Last week the Year 10’s had their 4^th session of “Tomorrow Man”. This was also attended by Mr Hindle, Mr Wilkinson, the Chaplain – Reverend Gary van Heerden and myself. Below is a summary of some of the key messages shared with the boys.

These sessions aim to challenge outdated male stereotypes and get boys thinking about what sort of man they want to become, with a focus on what they do and how they respond as they become young men. They are taught that there will be times when they get things wrong and that will set them back. However, if they learn from that mistake, then it is not a wasted experience.

Most young men are scared of showing who they are, scared to reveal their weakness, scared to be vulnerable, scared to show emotion.  And to hide this, they deflect by making things into a joke, or they go quiet. This is the way many men deal with sensitive stuff. Except it’s not actually dealing with it, it is just hiding from it. Often, we are afraid of not being good enough or of being inadequate in some way. But essentially, we are afraid of being embarrassed, or feeling ashamed or humiliated.

Making themselves vulnerable by opening themselves up and saying what is inside their hearts, is the hardest thing in the world for young men to do. But the best way to conquer fear is to face up to it. If we don’t practise this, we find it harder and harder the older we get.

We have strange ideas about what a strong man is. Most of it is tied to our bodies. But that’s not it – it’s how we use our bodies, and our brains, that define how strong a man we are. We believe that a strong man is someone who can face their fears; and someone who can be gentle (especially when they are angry or frustrated). Strong people don’t put others down. They lift them up. Teenage boys often put their peers down, and in so doing put themselves down – because they are afraid of what they can be, and they are afraid to respect what others can be. The main aim of Tomorrow Man is to make young men better than they thought they could be.

The boys are taught that if you make your peers feel good, and if you lift them up, then you allow them to be a better version of themselves, and they will appreciate that and remember how you made them feel. It also makes you a better version of who you were.

Finally, the boys are taught that every day you can do something that your future self will thank you for. That might be looking after yourself better, developing really good habits, or teaching yourself to be kinder to those around you. Each of these things is something that the older version of you will be glad you did.

As the boys are becoming men it is pleasing to see from my position that they are starting to think less about putting themselves first. They are starting to emerge from the “grunt phase” and have mature conversations. Most are avoiding confrontation with staff by accepting “fair cop” and apologising while the situation is still a mole hill. Many parents who may not have seen their son for a long time may be in for a pleasant surprise when they come home for the holidays. That said, parents may also notice that they are developing independence rapidly and hold viewpoints that may differ to theirs.

Football dominated the earlier part of the term, and I would like to commend Raquell bin Rashid who won the best and fairest for a very successful Year 10 A side, and Andrew Steel who won the coaches award for Year 10 Cs. In the Boarder’s Footy tipping competition Mr Hales finished 7^th, which was the best of the Year 10 group, narrowly pipping Brenton Macauley (my football advisor), who went rogue in the last week. While only a few played Badminton, Rugby, or Hockey, hockey goal-keeper Kye McCreery was a “gun for hire” as he seemed to not only playing for the Year 10’s and his club side, but also filling a hole for the 3^rd XI and a more senior club side.

Recently we have had the Athletics season. Sport during this time is voluntary. From my viewpoint it is interesting to see who is putting in and who is going to Claremont. I commend those boys who had a crack. There were several that went down to training and may not have represented the school. They have earned “mana”. That said we had a number of boys who did represent the school at both Quads and Inters including: James Holtham, Raquell bin Rashid, Muddy Sgro, Max Mead, and Darcy O’Halloran. Scotch won the Inters and I urge all boys to find at least one event they can target.

Next term the new Year 11’s have the opportunity to walk the next section of the Bibbulmun track. This section is from Palings Road near Manjimup to Northcliffe and is happening between 10-15 November. There is core group of 8 boys who have signed up for this.

Last term Haig Mactaggart took the opportunity to go on exchange to a school close to San Francisco. This term his exchangee, Gabe Dias, came to Scotch. It was evident that Gabe took full advantage of his opportunity.  He is a third baseman in Baseball back home, but certainly enjoyed playing Football, and was even promoted to the Year 10 B team. Gabe enjoyed his stay, particularly the trip to Rottnest and was very grateful to the Mactaggart family who hosted him. (He was also very complimentary about the Scotch teachers and staff.)

In Year 10, recreational activities are haphazard. There were two socials with girl’s schools on the same weekend (one on the Friday and one on the Saturday). One was well attended and was “OK” while the other attracted a handful of boys but was described as a “great night” based on the number of phone numbers they got. Recently thanks to James Holtham’s initiative, a large group went to the movie “IT: Chapter 2”, and on the last night of the term we went to Allegro’s Restaurant to farewell Andrew Steel.

In the final week, the boys who did their expeditions last holidays got a week off, while the rest did their expeditions. I wish all families a good holiday and a well-earned break. As a Geography teacher, I’m aware that for many of the farming families need the right amount of rain and the lack of frosts at this time is critical to the final outcome. To you, I say to you “Kia Kaha”.

To farewell Andrew, his Mum Robyn, House Mother, Mrs Seaby and myself accompanied the Year 10 boarders to the Allegro Pizza Restaurant in Claremont. Ben Nixon spoke on behalf of the Year 10 group, wishing Andrew well in the future.

As we have now come to the end of the academic year this was a positive way to end the term.

Adjusting the Reins

It is normal for teenagers to push boundaries to develop independence. It is also the parents and carers job to push back to ensure there are some safety barriers along the way to developing maturity. In my experience it takes young men several years to find the right balance. No doubt there is greater freedom in the “Big House” relative to the Year 9 House, but oversight is still needed in order to ensure a sustainable growth. For instance, I encourage Year 10s to develop the confidence to use public transport, however I urge them to carry their phones and ring if they are delayed or something goes wrong.

Exam Prep

Recently the boys sat their Year 10 exams. It was impressive to see Professor Darcy O’ Halloran lecture to his peers about the deconstruction of a novel. I have read that students who spend time teaching what they’ve learned go on to show better understanding and knowledge retention than students who simply spend the same time re-studying. While I was generally pleased with the Year 10s approach to revision in the lead up to these exams, I do question what could be achieved if every prep time was fully utilised, not just in the lead up to exams.

Tomorrow Man

Recently we had third in the series of Tomorrow Man workshops which aim to get you men to challenge the thinking about strong male stereo types and hopefully make better men. The first and second of these workshops was in the summer term. The first went well, but the second not so well, and I wondered whether the Year 10s were sufficiently mature enough to handle these conversations. In the third session however, the presenter made it clear that as the male of the species when it comes to having deep or awkward conversations, we tend to go quiet or make a joke out of it. To his credit the presenter held the boys to account and did not accept flippant answers. The boys were consequently slowly becoming more willing to have open and serious conversations. The group as a whole were noticeably more tolerant and more supportive of each other.

Bib Track

Earlier in the term the Year 10s had the opportunity to walk the next section of the Bibbulmun track. It was during this time the boys passed the halfway point of the track. While the numbers taking this opportunity were lower than in past years when I visited the group at Donnelly River Camp, they were in good form and had bonded as a group. The scenery was spectacular, and it was evident that the boys are now physically stronger and are increasingly proud of their achievement.

Winter Sports

As the autumn term comes to a close, we are over halfway through the winter sports programme. As I coach the 2^nd XV rugby team I have seen a fair bit of the Year 10 rugby team, and both George Purser and Ben Nixon are having strong seasons and adding a bit of country steel into a team that has too many day students. Kye McCreery is making his mark as a hockey goalkeeper and seems to be getting a couple of games for both his club and his school each week, while Terry Zhou is training with the 1^st and 2^nd Badminton squad. The majority of the boarders play Football, however. Brenton Macauley, James Holtham, Muddy Sgro, and Raquell bin Rashid are key players in the undefeated Year 10 A side, while there are another six or so boarders in both the Year 10Bs and 10 Cs. The 10 A’s are a talented team and a competitive one to break into, but I regularly challenge the boys by asking, what do you have to do to improve, so you can play in the 1^st team next year or the year after. I was very impressed watching the Singaporean import, Adriel Roblin, who played Football in his first term in Australia for the C team. He plays in the forward pocket (well up front anyway) and has become a regular goal scorer.

Year 10 Rec

In Year 10, recreational activities are more random. As boys develop more independence there is an increased reluctance to commit to recreational activities has led to fewer activities been taken up and fewer opportunities offered. James Holtham has shown initiative this term to liaise with Mr Stretch, to promote some recreational activities. I would like to promote the Presbyterian Ladies’ College Year 10 social on Friday 2 August 2019 at the Cafeteria at Presbyterian Ladies’ College, which will be the main the Year 10’s major social for the year. Parents should have received a letter or email about this on or about the 11^th June.

Community Service

I have encouraged the Year 10s to take up volunteering opportunities as part of the community service when they arise. I commend the six boys who took up the opportunity to volunteer to be waiters at the recent Scotch Boarders dance. The ability to show a commitment to community service looks very good on a curriculum vitae.

In conclusion I wish all the boys and their families an enjoyable and well-earned break.

Developing independence in young men takes time. Some restrictions have been loosened since they were in Year 9, especially regarding leave on the weekend to the city. The boys carry phones and have the ability to communicate if something about their leave has changed, e.g they missed the train. I encourage them to ring myself or the House, as over time this builds trust, which enables the boys to apply to go further and for longer.

Prep time is now two hours which is a very long time for some, and not long enough for others. In Year 10 the boys are mostly in their rooms, but their doors are “chocked” open, and a staff member is usually out on the landing. Some are making good use of the tutors, while others are using the small group tutor room. However for some, “You can lead a horse to water…..”. I do encourage the boys to read if there is spare time.

Recently we had about half of the Year 10’s sit at least one of the ULNA Maths, Reading and Writing components. In preparation for this we spent a significant amount of prep time in preparation for these assessments. I’d like at this stage to thank Mrs Libby Muddle, Head of Academic Support, who came down to the House to help out. It became apparent to me as a result of this that our boys need to read a deal more to develop comprehension, written expression and spelling. Something that playing “spacies” does not develop.

Unfortunately, a few weeks ago Tiarell Niki, a Year 11 indigenous student who left Scotch last year, passed away. This hit our community very hard. The timing also coincided with the shootings in Christchurch. Reverend Gary van Heerden, the new Chaplain led a very emotional service in the chapel on the Sunday evening. While many of us were very upset by these events, I was impressed with how supportive the boys were of each other and myself. While grieving is painful, and this was obviously a testing time, the community support was appreciated.

As the Summer Term comes to a close, we can look back on an eventful term. Recently the Cross Country was held, and I commend Darcy O’Halloran who finished as the top boarder in 12^th position. But for me there is a lot you can tell about a young man and how they did in the Cross Country. Not so much in where they finished but how they compare to last year. Are they willing to really push themselves outside their comfort zone. Darcy’s improvement was 34 places better than last year, while Ben Nixon at 35^th improved by 12 places. Both Luke Marshall and Harvey Ellis also improved. For some of the boys who have arrived at Scotch more recently, I cannot yet make this comparison, but I will continue to monitor Cross Country over the coming years.

We have also had some other significant achievements amongst the Year 10’s this term;

• Terry Zhou was a member of the Year 9 and 10, and Year 11 and 12  Scotch “Have some fun” Maths competitions which finished 2^nd and 1^st respectively in the State wide competitions.
• George Purser and Kye McCreery have just finished a very successful rowing season for the Year 10 crews.
• Brenton Macauley, Raquell Bin Rashid and Max Mead’s 10A basketball finished undefeated in the recent PSA season.
• Jack Zhang is the lead French Horn player in the Scotch PLC orchestra that played at the Quarry amphitheatre in Bold Park one Sunday night.

Unlike the Junior Houses recreational activities are more random. Although recreational activities have been on offer the boys are very slow to sign up and activities are canceled due to a lack of numbers. Last week I got the boys to fill out a questionnaire about what they wanted to do. The highest polling activity was going to the movies and yet when It was offered only 4 boys signed up. That said, aside from the movies we have run outings to the Wildcats Basketball (twice), Scorchers Cricket, and St Mary’s Barbeque on the Beach. I was also very grateful to Luke Marshall’s family who hosted a party for Luke and the Year 10’s at the start of the term. We have also booked a breakfast at the Ocean Beach Hotel on the last week of the term.

I have encouraged the Year 10’s to take up the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. They do most of the requirements, such as doing a sport, and going on an expedition through Scotch. There are volunteering opportunities as part of the community service aspect of the award also available through Scotch. I commend the eight boys who took up the opportunity to volunteer to be waiters at the Scotch Ball, and those who assisted on the night of the Inter School Swimming Sports. The Duke of Edinburgh award is well regarded if it appears on someone’s curriculum vitae during the process of applying for a job.

In conclusion I wish all families an enjoyable and well-earned break.

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