Week 2, Spring Term 2021
Dear Boarding Families
It has been a fantastic start to the term at Scotch. The boys had a staggered return, with the Middle School boys coming back on the Monday to start term on Tuesday, and the Senior boys starting boarding on Tuesday for school to begin on Wednesday. From there it has been a busy week and a half but there has been a lot to celebrate!
Our graduating Year 12s and their families had a wonderful night on Thursday of last week, with our boarding graduation dinner taking place at the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, overlooking the Swan River and the Scotch College Boat Shed. Mr Hales gave a brilliant speech to address the boys, including some funny anecdotes about his time working with the year group. It was great to see photos of the boys from their time throughout Scotch, including their photos from Year 7 next to their photos from Year 12. We had a lot to celebrate and the boys should be proud of their achievements. The boys also gave short speeches about each other and we heard some more funny stories about boarding from the boys’ perspective. The night was thoroughly enjoyed by all and it was a great lead up to the March Out festivities that took place the next day. I would like to say a special thank you to the parents and the staff that helped put the evening together.
March Out on Friday was another magical occasion. It coincided with the official re-opening of the Gooch pavilion after it had spent much of this year undergoing a significant refurbishment. It was nice that, having not been able to use the Gooch changerooms for their final year of PSA sport, the graduating cohort will always be able to have the memory that the ‘new Gooch’ was opened on the day of their March Out which will surely be a moment of pride as they revisit the College as Old Scotch Collegians during their 10 year anniversaries and even hopefully as fathers to Scotch boys themselves in future years. As the statement from the Old Scotch Collegians says at the entrance to the Gooch “The baton passes on” a poignant lyric taken from our school song. I can certainly say from my own perspective that it was special to have my 5 year old son beside me on that day and I enjoyed watching him marvel at the big boys in front of him who were graduating from Scotch. I think if you ask George what he wants to be when he grows up, he would say “the drum major of the Pipe Band!”
As if March Out and our graduation dinner wasn’t enough for a week of activity, we then rolled straight into our Boarding Orientation Weekend for our incoming boarders next year. Talk about a fast start to the term! A huge thankyou to Mr Mecham, Mrs Sullivan and Mrs Hannington from the Middle School Boarding Team, and of course our wonderful Jan and Michelle in Boarding Admin, for helping organise a great day for our new families. We also had a number of other key staff help us on the day, such as Fiona Richmond or nurse manager, Kim Lorimer our Middle School Psychologist and Irene Louden from our ILT Team to help the day run smoothly. Our new boys received the iPads for next year on that Saturday and will be spending the next 6 weeks engaging in online learning with Mrs Sullivan to help them get to know each other and have opportunities to learn more about life as a boarder at Scotch. I also take this time to announce a very exciting new staff member at Scotch, Mr Michael Valentine has joined us this term from Hale School, where he coordinated the much-respected “Hale at Home” programme for incoming boarders. Michael joins us as our Remote Learning Coordinator and will have a prominent role in boarding, particularly helping new boarders and their families connect with Scotch. Michael will be working with Mrs Sullivan, Mr Mecham and myself to look at our orientation programme for next year and we have already come up with some very exciting ideas, so watch this space!
Our boys have also been out on the Bib Track already this term and there are a few more expeditions to go throughout the term, now that the weather is looking good. Our Year 10s have been out this week (with the weather not so good!) and the Middle School boys and the Year 11s and 12s will be going out in a couple of weeks’ time.
I am also out on the road quite a bit this term and I hope that you can make the time to visit if we are out near you, because you are who we come to see! Last week Mr Kyle was at the Kojonup show where the theme of the show was “Highland Fling” due to the success of the Pipe Band visiting last year. The Pipe Band visited again last weekend and there were various other Scottish festivities on show, such as Highland Dancers and Highland Games events. This weekend Dr O’Connell, Mia Sullivan and I will be attending the Katanning Show to see families in the region. The Pipe band will also be in attendance at Katanning and we would love to see you there. Later in the term I am visiting Albany for the Albany Show and Esperance with Mr Mecham in late November.
Lastly, I want to notify our community that one of our key staff members, Mrs Michelle Grosse from Boarding Admin, has accepted a new and very exciting new position, working for the Australian Public Service! Michelle has been progressing through the selection process for a long time now and was finally offered the position in October. It is a dream job for Michelle and we wish her all the very best as she moves on from almost 6 years’ service at Scotch College. Michelle has been a rock for me and also for boarding in general and she will be missed. Luckily, we are still in very capable hands as Jan Usher has accepted the position to move to full time, so the handover has been smooth and we haven’t missed a beat. A huge thank you to Michelle for her service and congratulations to Jan. If you would like to pass on you well wishes to Michelle, please email Boarding.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au and we can forward on to her.
I wish families all the best for the next few weeks and wish all the farmers well as they prepare for their busy harvest season, some of whom have already started recently. Please take photos and send them in to us so that we get to see how you are going and please come and share a meal with us in our dining hall whenever you are in Perth.
All the best
Jordan
We will all miss you Michelle!!
Year 12 Farewell Dinner
Bibbulmun Track
Middle School Residence
Mrs Hannington has been enjoying nesting in the refurbished Middle School Residence, and it looks great. Reading time with the boys, the new seating in the kitchen, the games room and the fire pit and courtyard with new pot plants.
March Out
Our first hot day since forever and it had to be when boys are wearing their winter uniform and jackets. Great shot of Ed Graham and Kalib Dempster Park receiving their Leadership roles. Congratulations!
Year 9
At the end of last term, the Year 9s decided to have a scratch match and it looks pretty serious.
Kojonup
Tomorrow Man
Year 11’s in their Tomorrow Man workshop.
Reach App issues
Some parents have been experiencing issues with the upgraded Reach App. If you are having trouble adding leave on the app, please send me an email Boarding.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au and I’ll let Reach connect know.
Reach Holiday Travel Leave instructions
Reach – Holiday Travel Arrangements Creating a Leave Request