Just a quick note this morning to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year break! This year has been a strange one (to say that least!) and I think that everyone deserves a nice quiet and calm break to recharge batteries and appreciate the truly special things in life: family, friends, gratitude and good health.

We have had some special times in boarding in the past two weeks, with our Christmas breakfast, some Secret Santa gift giving amongst the Houses and last night we had a very special farewell dinner for Mr Bradley, Mr Keatch and Mr Bennett, who between them have contributed over 60 years of service to Scotch boarding! We wish them all well as they embark on the next phases of their careers, with Mr Bennett and Mr Bradley in the day school and Mr Keatch accepting a new challenge as Head of Boarding at Launceston Grammar.

I want to extend a special thank you to all our staff in boarding, including those in the Health Centre for all their hard work and all the care that they put into their interactions with the boys. We are all part of a very special community and we work together very well. We all have the common goal of providing the best possible service to our families and we are all very lucky to have such a fun and rewarding job. It is a joy and a privilege to work alongside our boarding families and we wish everyone all the very best for the Christmas break.

Warm regards

Jordan

Farewell Mr Bennett, Mr Bradley and Mr Keatch

Year group photos

Bring on Summer!

Early morning swim and mindfulness training with Tom Orford and Ollie Kent

Meet the Mentor

Another two weeks have whizzed by and we can now see the summer break on the horizon! I am sure that all parents are looking forward to having their boys back for some quality family time in the lead up to Christmas. I’m sure you can do with a pair of helping hands around the place so feel free to put them to work!

A special mention to the parents of our recent graduates who have been getting their boys back over the last week or so as they finish their exams and they cross their fingers to make sure the boys are safe as they look to go out for leavers’ celebrations starting on Monday. Unfortunately, I am unable to make this year’s Valedictory dinner next Saturday, but I wish families all the best for that incredible evening.

I had the honour of presenting our annual report to the School Council this week and it was a very special occasion for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was great to reflect upon the year of 2020 in boarding and to reiterate some of our key focuses for next year. Secondly, it was wonderful to be in the room and to hear of how much love the School Council has for our boarding community and the resolute support that the Council has for boarding at Scotch. It was great to hear the opinions of Council members and the Headmaster about how we can grow our boarding programme. It is certainly a tough market out there but our best advocates are our current and recent past parents who have amazing experiences at the College and are proud of the way in which their son has developed into a man of excellent character, empathy and a strong work ethic. If we as a Boarding College focus on providing an excellent service to our families, then word of mouth in communities is still the strongest marketing tool that any organisation can have. To that end, we always welcome feedback from our families and we invite you to engage with our community whenever you are in Perth or whenever we are out visiting the regions.

As I was preparing for the meeting, I was thinking of just how much change has been brought about this year and I was a bit in awe to be honest. There have been a lot of staff changes as well as a long-lasting and very disruptive pandemic to deal with, which brought about travel restrictions, boarding house closures and then quite tight leave and recreation restrictions upon our reopening. As well as that, there were changes to our dining hall routines and food choices, showering and hygiene protocols. The boys had to deal with these changes as well as the ones that were happening in the day school. I spoke to the boys about these changes on Wednesday night at our fortnightly boarding meeting in the Dining Hall, just to say how proud of them that I am and how impressed I have been with their patience, flexibility and adaptable approach. The ability to be adaptable, flexible and resilient are some of the most important 21^st century skills that will help define a person’s success in the world of tomorrow and I have been very impressed with the way our boys have handled it. I extend that warm thanks to our parents who have also had to endure a lot of change this year and have done so with such good grace.

I would also like to reiterate that I think a lot of the changes that are coming in next year are going to make Scotch boarding better, I speak mostly of our boarding restructure and the move to two Residences and a vertical pastoral care system in the Senior Residence. I was listening to a presentation from Dr Donna Cross this week at a pastoral care retreat where she was the keynote speaker. Donna is at the forefront of pastoral care research and a revered figure in Western Australia. One of her key messages about the pastoral care and mental health landscape for adolescents is the importance of peers as pastoral carers and how trusted peers generate the most powerful response when a child is in distress. It is so important that we upskill our older boys in mental health first aid so that they know how to calm a friend in distress as well as how and when to pass problems on to trusted adults. It also reaffirms to me the advantages of a vertical pastoral care structure whereby older student leaders are more integrated into our boarding system to be there to help guide the younger boys on their boarding journey and give them good role models.

We will be having our Senior School Clan allocations in Week 8 of this term. We have spent a lot of time working on allocating and balancing the clans, considering boys relationships with each other, the strengths and influence that boys could bring to the groups, and connections with staff. We have done our allocations of boys and have generated names for the clans and we look forward to sharing these with our families soon. If you have concerns or questions about our structure please get in touch.

Also in Week 8 we have a special dinner to farewell our outgoing staff. Grant Bennett, Matt Bradley and Ashley Keatch will all be leaving our boarding community for various reasons and a special mention to Ashley who will also be leaving our school as he takes up an exciting position as Head of Boarding at Launceston Grammar. At our dinner, Grant Bennett will be the keynote speaker who will pass on a message to our boys and staff and share some stories about his 30 years in boarding at Scotch. It will be a very special night and one to look forward to.

On the staff movement front, I am thrilled to announce three positions that have been filled for next year. We recently advertised for Assistant Head of Residence in both the Senior and Middle School Boarding Houses. Mrs Mia Sullivan has accepted the position as Assistant Head of the Middle School Residence. Mia has worked in the Middle School boarding House for a number of years, helping the boys with their prep every week. She is also a Year 8 teacher in the Middle School and a very experienced professional. Mia has always expressed a keen interest in boarding at Scotch and she will be a fantastic addition to our team. Mr Alex Wood has also been appointed as an Assistant Head of Residence in the Senior School Boarding House. Alex has also worked in our boarding set up for a number of years in the Year 9 Residence as an assistant Head of Year to Sean Mecham and he will be moving across to the Senior House as of next year. Alex has a strong background in teaching Science, Marine and Maritime and Psychology, as well as having previously worked as a lawyer. Alex has also been an integral part of Scotch First XV Rugby as coach for the last few years and has run an incredibly successful programme. Thirdly, Mr Michael Ninkov has also accepted the job as an Assistant Head of the Senior School Residence. Michael is an enthusiastic and highly skilled young teacher who has been thoroughly impressive during his short time at the College. He is an Economics teacher and has previously worked at both Hale School and Christ Church. He will be another fantastic addition to our community. We congratulate all three on their promotional positions and welcome Michael as a new member to our boarding community.

Finally, as a highlight of the past fortnight, I was able to take the Year 7s and 8s to the Middle School drama production last night to see the story of Kicker Thompson – a young rural boy who struggles to overcome his homesickness as he moves off to boarding school. It was a great play for our boys to watch and I was most impressed with the performances of our three boarders in the play. A special congratulations to Rohan Bignell, Lachie Gooding and Will Fairclough for their fantastic performances. I hope that they can inspire more boarders to get involved in the production next year.

I wish everyone a safe and happy fortnight and look forward to seeing you over the next few weeks to celebrate the end of term and a well-deserved summer break for our families and staff. If you are in the South West region this weekend, we have a function in Bunbury tonight and in Dunsborough tomorrow morning and would love to see you there. Please feel free to pass on to any prospective families that you may know in the area, all information is on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Kind regards

Jordan

Farewell Mr Keatch

Thank you Mr Keatch for 16 years of service to the Boarding Community from your 2020 Year 10’s.

New Year 12 Cohort

Mr Hales and his 2020 Year 11 group.

Middle School Drama Production – Kicker Thompson

Congratulations to Rohan Bignell, Lach Gooding and Will Fairclough on being part of the Middle School Drama Production.  Well done boys!

If you would like to see more photo’s go to home.scotch and Vidigami and check under Middle School Drama.

REACH – Voyage – Holiday Travel Arrangements

Please follow the below process in Reach to add Holiday Travel arrangements for boys that travel by plane, bus or train.

When in Manage Leave, and you are wanting to add a New Leave Request do the following:

• Add your son’s name from the drop down list under Boarder
• Add the date and time your son is leaving Scotch Boarding
• Under Leaving Transport Details, go to the bottom of the drop down list to VOYAGE TRANSPORT TYPES and choose how your son will be travelling.  This is to be used instead of the Standard Transport Types.
• The second picture shows you the fields that need to be filled in for eg: if travelling by plane, or by Bus (see the last picture)
• Always choose HOLIDAY TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS for Mid Term Breaks and Start and End of Term.
• If your son is travelling on more than one flight or train/bus, then you can add another leg of his journey, by clicking on Add Leg + at the bottom of the drop down list.

MEET THE MENTOR

We have started the term firing on all cylinders in Boarding, with plenty happening around the place!

Year 12 exams have started this week and we wish all our graduating boys all the very best as they embark on this important time in their lives. The boys have been really positive about the experience so far and have been a great influence on each other as they study together and keep each other calm and focused. A special thanks to Mr Bradley as well for his wise counsel to the boys during these weeks.

We had a wonderful time at the Katanning Agricultural Show last weekend with a successful function at the Premier Mill Hotel on the Friday evening beforehand. It was great to see current families as well as some Past parents and Old Scotch Collegians and some future families as well. The show was also great success and the Scotch College Pipe Band was a huge hit. A big thank you to Mrs Sam Scott our Manager of Prospective Students and Scott Galipo, Head of Shearer House and former Katanning local for attending the event with me. We will be heading to the Great Southern again in March when we visit Albany to celebrate our Bibbulmun Track walkers reaching the Southern Terminus.

Speaking of the Bib Track, we had our Year 7s and 8s out on the track this week and as they came in last night they were all speaking very highly of their experience. They had to walk through a little bit of rain in the first couple of days but they had some perfect weather for the last half of the journey. They were happy last night and also exhausted. The boys will celebrate with a pizza night this evening as a reward for their hard work.

The new Year 11s and 12s are also heading out on the Bibby this Sunday for a walk that will see them hit the coast for the first time! The 11s are skipping a leg to join the 12s for their penultimate walk. Next year the 11s will head back into the Karri forests to walk through Northcliffe and Pemberton. I’m sure it will be exciting for the boys as they see the coast for the first time after around 5 years of walking through the bush! The Bib track is such a treasured aspect of boarding at Scotch and we look for every opportunity to celebrate the boys as they embark on this symbolic rite of passage. As of next year, we are extending the compulsory aspects of the Bibbulmun Track by one more leg in Year 10 so that we get the boys over the halfway mark and further encourage them to stick with it and finish the journey.

The term has also seen a good amount of Recreation activities for the boys. The Year 9s have had a social with MLC and the Year 10s have had two activities with PLC and have a social with St Hilda’s tonight! Boys have also been ice skating and shopping and out to Kings Park, amongst other things. Last night, Mr Mecham and Mrs Hannington took myself and the Year 9s into the city for a cultural experience. We went to Elizabeth Quay, Yagan Square and had a lovely dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. It was a lovely evening and a great opportunity to bond. The boys were very well behaved and everyone enjoyed themselves. At our recent Boarders’ Assembly this week, the new Year 12 leaders let everyone know that we have arranged a BBQ dinner on Friday of Week 6 for all boarders to get together and share a meal outside the boarding house. In week 8 we have arranged our annual boarders’ paintballing session on the last Saturday of term which is always a highlight of our calendar on one of our only “closed weekends” of the year to encourage all boys to participate.

Finally, as an advanced notice to parents, we will be announcing our two Senior School Clans during Week 8 of this term in preparation for next year. We are in the final stages of the naming process and we have already looked to allocate the boys to their respective clans. The clans have two main purposes in our boarding environment. The most important purpose is to give families a main point of contact that will ensure your boys are well looked after by a central figure throughout his time in Senior School boarding. Another important function of the clan system is to encourage interaction between different year groups and encourage student leadership. If you have any queries about the new Clan system, please feel free to get in contact.

I wish all families a safe and productive fortnight. We will soon be visiting the South West with functions in Bunbury on the 20^th November and Dunsborough on the 21^st November. We hope that you can make it to see us if you are in the area and please help to spread the word within your networks to any past and potential future Scotch families. We would love to see as many people there as possible to help promote and celebrate our Scotch Boarding community.

All the best

Jordan

Kojonup Event

Yr 10 Firepit with PLC

Year 8 Bib Track

Year 9 Dinner out

Katanning Event

Scholarship – Rural Bank

I trust you are well and that the farmers among us are preparing for a big harvest over the coming weeks and months. I appreciate the long hours and hard work that goes into harvest and we cross our fingers for you with respect to the yields that this season may bring. I know that many of the boys are missing home a lot at the moment as they pine to be back home helping out.

We have had a great start to the term in boarding so far, with a lot of cause for celebration over the first fortnight. Our term started with a big celebration dinner for our graduating Year 12 boarders which occurred at the picturesque Freshwater Bay Yacht Club. Each of the graduating boys stood up and told us a short story about one of their mates and they gave each other a small gift. It was wonderful to hear the stories and to get a sense of the amount of respect that these boys had for one another. It was clear that the group had formed a real brotherhood and it was great for us all to get an insight into that special bond that the boys had created over their time in boarding. We also had a chance to hear a keynote speech from Mr Bradley about the boys whereby he had written a poem, with a verse about each boy as well as accompanying photos. The speech was both touching and hilarious in equal parts! It was a fitting time to thank Mr Bradley for all the great work he has done in boarding over the past 16 years and to wish him well as he takes on his next challenge, leading Cameron House in the day school.

The next day was March Out for our graduating group which was a very memorable ceremony for both the boys and their parents and grandparents as well all celebrated the great contribution that the leaving class of 2020 had made to our Scotch community and welcomed them officially into the Old Scotch Collegians. We have included a short video below that is worth watching.

Last weekend was also a big weekend for our incoming boarders, in fact it was a bit poetic that we had our Orientation weekend on the same weekend as our graduation ceremony. The cycle of life continues! It was a fantastic couple of days which saw our incoming Year 7s and 8s have a tour of the boarding precinct and the Middle School on the Friday afternoon before sharing a dinner together in the Dining Hall. It was a good chance for parents to meet and it was great to see the boys gel so quickly and run out to the playground and the ovals together making friends. I think we will have another very tight-knit year group on our hands! On the Saturday morning the boys did some academic testing whilst the parents and staff shared morning tea and went through a brief workshop about what to expect for next year. It was wonderful to have a few of our current families join us who already had older children in boarding at Scotch and I know that the new families really appreciated their insights into boarding at Scotch. The boys all received their iPads for next year a bit early so that over the next term we will be able to engage with the boys through online meetings to further help them get to know each other a bit better and answer any questions that they have about boarding next year. Our Welcome to Scotch Orientation experience is really special and we hope that all our new families feel well prepared and welcome in our community as the begin their boarding journey.

Last weekend our Head of Communications and Admissions, David Kyle, also took a group of our music ensembles to the Kojonup show to visit families out there and help contribute to the show. This weekend we head to Katanning Agricultural Show to do the same thing. We are hosting an event at the Premier Mill Hotel in Katanning tonight for our current, future and OSC families before heading to the show on Saturday. If you are in the area we would absolutely love it if you would swing by and say hello. We love seeing our families out in their own communities and it would be great to catch up right on the eve of harvest for a chat before work life starts to become very busy indeed for many of our families down in the Great Southern.

As always, please feel free to get in contact with any queries or feedback about Scotch Boarding and please come and visit us whenever you are in Perth. You are always welcome in our Dining Hall for a meal and we love to see our families around the place.

All the best

Jordan

March Out

Yr 12 Boarders Farewell Dinner

Katanning – Scotch Event

The Katanning Agricultural Show is being held tomorrow, Saturday 24th October 2020. If you are in the area, please come by the Scotch College stand and say Hi.  The Pipe Band will be playing and marching and putting on a show.  We would love to see you there!

If you are at a loose end this evening, join us at the Premier Mill Hotel for a family friendly get together.

If you are picking up your son/s on Friday 25th September, please feel free to join Jordan for the Boarding Parent Support Group Meeting to be held in the Dining Hall from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.  Light refreshments consisting of Sandwiches, Tea, Coffee and Juice will be available.

Jordan will also be providing access to our remote parents via a Zoom meeting, with the details below:

Topic: Jordan Owenell’s Zoom Meeting

Time: Sep 25, 2020 01:00 PM Perth

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/96260238433?pwd=NWkrZE55TXdsOUdyOVVzaW44UkNCdz09

Meeting ID: 962 6023 8433

Passcode: zJx6vs

We look forward to seeing you in person, and if you are not able to be in Perth, by joining the Zoom meeting.

Katanning – Scotch Event

The Katanning Agricultural Show is being held on Saturday 24th October 2020. If you are in the area, please come by the Scotch College stand and say Hi.  The Pipe Band will be playing and marching and putting on a show.  We would love to see you there!

Please find an invitation below to join us on Friday 23rd October at the Premier Mill Hotel for a family friendly get together.  If you would like to join us, please RSVP here https://www.trybooking.com/BLTDT

KOJONUP Ag Show

I trust that you are all having a safe and enjoyable time at home and that you are looking forward to your sons soon returning home for the holidays. I’m writing as all of our Senior boys, from year 9-12 are going through the rigours of exams and we are wishing them all the best as they undertake this important phase of their school year.

I have recently been away from the beating heart of the campus for quite an extended period of time and I am only now just starting to catch up on a few things (including some much-needed family time!). Although this has been a relatively busy time, it has certainly been fulfilling. Most recently I have had the privilege of traveling up north to both Geraldton and Carnarvon to engage with families. It has been amazing to see the countryside and be reminded the way the landscape changes once you travel north of the 26^th parallel. However, it has been even better to get to know where families live and to hear their perspectives on Scotch as well as hear their thoughts on their own home towns and the future opportunities that lie within regional Western Australia. In a way, it has been sad to hear of a few challenges in regional Western Australia at the moment especially pertaining to some of the difficulties in finding workers for small businesses and for farms due in part to the economic climate, as well as the lack of back packers in our midst at the moment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also interesting to hear Minister Alannah MacTiernan’s thoughts on the situation as she was a guest speaker to an event in Carnarvon that I was lucky enough to attend alongside some Scotch families. A huge thank you goes out to the Eastoughs, the Messinas, the Nixons, the Highams, the Meecham’s the Holthams and the Beards in particular for their wonderful hospitality whilst we were on the road.

I was also able to be a part of the Year 7 Bibbulmun Track walk on Father’s Day weekend as the boys embarked on their first journey down the track from the Northern Terminus in Kalamunda. The students and staff were welcomed onto the track by respected Noongar Leader Neville Collard and given a blessing as they began their journey. It was a special event and, although the day and night became quite rain-effected, the boys were in good spirits and showed a great attitude. It made me think that it would be a good idea to invite our Dads onto the track for that first leg of a boarder’s journey to experience the track with the boys and begin with them as they start their “Rite of Passage” on the bibby with Scotch boarding. I like the symbolism of Dads (or significant male role models) joining their boys at the beginning and then the boys walk on through the years as a peer group and then parents are there again to welcome their young men as they complete the track and walk into Albany. Another great thing about the Year 7 Bibbulmun Track experience was that we were also able to welcome two incoming boarders onto the track who will be joining us next year, John and Gilby. It was nice to see the boys getting a chance to socialise before their official Scotch journey begins next year and by all accounts they enjoyed themselves. The Year 8 group also went out on the bibby during that week and braved the rain and had a great time.

One of the best events of the past fortnight that I was lucky enough to attend at Scotch has been the Senior School Art Exhibition in the Stairwell Gallery and it made me very proud to see how many boarders were represented in this amazing showpiece. It was also great to see Mr Mecham give the keynote speech and to highlight the importance of the Arts to our lives and the importance of creativity as an approach to learning. We saw a wide array of mediums and creative representations on display and it was an absolute joy to be a part of. I took a few photos of boys work on the night but didn’t get them all unfortunately. Well done to the following boys who had their amazing artwork displayed; Nick Howson, Kaymus Brierly, Sean Bonney, Azhar Sgro, Tyler Messina, Jy White, Jake Mackintosh, Tim Valmadre, Daniel O’Meara, Kevin Laidlaw, Tom Keamy, Cooper Young and Binqiao Ren.

With regards to our staffing re-structure in boarding for 2021, we have had some exciting developments in the past two weeks. We are very close to making formal announcements on the key positions in boarding next year and I look forward to sharing these with families as soon as I can, I just don’t want to speak too early and jinx myself! I expect to make these announcements before the end of this term.

We have recently had an announcement on our Boarding Captain for 2021 and I would like to formally congratulate Brenton Macauley on his appointment. Just this week, Mr Hales and myself as well as a couple of our current Year 12’s, Patrick Eastough and Tom Graham, have been interviewing boys for the positions of Vice-Captain of Boarding and this announcement will be made shortly. We will have three Vice-Captains of Boarding for 2021. As we will be moving to a more vertical structure in the Senior House, with two “Clans”, there will be a Vice-Captain of Boarding to lead each Clan in the Senior House. There will also be a Vice-Captain of Boarding in charge of the Middle School Residence to ensure that the younger boys are being well looked after and that their opinions are being heard and advocated for by the senior boys. We will also have our Year 12 Boarders’ Council to help the Captain of Boarding and three Vice-Captains organise events and build a positive culture in our community. There is certainly a lot happening in this space at the moment and we will continue to communicate with families as decisions are made.

To that end, I would like to invite parents to our termly Boarding Parent Support Group Meeting next Friday 25^th September between 1pm-3pm to discuss boarding at Scotch. We plan to hold the meeting in the Year 9 Residence and light refreshments will be provided.  I have also organised to ‘Live-Stream’ the meeting so that parents who are unable to be there can tune in and watch the meeting and then also have the opportunity to follow up with any further questions via phone or email. This will give me a good opportunity to talk about what is changing and what is staying the same in 2021 and will give parents the opportunity to seek further information.

I would like to end by reminding parents again that they are very welcome to join us for dinner in our Dining Hall whenever they are in Perth to see their boys. We love to see parents with us and the parents who do stay for a meal often speak of how nice it is to see not only their son but also his boarding friends and the staff that look after him. I wish families all the very best during this important time of year and look forward to seeing you soon.

Kind regards

Jordan

Yr 11 Front Row Eagles seats

Thank you Mr Hales for capturing the Yr 11 boys at breakfast.  Looks delicious!!

Meet the Mentor – Spotlight on Chris Stretch

REACH – Voyage – Holiday Travel Arrangements

We have a new process in Reach to add Holiday Travel arrangements for boys that travel by plane, bus or train.

When in Manage Leave, and you are wanting to add a New Leave Request do the following:

• Add your son’s name from the drop down list under Boarder
• Add the date and time your son is leaving Scotch Boarding
• Under Leaving Transport Details, go to the bottom of the drop down list to VOYAGE TRANSPORT TYPES and choose how your son will be travelling.  This is to be used instead of the Standard Transport Types.
• The second picture shows you the fields that need to be filled in for eg: if travelling by plane, or by Bus (see the last picture)
• Always choose HOLIDAY TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS for Mid Term Breaks and Start and End of Term.
• If your son is travelling on more than one flight or train/bus, then you can add another leg of his journey, by clicking on Add Leg + at the bottom of the drop down list.

I write to you at the end of another busy and exciting fortnight for Scotch Boarding. I have spent the past two weeks largely away from campus, starting with my first walk on the Bibbulmun Track last week with the Year 9’s and then this week having an amazing trip away to a few towns and family farms in the Wheatbelt with the Headmaster Dr O’Connell! Both experiences have been fantastic and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time. Next week Mr David Kyle and myself will head to Carnarvon to hold a function on Thursday 10^thSeptember at the Port Hotel, owned by our very own Mem and Tony Beard.

This weekend we have our Year 7 and 8 boarders going out on the bibby and I especially want to wish the Year 7’s well as they begin their walk out from the Northern Terminus in Kalamunda, we have a special Welcome to Country ceremony planned for them with Whadjuk Nyungar Birdiyia Neville Collard JP at the Terminus to recognise the history of the land, the importance of looking after it, and also making everyone feel welcome and wishing them a good trip. I think it will be a very special occasion.

Next week on Monday we have our Ag Day, which will celebrate all things boarding and will include a Free Dress Day, a special lunch and a fundraising effort for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. A special thankyou to our Year 12 Boarders’ Council and Mr Bradley for their work to organise this special day, especially in what has been a tough year to organise events! We will take some photos of the day and share them in Vidigami for parents.

Parents would have received an email from the Headmaster and myself on Monday of this week about a restructure in Boarding from 2021 and beyond. We spoke to families about this in person on our trip around the Wheatbelt and I will organise another large parent forum for discussion at some stage later in the term. It is important to acknowledge that all times of change come with some element of uncertainty and I know that clear communication around our strategy, particularly to parents, will be very important in these initial stages. It is also important to note that the decision to move Year 9’s to the Senior House from 2021 was not due to a belief that the current system was not working. In fact, the Year 9 House has always been very popular and well run by Mr Mecham and Mrs Hannington and has always been looked upon fondly by students and families. I believe that we will be able to provide that same level of care and support for students and families in this new structure. The new structure is designed to be more efficient, however, the level of care and support for families will remain our highest priority. I will write to all families to give information on a few of the finer details of the restructure shortly but please rest assured that the pastoral and academic support of your sons has been and will forever be our primary consideration. Caring for the students and sharing in this parenting journey with you all is a sacred responsibility and one which we take very seriously. I am firmly of the belief that this new structure will allow us to do that to the best of our ability.

To give a brief overview of the strategy, our boarding structure will be moving to have three Heads of Residence to work alongside me as the Head of Boarding. There will be a Head of Middle School Residence and two Heads of Senior School Residence. Each Head of Residence will have the oversight and holistic care of the boys in their group or, to use a Scottish term, “Clan”. The Head of Residence will be the main point of contact for families and for teachers in the School, similar to how the Head of Year structure currently works. Each Head of Residence will have an Assistant Head of Residence, who will be tasked with analysing and supporting the academic goal setting and development of the boys in their care during prep and feeding that back to the Head of Residence, parents, classroom teachers and House Heads or Homeroom teacher at school. Each Head of Residence will also have a House Parent, which will mean that the Senior School boarding House will soon have two House Mothers, one for each “Clan”. These three senior figures in boarding will track each boy from the time they come into Year 9 to the time they graduate Year 12 and this will allow for deep relationships to be maintained between staff and families. It is also important to note that, although the boys in the Senior School will be in two vertical groups, they will be under the same roof and have plenty of interaction with every boy in their year group, including having Common Rooms for year groups, common study areas, weekend recreation events and, of course, the Bibbulmun Track experience. It may also be the case that boys from the same year group but different “Clans” share a room together in the younger years. So, although a vertical structure will help staff and families have a common point of contact and relationship that helps track the boys throughout their time in the Senior School, boys will still be spending plenty of time in their year group. I am looking forward to the new structure and believe that it will be beneficial for families. I will organise a forum for parent feedback and questions but, as always, please feel free to email me any specific queries.

Lastly, I want to extend a special good luck to all Year 12 boys playing their last Winter sporting fixture for Scotch this weekend against Guildford. In particular, a special good luck to the boys in the First Football and Rugby Teams who have the chance to win the trophies for their sports outright. Both teams are full of boarders and we wish the boys all the best in their fixtures.

Kind regards

Jordan

Spirit Award

Congratulations to Digby Cleland Yr 12 for receiving the Spirit Award from the Higham family in memory of their son Lachy Higham.

Headmaster’s Wheatbelt Tour 2020

The Headmaster, Dr Alec O’Connell and Head of Boarding, Jordan Owenell took a tour of the Wheatbelt this week, meeting some of our wonderful Scotch College Community.  Whilst in Northam, some of our Pipe band were thrilled to join in the fun.

Year 9 Bibbulmun Track

The Year 9 group headed into some great weather, with some of the boys having a dip.

I write to you on a really strong day for boarding at Scotch. At assembly this morning we had a wonderful presentation by our Captain of Residential Life, Patrick Eastough on “What it means to be a boarder”. Patrick spoke about shared values, lasting relationships, broad experiences and a strong identity – all of the things we love about Scotch boarding. Patrick’s speech also led really well into our celebration of our Bibbulmun Track End-to-Enders. Patrick introduced Tom Graham and James Rex to the stage to speak about the 5 years on the track for this graduating cohort and it was great to hear them share some stories with the rest of the Senior School about how important the Bibbulmun Track has been to their Scotch experience. The boys showed a great video made by Cooper Young. It was interesting to hear from the Headmaster during his address to the school and he mentioned that when he was asked in his initial interview for the job about something that struck him that made Scotch special, Dr O’Connell mentioned the Bibbulmun Track experience as a defining cultural experience at Scotch. Congratulations to the boys who completed the track from Kalamunda to Albany: Bourke Carrington, Digby Cleland, Zedd Garbellini, Liam Gollan, Hamish Gooch, Tom Graham, Will Graham, Toby Humphries, Angus Johnston, Tom Keamy, Lachie Raffan, James Rex, Beau Staines, Sam Meecham and a special mention to Tom Delroy, who didn’t receive his Certificate, as he started in Year 9 walking with the group till the end. CONGRATULATIONS!!

I ask all parents reading this to encourage their boys to walk the track and commit to this very special element of Scotch boarding.

We will Rock You – The Musical

Another fantastic element of the Assembly today was the promotion of the Drama production We Will Rock You and, again, boarders featured prominently. Patrick Eastough, as Captain of Drama introduced the group and Arad Rad also featured as the star of the show. Arad performed one of the songs from the production in front of the whole assembly. It really was a special moment. The Musical is being performed from 26 – 29 August in the Dickinson Centre and tickets are available through Trybooking at https://www.scotch.wa.edu.au/view/events

Middle School Academic Excellence Certificates

Later in the day I was lucky enough to attend the Middle School Assembly and see the presentation of Academic Excellence certificates. I wanted to take some photos for parents but was unfortunately too far out the back to get any. However, it was lovely to see some parents make the trip to Perth to help celebrate the boys’ achievements. A special congratulation to Xavier Risinger, Lachlan Gooding, Rory Purser, and Oliver Wandel for their remarkable efforts.

NAIDOC Week Assembly

Last week we celebrated NAIDOC week as a College and it gave us a good chance to celebrate our Indigenous Students as well, many of whom stepped up to help lead our various events throughout the week, whether it be sand murals down in front of the Boarding House or kangaroo and emu sausages at lunch time. We also had a wonderful NAIDOC Assembly last week and saw a very special interview with our own Daniel O’Meara about life in Swanbourne compared to life in Derby. Daniel gave some great insights and helped people to understand some of the opportunities and challenges of “walking in two worlds”. The bravery and resilience of our boys is quite inspiring.

Boarding SPIRIT Award

This week coming up we celebrate our Boarding SPIRIT awards in what will be a very special ceremony on Wednesday night. We also get to hear from our Year 11 boys who have nominated to be our Captain of Boarding for 2021. It is sure to be another special week in Residential Life.

I wish you all a restful and enjoyable mid-term break next weekend. And in the week afterwards I hope to be able to see many of you at our Headmaster’s Tour of the Wheatbelt in Northam, Merredin and Dalwallinu, with some stops along the way. If you want to connect whilst we are on the road, please RSVP to ResidentialLife.admin@scotch.wa.edu.au

All the best

Jordan

Wheatbelt Tour 2020

Dr Alec O’Connell and Jordan Owenell will be touring the Wheatbelt region at the end of August.  They will be holding functions for current, past and prospective families within our School community and promoting Residential Life at Scotch.

31st August – Northam

Temperance Bar

122 Fitzgerald Street, Northam

6:00pm – 9:00pm

1st September – Merredin

Wild Poppy Cafe

88 Barrack Street, Merredin

7:00pm – 9:00pm

2nd September – Dalwallinu

Dalwallinu Hotel

19 Johnston Street, Dalwallinu

7:00pm – 9:00pm

If you are in the area and would like to catch up, please RSVP to ResidentialLife.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au  and we look forward to seeing you then.

REACH – Voyage – Holiday Travel Arrangements

We have a new process in Reach to add Holiday Travel arrangements for boys that travel by plane, bus or train.

When in Manage Leave, and you are wanting to add a New Leave Request do the following:

• Add your son’s name from the drop down list under Boarder
• Add the date and time your son is leaving Scotch Boarding
• Under Leaving Transport Details, go to the bottom of the drop down list to VOYAGE TRANSPORT TYPES and choose how your son will be travelling.  This is to be used instead of the Standard Transport Types.
• The second picture shows you the fields that need to be filled in for eg: if travelling by plane, or by Bus (see the last picture)
• Always choose HOLIDAY TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS for Mid Term Breaks and Start and End of Term.

If your son is travelling on more than one flight or train/bus, then you can add another leg of his journey, by clicking on Add Leg + at the bottom of the drop down list.

TRANSWA – September/October School Holidays Bus and Train services flyer

If you use the train or bus services of TRANSWA, there is an attachment you may be interested in below.

Photograph Competition

It’s not too late to enter the 2020 Boarding Photography Competition.  Send your amazing photographs to Sean.Mecham@scotch.wa.edu.au by Tuesday 25th August.

Welcome back to Scotch Residential Life for Winter Term. I am sure that we are all very much looking forward to a much more normal term. I trust you have had a restful break and are ready for an activity-filled term at Scotch. We particularly keep the Year 12’s in mind this term as they prepare for their final big push towards graduation and, with that in mind, a very happy birthday to Angus Johnston today who is celebrating his 18^th birthday!

Thank you to the parents who made it to Perth for our Parent Sundowner evening at the end of last term. It was fantastic meeting so many of you in a casual environment and the vibe of the evening was very special. Thank you for making Kate and myself feel so welcome into Residential Life at Scotch. I also extend a big thank you to the parents who were able to make the Residential Parent Support Group meeting in the afternoon beforehand, we had a great chat about ways in which we can improve Scotch boarding, both in Swanbourne and also out in your communities. Please feel free to get in contact with feedback at any time to either myself, your Residential Head of Year of Residential Life Admin. We are very grateful for your constant support of Residential Life at Scotch and we are dedicated to providing the best possible service to boys and parents.

Whilst Western Australia continues to be in a very fortunate position with our COVID-19 response at the moment, it is important to know that we aren’t fully out of the woods yet and our boarding community needs to be particularly cautious due to the close nature of our living arrangements. Most restrictions on boys’ Leave and Recreation activities have been lifted to align with WA Health Department advice, however, we still have a few things in place. Firstly, we continue to require the Host to approve of a Terms and Conditions document through the REACH system when applying to take boys out on Day Leave or Overnight Leave. This can be quite clunky in practice due to the email chain that it creates, however, we feel that it is still necessary for hosts to acknowledge that caring for boarders and then returning them to a full boarding house is something that we need an extra layer of vigilance around. It makes it particularly important for our Residential Heads of Year that Leave requests are put submitted early in the week so we have as much time as possible to help families and hosts work through the process. Also, if parents are hesitant about allowing permission for their boys to go on Recreation activities and are cautious about allowing their sons to, for example, mingle with students from other schools, then please let us know of your concerns by contacting ResidentialLife.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au . Otherwise, we will continue to go with WA Health advice and this will mean that we will start to open up our Recreation activities much more. A couple of events to note in particular is a Year 9/10 visit to MLC this weekend and also the upcoming Year 11/12 Boarder’s Ball with PLC. At this stage, even though the WA government allows it, I am not quite comfortable with our boys heading to Perth Stadium en masse as a recreation activity, however, I respect family decisions in the event that you want to take your son to the football. Social distancing and good hygiene practices are still our best cover for communicable illnesses.

It has been fantastic to have our Bibbulmun Track walks back. The Year 10’s and Year 11’s have been out this week and we have heard some good stories and been sent through some fantastic photos from Mr Keatch and Mr Miolin. These photos, and others, are starting to get posted much more regularly onto Vidigami, which parents can access easily through the home.scotch.wa.ed.au website. It is a way that we can keep trying to give families feedback on how the boys are going whilst living in their “home away from home” at Scotch. There are some great photos of the boys around the house, at sport and on the Bibby. This is something we want to continue to do for our families in boarding and I thank the House Mothers and Heads of Year in particular for their efforts to take photos of the boys. If you are attending events for our boys and take some boarding photos, please send them through and we can add them to Vidigami and our regular newsletter.

I am thrilled to announce that the Headmaster, Dr O’Connell and myself will be doing a Tour of the Wheatbelt region this term from the 31^st August – 3^rd September and holding three functions, in Northam, Merredin, and Dalwallinu. We would love to see you there if you are in the area and please help us to spread the word to friends and families who might be considering boarding schools for their sons. We hope to meet a mixture or current, past and future families and help to build our community within the regions. It is really important to us to visit families in their local areas. Later in the Term, myself and Mr David Kyle and our wives will be visiting Carnarvon to hold a function there on Thursday 10^th September and we are looking forward to visiting our families up in the Gascoyne over that weekend.

Speaking of Carnarvon families, we are honoured to have Mrs Chris Higham visit us on Thursday 19^thAugust to present our coveted SPIRIT Award for Scotch Boarding. SPIRIT stands for Sparkle, Passion, Imagination, Resilience, Integrity and Tenacity and is in honour of OSC Lachie Higham who is tragically lost his life whilst he was a Year 10 boarder at the College. The qualities listed above are the qualities that Lachie personified and the award is symbolic of the values we hold in Residential Life at Scotch. Each Head of year nominate a few boys who display these qualities and the Residential Life Management Team discuss the nominations and end up choosing a worthy winner.

Finally, I would like to extend an invitation to any parents who are in town at any stage to please feel welcome to join us for dinner in the dining hall. We would love to see you there. If you can let us know before time so that we can alert catering, that is ideal, however, there is always plenty of food to go around and we would love to see you there sharing a meal with your son, his friends, and our staff.

Kind regards

Jordan

Bib Track – Year 10’s & 11’s

Our Year 10’s and 11’s return this afternoon after a wet and challenging walk.  Mr Keatch said the first night was blustery and wet and their kits were drenched.  They eventually dried out, but it was a very wet walk.  He also said they were a resilient bunch and the best he has walked with!  Orson and Kody proved to be too loud on the track, so Mr Keatch gave them a challenge – to not talk for 3 hours and they could have KFC.  The boys accepted the challenge and everyone got KFC on the way back.  A huge of achievement for our boys, congratulations.

Marching is back!!

It was wonderful to hear the pipe band and the thump of boys marching past my window this morning.  I have missed it.

Year 10 Breakfast – Back to Boarding

It was early!!

Parent Sundowner

Wonderful evening of fun and laughter.

Scotch on the Road 2020

Dr Alec O’Connell and Jordan Owenell will be touring the Wheatbelt region at the end of August.  They will be holding functions for current, past and prospective families within our School community and promoting Residential Life at Scotch.

31st August – Northam

Temperance Bar

7:00pm – 9:00pm

1st September – Merredin

Tivoli Room, Cummins Theatre (TBC)

7:00pm – 9:00pm

2nd September – Dalwallinu

Dalwallinu Hotel

7:00pm – 9:00pm

If you are in the area, please save the date and we look forward to catching up with you then.

Medical Appointments

If your son requires to attend a Medical Appointment, please liaise with the Health Centre on 08 9383 6818 or via email HealthCentre@scotch.wa.edu.au so that transport to and from the appointment is co-ordinated.  If you have family or guardians available to transport your son, or if you are in Perth and would like to take your son, please let Fiona Richmond and the team of Nurses know.

Holiday Travel Arrangements for Mid Term Break

Mid term will be upon us very quickly, and your son’s leave needs to be entered into Reach.

If your son is staying with hosts or family, please ensure that their details are in Reach. If you need assistance please send an email to Jan and Michelle at ResidentialLife.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au.

Online Medical Updates

If you have not already done so, please update your sons Medical information by going to Home.Scotch and clicking on the blue “Medical & Information” icon.

Photography Competition

Dear Boarding Families,

I write to you in the middle of Men’s Health Week and I hope that all the males out there are taking some time to check up on themselves and each other! I was inspired this week by a story that has come out of Mukinbudin and spread around the world, known as the Blue Tree Project. It is both a fascinating and tragic story about mental health issues in our community and I urge you all to check out the website  https://www.bluetreeproject.com.au/ and perhaps you and your sons will be inspired to paint a blue tree yourselves, we have one here at Scotch to remind the boys to look out for each other.

It is great to see PSA sport back on the calendar and it was particularly exciting to see that we played Round 1 against Aquinas. I ventured down to watch to First XVIII come away with a thrilling victory and particularly proud to see the boarders in that team play starring roles. The game was played with great skill and speed and I was happy to see the boys come away with a win over my former employer! I am hoping to see more boarding families make their way to Perth to watch sporting fixtures in the near future and it will be a great opportunity to meet more parents in person.

There have been a few significant changes to our Leave Management System recently which I want to make a point of mentioning to families. Firstly, it is really good that we have recently been able to extend more Leave opportunities for the boys, now any approved host on the boys’ system can take the boys out for Day Leave or Overnight Leave if parents approve. However, in order to do this and still mitigate risk of communicable diseases such as COVID 19 coming into our Residences, we have added another layer into our Leave approval process so that hosts now have to approve the leave and agree to a Terms and Conditions document which outlines a pledge to be “COVID Safe” as per the government guidelines. May I please ask parents to communicate with any hosts taking their boys out to check their emails and make sure they are aware of this. The host will need to approve the Leave as an important link in the chain before it gets to staff to approve. Please also ensure that any Leave requests are submitted at least 24hrs beforehand to give us time to consider them.

I have some sad and exciting news for Boarding families, particularly those of our Middle School boarders. Mr Drew Templar, Head of Middle School Residence, has accepted a job as Head of Outdoor Education at St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls. This is a fantastic opportunity for Drew, his wife Jen and daughters Bridgette and Indi. However, of course, it is very sad news for our community because Drew is such a good operator and has made such a positive difference to the lives of the boys in his care, as well the boarding staff. We wish Drew and the family all the very best. He will still be with us until September and will then move to St Hilda’s in Spring Term. In the interim, I will be stepping in to look after the Middle School Residence whilst we advertise for someone to take the position from 2021 onwards. Since I have arrived, I have been really impressed with Drew and have built a good relationship both professionally and personally. One of the hardest things for me to do will be to tell my kids that Bridgette and Indi will not be our neighbours for much longer! The Templars have been instrumental in making us feel welcome at Scotch and we will miss them. However, I realise that this is a wonderful opportunity for Drew and I am sure you will join with us in wishing him, Jen and the kids all the very best. Scotch’s loss is certainly St Hilda’s’ gain!

Lastly, we will be hosting a parent sundowner on the last Thursday of the Term, 2^nd July and we would love for you to come along and join us! This is a good chance for us all to get together as a community and share some stories of 2020. There is a save the date card below and I urge you to put it in your diaries. We would love to show your our brand new Mathematics and Commerce building before enjoying dinner down at the Dining Hall. I look forward to seeing you then!

Kind regards

Jordan

Parent Committee Meeting

If you are available on Thursday 2nd July at 2:30pm, please join us for the Residential Life Parent Committee Meeting in the Yr 7/8 Boarding House foyer.  Jordan Owenell would like to meet interested parents to discuss everyday issues, special projects and how parents can become more involved in boarding.  We will be providing afternoon tea and scones and All are Welcome.  Please RSVP to ResidentialLife.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au

Holiday Travel Arrangements

It is only 2 weeks until the July Holidays, so we need you to start adding travel details for your boys into the REACH Leave System.

Just as a reminder: When completing your son’s Holiday Travel Arrangements please use the ‘Holiday Travel Arrangements’ leave type. Please do not use ‘Overnight Leave’, ‘School Approved Leave’, etc. By using the ‘Holiday Travel Arrangements’ leave type it makes it easier for us to sort the leave and make sure we don’t miss anyone.

For those requiring Scotch to arrange transport to either the airport or train station please use the following template within the notes section:

Transport Required: Yes/No

Flight/Train Number:

Flight/Train Departure Time:

Time required to be at Airport/Train Station:

Does your son require an Unaccompanied Travel Form? Yes/No

Is Transport required upon return? Yes/No

Flight/Train Number:

Flight/Train Arrival Time:

NB: Please remember that boarding boys have been given permission to leave the College from 1pm (school finishes 3.25pm) on Friday. However, if they are leaving after school then they are expected to attend all of their remaining classes.

If you are having connection issues then please contact Michelle or Jan and they will enter the details for you.​

The Boys are Back!!