Week 8, Autumn Term 2022
Dear Boarding Families,
I am writing to you on the eve of heading down to Albany to be there for our Yr 12 boys and their families who are completing their Bibbulmun Track expedition into the Southern Terminus. This Year we have 7 boys walking into Albany as end-to-enders which is a remarkable achievement and a testament to these boys. This Friday night we have an event for the parents who have travelled down to see the boys and also the wider community of current, future and past parents and students. So far we have over 30 people attending this event so it should be a good time! We will then see the boys walk in on Saturday morning and the boys and parents will have a more intimate lunch after that to celebrate the occasion. A special mention to one of our year 10 boarders, Oliver Wandel, who volunteered to play the bagpipes and pipe the boys into the Southern Terminus.
I also want to alert parents to another special event coming up that is our boarding parent dinner on 30thJune. This is the Thursday night before the last day of term. We had this event planned all year but a lot of work in the last few weeks has gone toward the parent lunch on Ag Day, so I think this dinner comes at a really good time, because we are due for a catch up! We hope that you can drive to Perth for the dinner and then be there to pick your sons up the next day. You would have received an email invitation this morning asking you to book tickets. We will have canapés at the Gooch and then walk over to the Dining Hall for a sit down dinner.
Speaking of Ag Day, I want to once again express my sincere thanks to all of the families who were planning on attending that day and contributing produce to our farmers’ market. It was set to be such a good day and there was a real buzz around the school and even amongst the guests that were coming, such as our guest speaker and our experts who were going to run the careers tent. It was such as shame that it didn’t go ahead. However, we have a really good format to move forward with and we are working hard to come up with an alternate date. For those of you who weren’t around Perth last Friday it might make you laugh (or cry) to know that there was very little rain or wind on Friday despite the fact that the forecast was horrible and, even on Friday every time I looked at my weather app (which was about every 15 minutes) the forecast still said a downpour was imminent, and yet it never came. The storm stayed just off the coast all day and then the downpour came at about 3pm once the school bell rang! I got a small insight into the life of a farmer on that day!
The boys have been great this fortnight, as always! They are a pleasure to work alongside and they continue to do fantastic things above and beyond the classroom. This week we have a number of boarders involved in the Senior School production, we had a couple of boys represent scotch at the State School boys AFL Camp and a special congratulations to George Stoney for making the final team! We had Student Edge come and visit us again and present to the Year 11s and 12s about some of the exciting features of their programme. All of our Year 11s and 12s were granted a membership to Student Edge + as part of our Life Skills Programme in boarding. We also had a number of boys complete their special project in our Workshop Skills course with Mr Van Ingen Kal and there is a photo below of Tom Sounness and his finished toolbox. I urge you speak to your sons and get them to pursue some of these extra offerings in boarding. Our Life Skills course is not an additional cost to the boys, it is part of the Scotch boarding experience, so like all things, we urge the boys to make the most of their opportunities. Of course, weekend recreation fits in this category too and we urge the boys to sign up for the experiences on offer. It is great that we are doing more and more with other schools these days. Another of the extra things we are doing at the moment is adding to our wellbeing programme by inviting Rev Gary to the Senior Boarding House on Wednesdays and Thursdays to engage in circle conversations with our Year 9 boys. Rev Gary is also a trained psychologist, and he engages with the boys in an interview format to explore common topics facing young men for discussion. It could be something like the challenges associated with living away from home, or overcoming adversity, or the celebration of small achievements. The reports back from the staff are that the boys have been incredibly open in their discussions and supportive of each other. The Year 9 group started these circle conversations last year in the Middle School House with Mrs Hannington, Mrs Lorimer and Mr Marginis and are happy to be continuing them through this year. By the time they get to Year 10 and 11, they engage with our Tomorrow Man course. There is a sequential system in our Wellbeing programme and our Life Skills course that begins in Year 7 to see the boys through. It is something that we are proudly building in boarding and the boys have been wonderfully receptive.
Finally, for those in the Wheatbelt, I would like to remind you that we are travelling to Northam next Thursday 23rd June to host a function at the Farmers Home Hotel. The guest speaker for the evening will be Mr Mike Valentine who has come on board this year and is doing great things to help develop our Boarding orientation and transition programme. Mike has a wealth of experience in boarding and particularly in delivering online courses to regional primary students to help them form relationships with the school and their cohort before they come to boarding school. We would love to see our current families there and please help spread the work to any other local families that you know who are considering boarding school in the future. Our alumni officer, Nadia Sierakowski will also be there so please also invite any Old Scotch Collegians to come and reconnect with the school.
I wish all families the very best for the weekend.
Regards
Jordan
Bibbulmun Track ‘End to Enders’
Photo’s from Cosy Corner, just out of Albany where the boys had a cooked breakfast and caught up with some family members before heading down the beach for the last leg of the walk.
Yr 11 Dance Photos
Just in case you missed seeing them. Follow the link to Vidigami to view the Yr 11 Dance photos
Football
More great photos of the 10A’s, this time with coaches Tom Orford and Daniel Frost.
Boarders in the Year 10B’s Footy team
Northam
Madalah Education and Wellbeing Day
Some of our Indigenous boarding students and day boys attended an event for Madalah at the Swan Valley Adventure Centre. The boys attended workshops on social and emotional wellbeing; career pathways and walking in two worlds.
Micheal Spratt said the boys enjoyed their day out, made new friends and learnt a lot about themselves.
Medical Appointments in Reach
If you are making medical appointments for your son, we encourage you to make them before or after school and to notify the Health Centre (HealthCentre@scotch.wa.edu.au) and Student Services (seniorschool@scotch.wa.edu.au) of the details.
You must also add them to your son’s Reach leave so that their Head of Residence can approve the leave.
If you have any questions, let me know at Boarding.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au
Holiday Travel Arrangements for end of Autumn Term and start of Winter Term
The last day of Autumn term is Friday 1st July. Boys have a three week break until Winter Term starts on Tuesday 26 July.
Boarders are expected to be in the Boarding Houses on Monday 25 July from 3:00pm.
Please enter leave in Reach as per the attached document below.
2022 Boarding Photography Competition
Entries are due in by 1st August 2022.