Week 2, Spring Term 2019
The last week and a half has been a bit of a whirlwind for the staff in the Residential Community as we have managed to squeeze a number of events in a very short period of time. However, from the boy’s point of view you wouldn’t have noticed because they have just gone about their business as if nothing has been happening. The term has started pretty seamlessly for them as they have slipped straight back into routines and there is a bit of excitement in the air for the 10s to 12s as they begin their new Academic Years. We are very lucky to have the boys we have and commend them for the way they welcomed the new boys and their families into the College over the weekend as well as allowing the departing Year 12s to revel in the spotlight last week.
Staff Announcement
We have two staff announcements to make this week in regard to Grant Bennett and Matt Bradley. As you may have already been aware Grant has made the decision to retire from the Residential Community at the end of 2020. He will remain teaching in the day school but after over 25+ years in Boarding at Scotch has decided the time is right to pass the baton on. Matt has recently been appointed to the position of Head of Cameron House in the Senior School which begins in 2020. So as to not disrupt our current Residential Year 12s Matt will stay on in a duel role for next year and will also be joining Grant in leaving the Residential Community at the end of next year. Both Grant and Matt have made significant contributions to Boarding at Scotch College and we look forward to celebrating their commitment to our community throughout next year.
Year 12 Farewell
Our Year 12s concluded their official school commitments last week with a number of activities. On Wednesday night they enjoyed time with their House Heads, on Thursday we celebrated their Residential Farewell and then on Friday enjoyed the hope and experience at being the centre of attention at March Out. It was a very busy few days but very memorable for all involved and now we hope they knuckle down and complete the final chapters to their school journey!
2020 Year 7/8 Orientation
Over the past weekend we hosted the new boys and families who will be starting with us in Year 7/8 next year. Debbie Bushell came along to impart her parenting wisdom and the boys spent lots of times in and around the boarding houses getting used to their future surroundings. Parents and staff gathered for a catch up at the Claremont Hotel on the Saturday night and escaped just before we got caught up in the 80’s band action, though on a side note it looked like a lot of fun and maybe something to consider for the future!!
The Welcome to Scotch Program kicks off next week with the first of our online sessions. This has proven in the past to be a fantastic way for the boys to continue developing their early relationships and ease the anxiety of knowing other boys when they arrive next year.
As well as the Orientation Day we also welcomed a number of families who were completing the Academic Check Up program with a few of them joining us for the morning session. We look forward to seeing them, in the future.
A big thank you to all staff involved with the Orientation as it certainly seemed to work well with boys and parents all appearing to make some new connections.
Spirit Award
Last Wednesday we announced our SPIRIT Award winner for 2019. The SPIRIT Award is presented by the Higham family in memory of their son Lachy who tragically lost his life in a motorbike accident on the farm while he was a boarding student here at Scotch. The award was created to reflect Lachy’s personality with the letters SPIRIT representing:
S – Spark
P – Passion
I – Imagination
R – Resilience
I – Integrity
T – Tenacity
Each year a number of boys are nominated across the Year Groups, along with the winner, who reflects these attributes.
This year the nominations were:
Year 7: Noah McCreery, Rory Purser, Oliver Wandell, Huddy Hammond and Rohan Bignell
Year 8: Oscar Zheng, Lewis Parsons and Matthew Metcalf
Year 9: Oscar Rogers, Edward Graham, Tyler Messina, Kody Waters, Kalib Dempster-Park and Sam McGinnis
Year 10: James Holtham and Brenton Macauley
Year 11: Flynn Le Cornu, Liam Gollan, Zedd Garbellini and Arad Rad
Year 12: Sam McConachy, Lachlan Wray, Angus Cullen-Falconer and Levi Waters
A big congratulations goes to our very deserving winner Toby Egerton-Warburton. Toby certainly displays all of the SPIRIT attributes and brings a lot of passion and enjoyment around the residences and with the people he encounters. He joins 11 other winners and becomes part of the SPIRIT network!!
Esperance Field Day
Last Friday and Saturday both Sean Mecham and Ash Keatch represented Scotch at the Esperance Field Days. On the Saturday night they joined PLC in hosting a function at Taylor Road Quarters and were excited by the turn out. They certainly enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with current and past families and appreciate all those who turned up to say hello.
Paintballing
On Saturday 7th December we will be holding our annual Paintballing Day. This is the final activity that we do as a Residential Community for the year and it is the only activity that we request for all boys to attend. As per previous years we will be leaving the College at around 7.30am and will return by 2.00pm. The boys will play 4 paintball games, receive 600 paintballs, receive a sausage sizzle for lunch and have the pleasure of trying to shoot as many staff members as possible!! The cost for the day will be $50 with this being added to each boy’s accounts. This cost covers 50% of the fee with the Residential Community covering the other half. It has been the highlight of our calendar over recent years and the banter has already began for what is again set to be a great day!!
Claremont Leave and Junk Food
We believe it is important for the boys to have local leave to Claremont as it is a chance for them to get a break from the Boarding Houses and a change of scenery however, of late we are very concerned about the amount of lollies, drinks, chips, Hungry Jacks etc that is being bought by the boys. On occasions boys are going to lunch and dinner, not eating much, and then going back to their rooms and enjoying their purchases. We also obviously support moderation and think that it is important the boys enjoy a few treats along the way but for some, it is far too excessive. We do try and stop boys when they come back in the House to check what they have purchased and remove excess if required but as you know, boys get smarter and are now finding novel ways of “distributing the wealth” or “laundering” the goods. It leaves us with a couple of ways to manage the situation and that is 1) out Claremont leave, 2) place a ban on purchasing junk food rule (which we couldn’t supervise anyway) or 3) ask you to assist us in managing how much money the boys are being given because from our observations there are some boys who have a lot of money who are just wasting it on junk food. If you have concerns about your son in particular, then please feel free to contact your Residential Head of Year.
Holiday Travel Arrangements – Term 4!
Now that we are back and in full swing your attention should be (that is, if your son flies home) on the end of the year. With school having different finishing days for each Year Group it is important that you know what date your son is finishing so that you book the appropriate train or plane.
The Middle School like to have all Year 8 boys here for the Middle School Speech Night because predominantly the night is designed to say farewell to the Year 8’s. We will be keeping the Boarding House open on this night for those Year 8 boys who need to stay on and will organize transport to the airport or train station the following day. If you need any help with understanding when your son is due to leave, then please feel free to contact Michelle or Jan.
The same could also be said for any Year 9 to 12 boys who might receive an award at Speech night on the last day of the year. We will keep the Boarding Houses open that extra night and provide transport on the following day so the boys can attend if they wish.