Week 10, Autumn Term 2021
Dear Boarding Families
As we near the end of term, I wish all families a restful break. The three week July holidays will be a great time to relax and have some good quality family time. I am sure that younger siblings will be eager to see their big brothers and that our boys will be very keen to reconnect with home. Again, I send a special note to our international families who are not able to travel at this time. I hope that our regional boarders have considered their international friends and perhaps even looked to invite them home for a few days. There is still time! I would also like to wish all our Year 10 boys well on their Outdoor Ed expeditions, many of whom are going on expedition during the third week of holidays.
This fortnight has been a big one in boarding, especially as last week was Boarding Week at Scotch! I hope that families enjoyed the social media posts that were coming out throughout the week featuring boarding. We also had a few very special assembly presentations. Firstly, Harvey Ellis and George Purser presented at assembly a few weeks ago foreshadowing Boarding Week, including a wonderful video made by George. Then last week, Captain of Boarding Brenton Macauley spoke at assembly about his experiences growing up in Broome and then coming to Scotch as a young Indigenous boy who has then grown into a leader for others. Brenton’s speech had everyone in the room on the edge of their seats hanging on to every word and it was a very special moment at the College. A link to his speech can be found here. Later that day, Middle School boys Campbell Johnston and Jayden Clarke spoke at assembly about their experiences as boarders and what life is like living in regional Western Australia. The boys did a fantastic job and made us all very proud. A link to Campbell and Jayden’s speech can be found here. I also want to make a special mention of the Year 12 boys who did a fantastic job on Ag Day by cooking the lamb and serving the school and then cleaning up afterwards. Ag Day is a great opportunity for the Year 12 boys to show leadership and they did a wonderful job.
The marketing department were inspired by our boarding feature during Boarding Week and are keen to keep it going throughout the holidays. May I please ask parents to take photos of the boys at home during these holidays doing what they love and text or email them through to me so that I can coordinate this with marketing for more photos to be featured on our social media feeds throughout the holiday period. I think it is important to keep looking for ways to celebrate boarding within our college community.
A few events of note for the boys this fortnight included the Year 11 boys attending the P.A.R.T.Y. Programme at Royal Perth Hospital, accompanied by Mr Hales and Mr Mellor. The programme looks to educate the boys about some real life consequences that can come about from decisions that young people can make. P.A.R.T.Y. is an acronym for Prevent Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma and Young people. The boys visited the trauma ward of the hospital and spoke to survivors and doctors. The programme is designed to help them adopt behaviours and actions that minimise risk. Also this week, the Year 12 boys participated in a City After Dark Tour, led by Western Australian Police Officers. The programme is designed to help the boys become more “street smart” as they transition into adulthood next year. The police officers took the boys through Northbridge and went through a raft of tips from catching transport, to stranger interactions, awareness of surroundings, diffusing or avoiding potential confrontations, and rules and regulations around the night life scene. Again the boys were taken by Mr Hales and Mr Mellor and by all accounts the boys got a lot out of it.
We had our fortnightly Boarders’ assembly this Wednesday and, with the Year 12 boys away on the their City After Dark Tour, the Year 11 boys led the assembly and did a fantastic job! It was great to see our emerging leaders take the lead and do such a good job. We had a quiz, an interview, a sports report and everything in between. It was a lot of fun and very informative, a great cultural event!
I did my annual presentation to the College Council last week where we discussed the previous year in boarding as well as having a strategic conversation about the future. I wanted to report back to parents how excited and inspired I was to be in the room and to hear the unanimous and unwavering support that the Headmaster, Chief Financial Officer and College Council have for our boarding community at Scotch. Indeed, a significant number of Council members as well as our Headmaster, have a rich background in regional life and boarding. Boarding is very much part of our fabric at Scotch, woven into our tartan! Whilst modern times and a changing landscape in regional Western Australia demand a dynamic approach to boarding enrolments, we are lucky to have such a supportive Council and are committed to providing an excellent service to our regional communities. Boarding is very much at the heart of the College, I cannot stress this point enough. Most importantly, our boarding community relies on our current and past parents and students having a positive experience, providing the best possible care and educational opportunities for the boys and then, on the back of that, breeding advocacy in our local communities. I firmly believe that a Scotch education and a Scotch Boarding experience for our boys are second to none and, furthermore, that our new pastoral care and academic support structure in boarding have strengthened boarding at Scotch. Furthermore, I reaffirm that we are always open to feedback and I appreciate the conversations I have been having with parents over the past year in order to further improve our service. The conversations that I am having both in Perth and on the road have been great and I urge parents to work with us to provide the best outcomes for the boys, all working in partnership. On that note, if any of our current families have friends in their local communities who have sons that would be a great fit for Scotch College and the boys would benefit from a Scotch education, please refer them on to me and we can start a conversation.
Last but certainly not least, I would like to send out a big congratulations to Micheal Spratt, our Indigenous Programme Coordinator and his partner Shanaye as they welcomed their second son into the world this week! Micheal has made a big impact on our boys and our School in the short time that he has been here, and I would like to wish him and the family our warmest congratulations as they celebrate this very special time together. Micheal will be on leave for the next few weeks and will be back next term to launch our annual NAIDOC week celebrations in week 2 of term.
I wish all families a restful and fulfilling break over the holidays and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. I am particularly looking forward to opening the newly refurbished Middle School Boarding House with our boarding families next term! We will be hosting a special afternoon tea to mark the occasion for the current Middle School families and you should have seen a recent email from our Boarding Administration team.
Kind regards
Jordan
Ag Day
Around the Ground
City After Dark Tour
Sport
Scotch on the Road
Corrigin TONIGHT!
Please stop in and say hello if you are in or near Corrigin tonight;
Corrigin Hotel
17 Walton Street
Corrigin
6:30 – 8:30pm
It’s going to be a busy return to Term 3 as we will be in Geraldton, Mingenew Expo, the Kimberley region and attending the Dowerin Field Days
during August.
Please refer to and share the booking link for all our Scotch on the Road events:
https://www.scotch.wa.edu.au/view/admissions/scotch-on-the-road
We hope to see you there!
Boarding Photo Competition – Closing soon
With entries closing within the first few days back for Term 3, don’t forget to take the opportunity to get out and about with your cameras during the school holidays. The caliber of the early entries that we’ve seen are just spectacular. Keep them coming!
Medical Online Updates
Our boarders attend a lot of excursions, tours and Bibbulmun Track walks throughout the year. To make it a smoother process for our administration teams, may we suggest that at the start of each term could you please visit Home.Scotch to update the boys online medical details even if they have not changed.