“It all counts”…

It’s hard to believe that this group of young men are about to embark upon their final year of study! I suppose it will be with mixed emotions that the boys return to the boarding house for the commencement of Spring Term. For some, there will be feelings of anticipation as they come to terms with the significance of becoming a Year 12 student; for others, there will be a greater sense of determination to make the most out of the last twelve months and ensure that they give everything their best shot.

My main message to the boys in the first few weeks of Spring Term will be for them to understand that from now on “everything counts”. Certainly, after seeing some of the boys’ results in their Semester 2 Year 11 exams, there is much to be said about consistently applying oneself over all four terms to ensure that there are no great variations in their marks. However, in some respects the ‘slate will be wiped clean’ for the beginning of Year 12, and it is so important that the boys demonstrate a more disciplined and determined work ethic to ensure that their marks and grades in Year 12 are an accurate reflection of their ability rather than a lackluster work ethic. We will continue to support the boys to ensure that every opportunity is afforded to them to refine their study habits, and we trust that a larger proportion of the group will engage more regularly with the support we have available from tutors every evening in the boarding house.

Academically, the boys would be aware that every assessment task they complete now “counts” towards their ATAR, and for those boys completing the AAP courses, every assessment task “counts” towards their final grades which will determine TAFE and apprenticeship eligibility. And for those who are continuing with the Diploma programme, I am sure that they are well aware how important it will be to ensure that a disciplined work ethic characterizes their approach to their studies as soon as the new term begins.

Finding the right balance

Another significant pressure that will emerge over the next 12 months concerns the boys’ “social calendar”. We will endeavour to do our best to prepare the boys to make the right decisions when it comes to various functions and events that will appear on the horizon. We acknowledge the benefits of a healthy balance between their academic, social and sporting commitments, and trust that you will support us in the boarding house by adhering to the protocol when it comes to organising weekend leave, especially when it concerns boys getting signed out by host families. There have already been some issues with boys trying to organise weekend leave on a Friday night, or even a Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, the fact that we live in such a litigious society, means that our Duty of Care to the boys must be our foremost concern.

Important dates for 2020

There are a few dates which may be worth taking note of for next year (some may be subject to change).

Firstly, the Year 12 Ball will be held on Saturday 15th February. In the past, the boarders have organized to have their “Befores” together before heading off to the Ball. We have booked the Cottesloe Civic Centre for this function and I will send more details closer to the date. We also anticipate that the boarders will start booking their transport during their coming term – I will try and encourage the more economic options that some of the large groups used for this year’s Ball; however, some will no doubt prefer the comfort and extravagance of limousines. We will also organize for Australian Formalwear to visit the boarding house towards the end of term to start the process of getting suits organized.

Secondly, the Bibbulmun Track boys will be walking into Albany on Saturday 29th February. We will be holding a morning tea for all walkers and family/friends at the finish line in Albany – it is expected that the group will arrive into Albany at 10.30am. In the past, boys and their families have had a casual BBQ dinner in the evening (perhaps at Emu Point Motel & Apartments, however, this will depend on where most families will be staying). As it is a long weekend, I would encourage you to organise your accommodation sooner rather than later. I will be in touch with families regarding this event at the beginning of next term.

Thirdly, the Year 12 Residential Dinner will be held at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club on Thursday 15th October and March Out will be held on the morning of Friday 16th October.

Lastly, Valedictory Dinner for all Year 12’s will be held in the Dickinson Centre on the evening of Friday 27th  November.

These are all significant events for the boys and their families and I would encourage all parents to attend these important rites of passage if you are able to.

Cars

I just wanted to remind parents that boarders are not permitted to have a car on campus or to drive other boys to and from various commitments. We will always do our best to accommodate boys’ travel arrangements, particularly to and from sporting or other commitments.

Overall, the start to the new academic year will be the beginning of an exciting, demanding and rewarding year for a group of young men who, I’m confident, will do an excellent job as leaders of the residential community. 

I hope you enjoy having the boys back home for the October holidays and I look forward to catching up with you all during what will be a very important term for our group of boarders.

Matt Bradley

Beau Staines

For the last couple of terms I’ve been fortunate enough to have been involved in the INSTEP work experience program at a boat-building firm called Kirby Marine, who build Naiads, a form of rigid inflatable boats as long as 13m which also have aluminium hulls. They are situated in the heart of Henderson, so it was a bit of a pain getting down there, but was definitely well worth it.

This program aims to send students out once a week (usually Wednesdays). Although it’s only one day a week it has certainly provided me with an opportunity to extend my skills. At Kirby Marine, I mainly spent my time in the upholstery shed, where they stick the inflatable tubing to the hulls of the boats. They also do all the finishing touches to the boats and send them out to their owners once completed. The tasks I did were pretty boring to start with, such as emptying bins and sweeping floors, but I wasn’t bothered because I still had the opportunity to see and experience how the people build these things and, trust me, it was amazing. For my first day, I was fortunate to go out on one of the boats for a test run which was awesome! It was also great to make some contacts with people in the industry.

Will Graham

With one of the driest starts to the year on record, it had farmers throughout WA on edge as they awaited opening rains to germinate seeded paddocks and provide feed for sheep. This was especially the case for those in the north-eastern Wheatbelt and Mid-West regions, with some farmers receiving as little as 20mm in the previous six months. With the latest cold front that moved across the south-west in the start of June, it put an end to the worries of many farmers, as well as the dust produced from dry seeding through bone-dry soils. Many farmers received at the very least 10mm with the lucky ones receiving as much as 40-50mm. Although this is a substantial amount and will help with getting the season under way and getting crops out of the ground, it won’t sustain the plants for a prolonged period, and with such a dry and late start to the season I think most farmers would be happy to receive as much rain as possible for the time being to enhance their chances of a viable and productive season. I will keep you all posted.

Flynn Le Cornu

On the 15^th of June, Scotch hosted a Dinner Dance for the Year 11 cohort, in the theme of Havana, Cuba. The theme was voted for by the boys, and the decorations were prepared by a collection of gracious volunteers. Classic cars, floral decorations and a wall of panama hats – the Dickinson Centre felt like a trip into Havana during the 1960’s. Although Fidel Castro made no appearance on the night, Perth’s best DJ, Diesel, did a great job throwing a revolutionary party. Delectable, warming finger-foods were served throughout the night from the themed carts lining the walls of the interior. Students from all over Perth came to enjoy the Dance with their partners, and the general reception was overwhelmingly positive. The dancing carried on through the night, with occasional stops at the photo-booth to capture the memories of a good night, of which there were many. Hasta la vista!

More photos can be found here: https://au.vidigami.com/albums/1548/media

Zedd Garbellini

We began our trip on a two hour bus ride from Scotch to Moray where the walk would begin the next morning. We arrived at Moray around five and collected our bags and placed them in our cabins. Some of the boys chopped and collected fire wood and created a substantial fire. The girls arrived shortly after to have a cooked meal prepared for them by the boys; a nice steak sandwich. After dinner we all had a meeting and prepared our feet for a walk we were never going to forget. Girls and guys strapped their feet from ankle to toe, revealing no skin at all to make sure that the blisters wouldn’t appear the next day.

In the morning we woke to the sound of bagpipes penetrating the calm stillness of Moray. Some cereal was quickly consumed and then we were off on an 80 km journey up and down hills.

All of us knew that we would have to support one another all the way from Moray to Moray (that’s right, zero kilometres displacement!). I have to admit the whole walk felt as though we were going around in circles. In the latter stages of the walk our parents met us and congratulated us for the distance we had achieved and continued to push us for the last five kilometres. These last five kilometres were the best part of the whole walk picturing nice warm showers and a soft bed to rest our cramping legs and feet. In the last 100 metres we all linked arms and the bagpipes were played as we walked through streamers and balloons. The next day we all hobbled to the bus and fell asleep after the long adventure. I would definitely recommend this walk for any boys who are up for a challenge and those who want to do something other than going home for the weekend, it is worth it.

Jack Radford

The Prevention of Alcohol Related Trauma in Youth Program, otherwise referred to as the P.A.R.T.Y Program is a workshop made to educate young men, like ourselves, about the risks of alcohol consumption and drugs.

Initially, I had no clue as to what awaited at Royal Perth Hospital, and I think most of the boys didn’t either. We were first taken to a lecture room where we were given an overview of consequences of drinking and were spoken to by a member of St Johns, the ambulance service in Perth. Here we were told about the horrific experiences faced by paramedics as a consequence of drunk driving or inappropriate mobile phone use.

We were then split into two groups and were given a tour of the Emergency Department and the Intensive Care Unit. My group was the first to witness the Emergency Department. The Department was busy and hectic and, even as we were present, there was someone on their way in an ambulance. Aided with a mannequin, the chief doctor gave us a rundown of the procedures and steps taken to prepare patients for an operation once they have arrived in Emergency. This was overall an insightful experience, yet shocking. Then we were brought to the ICU where we met a patient who had been involved in a car crash two days before and described the painful experience of the accident and recovery. After, we were shown the equipment and procedures taken in Intensive Care; the catheter raised a few concerns among us boys.

After lunch, we returned to the lecture room and were talked to by  men who were involved in life changing accidents due to being under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. They described the challenges they faced in not only the recovery of their injury, but the challenges they now faced in everyday life. These personalised insights made me appreciate my health like never before.

As a cohort, there is no doubt that the experiences and lessons that were learned will have an impact on our future judgements and decisions. I certainly valued the experience of partaking in the P.A.R.T.Y program and I will do my best to prevent myself from being put in any situation where I am at risk.

Arad Khalili

The exhilarating exam period started with Mr Bradley sending out a fairly strict study schedule for us which gave us the perfect balance of revision time for our exams and our very important free time – which we used effectively by spending time on YouTube, watching movies and listening to various Spotify playlists. The email Mr Bradley sent to us suggested (mandated) the following schedule:

Weekday Study Schedule – Exam Fortnight

From the perspective of a Year 11 boarder I believe the study time set for us was perfect. It had a good balance between revising for our exams and having a couple breaks for refreshments. Then for the rest of the day we could choose our own fate – obviously, many of the boys still had sport commitments, some did some extra work in the afternoon before evening Prep and others used the downtime to forget about study altogether.

There is no doubt that many of us suffered from procrastination during the study period, so this will need to be a focus for us when start our preparations for exams next term. Furthermore, as a teenager living in the 21st Century, us boys are endangered by a truly threatening obstacle. SOCIAL MEDIA! This includes the wide variety of apps and resources that are provided for us such as YouTube, Snap Chat, Instagram and Facebook. Not procrastinating, staying away from social media and other extremely tempting stuff is incredibly hard – as it definitely draws us in and often gives us an extremely fulfilling feeling of being a part of a bigger community; it allows us to get entertained by cat videos!

Although, most boys are definitely not heavily affected by this frightening technology bug, it certainly is one of the roots to our procrastination. Knowing that we’re living in a community where there are rules around using our electronic devices is particularly helpful, but it still is something us boys need to work on further, especially during our exam time.

Tom Graham

The exam period came around quickly despite there being 4 months breaking up the beginning of the academic year and the first week of the exam period. Personally I was looking forward to exams more than fearing them. My view was that this would be a good test to where I sit in the year for my selected subjects and whether or not the notes I had been developing were going to be able to refresh my memory to the extent I needed.

My preparation was an interesting experience as there were moments of self-doubt. There was also an overwhelming amount of work to be remembered, but there were also the moments of satisfaction that came with finishing my study and notes for the day.

The first week of exams was a time for routine and mentally stabilising yourself for the end-on-end exams that would occur during the time. In itself, an exam is quite remarkable in the way that it reveals your capability to concentrate and focus for a period of two or even three hours on multiple sub topics.

Overall, my experience of the exams was a huge learning curve that revealed some of my strengths under pressure but more importantly the areas that are needing to be improved and developed to allow myself to achieve those higher levels in the future.

Digby Cleland

The long-awaited return of the Bib Track, and with rain forecasted, it was shaping up to be a poor week. Luckily, however, we managed to miss the majority of the rain, and ended up having quite an enjoyable time. The first day saw us head down to Northcliffe, where we were to start our walking. An easy day’s walking bought us to the hut, where we had some delectable burritos for dinner. The next day was a cruisy 17km to Lake Maringup – whilst only about 2km from the ocean, we will still have to knock off a few more sections until we finally hit the southern coastline. We got to the hut around lunch and spent most of the day resting.

The third day was our longest walk with 26km. Thankfully, it was a fairly flat walk along straight tracks. It was made all the more worthwhile once we got to the hut and were met by Mr Miolin who served up a much appreciated barbeque dinner for the group. Some of the boys braved the cold and jumped in for a swim in the river at the campsite. The next day went a bit slower as some of the boys were getting a bit sore, but we still got into the Mount Chance camp at a good time and spent most the afternoon taking in the brilliant views across the D’Entrecasteaux National Park.

The last day was an early start; we got through the 16km relatively quickly with only one break. To say that we were destination focused at this point of the walk would be an understatement. We were treated to breakfast in Pemberton and lunch in Donnybrook before completing the journey back to school. Thanks to Ms Blythe, Mr Bradley and Mr Miolin for making the walk possible.

The July holidays feel well overdue! There is no doubt that the last ten weeks have been particularly busy for the Year 11 boys. The term commenced with the Semester 1 examinations for all of the ATAR boys, whilst the INSTEP boys completed a full week of work experience. Obviously, the beginning of the winter sport season has been a focus for many of the boys in the group and it’s been particularly impressive to see a large number of them already represent the College in 1^st teams. Another section of the Bibbulmun Track was completed after the exam fortnight and all of the boys participated in the PARTY programme at Royal Perth Hospital. The Year 11 Dinner Dance was certainly a highlight as well and I know a number of boys are already looking forward to the Scotch Ball next year. Concussion injuries and the dreaded flu have made the last few weeks less enjoyable for some, but I know everyone is looking forward to the three week break. A great chance for rest and recuperation before starting what will prove to be a very demanding final term of Year 11.

Please take a moment to read through the articles the boys have written regarding their many varied activities and experiences during Autumn Term.

This term has certainly been a busy one for the Year 11 boys so far.

Social events

The social calendar has also been quite busy. Some of the boys were fortunate to receive an invitation to other schools’ Year 11 Dances. Liam Gollan organised for a group of boys to head off to Optus Stadium to watch a rare Scorchers victory earlier in the term. Others have made the most of the warm weather with regular trips to the beach, and Adventure World was also a highlight earlier in the term. Last Saturday evening saw a large contingent of our group head up to the Mackellar Hall for the Year 11/12 Boarding Social. The theme was ‘When I grow up…’. From all reports, a great night was had by those who attended.

As I am sure you are aware, a major item on the boys’ social calendar is the Year 11 Dance on Saturday 15th June. This may sound like quite a while away, but it is important that the boys start to think about who they will be asking to partner them. In the past, boarding parents have organised a gathering prior to the Dance for the boys and their partners (mainly for photos). If anyone would like to volunteer to take this on, then please contact me and I will be able to help with communication. Boys will be permitted to head straight back to the Boarding House at the end of the Dance, and once they’ve ensured that their partner has departed safely from the venue.

Studies

ATAR Students

The boys would now be aware that they are getting to the ‘business end’ of Semester 1. After the mid-term break in March, the ATAR and Diploma boys were fortunate to attend another Elevate session with a special emphasis on exam preparation. The goal of this session was to focus on study skills and help equip the boys with strategies to assist with their preparation for the first semester examinations, which will commence in Week 2 of Autumn Term.

I am aware that there are a number of other activities on the calendar that will compete with their time over the April holidays. However, it will be important for all boys who will be sitting exams early next term to use the break to organize their notes for each of their courses and to allocate some time to continue their exam revision before the start of the term.

We have been impressed with the number of Year 11’s who make effective use of the tutorial assistance that is available during Prep time each evening. As a consequence, more tutors have been rostered on to cope with the growing demand. There are many avenues for boarders to access help with their studies, both in the Boarding House and up at school, and I would urge you to encourage your sons to make use of these services if they have been reluctant to do so thus far.

All of the ATAR and Diploma students have been sent a daily planner which is designed to help them organise their study time over the holidays and during the exam period next term.

AAP Students

Many of the boys who are completing the Alternative Academic Pathway (AAP) programme have already undertaken work experience one day each week this term. Mr Gale has already been in contact with the boys (and parents) to outline the expectations for those boys who will not be required to complete examinations during Weeks 2 and 3 next term. I hope I am correct in assuming that all of the boys have organised their work placements for this period next term. I am sure it will prove to be a great opportunity for them to develop their communication, collaborative and adaptability skills, all of which are highly valued by employers.

The work experience will commence in Week 2 of Autumn Term (Monday 6^th May) and continue into Week 3. Students who are not required to write any examinations will be required to complete a minimum of eight days of work experience. Students who are enrolled in one or more ATAR courses will be required to write their examinations on the specified day(s) before commencing work experience.

Bibbulmun Track

The next installment of the group’s Bibbulmun Track journey commences straight after the conclusion of the exam fortnight on Saturday 18th May (which falls on a Scotch Bye weekend). The 17 boys will be walking together as one large group for the first time. We will be walking from Northcliffe to just north of Walpole, returning back to the College on the afternoon of Wednesday 22nd May. It will be important that ATAR boys arrange times to catch up with their teachers to ensure that they receive detailed feedback on their exam performances (which they may have missed whilst out on the track). Here’s hoping for a week with easy walks and beautiful weather!

House events

The boys have also had the opportunity to participate in various House activities. The Year 11’s performed very well at the recent Inter-House Swimming Carnival – we even had an all-boarding team come first in the Div 2 freestyle relay. Congratulations to Tim Valmadre, James Rex, Reuben Westerman and Tom Graham for breaking down those old stereotypes about boarders’ swimming abilities!  The Inter-House Cross Country event was also run this term and it was great to see some boarders place well – in particular, congratulations to Hamish Gooch for being the first boarder across the finish line. The boys have also had the opportunity to represent their respective Houses up at school across a variety of activities including debating, chess and basketball this term.

I wish you and your families a relaxing and safe Easter break.