Week 8, Spring Term 2020
Dear Boarding families
I trust that you are all having a safe and enjoyable time at home and that you are looking forward to your sons soon returning home for the holidays. I’m writing as all of our Senior boys, from year 9-12 are going through the rigours of exams and we are wishing them all the best as they undertake this important phase of their school year.
I have recently been away from the beating heart of the campus for quite an extended period of time and I am only now just starting to catch up on a few things (including some much-needed family time!). Although this has been a relatively busy time, it has certainly been fulfilling. Most recently I have had the privilege of traveling up north to both Geraldton and Carnarvon to engage with families. It has been amazing to see the countryside and be reminded the way the landscape changes once you travel north of the 26th parallel. However, it has been even better to get to know where families live and to hear their perspectives on Scotch as well as hear their thoughts on their own home towns and the future opportunities that lie within regional Western Australia. In a way, it has been sad to hear of a few challenges in regional Western Australia at the moment especially pertaining to some of the difficulties in finding workers for small businesses and for farms due in part to the economic climate, as well as the lack of back packers in our midst at the moment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also interesting to hear Minister Alannah MacTiernan’s thoughts on the situation as she was a guest speaker to an event in Carnarvon that I was lucky enough to attend alongside some Scotch families. A huge thank you goes out to the Eastoughs, the Messinas, the Nixons, the Highams, the Meecham’s the Holthams and the Beards in particular for their wonderful hospitality whilst we were on the road.
I was also able to be a part of the Year 7 Bibbulmun Track walk on Father’s Day weekend as the boys embarked on their first journey down the track from the Northern Terminus in Kalamunda. The students and staff were welcomed onto the track by respected Noongar Leader Neville Collard and given a blessing as they began their journey. It was a special event and, although the day and night became quite rain-effected, the boys were in good spirits and showed a great attitude. It made me think that it would be a good idea to invite our Dads onto the track for that first leg of a boarder’s journey to experience the track with the boys and begin with them as they start their “Rite of Passage” on the bibby with Scotch boarding. I like the symbolism of Dads (or significant male role models) joining their boys at the beginning and then the boys walk on through the years as a peer group and then parents are there again to welcome their young men as they complete the track and walk into Albany. Another great thing about the Year 7 Bibbulmun Track experience was that we were also able to welcome two incoming boarders onto the track who will be joining us next year, John and Gilby. It was nice to see the boys getting a chance to socialise before their official Scotch journey begins next year and by all accounts they enjoyed themselves. The Year 8 group also went out on the bibby during that week and braved the rain and had a great time.
One of the best events of the past fortnight that I was lucky enough to attend at Scotch has been the Senior School Art Exhibition in the Stairwell Gallery and it made me very proud to see how many boarders were represented in this amazing showpiece. It was also great to see Mr Mecham give the keynote speech and to highlight the importance of the Arts to our lives and the importance of creativity as an approach to learning. We saw a wide array of mediums and creative representations on display and it was an absolute joy to be a part of. I took a few photos of boys work on the night but didn’t get them all unfortunately. Well done to the following boys who had their amazing artwork displayed; Nick Howson, Kaymus Brierly, Sean Bonney, Azhar Sgro, Tyler Messina, Jy White, Jake Mackintosh, Tim Valmadre, Daniel O’Meara, Kevin Laidlaw, Tom Keamy, Cooper Young and Binqiao Ren.
With regards to our staffing re-structure in boarding for 2021, we have had some exciting developments in the past two weeks. We are very close to making formal announcements on the key positions in boarding next year and I look forward to sharing these with families as soon as I can, I just don’t want to speak too early and jinx myself! I expect to make these announcements before the end of this term.
We have recently had an announcement on our Boarding Captain for 2021 and I would like to formally congratulate Brenton Macauley on his appointment. Just this week, Mr Hales and myself as well as a couple of our current Year 12’s, Patrick Eastough and Tom Graham, have been interviewing boys for the positions of Vice-Captain of Boarding and this announcement will be made shortly. We will have three Vice-Captains of Boarding for 2021. As we will be moving to a more vertical structure in the Senior House, with two “Clans”, there will be a Vice-Captain of Boarding to lead each Clan in the Senior House. There will also be a Vice-Captain of Boarding in charge of the Middle School Residence to ensure that the younger boys are being well looked after and that their opinions are being heard and advocated for by the senior boys. We will also have our Year 12 Boarders’ Council to help the Captain of Boarding and three Vice-Captains organise events and build a positive culture in our community. There is certainly a lot happening in this space at the moment and we will continue to communicate with families as decisions are made.
To that end, I would like to invite parents to our termly Boarding Parent Support Group Meeting next Friday 25th September between 1pm-3pm to discuss boarding at Scotch. We plan to hold the meeting in the Year 9 Residence and light refreshments will be provided. I have also organised to ‘Live-Stream’ the meeting so that parents who are unable to be there can tune in and watch the meeting and then also have the opportunity to follow up with any further questions via phone or email. This will give me a good opportunity to talk about what is changing and what is staying the same in 2021 and will give parents the opportunity to seek further information.
I would like to end by reminding parents again that they are very welcome to join us for dinner in our Dining Hall whenever they are in Perth to see their boys. We love to see parents with us and the parents who do stay for a meal often speak of how nice it is to see not only their son but also his boarding friends and the staff that look after him. I wish families all the very best during this important time of year and look forward to seeing you soon.
Kind regards
Jordan
Yr 11 Front Row Eagles seats
Thank you Mr Hales for capturing the Yr 11 boys at breakfast. Looks delicious!!
Meet the Mentor – Spotlight on Chris Stretch
REACH – Voyage – Holiday Travel Arrangements
We have a new process in Reach to add Holiday Travel arrangements for boys that travel by plane, bus or train.
When in Manage Leave, and you are wanting to add a New Leave Request do the following:
- Add your son’s name from the drop down list under Boarder
- Add the date and time your son is leaving Scotch Boarding
- Under Leaving Transport Details, go to the bottom of the drop down list to VOYAGE TRANSPORT TYPES and choose how your son will be travelling. This is to be used instead of the Standard Transport Types.
- The second picture shows you the fields that need to be filled in for eg: if travelling by plane, or by Bus (see the last picture)
- Always choose HOLIDAY TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS for Mid Term Breaks and Start and End of Term.
- If your son is travelling on more than one flight or train/bus, then you can add another leg of his journey, by clicking on Add Leg + at the bottom of the drop down list.