As the Year 8’s settle into the year 9 house in the new year and face the new challenges of senior school, the year 7’s will become the ‘big boys’ of the 6/7/8 House and become role models for our new boys entering the house for the first time.

I thank Marcus and Scott for all their wonderful work and commitment to the wellbeing of everyone in the house, and I look forward to 2020 with enthusiasm and anticipation to welcome both new and returning boys, parents and staff into our boarding community.

Merry Christmas to all and have a safe and enjoyable holiday break.

Don’t forget that the Senior boys finish at 1pm on Wednesday!!

Just want to again thank everyone for the support that you have shown the staff over the past few years as this has made our roles so much easier.  We are lucky to have a great bunch of boys, families who love and care for them and staff who thoroughly enjoy what they do.  I wish everyone the very best for the future!!

Year 9 Residence Graduation

On Wednesday night Sean Mecham held his annual Year 9 Graduation ‘From Junior Boarding’ Dinner.  This has become a bit of a tradition with the Year 9 House and it is a great way for the boys to then transition into the Senior House.  Sean describes each boys time in the House and presents them with a graduation certificate.  Below is a photo of each of the boys with Sean and Fran.

What happens on the weekend!!

Last weekend the Boarders Council created a couple of opportunities for all the boys to come together and participate in some organised activities.  On Saturday it was the Touch Rugby competition and on Sunday they played Dodgeball (the boys call it Splatter Ball!!).  Each day attracted a good crowd of boys with 45 plus turning up for each activity!!  Lots of fun was had by all as you can see from the videos below!!.

Today’s Pipe Band Xmas Special!!

T’was the last March before Xmas and all at Scotch was still, well not really – the boys all marched with their Xmas hats on to Xmas carols played by the pipe band.  A very fitting way to conclude marching for the year!!

Holiday Travel Arrangements – Please enter ASAP!!

If you don’t enter your son’s leave then he can’t go home!!! ………….. oops, we better rephrase that because some you may choose that as an option, so we’ll try again. If you don’t enter your son’s leave then your son has to stay and we will be forced to charge you an exorbitant amount of money to look after him for 6 weeks!!

As a reminder…………

The Middle School like to have all Year 8 boys here for the Middle School Speech Night because predominantly the night is designed to say farewell to the Year 8’s.  We will be keeping the Boarding House open on this night for those Year 8 boys who need to stay on and will organize transport to the airport or train station the following day.  If you need any help with understanding when your son is due to leave, then please feel free to contact Michelle or Jan.

The same could also be said for any Year 9 to 12 boys who might receive an award at Speech night on the last day of the year.  We will keep the Boarding Houses open that extra night and provide transport on the following day so the boys can attend, if they wish.

Paintballing

Tomorrow we will be holding our annual Paintballing Day.  This is the final activity that we do as a Residential Community for the year and it is the only activity that we request all boys to attend.  As per previous years we will be leaving the College at around 7.30am and will return by 2.00pm.  The boys will play 4 paintball games, receive 600 paintballs, receive a sausage sizzle for lunch and have the pleasure of trying to shoot as many staff members as possible!!  The cost for the day will be $50 with this being added to each boy’s accounts.  This cost covers 50% of the fee with the Residential Community covering the other half.  It has been the highlight of our calendar over recent years and the banter has already begun for what is set to be a great day!!

We hope you all have a great holiday!!!

With a week to go if you haven’t entered your son’s leave then can you please do so ASAP!!

Residential Christmas Breakfast

On Monday 9th December we are hosting our annual Residential Community Breakfast in the Dining Room at 7:15am.  We hold the event in the morning so that we can invite a number of the support staff who assist us throughout the year to join us.  It is not often that the boys can see who is in the background working hard to make their time here at Scotch as enjoyable as it can be.

Year 9 Graduation Dinner

Sean Mecham and the Year 9 team will be celebrating the boys finishing up in the Year 9 House and Junior Boarding area on Wednesday night in the Dining Room.  Sean has hosted this event for several years now and it is a great way to transition the boys into the Senior House.

Photo Competition

The photo competition drew a large number of entries this year and Sean Mecham had a difficult task in awarding this years winners.  He did soften a little when it came to the staff category because it looks like everyone who entered won a prize.  In all seriousness though we were very grateful for the entries, there was certainly some fantastic photos sent through and as usual the winners below have been blown up and printed and they all look brilliant.  Thanks to everyone who sent in an entry and we look forward to next year!!

Year 7/8 and 9

Year 10/11/12

Family

Staff

Bib Track

Yesterday the Year 7 boys returned from their Bib Track trek in reasonably good spirits, they had a couple of hot days and one long 18km slog but all in all the reports were very positive.  This is the first time the Year 7’s have been out at this time of the year and this is done to reduce the number of times the boys are out over Year 8 and 9.

A big thank you to all staff who are attending these walks and the Outdoor Ed team for organising everything.

Holiday Travel Arrangements – Please enter ASAP!!

As said above not long to go now before we break for the holiday and so we would certainly appreciate it, if you haven’t done it already, enter your son’s leave ASAP.  The sooner we get it in the easier it is for us to plan those final few days.

The Middle School like to have all Year 8 boys here for the Middle School Speech Night because predominantly the night is designed to say farewell to the Year 8’s.  We will be keeping the Boarding House open on this night for those Year 8 boys who need to stay on and will organize transport to the airport or train station the following day.  If you need any help with understanding when your son is due to leave, then please feel free to contact Michelle or Jan.

The same could also be said for any Year 9 to 12 boys who might receive an award at Speech night on the last day of the year.  We will keep the Boarding Houses open that extra night and provide transport on the following day so the boys can attend, if they wish.

Year 10 Tomorrow Man

The Year 10’s (Year 11’s) will have their last session of Tomorrow Man on Monday 3 December.  The boys have slowly grown throughout the program and we are starting to see them trust each other more and, therefore, their depth of sharing has improved.  We are looking forward to seeing how the session concludes.

Paintballing

On Saturday 7th December we will be holding our annual Paintballing Day.  This is the final activity that we do as a Residential Community for the year and it is the only activity that we request all boys to attend.  As per previous years we will be leaving the College at around 7.30am and will return by 2.00pm.  The boys will play 4 paintball games, receive 600 paintballs, receive a sausage sizzle for lunch and have the pleasure of trying to shoot as many staff members as possible!!  The cost for the day will be $50 with this being added to each boy’s accounts.  This cost covers 50% of the fee with the Residential Community covering the other half.  It has been the highlight of our calendar over recent years and the banter has already begun for what is set to be a great day!!

We hope you all have a great weekend!!

To all our regional families we hope the Harvest is going well and that you’re going to save some work for your son’s to do when they get home, they are all getting a bit anxious at the moment, concerned that there will be no time for them on the chaser bins!

Holiday Travel Arrangements – Please enter ASAP!!

As said above not long to go now before we break for the holiday and so we would certainly appreciate it, if you haven’t done it already, enter your son’s leave ASAP.  The sooner we get it in the easier it is for us to plan those final few days.

The Middle School like to have all Year 8 boys here for the Middle School Speech Night because predominantly the night is designed to say farewell to the Year 8’s.  We will be keeping the Boarding House open on this night for those Year 8 boys who need to stay on and will organize transport to the airport or train station the following day.  If you need any help with understanding when your son is due to leave, then please feel free to contact Michelle or Jan.

The same could also be said for any Year 9 to 12 boys who might receive an award at Speech night on the last day of the year.  We will keep the Boarding Houses open that extra night and provide transport on the following day so the boys can attend, if they wish.

Grant Bennett Update

Grant underwent his surgery last Monday and is currently resting and recuperating in hospital.  By all reports everything went very well and he is already posting again on Facebook!!  He is due out of hospital early next week and we look forward to seeing him up about the place in the near future.

Bib Track

Our Year 8’s and 9’s have returned from their latest Bib Track outings and it’s fair to say that they had it tough over the past week.  The Year 8’s completed a 6 day journey while the Year 9’s roll in today after spending 7 nights on the track.  They reported hot and dusty conditions but this was nothing compared to the march flies and ticks that became their companions for most of the journey.  A huge commendation to Izayah Mongoo in Year 12 who is walking the Bib Track and due to become an End to Ender in March next year.  As a Year 8 he missed the section that the Year 8’s just walked so to ensure that he met the requirements of becoming an End to Ender he decided to walk this section of the track with them.  What this meant was that after completing the Year 12 walk last week, he got home on the Friday, went to bed and then joined the Year 8’s at 6am on Saturday morning for another 6 days.  All up – Izayah spent 12 days straight out on the Bib Track, an awesome achievement.

I was going to write something about the Year 9 Bib Track experience but Sean Mecham beat me to it and stole my thunder!! You can view his blog here!!

Below are some photos from the Year 12 walk.

On Monday our Year 7 boys will be setting off for their first multi day walk as they leave the Perth Hills Discovery Centre in Mundaring headed to the Brookton Highway.  This walk was scheduled to be spread over two groups but due to a couple of injuries they have combined into one.  The staff joining the boys for this adventure will be David Kyle, Kim Whetters and Amber Flynn.

A big thank you to all staff who are attending these walks and the Outdoor Ed team for organising everything.

Year 10 Tomorrow Man

The Year 10’s (Year 11’s) will have their last session of Tomorrow Man on Monday 3 December.  The boys have slowly grown throughout the program and we are starting to see them trust each other more and, therefore, their depth of sharing has improved.  We are looking forward to seeing how the session concludes.

Paintballing

On Saturday 7th December we will be holding our annual Paintballing Day.  This is the final activity that we do as a Residential Community for the year and it is the only activity that we request all boys to attend.  As per previous years we will be leaving the College at around 7.30am and will return by 2.00pm.  The boys will play 4 paintball games, receive 600 paintballs, receive a sausage sizzle for lunch and have the pleasure of trying to shoot as many staff members as possible!!  The cost for the day will be $50 with this being added to each boy’s accounts.  This cost covers 50% of the fee with the Residential Community covering the other half.  It has been the highlight of our calendar over recent years and the banter has already begun for what is set to be a great day!!

We hope you all have a great weekend!!

That concludes Week 5 and with only three and half weeks to go the count down is on!  We only have the IB exam boys left in the House with all the others now finished and preparing for leavers – good luck Dunsborough!!  With the Year 11’s and Year 12’s out on Bib Track, the Senior House has been a bit like a ghost town – absolutely no excuse for not getting any work done.  If you have not confirmed your son’s travel plans for the end of the year can you please do so as soon as possible.

Congratulations Yarlalu Thomas

Though not a boarder during his time at Scotch, Yarlalu certainly had an impact on our Indigenous boarding boys and this year has been working as a tutor and mentor within our Residential Community.  He took a year off from his studies in Medicine before embarking on further studies next year.  Yarlalu was last week named the Young Western Australian of the Year and is now a contender to win the Young Australian of the Year award.  We are privileged to have had Yarlalu working with us for the past year and we hope that he keeps in contact with us over the coming years.

Bib Track

Our first groups of Bib Track adventurers return today after six days walking in the South West of WA.  The Year 12’s, with Matt Bradley and Kate Webster-Blyth, went from Inlet Road to Peaceful Bay and now they only have the walk into Albany to complete their Bib Track journey.  The Year 11’s were accompanied by Ash Keatch and Outdoor Ed Staff member Katie Guy and walked from Palings Road to Northcliffe.  Richard Hales travelled down on Tuesday to stay the night with the group at Pemberton.

The Year 8’s and 10’s head off on Saturday with the 8’s moving from Randall Road to Dwellingup.  As this group is quite large they are being split into two and walking from opposite ends.  Richard Ledger, Jonathon Rugg, Keiran Simpson, Tristan Mann and Rochelle Gaudieri will be joining these boys for this section of the walk.  The Year 10’s (Year 9’s) are on their way from Dwellingup to Collie for a 7 day epic journey and they will be joined by Sean Mecham, Steve McLean, Amber Flynn, Rhys Holdman and Shaye Pett.

A big thank you to all staff who are attending these walks and the Outdoor Ed team for organising everything.

Online Medical Records – Update

It is timely, with the boys walking the Bib Track, to check your son’s medical records online at Home.Scotch.wa.edu.au and click on the Medical Update icon to complete the required details.

Year 10 Tomorrow Man

The Year 10’s (Year 11’s) will have their last session of Tomorrow Man on Monday 3 December.  The boys have slowly grown throughout the program and we are starting to see them trust each other more and, therefore, their depth of sharing has improved.  We are looking forward to seeing how the session concludes.

Albany Show

Richard and Fran enjoyed their time down at the Albany show as they did at the lunch hosted by Ronael Humphris who lives in Beaufort River.  Both Richard and Fran were very appreciative of all who stopped by to say hello.

Paintballing

On Saturday 7th December we will be holding our annual Paintballing Day.  This is the final activity that we do as a Residential Community for the year and it is the only activity that we request all boys to attend.  As per previous years we will be leaving the College at around 7.30am and will return by 2.00pm.  The boys will play 4 paintball games, receive 600 paintballs, receive a sausage sizzle for lunch and have the pleasure of trying to shoot as many staff members as possible!!  The cost for the day will be $50 with this being added to each boy’s accounts.  This cost covers 50% of the fee with the Residential Community covering the other half.  It has been the highlight of our calendar over recent years and the banter has already begun for what is set to be a great day!!

Holiday Travel Arrangements – End of Year Information!

Now that we are back and in full swing your attention should be (that is, if your son flies home) on the end of the year.  With school having different finishing days for each Year Group it is important that you know what date your son is finishing so that you book the appropriate train or plane.

The Middle School like to have all Year 8 boys here for the Middle School Speech Night because predominantly the night is designed to say farewell to the Year 8’s.  We will be keeping the Boarding House open on this night for those Year 8 boys who need to stay on and will organize transport to the airport or train station the following day.  If you need any help with understanding when your son is due to leave, then please feel free to contact Michelle or Jan.

The same could also be said for any Year 9 to 12 boys who might receive an award at Speech night on the last day of the year.  We will keep the Boarding Houses open that extra night and provide transport on the following day so the boys can attend if they wish.

We hope you all have a great weekend!!

Staff Announcement

Our Head of Year 7 and 8 Residence, Scott Siekierka, will be leaving us at the end of year as he has accepted a position at Scot’s College in Sydney.  This is a very exciting opportunity for Scott as Scot’s College is one of Sydney’s oldest and most prestigious schools.  He his going there in a mixture of roles which includes being Head of Year 9, an Assistant in Boarding and has also been tasked with implementing an AFL program into the school and GPS system.  Sounds like he is going to be very busy!!  The first question the boys asked when we told them was, “Are the dogs going?”  Looks like the pre-requisite for Scott’s replacement will be that they need to have dogs!!

We wish him every success in his new position and I know he is looking forward to the adventure that comes with changing not only schools, but states as well!!

He will certainly be missed from our Community and thank him for his commitment to us for the past five years.  We are in the process of replacing Scott and hope to make an announcement by the end of the year.

Albany Show

Richard and Fran are in Albany to represent us at the Albany Show on Friday and Saturday.  This is one of the big shows in the region and we look forward to attending it every year.  If you are in and around the area, and have time, please drop by the stand to say hello!!

A big thank you to Ronael Humphris who hosted a lunch for us at her home in Beaufort River on Thursday.  Richard and Fran stopped in on their way down to Albany and it was great to chat to a mixture of past, current and potential families about all things Scotch!!

Bib Track

On Sunday we see the first of our groups head off for what will be a big three weeks of Bib Track adventures.  The Year 11 and 12’s are off from Sunday to Friday, with the Year 9’s and Year 8’s heading away on Sunday week.  The week after that sees the second walk for the Year 7’s as they spend 3 nights out on the track.

The Year 12’s are walking with Matt Bradley and Kate Webster-Blythe from Inlet Road to Peaceful Bay and it is their second last walk before entering Albany next February.  The Year 11’s will be joined by Ash Keatch and Outdoor Ed Staff member Katie Guy and will start at Palings Road and finish at Northcliffe.  Richard Hales will be meeting the group in Pemberton on Tuesday night.

A big thank you to all staff who are attending these walks and the Outdoor Ed team for organising everything.

Online Medical Records – Update

It is timely, with the boys walking the Bib Track, to check your son’s medical records online at Home.Scotch.wa.edu.au and click on the Medical Update icon to complete the required details.

Twenty20: Australia vs Pakistan

We have twenty plus boys attending the match tonight at Optus Oval and we hope the Aussies put on a great display!!

Paintballing

On Saturday 7th December we will be holding our annual Paintballing Day.  This is the final activity that we do as a Residential Community for the year and it is the only activity that we request all boys to attend.  As per previous years we will be leaving the College at around 7.30am and will return by 2.00pm.  The boys will play 4 paintball games, receive 600 paintballs, receive a sausage sizzle for lunch and have the pleasure of trying to shoot as many staff members as possible!!  The cost for the day will be $50 with this being added to each boy’s accounts.  This cost covers 50% of the fee with the Residential Community covering the other half.  It has been the highlight of our calendar over recent years and the banter has already begun for what is set to be a great day!!

Claremont Leave and Junk Food

We believe it is important for the boys to have local leave to Claremont as it is a chance for them to get a break from the Boarding Houses and a change of scenery, however, of late we are very concerned about the amount of lollies, drinks, chips, Hungry Jacks etc that is being bought by the boys.  On occasions, boys are going to lunch and dinner in the Dining Hall and not eating much, but then going back to their rooms and enjoying their purchases.  We also obviously support moderation and think that it is important the boys enjoy a few treats along the way, but for some, it is far too excessive.  We do try and stop boys when they come back in the House to check what they have purchased and remove excess if required, but as you know, boys get smarter and are now finding novel ways of “distributing the wealth” or “laundering” the goods.  It leaves us with a couple of ways to manage the situation and that is 1) out Claremont leave, 2) place a ban on purchasing junk food rule (which we couldn’t supervise anyway) or 3) ask you to assist us in managing how much money the boys are being given because from our observations there are some boys who have a lot of money that are just wasting it on junk food.  If you have concerns about your son in particular, then please feel free to contact your Residential Head of Year.

Holiday Travel Arrangements – End of Year Information!

Now that we are back and in full swing your attention should be (that is, if your son flies home) on the end of the year.  With school having different finishing days for each Year Group it is important that you know what date your son is finishing so that you book the appropriate train or plane.

The Middle School like to have all Year 8 boys here for the Middle School Speech Night because predominantly the night is designed to say farewell to the Year 8’s.  We will be keeping the Boarding House open on this night for those Year 8 boys who need to stay on and will organize transport to the airport or train station the following day.  If you need any help with understanding when your son is due to leave, then please feel free to contact Michelle or Jan.

The same could also be said for any Year 9 to 12 boys who might receive an award at Speech night on the last day of the year.  We will keep the Boarding Houses open that extra night and provide transport on the following day so the boys can attend if they wish.

We hope you all have a great weekend!!

Residential Community Meeting

On Wednesday night the new Residential Life Council for 2019/20 took centre stage as they hosted their first Residential Community Meeting.  The Council this year have decided to trial a year without the Highlander groups and so established their own seating plan for the dinner which centre around the boys birthdate.  Part of the meeting was for the boys to work out why they had been seated together and a prize was given for the table who was first to guess.  Patrick Eastough discussed the council’s plans for the year and he was well supported by the return of the sport report, hosted by Tom Graham and Hamish Gooch, an interview by Flynn Le Cornu with this years Captain of Tennis, Tom Graham and finally a candid interview by Reuben Westerman (12) with his brother Jensen (8) talking about Jensen’s life at home with Mum and Dad and the number of places he has lived over the past few years while Reuben has been as Scotch.  A terrific start and we look forward to our regular fortnightly meetings.

Vaping

Over the past six months it has come to our attention that the use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, is becoming an increasing trend amongst our society and in particular our youth.  Currently in the US, Canada and Asia vaping use is widespread and worryingly unregulated.  The myth is that vaping is a safe alternative to smoking but the research suggests that the results at this stage are inconclusive and we should be proceeding in a state of caution.  We have dealt with vaping in both the day and boarding school over the past few months and felt it was important to let you know what your son’s might be spending their money on!!  The following report recently aired by the ABC should hopefully provide you with some baseline information about e-cigarettes.

We would like to make it very clear that if any boy is found with a vaping device and/or implements on them, or smokes a vape while on school premises, then there will be very strong consequences for that boy.

Year 12’s, Phones and Sleep!!

Our year 11’s have moved into their Year 12 status and as in previous years this includes an increase in privileges.  The most sort after one is the opportunity to keep their phones and laptops in their rooms over night and whilst we have very good understanding of what they might be used for we have always believed that at some stage the boys need to learn how to self regulate their use of their devices.  As a Residential Management group we have been discussing over a long period of time about the importance of sleep for our boys and how a good nights sleep is the cornerstone t0 healthy living.  With this in mind we have entered into a an agreement with the 12’s (not sure they are fully sold on this agreement though) that they can keep their phone overnight, only if they activate and use the ‘Sleep Cycle” App: https://www.sleepcycle.com.  The sleep cycle app tracks how much sleep a person has per night and even attaches a quality of sleep value to it.  It continually records this data over a long period of time so the boys can view their sleep patterns and gain a better understanding of how quality sleep can affect their daily performance. The boys are being asked to activate the app by 10:45pm each night and then will be randomly asked to show their data collected.  It is a trial with the focus on trying to get the boys to sleep more rather than spend the large majority of their night on their phones.  The results will be very interesting!!

Halloween

On Thursday the Year 7/8 House got into the Halloween Spirit by dressing up their House and inviting the St Mary’s girls over for a special Halloween dinner and treasure hunt!!  Not be outdone our Catering Team also got all spooky by designing a scary menu for the day as well as dressing up the Senior and Middle School canteens and the Dining Hall.  We certainly want to acknowledge our catering team as they do so much for our boys and try and make their meal experience fun and enjoyable!!

Dinninup and Albany Show

Next week we will be visiting two of the Shows in the southern region with Marcus attending the Dinninup Show on Tuesday, and Richard and Fran on the way to Albany on Thursday to be present at their show on the Friday and Saturday.  If you are in and around the area and have time please drop by to say hello!!

Twenty20: Australia vs Pakistan

We are looking to book a number of tickets for our boys to go to the twenty20 match at Optus Oval next week to see Australia vs Pakistan.  The tickets look like costing around $30 which will include a food voucher for the boys.  The match is due to start at 4.30pm and finishes at 7.30pm.  If you think this would be a great event for your son to attend then please encourage them to sign up through REACH.

REACHApp

It appears as though the REACHApp is not doing what it is supposed to be doing and we have advised REACH.  Hopefully it will be fixed shortly and we thank those of you who have taken the time to let us know.

Paintballing

On Saturday 7th December we will be holding our annual Paintballing Day.  This is the final activity that we do as a Residential Community for the year and it is the only activity that we request all boys to attend.  As per previous years we will be leaving the College at around 7.30am and will return by 2.00pm.  The boys will play 4 paintball games, receive 600 paintballs, receive a sausage sizzle for lunch and have the pleasure of trying to shoot as many staff members as possible!!  The cost for the day will be $50 with this being added to each boy’s accounts.  This cost covers 50% of the fee with the Residential Community covering the other half.  It has been the highlight of our calendar over recent years and the banter has already begun, for what is set to be a great day!!

Claremont Leave and Junk Food

We believe it is important for the boys to have local leave to Claremont as it is a chance for them to get a break from the Boarding Houses and a change of scenery, however, of late we are very concerned about the amount of lollies, drinks, chips, Hungry Jacks etc that is being bought by the boys.  On occasions, boys are going to lunch and dinner in the Dining Hall and not eating much, but then going back to their rooms and enjoying their purchases.  We also obviously support moderation and think that it is important the boys enjoy a few treats along the way, but for some, it is far too excessive.  We do try and stop boys when they come back in the House to check what they have purchased and remove excess if required, but as you know, boys get smarter and are now finding novel ways of “distributing the wealth” or “laundering” the goods.  It leaves us with a couple of ways to manage the situation and that is 1) out Claremont leave, 2) place a ban on purchasing junk food rule (which we couldn’t supervise anyway) or 3) ask you to assist us in managing how much money the boys are being given because from our observations there are some boys who have a lot of money that are just wasting it on junk food.  If you have concerns about your son in particular, then please feel free to contact your Residential Head of Year.

Holiday Travel Arrangements – End of Year Information!

Now that we are back and in full swing your attention should be (that is, if your son flies home) on the end of the year.  With school having different finishing days for each Year Group it is important that you know what date your son is finishing so that you book the appropriate train or plane.

The Middle School like to have all Year 8 boys here for the Middle School Speech Night because predominantly the night is designed to say farewell to the Year 8’s.  We will be keeping the Boarding House open on this night for those Year 8 boys who need to stay on and will organize transport to the airport or train station the following day.  If you need any help with understanding when your son is due to leave, then please feel free to contact Michelle or Jan.

The same could also be said for any Year 9 to 12 boys who might receive an award at Speech night on the last day of the year.  We will keep the Boarding Houses open that extra night and provide transport on the following day so the boys can attend if they wish.

We hope you all have a great weekend!!

Staff Announcement

We have two staff announcements to make this week in regard to Grant Bennett and Matt Bradley.  As you may have already been aware Grant has made the decision to retire from the Residential Community at the end of 2020.  He will remain teaching in the day school but after over 25+ years in Boarding at Scotch has decided the time is right to pass the baton on.  Matt has recently been appointed to the position of Head of Cameron House in the Senior School which begins in 2020.  So as to not disrupt our current Residential Year 12s Matt will stay on in a duel role for next year and will also be joining Grant in leaving the Residential Community at the end of next year.  Both Grant and Matt have made significant contributions to Boarding at Scotch College and we look forward to celebrating their commitment to our community throughout next year.

Year 12 Farewell

Our Year 12s concluded their official school commitments last week with a number of activities.  On Wednesday night they enjoyed time with their House Heads, on Thursday we celebrated their Residential Farewell and then on Friday enjoyed the hope and experience at being the centre of attention at March Out.  It was a very busy few days but very memorable for all involved and now we hope they knuckle down and complete the final chapters to their school journey!

2020 Year 7/8 Orientation

Over the past weekend we hosted the new boys and families who will be starting with us in Year 7/8 next year.  Debbie Bushell came along to impart her parenting wisdom and the boys spent lots of times in and around the boarding houses getting used to their future surroundings.  Parents and staff gathered for a catch up at the Claremont Hotel on the Saturday night and escaped just before we got caught up in the 80’s band action, though on a side note it looked like a lot of fun and maybe something to consider for the future!!

The Welcome to Scotch Program kicks off next week with the first of our online sessions.  This has proven in the past to be a fantastic way for the boys to continue developing their early relationships and ease the anxiety of knowing other boys when they arrive next year.

As well as the Orientation Day we also welcomed a number of families who were completing the Academic Check Up program with a few of them joining us for the morning session.  We look forward to seeing them, in the future.

A big thank you to all staff involved with the Orientation as it certainly seemed to work well with boys and parents all appearing to make some new connections.

Spirit Award

Last Wednesday we announced our SPIRIT Award winner for 2019.  The SPIRIT Award is presented by the Higham family in memory of their son Lachy who tragically lost his life in a motorbike accident on the farm while he was a boarding student here at Scotch.  The award was created to reflect Lachy’s personality with the letters SPIRIT representing:

S – Spark

P – Passion

I – Imagination

R – Resilience

I – Integrity

T – Tenacity

Each year a number of boys are nominated across the Year Groups, along with the winner, who reflects these attributes.

This year the nominations were:

Year 7: Noah McCreery, Rory Purser, Oliver Wandell, Huddy Hammond and Rohan Bignell

Year 8: Oscar Zheng, Lewis Parsons and Matthew Metcalf

Year 9: Oscar Rogers, Edward Graham, Tyler Messina, Kody Waters, Kalib Dempster-Park and Sam McGinnis

Year 10: James Holtham and Brenton Macauley

Year 11: Flynn Le Cornu, Liam Gollan, Zedd Garbellini and Arad Rad

Year 12: Sam McConachy, Lachlan Wray, Angus Cullen-Falconer and Levi Waters

A big congratulations goes to our very deserving winner Toby Egerton-Warburton.  Toby certainly displays all of the SPIRIT attributes and brings a lot of passion and enjoyment around the residences and with the people he encounters.  He joins 11 other winners and becomes part of the SPIRIT network!!

Esperance Field Day

Last Friday and Saturday both Sean Mecham and Ash Keatch represented Scotch at the Esperance Field Days.  On the Saturday night they joined PLC in hosting a function at Taylor Road Quarters and were excited by the turn out.  They certainly enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with current and past families and appreciate all those who turned up to say hello.

Paintballing

On Saturday 7th December we will be holding our annual Paintballing Day.  This is the final activity that we do as a Residential Community for the year and it is the only activity that we request for all boys to attend.  As per previous years we will be leaving the College at around 7.30am and will return by 2.00pm.  The boys will play 4 paintball games, receive 600 paintballs, receive a sausage sizzle for lunch and have the pleasure of trying to shoot as many staff members as possible!!  The cost for the day will be $50 with this being added to each boy’s accounts.  This cost covers 50% of the fee with the Residential Community covering the other half.  It has been the highlight of our calendar over recent years and the banter has already began for what is again set to be a great day!!

Claremont Leave and Junk Food

We believe it is important for the boys to have local leave to Claremont as it is a chance for them to get a break from the Boarding Houses and a change of scenery however, of late we are very concerned about the amount of lollies, drinks, chips, Hungry Jacks etc that is being bought by the boys.  On occasions boys are going to lunch and dinner, not eating much, and then going back to their rooms and enjoying their purchases.  We also obviously support moderation and think that it is important the boys enjoy a few treats along the way but for some, it is far too excessive.  We do try and stop boys when they come back in the House to check what they have purchased and remove excess if required but as you know, boys get smarter and are now finding novel ways of “distributing the wealth” or “laundering” the goods.  It leaves us with a couple of ways to manage the situation and that is 1) out Claremont leave, 2) place a ban on purchasing junk food rule (which we couldn’t supervise anyway) or 3) ask you to assist us in managing how much money the boys are being given because from our observations there are some boys who have a lot of money who are just wasting it on junk food.  If you have concerns about your son in particular, then please feel free to contact your Residential Head of Year.

Holiday Travel Arrangements – Term 4!

Now that we are back and in full swing your attention should be (that is, if your son flies home) on the end of the year.  With school having different finishing days for each Year Group it is important that you know what date your son is finishing so that you book the appropriate train or plane.

The Middle School like to have all Year 8 boys here for the Middle School Speech Night because predominantly the night is designed to say farewell to the Year 8’s.  We will be keeping the Boarding House open on this night for those Year 8 boys who need to stay on and will organize transport to the airport or train station the following day.  If you need any help with understanding when your son is due to leave, then please feel free to contact Michelle or Jan.

The same could also be said for any Year 9 to 12 boys who might receive an award at Speech night on the last day of the year.  We will keep the Boarding Houses open that extra night and provide transport on the following day so the boys can attend if they wish.

It’s again been a pleasure to watch how the boys have coped with life away from home, forming new friendships and developing an understanding of their role and place within the boarding community – their ‘home away from home’.

Over the course of this term the boys have enjoyed a wide range of recreational outings away from the boarding house including Timezone, Ten Pin Bowling, Inflatable World, Cockburn Indoor Water Park and Caversham Wildlife Park (visiting the Chocolate Factory on the same day!). Some of the boys have also taken the opportunity to travel on the train to Optus Stadium to cheer on the Dockers at their home games. There’s been trips to the cinema and social events organised with the boarding girls from PLC and other schools so the boys can enjoy some female company too.

The house has recently purchased fishing rods and surfboards! The boys have headed down to the banks of the Sawn River to try their hand at fishing, but so far have only managed to catch blowies (and jellyfish) but have had lots of fun nevertheless.  The Boys are yet to ride the waves on the surfboards, but no doubt the warmer weather next term will entice them down to the beach to have a go.

Our new fire pit is also being well used and is a popular focal point for the boys to gather around. It is creating a really good vibe at our in-house BBQ nights and provides another opportunity for the 7/8’s to mingle with the year 9’s and occasionally the boys from the Big House too… Any firewood from our farming parents would be most welcome… Those boys that enjoy getting involved in the BBQ nights have the setting-up ‘down pat’ and are now ‘old hands’ at cooking the steak and sausages. The clean up afterwards now goes like clockwork with all hands on deck!

There have been some healthy introductions to afternoon tea including hummus and guacamole dips served with sticks of celery, cucumber & carrot. The cherry tomatoes disappear in a flash… Wraps and rice cakes have been a welcome change from the usual muffins and toasties and strawberries added to the fruit platter always brings gasps of ‘whooo and yummm  strawberries’ from the afternoon tea table… Mrs Whetters Homemade soup is still a firm favourite with new additions; Chicken & Sweetcorn and Thai Pumpkin especially popular!

The boys and staff were all recently invited to lunch at Vivisen’s restaurant in Fremantle where we were treated to an amazing banquet of specially prepared Chinese Cuisine. There was an enormous amount of food consumed and all of it was delicious. The boys did themselves and the School proud, displaying excellent manners towards the Restaurant staff and their general behaviour was outstanding.

While many of the boys participated in community sports during the term, the athletics season brings a more chilled atmosphere into the house with those boys choosing not to be involved in the athletics programme enjoying some downtime relaxing around the house, watching movies and making the most of the free time together. There’s still lots of active playtime though; shooting hoops, getting on their scooters and spending time at the pool.

No Tech Tuesday also continues to see the boys getting out in the fresh air and enjoying each other’s company.

Have a safe and relaxing holiday break and I look forward to seeing the boy’s back in the house next term.