Week 4, Spring Term 2020
Dear Boarding Families
We have started the term firing on all cylinders in Boarding, with plenty happening around the place!
Year 12 exams have started this week and we wish all our graduating boys all the very best as they embark on this important time in their lives. The boys have been really positive about the experience so far and have been a great influence on each other as they study together and keep each other calm and focused. A special thanks to Mr Bradley as well for his wise counsel to the boys during these weeks.
We had a wonderful time at the Katanning Agricultural Show last weekend with a successful function at the Premier Mill Hotel on the Friday evening beforehand. It was great to see current families as well as some Past parents and Old Scotch Collegians and some future families as well. The show was also great success and the Scotch College Pipe Band was a huge hit. A big thank you to Mrs Sam Scott our Manager of Prospective Students and Scott Galipo, Head of Shearer House and former Katanning local for attending the event with me. We will be heading to the Great Southern again in March when we visit Albany to celebrate our Bibbulmun Track walkers reaching the Southern Terminus.
Speaking of the Bib Track, we had our Year 7s and 8s out on the track this week and as they came in last night they were all speaking very highly of their experience. They had to walk through a little bit of rain in the first couple of days but they had some perfect weather for the last half of the journey. They were happy last night and also exhausted. The boys will celebrate with a pizza night this evening as a reward for their hard work.
The new Year 11s and 12s are also heading out on the Bibby this Sunday for a walk that will see them hit the coast for the first time! The 11s are skipping a leg to join the 12s for their penultimate walk. Next year the 11s will head back into the Karri forests to walk through Northcliffe and Pemberton. I’m sure it will be exciting for the boys as they see the coast for the first time after around 5 years of walking through the bush! The Bib track is such a treasured aspect of boarding at Scotch and we look for every opportunity to celebrate the boys as they embark on this symbolic rite of passage. As of next year, we are extending the compulsory aspects of the Bibbulmun Track by one more leg in Year 10 so that we get the boys over the halfway mark and further encourage them to stick with it and finish the journey.
The term has also seen a good amount of Recreation activities for the boys. The Year 9s have had a social with MLC and the Year 10s have had two activities with PLC and have a social with St Hilda’s tonight! Boys have also been ice skating and shopping and out to Kings Park, amongst other things. Last night, Mr Mecham and Mrs Hannington took myself and the Year 9s into the city for a cultural experience. We went to Elizabeth Quay, Yagan Square and had a lovely dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. It was a lovely evening and a great opportunity to bond. The boys were very well behaved and everyone enjoyed themselves. At our recent Boarders’ Assembly this week, the new Year 12 leaders let everyone know that we have arranged a BBQ dinner on Friday of Week 6 for all boarders to get together and share a meal outside the boarding house. In week 8 we have arranged our annual boarders’ paintballing session on the last Saturday of term which is always a highlight of our calendar on one of our only “closed weekends” of the year to encourage all boys to participate.
Finally, as an advanced notice to parents, we will be announcing our two Senior School Clans during Week 8 of this term in preparation for next year. We are in the final stages of the naming process and we have already looked to allocate the boys to their respective clans. The clans have two main purposes in our boarding environment. The most important purpose is to give families a main point of contact that will ensure your boys are well looked after by a central figure throughout his time in Senior School boarding. Another important function of the clan system is to encourage interaction between different year groups and encourage student leadership. If you have any queries about the new Clan system, please feel free to get in contact.
I wish all families a safe and productive fortnight. We will soon be visiting the South West with functions in Bunbury on the 20th November and Dunsborough on the 21st November. We hope that you can make it to see us if you are in the area and please help to spread the word within your networks to any past and potential future Scotch families. We would love to see as many people there as possible to help promote and celebrate our Scotch Boarding community.
All the best
Jordan
Kojonup Event
Yr 10 Firepit with PLC
Year 8 Bib Track
Year 9 Dinner out
Katanning Event
Scholarship – Rural Bank