Stirling Clan – Mid Term Update, Summer Term 2022
Firstly, a welcome to all the new Year 9s to Stirling Clan, and a special welcome to Hezekiah Batt (Boddington) and Alexander Wallace (West Coolup) who are new to the school. (West Coolup is West of Coolup. Being a Geography teacher, I had to get on Google Earth and by my guestimate it’s about 10 minutes South of Pinjarra)
Hopefully all the families had a good long break over Christmas. Unfortunately, I had only one week in Tasmania before I had to return. I am aware that while it was generally a good harvest for many, the later prevalence of fires was scary.
The start of the year is always hectic, and this has been exacerbated by trying to handle the Covid protocols. For instance, reminding boys to only socialise outside or in large spaces such as common rooms rather than each other’s rooms have been a constant. We start back on Monday night with the boys having to wear masks around the House except in their rooms. The threat of the approaching Omicron Wave has caused some traditional events to be brought forward or postponed.
The Year 12s who were due to complete the last leg of the Bibbulmun track will have to W.A (like the state – wait awhile). They also had to adapt to their ball being held outside. My perception was that after the wind died down the outside venue worked well. I am grateful to all the Year 12s their partners and their parents who turned up for the Boarders Pre-Ball function. We understood they were itching to get to other Pre-Ball functions, but I was appreciative with the respect that was shown to boarding. It was also really pleasing to see Eli Blackburn give the Welcome to Country presentation at this prestigious event. As the eldest indigenous boy in our clan, Eli has certainly stepped up.
The swimming Inters were also brought forward. In a change from previous years the Boarding House were well represented. Alexander Wallace, Lochie Elliott, Rangga Evans, and Tim Hardcastle were Stirling Clan’s representatives, and I commend them on the teams 3rd overall placing at the Inters.
The Head of the River was also brought forward, and Sam Doney and Nick Chadwick represented Stirling at the recent rowing regatta. While Scotch could not repeat the success of last year, it was pleasing to hear of the growth in the numbers of rowers and the overall improvement of crews throughout the season.
On the first weekend of the term there was a full House barbeque held up at school on the Chapel lawn. Whilst Stirling lost the game of backyard cricket 92 all out versus Blair 7/95, the Year 12s did an excellent job organising the barbeque. The next day the younger boys in the Big House made the trip to Adventure World which was a good way to start the year, especially to get any new students mixing in with the old hands.
I have been very pleased with the leadership shown by the Year 12s generally. At the regular clan meetings held every Sunday – Thursday evenings, Clan Captain Tom Sounness has got the other Year 12s well organised to take the roll and have input into the meetings. There is a good feeling at these meetings and the boys show genuine appreciation of each other’s achievements.
Over the holidays we heard that our House Mum, Marika Ball, had decided to return to university to do further study. Marika was the first House Mum of the Stirling clan. Many of the younger boys knew her well from her work in the Middle School Boarding House. Hardworking, and empathetic she had a good sense of fun. Marika is a big loss for us.
I am pleased to announce though, that Mrs Rebecca Melsom will start as the new House Mum for Stirling after the mid term break. Bec, as she likes to be called, is a mother of two whose son is currently in Year 10 at Scotch. As a Scotch Mum she comes to us with a good understanding of how the school operates and I wish her well.
At this stage I’d like to thank Pam Seaby who has held the fort for the first half of the term, when we were down to only one House Mum. I have been putting off the Year 9 Stirling breakfast until the new House Mum was appointed, but Covid willing we will endeavour to visit a restaurant for breakfast in the next couple of weeks.
In conclusion, as we head towards the start of the winter sports season it is apparent that many boys are taking preseason very seriously and are making good use of the gym, especially at the Revo Sports in Claremont. However, having had a son try to become a professional sportsman, I do urge caution about boys pushing too hard, and not stopping when their body is telling them to take it easy. By my calculation 1 player in 380 becomes an AFL player. A good school qualification may be a better long-term investment of time. I do not want to dissuade any young man from following their dream, but I do urge that a healthy balance is maintained.
RJAH