Week 8, Summer Term 2022
Dear Boarding Families
I hope this communication finds you well and I want to extend my thanks to so many of our families who have been affected in the past fortnight by COVID-19. We have had families travelling from Esperance, Geraldton, the Wheatbelt and the Great Southern over the last two weeks to collect boys. We have also had many of our family and friends in Perth who have taken a boy out for his isolation. In many cases this means an additional financial and emotional cost for families, which I am sure takes its toll. Similarly for us at Scotch, we have had our amazing staff working extra hard to follow the mandated guidelines and help to care for families. Our Health Centre staff have been incredible, as have our Heads of Residence and assistants, our House Mothers, cleaning and dining hall staff, duty staff, Heads of Sub Schools, and Mrs Usher in Boarding Admin who keeps us all together! It is not an easy time and we all have our shoulders to the wheel to try and navigate this as best as we can, and withing the guidelines and mandates that the government give us. Hopefully this COVID period in hitting its peak now and we can get back to some resemblance of normal soon. We currently have around 25 boys out of boarding for COVID related matters, which is actually a good statistic in comparison to some of the other schools who have had entire boarding houses effected. We have been lucky, but we have also been diligent and our students have been really good, there is a strong sense of teamwork at Scotch Boarding, for which I am very grateful.
I would like to extend a special thanks to parents during this time, who have had to be very patient and adaptable. I hope the new rules we have introduced for next week come as a very welcome relief.
- Boys who are identified as close contacts of a positive COVID case (e.g. a roommate) will be RAT tested and if they are showing no symptoms and their RAT test comes back as negative for COVID, they will be allowed to stay in boarding for the duration of their 7 day isolation period in our isolation wing. We only have 6 rooms in our isolation wing and therefore there is a chance that asymptomatic boys will have to isolate in a shared room, which is not ideal but it is the best that we can provide. We can isolate a maximum of 12 boys.
- We have created a little outdoor courtyard where they can get some fresh air and have their meals, but otherwise the boys will need to be in their rooms as per the guidelines and will only be allowed to leave their quarantine to go to school and back. They will have meals delivered to their rooms and won’t be able to go to any public places or boarding house common areas. The government states that they must remain in quarantine.
- We will organise a supervised evening walk on the ovals for the boys after prep so that they can get some kind of light exercise each day but still stay away from members of the public and other boarders so that we can confirm they meet quarantine conditions.
- If parents want to collect their sons during this time of isolation, they can do so. If parents of asymptomatic boys who are currently isolating away from boarding want to drop their boys back on Sunday to complete their isolation in boarding, they are welcome to do so, providing the boys complete a negative RAT and parents let us know so that we can try and find a bed for them.
- If parents are driving long distances to collect their boys and want to stay in Perth overnight before returning home, we have a house that can be used so please get in contact with me.
In other boarding news, we have been pleased with that way that the boys have been going about their daily routines and participating in extra activities. The workshop skills course has been going really well for the senior school boys on a Wednesday afternoon with Mr van Ingen Kal. The boys are creating a really nice tool box and Mr van Ingen Kal has been glowing in his praise of the boys who are doing it, saying that they have been incredibly well behaved and a pleasure to work with. Our Boarding leaders have been great at working with us to plan Rec activities and this included a Buddy Up Golf tournament last Sunday. Mr Stretch is working hard to get rec opportunities for the boys, given that some venues are difficult to book and lots of schools are very hesitant at the moment to socialise. We have come up with some fun ideas for the next few weeks and we hope the boys get on board. This Sunday Mr Stretch has organised Bubble Soccer for the boys which will be great.
We are also planning for the Year 8 Bib track expedition to go ahead this term as a series of day walks, as currently camps are not allowed, but excursions are. I think it is important for the boys to keep up with their Bib track walks wherever possible and I think some time out bush would be very welcome at the moment for the boys. We will continue to work on rescheduling our missed expeditions for the Year 12s and also the Year 9s once the government allows camps to proceed again.
I wish all families the best over this next fortnight. Please get in contact if you have any queries and please pass on my thanks to Perth-based family and friends who have been so helpful during this time with isolation. We have a Boarding Parent Support Group meeting planned for the last day of term and I hope to engage with parents about how to best plan for a big Ag Day in 2022 in June and hopefully our boarding parent sundowner can be back on the cards! I wish farming families all the best as they prepare for seeding over the Easter break.
Jordan
Buddy Up Golf
Kody Waters (Vice Captain of Boarding – MSR) and Mr Mecham organised the Year 12s to buddy up with the Year 7’s and some Year 8’s to play a “2 ball best ball Ambrose style” Tournament last Sunday afternoon. This means you both tee off and then pick the best ball for your second shot, and again, until you hole the ball. It’s a real Team effort!! Tee off was at 2:30pm, and the boys headed off together to the Lake Claremont Golf Course. Looks like they had a fun afternoon.
Student Edge
Middle School Residence
Declan and Riley received Headmaster’s Commendation two weeks ago. Congratulations boys!
Rest and Relaxation
Young Writer’s Collective
On March 1st a group of Year 7 and 8 students participated in the Young Writer’s Collective. The one day workshop was with author and illustrator Aśka on visual literacy. Year 8s Tom Falconer-Radford, Oliver Gooding and Declan Crombie with Year 7 Wes Cooper participated in the workshop, developing their knowledge of how to communicate through deliberate and edited images and language.
Workshop Skills
Mr Brent Van Ingen-Kal working with the boarders at Wednesday’s workshop.
Indonesian Cooking Class
Mrs Karen Bridle very kindly volunteered her time today at lunchtime to help some boarders cook an Indonesian meal as part of the cultural component of their course.
We made spring rolls which were really good.
French Cooking Class
Mrs Bridle showed Ben, Toby and Jasper how to make a ham and cheese croissant. Mr Hales got to sample them and was very impressed.
Meet the Mentor