The year 7 Boarding students departed in the early hours of Sunday morning for their first taste of the Bibbulmun Track. With backpacks almost as big as them, weight in the pack was crucial for a good experience. Students used initiative when packing their bags, taking only essential items and cutting down on weight wherever possible, some boys even cutting their toothbrushes in half to save weight!

The boys left Scotch excited to get on the track with food packed for their walk.

They were met at the Northern Terminus by Indigenous elder Neville Collard, who did a Welcome to Country for the boys before starting their journey. He spoke to the boys about looking after the land, themselves and each other.

The boys walked extremely well and met Mr Owenell for a BBQ lunch while on the track. We then reached camp around 2.30pm and set up for the night. Soon after the rain set in and the challenge was to remain warm and dry while we cooked and ate dinner. Some card games kept the boys entertained in the evening before bed.

The weather improved by the morning and we set off to finish our walk. The boys walked extremely fast on Monday reaching Eagles lookout and Mundaring Weir in quick time and we were able to get some fantastic photos of the boys. We soon completed our walk and enjoyed a warm lunch before returning to the boarding house.

Enjoy your weekend

Drew

Kim has guided families and students through their entry into Scotch College Boarding for over 5 years now and there are very few boarding families that haven’t been touch by her very generous and caring nature. In my short time working with Kim I have been blown away with her work ethic and commitment to the boys and their families.

On Thursday this week, we farewelled Kim with an afternoon tea in the year 6/7/8 boarding house. The boys showed a wonderful appreciation of her time at the college and we all shared in cake and refreshment. Kim was given some gifts and a beautiful card with hand written notes from the students.

We wish Kim all the best for her retirement and look forward to hearing stories of her adventure out on the Boat. Kim will always be welcome around our boarding house and we look forward to perhaps the occasional visit to catch up!

Please find below a letter from Kim Whetters:

LETTER TO PARENTS                                                                               11^th March 2020

Dear Parents,

As my time here at Scotch College draws to an end, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the faith and trust you have placed in me to care for your sons whilst in boarding.

My role as House Mother of the 6/7/8 House for the past five years has meant the world to me and as such has made my decision to retire a difficult one.

Helping our boys and parents transition into boarding life has many challenges but it is always rewarding. I am grateful to have shared in a small part of both your son’s and your own journey here at Scotch. Your support and understanding in the past and in recent times has been most appreciated and the many kind and gracious comments I have received since the announcement of my retirement have been thoroughly heartwarming.

I will miss the boy’s unique personalities and the positive contribution each of them brings to my daily life. I couldn’t be more proud of them and of their development and achievements during their time in the house.

I leave you and your sons in the very capable hands of Drew Templar and the Residential Life team and I wish them and my successor the very best for the remainder of this year and beyond.

Finally, I wish you and your sons happiness and success in the years ahead and I do hope that we might cross paths again at some time in the future.

Yours Sincerely,

Kim Whetters

Another huge week in the Year 6/7/8 residential house. Students started the week at Adventure world and had an amazing time. The warm weather was perfect for the water slides and lots of swims.

The boys also had the Middle School Swimming Carnival this week. The conditions were extremely hot and being sun smart and staying hydrated were the key to success. Boys competed well for their houses and joined in with some great house spirit with chants ringing across the pool all day.

Attached are some of the photos from both days out. Mr Faint from Middle School also took a lot of photos of the carnival and I will share the Link once he has uploaded these.

Students are navigating their way through school timetables, boarding house routines and sport commitments, all the while trying to make new friends, meet new people and choose which foods to eat at meal times.

I would like to thank all the staff for their support of the Boarding boys both academic staff at School and Residential staff in the boarding house. The staff have kept an eye on the boys as they settle into Boarding life for the year.

This weekend we will be heading to Adventure world on Sunday at 9.15am for the day. This will be a great way to meet new friends and forge relationships for the year.

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.

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.

With only two weekends to go before the next holidays, it’s that time again to have your travel plans placed into REACH. If you are having troubles please phone through and the boys and I will attempt to edit the details on our end.

Depart: Friday, September 27, 2019

Return: Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Help with Completing Your Holiday Travel Arrangements

If you are traveling by train or plane then the clip below will assist you in completing your Leave. By following these steps it will help us out when we are organizing the transport to and from the Railway Station and Airports!

Scotch College Middle School cordially invites you to attend

Date: Wednesday, 18 September 2019

Venue: Middle School Classrooms

Time: 4.00pm – 6.30pm (Parents are requested to wear your parent name badge)

Enquiries: middleschool@scotch.wa.edu.au

Parents unable to make the presentation:

All presentations will be video recorded and available to parents for viewing via the school’s multimedia sharing platform – Vidigami. Please allow one week for the recordings to be made available.

Join us every Friday evening at 5:30 pm-9:30 pm for Fire Pit Friday!

Enjoy streaming music from local, national, and international musicians 6pm-9pm while you sample our unique selection of locally bought, transported, and opened packets of marshmallows.

Reserve a chair to un-wind with a glass (or bottle) of your favorite water and order Dining Hall fresh favorites off our tantalizing menu.

After you finish, be sure to grab your toothbrush and glass of water before sitting around our fire pit next to our beautiful pine beneath the sometimes starlit sky.

There is no cover charge to attend this awesome weekly event, but reservations required for a guaranteed handful of marshmallows or educational storytellings with little truth.

Oh, Firepit Friday’s!! How quickly you have become a fan favourite with the boys! A big thank you to all the families that have supplied firewood for our firepit – without the wood, our pit would still look nice, however, it may lose some of its allure!

Mr __________ had a terrible day fishing on the river, sitting in the blazing sun all day without catching a single one. On his way home, Mr __________ stopped at the fishmonger and ordered four pink snappers. He told the fishmonger, ‘Pick four large ones out and throw them at me, will you?’
‘Why do you want me to throw them at you?’ Asked the salesman?’ So that I can tell the boys, in all honesty, that I caught them.’ said Mr __________.

‘Okay, but I suggest that you take the salmon.’ Why’s that? ‘Because the boys came in earlier today and said that if you came by, I should tell you to take salmon. That’s what they’d like for dinner tonight’, replied the fishmonger with a grin.

Team “Keepin it Reel” although keen, have been very unsuccessful to date. The weather, time, noise, bait, and tackle have taken their fair share of the blame with staff and students still unable to put the finger on where it goes wrong!

Nevertheless, the boys have appreciated the weekly fishing adventures, albeit without any fish!

For both parties’ sakes, I hope we move past the practicing fishing stage and into the catching fish stage sooner rather than later.

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