Week 2, Summer Term 2023
Dear Boarding families
It has been a busy and exciting start to the year. The community is abuzz with activity! And it has been really good to see so many smiles on faces. The boys have entered boarding with a good mindset and our interactions with them as staff members has been really positive. Middle School boys and parents were excited to see the magnificent new renovated dorm room in the Year 8 area. Of course, as we move into Week 2, we expect the honeymoon period to lose a bit of its gloss, however, as friendships deepen and new boys make connections, this will help calm things down again. There is certainly never a dull moment in boarding, and we wouldn’t want it any other way!
As well as 29 new boys starting with us this term, we also have lucky number 30, Mr Steven Montgomery who has joined us to lead Stirling Clan in the Senior Boarding House. Steven comes to us from Aquinas College with a wealth of experience in boarding leadership, having run a senior boarding house there for 6 years. Steven and Paula and their children Indiana and Logan moved onto campus mid-December and have fitted into our community beautifully. Steven will work closely with Andy Mellor to run the Senior Boarding House. Our new students come to us from all over the place, from Ukraine to Japan, Hong Kong, and all the regions of Western Australia from Kununurra to Esperance. The diversity of our boarding community is certainly something that we treasure and look to promote whenever we can. We are also blessed that the College’s new Chair of Council Mr Tim Weisse is from regional WA, a parent of two boarders who have come through Scotch. I have always felt that boarding is very well supported by the Council, and I look forward to working with Mr Wiesse, Mr Gill and the Headmaster on our strategic objectives moving forward.
In fact, I am incredibly excited about this year ahead. We have an excellent team in boarding and some great ideas about what we can achieve. We are particularly excited about tweaking a few of our wellbeing programmes to maximise the return for the boys. We have recently undertaken a project to enhance our Bibbulmun Track programme into an amazing Rites of Passage programme, and that will include increased involvement from parents as well as boarding and outdoor education staff to help the Bibbulmun Track become even more of a transformative experience for our boys as they move towards adulthood. We are also ramping up our Recreation and Life Skills programmes with some new ideas and with renewed freedom now that Covid restrictions have eased significantly. A couple of things to look out for are some surfing lessons for the boys and possibly an offer for them to complete their bronze medallion qualification. We will continue to offer the recreational skipper’s ticket in fourth term and our year-long workshop skills course. In fact, for those of you familiar with the famous Kulin Bush races, we will be getting two teams together in our workshop skills course to create a couple of tin horses for the tin horse highway this year! Our Rec programme has started strongly with our annual trip to Adventure World, a trip across to MLC and some smaller events with PLC and St Hilda’s this weekend.
With regards to the day school, there are parent information evenings that are happening this week. On Monday there was a Yr 7 parent information evening, on Tuesday there was a Yr 8 parent information evening and on Wednesday there was a Yr 9 parent information evening. For those parents that couldn’t make it in person, the presentations have been recorded and a link will be sent to parents. Unfortunately, they were not able to be live streamed. Please find the links here: Year 7 Parent Information Evening Year 8 Parent Information Evening Year 9 Parent Information Evening
We also had the Swimming Carnivals this week, Middle School on Tuesday and Senior School on Wednesday. Both were great days with a unique vibe, but both thoroughly enjoyable. We have included some photos below. Congratulations to all the boys for getting involved in the swimming and the house atmosphere on the day. Next week we have a few of our Year 8s off on snorkelling adventures, some Year 11s on an Outdoor Ed expedition and our lucky Year 7s getting vaccinations!! Next Saturday we also have our Year 12 Ball, which is always a great night. Boarding families have a pre-ball event from 4-5pm and then parents are cordially invited to share a dinner together from 7pm once the boys have walked into the Ball for the evening. I would also like to mention our Year 10 cohort, 7 of which have volunteered to be waiters for the night, which is really good of them.
Our Heads of Residence will be holding online parent meetings throughout the year and their first meeting will be next week. Mr Mecham, Mr Mellor and Mr Montgomery will be sending out a link to the Microsoft Teams meeting in the coming days. Please make the effort to attend these meetings, as a chance to catch up with your sons Head of Residence but also with other parents in your son’s Boarding Clan.
- Middle School parent online meeting will be Thursday 16th Feb at 7:15pm
- Stirling Clan meeting will be Tuesday 14th Feb at 7:15pm
- Blair Clan Yr 9 parents meeting will be Wednesday 22nd Feb at 7:30pm
Finally, a couple of events are coming up that I want to give parents a chance to think about.
- Our Yr 12 Bib track walkers are walking into Albany to complete their journey on Saturday 4th The evening beforehand, for those parents who make the journey to see their boys but also for those who are in the area, we have a function at Due South in Albany on Friday 3rd March. The next morning is incredibly special as we welcome our Yr 12s to the Southern Terminus with bagpipes, proud applause, and a tear in our eyes! It’s a magic day if you are thinking of spending some time on the long weekend down in Albany, all are welcome and we would love to see you there! RSVP
- For Middle School parents, if you can make it to Perth, there is a Middle School Parent Sundowner on Friday 24th It will be a good opportunity to meet people, not only your boarding cohort but also the parents of the day boys who become some of your son’s best friends. RSVP
- At the end of term is our annual Boarding Parent Sundowner on Wednesday 5th April, the night before the last day of term. It is being held at the Gooch Pavilion and promises to be a great night as always. RSVP
I wish all families a fantastic fortnight ahead and please don’t hesitate to get in contact with any queries in these first few weeks.
All the best
Jordan
First Day at School
Welcome to our new Boarding Students for 2023.
Adventure World
The boys enjoyed some great weather and clearly had a good trying the different rides on offer.
Middle School Recreation
The boys were invited to MLC for a pool party with the boarding girls on Saturday. By all accounts there was a lot of socialising and fun on the slip and slide.
Middle School Swimming Carnival
Congratulations to Robert House on their exciting win.
Senior School Swimming Carnival
Congratulations to Cameron House on their back to back victory.
Vice Captain of Boarding (Middle School Residence)
Congratulations Kaymus on your achievements with Royal Life Saving WA!!
Senior School Boarders – Galadent Mouthguards
The Health Centre have sent through information on ordering Mouthguards for sport. Please see below to book an appointment with the visiting Galadent staff and order online.
Mouthguard Information Letter Scotch SNR 2023
Mid Term Break – Friday 3rd March to Monday 6th March
A reminder that leave for Mid term break needs to be put into Reach no later than Monday, 27th February.
The boarding houses will be closed on Friday and open from 3:00pm on Monday 6th.
When you enter leave it is from Thursday 2nd March through to Monday 6th. Please use Holiday Travel Arrangements when selecting the type of leave.
If your son is travelling over the break, you must send through flight, bus or train tickets to Boarding.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au
Please add all the ticketing details to Reach, as this helps with our transport arrangements to get boys to the airport, bus and train stations on time.
Below are the instructions on how to enter leave into the Reach Leave Management System, please also email if you have any questions regarding Reach or leave entries.
Boarding Contact Information
Meet the Mentor
Chris Stretch is our Recreation Officer and Senior Residential Mentor. Chris organises all our recreation activities in the Middle and Senior Residences, and does a great job!
Updating Medical Information
As part of the Bibbulmun Track process, we need all boarding students to have their Medical and Contact information updated every 3 months. Please follow the instructions below to complete this request.