As we near the end of term, I wish all families a restful break. The three week July holidays will be a great time to relax and have some good quality family time. I am sure that younger siblings will be eager to see their big brothers and that our boys will be very keen to reconnect with home. Again, I send a special note to our international families who are not able to travel at this time. I hope that our regional boarders have considered their international friends and perhaps even looked to invite them home for a few days. There is still time! I would also like to wish all our Year 10 boys well on their Outdoor Ed expeditions, many of whom are going on expedition during the third week of holidays.

This fortnight has been a big one in boarding, especially as last week was Boarding Week at Scotch! I hope that families enjoyed the social media posts that were coming out throughout the week featuring boarding. We also had a few very special assembly presentations. Firstly, Harvey Ellis and George Purser presented at assembly a few weeks ago foreshadowing Boarding Week, including a wonderful video made by George. Then last week, Captain of Boarding Brenton Macauley spoke at assembly about his experiences growing up in Broome and then coming to Scotch as a young Indigenous boy who has then grown into a leader for others. Brenton’s speech had everyone in the room on the edge of their seats hanging on to every word and it was a very special moment at the College. A link to his speech can be found here. Later that day, Middle School boys Campbell Johnston and Jayden Clarke spoke at assembly about their experiences as boarders and what life is like living in regional Western Australia. The boys did a fantastic job and made us all very proud. A link to Campbell and Jayden’s speech can be found here. I also want to make a special mention of the Year 12 boys who did a fantastic job on Ag Day by cooking the lamb and serving the school and then cleaning up afterwards. Ag Day is a great opportunity for the Year 12 boys to show leadership and they did a wonderful job.

The marketing department were inspired by our boarding feature during Boarding Week and are keen to keep it going throughout the holidays. May I please ask parents to take photos of the boys at home during these holidays doing what they love and text or email them through to me so that I can coordinate this with marketing for more photos to be featured on our social media feeds throughout the holiday period. I think it is important to keep looking for ways to celebrate boarding within our college community.

A few events of note for the boys this fortnight included the Year 11 boys attending the P.A.R.T.Y. Programme at Royal Perth Hospital, accompanied by Mr Hales and Mr Mellor. The programme looks to educate the boys about some real life consequences that can come about from decisions that young people can make. P.A.R.T.Y. is an acronym for Prevent Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma and Young people. The boys visited the trauma ward of the hospital and spoke to survivors and doctors. The programme is designed to help them adopt behaviours and actions that minimise risk. Also this week, the Year 12 boys participated in a City After Dark Tour, led by Western Australian Police Officers. The programme is designed to help the boys become more “street smart” as they transition into adulthood next year. The police officers took the boys through Northbridge and went through a raft of tips from catching transport, to stranger interactions, awareness of surroundings, diffusing or avoiding potential confrontations, and rules and regulations around the night life scene. Again the boys were taken by Mr Hales and Mr Mellor and by all accounts the boys got a lot out of it.

We had our fortnightly Boarders’ assembly this Wednesday and, with the Year 12 boys away on the their City After Dark Tour, the Year 11 boys led the assembly and did a fantastic job! It was great to see our emerging leaders take the lead and do such a good job. We had a quiz, an interview, a sports report and everything in between. It was a lot of fun and very informative, a great cultural event!

I did my annual presentation to the College Council last week where we discussed the previous year in boarding as well as having a strategic conversation about the future. I wanted to report back to parents how excited and inspired I was to be in the room and to hear the unanimous and unwavering support that the Headmaster, Chief Financial Officer and College Council have for our boarding community at Scotch. Indeed, a significant number of Council members as well as our Headmaster, have a rich background in regional life and boarding. Boarding is very much part of our fabric at Scotch, woven into our tartan! Whilst modern times and a changing landscape in regional Western Australia demand a dynamic approach to boarding enrolments, we are lucky to have such a supportive Council and are committed to providing an excellent service to our regional communities. Boarding is very much at the heart of the College, I cannot stress this point enough. Most importantly, our boarding community relies on our current and past parents and students having a positive experience, providing the best possible care and educational opportunities for the boys and then, on the back of that, breeding advocacy in our local communities. I firmly believe that a Scotch education and a Scotch Boarding experience for our boys are second to none and, furthermore, that our new pastoral care and academic support structure in boarding have strengthened boarding at Scotch. Furthermore, I reaffirm that we are always open to feedback and I appreciate the conversations I have been having with parents over the past year in order to further improve our service. The conversations that I am having both in Perth and on the road have been great and I urge parents to work with us to provide the best outcomes for the boys, all working in partnership. On that note, if any of our current families have friends in their local communities who have sons that would be a great fit for Scotch College and the boys would benefit from a Scotch education, please refer them on to me and we can start a conversation.

Last but certainly not least, I would like to send out a big congratulations to Micheal Spratt, our Indigenous Programme Coordinator and his partner Shanaye as they welcomed their second son into the world this week! Micheal has made a big impact on our boys and our School in the short time that he has been here, and I would like to wish him and the family our warmest congratulations as they celebrate this very special time together. Micheal will be on leave for the next few weeks and will be back next term to launch our annual NAIDOC week celebrations in week 2 of term.

I wish all families a restful and fulfilling break over the holidays and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. I am particularly looking forward to opening the newly refurbished Middle School Boarding House with our boarding families next term! We will be hosting a special afternoon tea to mark the occasion for the current Middle School families and you should have seen a recent email from our Boarding Administration team.

Kind regards

Jordan

Ag Day

Around the Ground

City After Dark Tour

Sport

Scotch on the Road

Corrigin TONIGHT!

Please stop in and say hello if you are in or near Corrigin tonight;

Corrigin Hotel
17 Walton Street
Corrigin
6:30 – 8:30pm

It’s going to be a busy return to Term 3 as we will be in Geraldton, Mingenew Expo, the Kimberley region and attending the Dowerin Field Days

during August.

Please refer to and share the booking link for all our Scotch on the Road events:

https://www.scotch.wa.edu.au/view/admissions/scotch-on-the-road

We hope to see you there!

Boarding Photo Competition – Closing soon

With entries closing within the first few days back for Term 3, don’t forget to take the opportunity to get out and about with your cameras during the school holidays. The caliber of the early entries that we’ve seen are just spectacular. Keep them coming!

Medical Online Updates

Our boarders attend a lot of excursions, tours and Bibbulmun Track walks throughout the year.  To make it a smoother process for our administration teams, may we suggest that at the start of each term could you please visit Home.Scotch to update the boys online medical details even if they have not changed.

I write this as I tour around the beautiful Pilbara region on a trip to engage with our community up here. I’m excited to see Karratha for the first time this afternoon!

It has been another eventful fortnight in boarding, and we have a big week coming up. Next week at Scotch is Boarding Week and we had the opportunity to present at this morning’s assembly where members of our Year 12 Boarders’ Council addressed the school. Next Friday, we will also have a couple of our Year 8 leaders presenting to Middle School assembly.  The central feature of Boarding Week is our annual ‘Ag Day’ on Thursday 17^th June where the boys will have a free dress day and our Boarders Council will be putting on a special lunch of spit roasted lamb and gravy rolls to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctors Service and for the Lord Mayors Appeal for Cyclone Seroja.  A huge thank you to the Purser family for donating two lambs for our special lunch, we are extremely grateful, and it couldn’t happen without this sort of support and generosity of our current parents. I had the unexpected pleasure of visiting the RFDS Headquarters at the Port Hedland Airport yesterday, the largest in Western Australia and I was reminded of the great work Scotch Boarding has done for RFDS since the inaugural Ag Day in 2016. Another big feature of our Boarding Week is that our boarding photography competition will be featured throughout the week up on our screens within the school and on our social media accounts. At our recent Boarding Parent Support Group meeting, we looked at ways to plan for an even bigger event next year, incorporating Friday marching down at the ovals in front of the boarding house with the Scotch Pipe Band in full regalia followed by a farmers market style atmosphere and special parent lunch in our Dining Hall. I think it is really important that we find ways as a boarding community to expose and advocate for our wonderful boarding community at the college and it’s been fantastic that we have been receiving the full support of the Heads of School, Marketing department and Headmaster with our initiatives in this regard.

Another notable thing that occurred this week in boarding was the Year 7s embarking on their first walk of the Bibbulmun Track from the Northern Terminus in Kalamunda. They were Welcomed into Country by respected Noongar elder Neville Collard as a part of a special ceremony to mark the occasion. The boys braved some woolly weather but by all accounts, they took to the challenge like absolute champions and enjoyed the experience. Thank you to the Outdoor Education department for their continued support and organisation of our award-winning programme. The boys were taken out for a special dinner by Mr Mecham and Mr Edwards on Wednesday night to congratulate them.

We hope that all families enjoyed the long weekend and were able to take the chance to connect. It had been a long time for some families, with the mid-term break coming at the end of week 7 this term and, with the earlier Anzac Day long weekend being a period of three-day lockdown, some of our boys have been waiting a long time for a cuddle from Mum and Dad!

I hope all families enjoy their weekend and look forward to a few social media posts promoting regional WA over the course of the next week! Remember, entries for our 2021 photo competition are open until August!

All the best
Jordan

Middle School May Orientation

Head of Middle School Mr Gill enjoying a catch up on the balcony of the Dining Hall with some of our incoming Year 7 students for 2022.

Scotch on the Road – We are in the Region, come say Hi!

Pilbara Tour 10th – 15th June

Karratha Friday 11th June – TONIGHT
The Conservatory
Karratha International Hotel
Cnr Hillview & Millstream Roads
Karratha
6:30 – 8:30pm

Tom Price Sunday 13th June
Tom Price Hotel
Central Rd
Tom Price
6:30 – 8:30pm

Newman Monday 14th June
Seasons Hotel Newman
77 Newman Street
Newman
6:30 – 8:30pm

Please refer to and share the booking link for all our Scotch on the Road events:

https://www.scotch.wa.edu.au/view/admissions/scotch-on-the-road

We hope to see you there!

Boarding Photo Competition

Medical Online Updates

Our boarders attend a lot of excursions, tours and Bibbulmun Track walks throughout the year.  To make it a smoother process for our administration teams, may we suggest that at the start of each term could you please visit Home.Scotch to update the boys online medical details even if they have not changed.

Holiday Travel Arrangements

I know, we’ve just had the boys return from the recent Mid Term Break and now we are requesting End of Term 2 leave. Life sure does go fast here on campus.

Please consider arrangements over the weekend and have Holiday Travel Arrangement leave entered as soon as you can so that our administration and residential staff can assist you and the boys during a busy time.

We thank you for your ongoing support and wish you a wonderful weekend.

As we come to the end of another action-packed fortnight in boarding, I am thoroughly looking forward to meeting some of our incoming boarding boys and parents at our Middle School Orientation Day today! However, it is amazing to see how many familiar faces are on the list, with a lot of younger brothers coming through in 2022, either of current boarders or recent graduates! It’s wonderful to see that family connection in our community and I hope the boys are looking forward to their afternoon.

One of the things we have planned is for a quick look around our Middle School Boarding House, which is ‘on the home stretch’ of its renovation. I’m sure this will make some of our current students a little jealous as they have been bugging the Headmaster for a couple of weeks now to take them through their new digs! We are still on schedule for the boys to be moving into the newly refurbished Boarding House after the July school holidays. This evening will be a good chance to meet each other and start the journey. The boys will also get a chance to meet the current Middle School boarders which will be really good.

As we near the Mid-Term Break, I’m sure all parents are looking forward to having their boys back home for a weekend and to share some quality time together. May I please ask that all “Holiday Travel Arrangements” leave requests be made through REACH as soon as possible so that our staff are fully aware of what is happening for each boy, especially for those who may be requiring transport to the East Perth Terminal or the Airport.

The boys have enjoyed some fantastic weekend recreation events recently and I have also been hearing about some great matches of community sport being played. There are two basketball teams made up of boarders that compete for Subiaco Basketball Club, and I know a lot of boys who play for local football and hockey teams. Apparently, there was quite the derby down at Swanny Tigers last weekend for the Year 9 boys, some of whom played against each other in a Grand Final replay, and it went down to the wire, with one team winning by 1 point! That certainly created some banter around the house for a few days. I would like to remind parents of a recent initiative from the Dining Hall to provide 20 packed lunches on a Sunday morning for any boys who are going to community sport and would miss lunch at the dining hall. Please remind your sons that they are most welcome to take a packed lunch with them to community sport.

This week is National Reconciliation Week, and our Indigenous Programme Coordinator has been doing some fantastic work with the boys recently. Mr Spratt has been down at the Middle School House teaching the boys didgeridoo and he is working on an art project as well as something special for our Bib Track walkers. He also gave a speech in chapel this week and wrote a blog article that can be seen here https://www.scotch.wa.edu.au/view/news-archive-2021/reconciliation-week

This weekend is also the Indigenous Round in the PSA as Scotch take on Wesley and two of our senior boarders, Ahmed Sgro and Raquell Bin Rashid played a big part in designing the jumper for the First football team to wear. Jamayden Chong will also have the honour of leading the rugby team out this weekend. Last night our Captain of Boarding Brenton Macauley and Ashlin Hall spoke about Reconciliation at a clan meeting, and it was very well received by the boys.

Not long after the Mid-Term Break, in Week 9 of this term, we are celebrating our Boarding Week at the College which will have our annual ‘Ag Day’ as its centrepiece as well as Friday Assembly. The Year 12 Boarders’ Council have been organising it and Mr Mecham has also been working on getting some of our famous boarding photo competition entrants to be showcased around the school for that week in both the Middle School and Senior School. We look forward to this week where we get to celebrate the traditions of boarding at Scotch. As we all know, boarders are the beating heart of the College!

Finally, I would like to acknowledge that current parent and OSC Mr Ben Macnamara has recently been appointed as Acting CEO of CBH, which is an amazing achievement. I remember Ben as a Year 12 when I was a Year 8 and his son Lachie went to Pre-Kindy last year with my son George and they became little buddies. Ben is also the uncle of one of our current boarders, Ollie and future boarder Archie. Congratulations to Ben and the Macnamara family on this appointment and Ben’s achievements are a great story for our boys to hear.

I wish all families a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing some of you as you come to collect the boys for the long weekend. Please remember that we have a parent support group meeting that Thursday afternoon and I would love to see you there.

All the best

Jordan

Weekend Rec

Middle School boys at the Western Force game on Friday. The crowd also had the opportunity to listen to the Scotch College Pipe Band during the half time entertainment and by all accounts sounded really good and looked very impressive on field.

Community Sport

Middle School boys playing basketball for Subiaco on Saturday.

Reconciliation Week

Our Boys proudly showing off the 2021 Indigenous Jumper for the Indigenous round v Wesley this weekend.  More great photos of the boys can be found on the Scotch College Facebook page so you can share them with friends and family.

Click on the link to download and view a fantastic movie of our Middle School boys learning how to play the didgeridoo with Mr Spratt, Indi even makes a cameo too : IMG_0293

In other news on campus

Mid week training

Ollie Gooding’s birthday celebrations in the Middle School Residence.

John McGinniss enjoying one of his favourite past times in the Residence – cooking up a storm with Mrs H.

Toby and Ollie shooting the breeze and playing pool after school.

Scotch on the Road – Save the Date

Pilbara Tour 10th – 15th June

Port Hedland Thursday 10th June
The Esplanade
2 – 4 Anderson Street
Port Hedland
6:30 – 8:30pm

Karratha Friday 11th June
The Conservatory
Karratha International Hotel
Cnr Hillview & Millstream Roads
Karratha
6:30 – 8:30pm

Tom Price Sunday 13th June
Tom Price Hotel
Central Rd
Tom Price
6:30 – 8:30pm

Newman Monday 14th June
Seasons Hotel Newman
77 Newman Street
Newman
6:30 – 8:30pm

Please refer to the booking link for all our Scotch on the Road events:

https://www.scotch.wa.edu.au/view/admissions/scotch-on-the-road

We hope to see you there!

Boarding Photo Competition