Year 9: Summer Term 2019
Welcome to the Year 9 House
A shift from Middle to Senior School and a shift from the Year 8 to the Year 9 Boarding House. The boys arrived on day one and settled into the House straight away. They were very excited about a new House and a new School (Senior). We pride ourselves on teaching the three key pillars (not pillows) of the Year 9 House:
RESPECT
RESILIENCE
RESPONSIBILITY
Inter-House Swimming
The boys first Senior School, Inter-House Swimming Carnival was held in the outside pools at HBF Stadium in Mount Claremont. A great day of racing and cheer was had by all involved with the ‘Blue Army’ St. Andrews House eventually winning the overall event.
Year 9 Camp to Rottnest Island
The entire Year 9 cohort and their respective House Heads made the journey from the mainland across to the beautiful Island of Rottnest. The boys had a great opportunity to explore the Island by foot, bicycle and by swimming. There were also opportunities to make friends and build further rapports with fellow students and Staff from the College. The boys got involved in some amazing activities, like building sand sculptures on the beach, snorkelling through the amazing reefs, learning survival skills plus life skills as the boys lived in the Barracks for the week.
Marching
The Year 9’s have been fine tuning their marching skills on their way up to Assembly every Friday. The Assembly of the Senior School gives opportunity for key speeches from leaders in the Scotch Community with the addition of musical performances and the direction of the Scotch Community as a whole.
Inter-House Cross Country
The boys first Senior School, Inter-House Cross Country event had Year 9 Boarders dressed in their respective House shirts and waited at the Start line ready for the starter’s gun to fire. After a very short sprint in the ‘Gate Race’ the Boarders then had to endure a 3km run to reach the finish line. Collectively the Boarders were fantastic in their efforts of running the best race they could. The first Year 9 Boarder across the finish line was Kalib Dempster Park in 2ndPlace overall. An absolute fantastic run from Kalib and Edward Graham in 14thPlace overall. Congratulations to all the other boys that gave their personal best. Congratulations to the ‘Purple Army’, Keys House who won the overall event.
2019 PSA ‘Blackwood Cup’ Champions
C.J. and I are very proud coaches of the 1st V Basketball Team who won the, 2019 PSA ‘Blackwood Cup’, Back to Back Champions 2018 and 2019. This is the fifth Championship for Scotch since it began back in 1980, previously winning in 2001, 2011, 2012, 2018 and now 2019. The Scotch team went through the season undefeated with 12 Wins and 0 losses to claim outright victory of the Cup. We would like to also acknowledge and thank the many supporter’s including the huge contingent from the Boarding Community who gave us their voice and support during crucial home games. Thank you.
Bibbulmun Track
The first Year 9 Bibby of the year started out like any other Bibby that had gone before. We woke up very early on Sunday morning and headed down to the Dining Hall, collected our gear and on to the buses and off we went. The boys were in great spirits and were looking for adventure…
We had two hiking groups, Group 1 lead by Jacob Miolin and Dusan Vojvodic, hiked from Collie to Balingup and Group 2 lead by Marcus Wilkinson and myself, hiked from Balingup to Collie.
We both had great 20kms hikes on the first day and stayed at our respective huts overnight and on the second day, Group 1 had 20kms to hike which included a swim at the Glynn Mervin Dam and Group 2 had a 31kms Hike to get to the Mumballup Tavern.
It was late afternoon when we passed each other on the ‘Big Hill’ close to the Mumballup Tavern, both groups spent some time catching up, telling stories and then we parted and went on our own ways.
Group 2 finally reached our destination… The ‘Snake Bite’ changed the course of the hike, but what impressed me about this unfortunate event was the bravery shown by the boys, the trust and teamwork that they showed in helping out and the leadership from the Staff in charge, the Emergency Services were also outstanding with the incident.
The beauty of hiking the Bibbulmun Track is the life lessons you get from it, myself included. The challenge of hiking a 31 kilometre day for example, challenges your own mental and physical being, you learn how to adapt, you learn how to make the adjustments, you learn to give and take with your team, you learn so much about yourself and your team. It’s so hard to actually explain what you learn, but I think that is what makes it so special.
I really want to sincerely congratulate every Boarder that hiked on the track, you should be proud of your efforts and you should have built a bit more resilience that you can take with you on your next journey.
Around the House
The boys have made a great start to living in the Year 9 Boarding House this year. There is such a great ‘vibe’ in the House. The boys follow the House Routines very well. The ‘Prep’ Routine is always really productive, with some fantastic extra support from Academic Staff, Tutors and Mentors. The boys were also dedicated to their Summer sport program, training and competing to the best of their ability. A sense of School Pride has also been developed this term, with all the boys representing their School with class.
In the absence of our House Mother, Fran Hannington, this term we had the amazing, Denyse Houston who was simply fantastic in the Year 9 House, she made the boys life easier and happier as she did her thing every day. The boys really appreciated her care and put together a personal ‘Thankyou’ Card and gift in their appreciation of Denyse and her amazing care this term. Denyse is welcome back in the House at anytime!