Year 9: Our ‘motto’ have fun at ‘Rotto’
Year 9 Camp to Rottnest Island
On Monday the 24th of February 2020, The Year 9 Boarders, bordered the S.S. Sealink along with the other 140, Year 9’s and the Scotch Staff Crew, Captained by experienced Scotch Pirate, Captain David Jones, rrrrr!!
We set sail on the Indian Ocean, destined to reach the Island after a long and treacherous 25 minutes out on the open seas (it was actually, pretty smooth sailing)
We finally, found land and made our way straight to the Bike Hire to get our transportation for the week. We found our bearings and made our way to our accommodation, which was the Kingstown Barracks. We were met by several ‘Quokkas’ who seemed very friendly.
The boys settled in with their respective Houses and House Head and plans were drawn up for the week’s activities which included, Art (Sand sculptures) with myself, Captain S.R. Mecham, Survival with Captain Loosemore, Aquatics with Captain Eaton and Captain Gale, Ecology with Captain Brogden and Captain Guy, Community & Service with Captain Baker and Rottnest History with Captain Hindle. Four young buccaneers (the 4 Gap Students) also helped out with different activities.
A typical day on camp, had an early morning wake up, breakfast at the mess hall, morning activity, sports at the barracks, lunch at the mess hall, afternoon activity, sports at the barracks, dinner, evening activity, house activity (watching the stars) and bedtime. The staff and boys were exhausted every night, so sleep was not hard to get.
The Year 9 Camp to Rottnest Island is such a memorable time for all the boys and a great opportunity to engage in the amazing Well-Being program here at Scotch College. It was a bit of ‘back to basics’, without the over use of technology. Riding bikes, swimming, snorkeling, playing sports, building sand sculptures, learning survival skills, embracing the history of a place, going to the old fashioned ‘Picture Theaters’, star gazing, eating at the mess hall, quiz nights, well being activities and games, getting an ice-cream from the shops… these were things that I used to do as a kid and I know they seem pretty basic, but they are an integral part of one’s life, a sense of ‘Fun for everyone’.
A massive thank you to all these people; David Jones (Camp Leader), all the amazing House Heads, Lisa Evans (Anderson), Scott Duncan (Alexander), Kate Webster-Blythe (Brisbane), Matthew Bradley (Cameron), Ryan Foster (Ferguson), Louise Lilford (Keys), Kate Gooding (Ross), Tony Doney (St. Andrews), Scott Galipo (Shearer), Nick Guard (Stuart) and all the other Staff that ran activities (listed above) and anyone else that helped out with the Camp.