Parent accommodation

The SJC Country Club offers affordable accommodation for rural, regional and remote parents travelling to Sydney to see their sons and take part in College events. In a two-storey brick building opposite Mark Street Gates, friendships are forged over communal meals in the dining room and beverages in the leafy backyard. 

The 31-room facility is unique to Joeys and underlines the family-centric ethos of the College. While boys may be boarding far from home, their connection to family is nurtured at every turn. The club brings their parents close; they are as much a part of the Joeys community as their sons.

Weekends at the Country Club, are naturally the busiest, and rooms can book out fast when a big event or sporting fixture is on. Refurbished in 2020, the Country Club offers single, twin and triple rooms with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities.

Parents have described the Country Club as the heart and soul of remote parents’ experience at Joeys. The highs and lows of their sons’ endeavours at Joeys are discussed, shoulders cried on, comfort offered and much laughter shared. Friendships are made fast and become, in the words of one parent, “pure solid … as all we parents have something in common – our sons in this beautiful school.”

HOW TO Book your stay

The Country Club is a great facility for parents requiring short-stay accommodation in close proximity to the College. Parents may lodge bookings (with payment) via the parent portal.

Bookings for the Country Club are accepted up to two months in advance.If you have any questions, please contact Cherie on 02 9816 0833 or Elisha on 02 9816 0995.

Parents’ commitment to supporting the Brothers in the education of their sons is not diminished by distance. The Parents & Friends Association was formed in 1935 to help with fundraising.

The P&F was instrumental in the 1940 construction of quarters for Joeys’ domestic staff opposite the school – fittingly now in use as accommodation for parents themselves in its incarnation as the Country Club, a hub for visiting parents, and emblematic of the family spirit that defines life at Joeys.

Always strong, parents’ participation in life at Joeys has expanded in recent decades as enrolment extended to day boys and weekly boarders. As one parent wrote: “Every time I turn up to help out, there are more helpers than jobs. We always have time to chat, to get to know each other. We belong to a community so we turn up in the hundreds.”

Parents also reconcile the separation that boarding brings with its advantages foremost for their boys, but also for the whole family. “Joeys has instilled in our boys values, ethics and aspirations, and a true belief that they will be able to achieve their goals through commitment and hard work,” parent of four Joeys boys Annie James told the 2019 graduation dinner. “They say it takes a village to raise a child and Joeys has become our village. We were welcomed into a community with friendship, humour and love. We have certainly felt that we and our boys, for the rest of our lives, will never walk alone.”

“Like many Joeys families, our weekends often started on Friday afternoon with the long drive to Sydney. It was always good to arrive at the Country Club, as the parents’ accommodation is fondly known. Our arrivals started with introductions to new and old faces followed by questions about the weather … after that we quickly became friends with whoever was staying there each weekend. Our boys may have been a long way from home, but it never seemed far away when we sat around the table, sharing our favourite food and immersing ourselves briefly in the wonderful experience of life at Joeys.”
Christine Volk, Mudgee

“We have had some very memorable times with other Joeys families in the Country Club. We are very lucky to have this available for country families and some great friendships have been formed over the years within these walls. It is always a great place to finish a year dinner and chat about the highs and lows of our boys’ endeavours at Joeys.”
Sally Harbourne, Moree

“The Country Club is the heart and soul of remote parents’ experience at Joeys. Put simply, we love the place. Name tags are stitched around tables, new orthodontics inspected in mirrors, coffees made and stories shared. I could also tell you about the tears shed, shoulders of comfort offered and just pure solid friendships formed as all we parents have something in common – our sons in this beautiful school.”
Sally Davis, Bourke