Week 10, Autumn Term 2022
Dear Boarding Families,
I hope you are all looking forward to having your boys back for the school holidays! A 3 week break in the middle of the year is a great chance for them to all get back in touch with home, even go on a holiday, and come back fully recharged. I am glad that there are no exams to worry about on the other side of these holidays, it is a genuine break after a very busy semester.
I was speaking to the boys at last night’s fortnightly boarding assembly and I can’t believe that most of our boys and staff went through COVID this term! It seems so long ago that we were down to 50% of our boys in residence and staffing issues coming out of my ears! And yet, it was only around Week 2 of this term. Our Yr 11 and Yr 12 boys spent the early parts of this term in exams and some of our boys have gone through exams at the latter stages of this term. Our year 10s have also gone through the subject selection process for their courses next year. Our Middle School boys have been through a large amount of assessments and are about to receive their reports for the semester. I think all our boys have handled themselves very well and they deserve a good long break to slow down and just enjoy being kids for a while!
Next term will be equally busy at School, especially as the older boys finish off their winter sport seasons and then head into exam preparation mode again. Our Year 12s have an extended term as the exam schedule goes into the first week of October holidays for a lot of our Year 12 boys. Some others will have completed graduation requirements by the end of next term and will only come back for March Out. Year 11s have a short turn around in October before they are beginning their final year of School. We have some opportunities planned for them next term to help them best prepare to lead our boarding community.
One criticism of boarding that I have heard recently has had to do with the food. I want to address this directly and assure parents that we have been working very hard with Chartwells, our catering partner, to address the issue. Our catering manager at Scotch has been very receptive to the feedback and we have redesigned the menu for next term together. They have been fantastic. There have been some factors at play, such as supply chain issues for food, huge increases to the cost of food as well as freight, as well as COVID related staffing issues and the use of temporary chefs, who have been hard to find. As a Department Head in charge of staffing myself, and the conversations I regularly have with boarding families that run small businesses, I can certainly sympathise with staffing issues during COVID, and I am cognisant of increased costs associated with supply chain for food at the moment. However, I have been advocating strongly for our boys and our catering managers at Chartwells have been very receptive to the feedback and working hard to address the issues. We are confident that the Winter term menu will be significantly better. It is important to everyone that the boys get a high quality and varied diet, and plenty of food. For my part, I am always open to feedback from parents and I see it is a sign of a strong community. I am also determined to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to get the best outcomes. In this instance, we have advocated strongly for the boys and I am confident that the issue has been addressed. I ask that parents relay this message on to boys if the topic comes up over the holidays to let them know that their voices have been heard and to put them at ease about what to expect next term.
This past fortnight saw a couple of our year groups away on Bib Track again. It was a very special occasion for our Year 7 group in particular as they began their journey from the Northern Terminus in Kalamunda. Due to the change in schedule, it was almost poetic to have had the Year 12s finish at the Southern Terminus on the Saturday beforehand, and then our Year 7s step off for the first time on the following Wednesday! It was particularly surreal for Mr Mecham who walked with both groups! The Year 7s had an amazing Welcome to Country ceremony to bless them as they embarked on their journey to walk the Track. This ceremony was led by Mr Spratt, our Indigenous Programme Coordinator at Scotch and he did a wonderful job. Last night our Yr 7 boys Spencer and Van spoke so positively about their 21km journey and sleepover on the track. We then had a presentation from Henry and Jayden about the Year 9 walk from Collie to Balingup, which was another great experience for the boys, although those boys were able to boast that they were walking about 21km a day! The Bib track certainly isn’t an easy experience, but not many transformative life experiences ever are easy! And the Bibbulmun Track experience for our boarders is an amazing experience, designed to be one of life’s challenges. As the boys complete their journey from Year 7 boys to the young men of Year 12, they go through a Rite of Passage. We are looking to include parents in our Rite of Passage journey by inviting parents onto the track in Year 7 so that they can help us send the boys on their way and then, we invite parents back onto the track when the boys are in Year 12 so that they can be there to catch them and help welcome them into adulthood as the boys complete the experience.
I am looking forward to seeing parents at the Boarding Parent Dinner. I have enjoyed seeing parents at recent events in Albany and Northam and I always feel comfortable and at home amongst your company. It is a real partnership to work with parents to help raise our boys into fine young men, and it’s great to catch up socially and enjoy each other’s company at this annual event and share a laugh or two. We should do it more often!
I wish families all the very best over the holiday break and it was lovely to see everyone that attended last night.
Finally, I would like to make mention of one of our long standing boarding mentors, Bruce Campbell, who is leaving us at the end of this term after 5 years at the College. Bruce started here as a GAP student from South Africa and has stayed on with us since then. He has lived in the boarding house for 4 years whilst he has been studying his undergraduate degree and he is one of our most respected boarding mentors. This year he moved out of the boarding house but continues to work regular shifts. Bruce has an exciting opportunity working for KPMG and we wish him all the very best as he moves on to his next adventure!
Kind regards
Jordan
At Assembly today, it was announced that Lochie Elliott had received the P C Anderson Scholarship. Congratulations Lochie, well done.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Very proud of our boarders that participated in the production. Congratulations boys!
Middle School Residence
The Yr 7 boarders took the train to the City to view the Van Gogh Alive Exhibit. The boys got to immerse themselves in Van Gogh’s artistry from his masterpieces.
Jenny
There is a new addition to the MS Residence and her name is Jenny. Fran found her in a pot plant and now the boys have adopted her and built her a lovely new home.
Yr 7 Bib Track
The Yr 7’s walked from the Northern Terminus in Kalamunda on their first leg of the Bib Track. Mr Spratt held a smoking ceremony to welcome the boys to country.
Cross Country
Congratulations to Gordon House on a great win in the MS cross country. Photo’s below of some happy boys.
Yr 8 Wheelchair AFL
Not as easy as it first appears. Some of the Yr 8 Boarders got to play AFL while trying to manoeuvre a wheelchair. Cooper, Jake, Harry and Oli did a great job.
Senior School Residence
Breakfast for the Stirling Clan Yr 10’s at C Blu with Mr Hales and Ms Garreffa.
Year 9 Bib Track walk
Two groups set out on Saturday 25th June walking in the Balingup area. Group 1 walked with Johann Schroeder, Rhys Holdman and Abby Norriss north to south, and Group 2 walked with Amber Flynn and Scott Galipo in a south to north direction. Both groups met up and enjoyed lunch at the Mumby Pub on Monday. It was freezing cold in Collie where their tents had ice on them. Last day 5:30am to get to Balingup on time 23 kms to walk
City After Dark
On Wednesday night the Year 12 boarders went on the “City after Dark” tour hosted by the Constable Care Foundation and the WA Police Force, with Richard Hales & myself.
We left the boarding house at about 4.30 and caught the train to Perth where we met our guides, a senior police sergeant from the Northbridge police station. Sgt Ian Stewart was a Scotsman from Glasgow, who has had some eye opening experiences during his career, and Jess Pochintesta who works for the Constable Care Foundation, and is married to a Policeman.
We had dinner in Northbridge and came into contact with a couple of groups of inquisitive people. Sgt Stewart handled the groups well by being calm and not responding to obvious provocation. (A really valuable lesson for the boys as they become men.)
The Year 12s start turning 18 after July 1st and “March Out” is only 16 weeks away. The aim of the tour was to introduce them to what they might encounter in Northbridge and the city at night.
The policeman who took the tour gave the boys some valuable information (5 key things to have) about how to avoid conflict and the sorts of scams that could occur, it might be worth asking your son what he learnt.
Ian made the point that at school they are the older experienced people in the community but in a few months’ time they will be the newbies on the streets and that naivety could get them into trouble.
A video link is available here.Dear Year 11 and 12 boarders and parents,
School TV
Recently we announced that SchoolTV, in partnership with Australian Boarding Schools Association (ABSA), was excited to launch ‘The Boarding School Series’.
As an ABSA member school, you have FREE ACCESS to this content as part of your annual subscription.
The series was kicked off with the first Special Report on ‘Managing Homesickness’.
This is now available for parents, carers and staff to access!
Currently there is only one Special Report published, plus a host of specific resources. The SchoolTV team is currently in the process of filming future topics for the Boarding School Series that will be published in the months to come.
You will find the resources here: https://scotch.wa.schooltv.me
Farewell the Mentor