emerald, Queensland, and Dubbo, NSW (where it all began and families travel up to 1000km to join us) where our commitment remains strong. We are here for every family, from those exploring choice to those navigating necessity.
We’ve weathered droughts, floods, pandemics, and the economic squeeze of rising costs. Through it all, families continue to come. They come because these events matter – because they open doors and despite what may be going on around us, the conversations about educational opportunities persist.
Our podcast Letters from Home continues that mission, giving rural families and schools a platform to share their truths: the joy, the challenge, and the reality of educating bush kids away from home. These are the stories that counter tired narratives of elitism and privilege, shining a light instead on resilience, opportunity, and the legacy of educating generations of rural, regional, and remote children.
Vote for
your favourite school
at an expo for a chance
to WIN $1,000!
From panel experts, to scholarship opportunities, to prizes
The School of the EXPO Award celebrates genuine connection between families and schools. Voted on by families attending each event, the award recognises schools that stand out for their friendliness, presentation, and knowledge of boarding life. It’s a fun, interactive way for families – and their children – to engage with the schools in the room, while giving exhibitors valuable feedback on what resonates most. Each winning school receives a free registration for the following year’s Expo in recognition of their excellence.
Be part of the community
Connect with fellow boarding school families, and share in a collective of wisdom, support and love.