On Monday the 24th of February 2020, The Year 9 Boarders, bordered the S.S. Sealink along with the other 140, Year 9’s and the Scotch Staff Crew, Captained by experienced Scotch Pirate, Captain David Jones, rrrrr!!

We set sail on the Indian Ocean, destined to reach the Island after a long and treacherous 25 minutes out on the open seas (it was actually, pretty smooth sailing)

We finally, found land and made our way straight to the Bike Hire to get our transportation for the week. We found our bearings and made our way to our accommodation, which was the Kingstown Barracks. We were met by several ‘Quokkas’ who seemed very friendly.

The boys settled in with their respective Houses and House Head and plans were drawn up for the week’s activities which included, Art (Sand sculptures) with myself, Captain S.R. Mecham, Survival with Captain Loosemore, Aquatics with Captain Eaton and Captain Gale, Ecology with Captain Brogden and Captain Guy, Community & Service with Captain Baker and Rottnest History with Captain Hindle. Four young buccaneers (the 4 Gap Students) also helped out with different activities.

A typical day on camp, had an early morning wake up, breakfast at the mess hall, morning activity, sports at the barracks, lunch at the mess hall, afternoon activity, sports at the barracks, dinner, evening activity, house activity (watching the stars) and bedtime. The staff and boys were exhausted every night, so sleep was not hard to get.

The Year 9 Camp to Rottnest Island is such a memorable time for all the boys and a great opportunity to engage in the amazing Well-Being program here at Scotch College. It was a bit of ‘back to basics’, without the over use of technology. Riding bikes, swimming, snorkeling, playing sports, building sand sculptures, learning survival skills, embracing the history of a place, going to the old fashioned ‘Picture Theaters’, star gazing, eating at the mess hall, quiz nights, well being activities and games, getting an ice-cream from the shops… these were things that I used to do as a kid and I know they seem pretty basic, but they are an integral part of one’s life, a sense of ‘Fun for everyone’.

A massive thank you to all these people; David Jones (Camp Leader), all the amazing House Heads, Lisa Evans (Anderson), Scott Duncan (Alexander), Kate Webster-Blythe (Brisbane), Matthew Bradley (Cameron), Ryan Foster (Ferguson), Louise Lilford (Keys), Kate Gooding (Ross), Tony Doney (St. Andrews), Scott Galipo (Shearer), Nick Guard (Stuart) and all the other Staff that ran activities (listed above) and anyone else that helped out with the Camp.

Yes, the start of the year has brought the heat, but the boys have been cooling off in the pool, hitting the waterslides at Adventure World and competing at their first Senior School Inter-House Swimming Carnival.

The above title: ‘2 weeks in and we are learning how to Swim’ is also a metaphor for the boys moving from the Middle to Senior School and a shift from the Year 8 to the Year 9 Boarding House. We are already very proud of the boys who are making this transition a nice easy swim, however we know that occasionally the weather conditions can change at any time and we are teaching the boys how to make the appropriate adjustments to these changes. We are there, along with the support of the parents to ensure that the values and morals are being taught the right way. In the Year 9 House, we pride ourselves on teaching the three key areas that are crucial to this age group:

1. RESPECT

2. RESILIENCE

3. RESPONSIBILITY

Adventure World

The first Sunday of the School week saw the entire Boarding Community set up base at Adventure World in Bibra Lake. A great day was had by Boarders and Staff alike, it was also great to see the new Residential Head of the Middle School House, Mr Drew Templar, his wife, Jenny and his two girls enjoying the spirit of the day.

Inter-House Swimming

On Wednesday, of Week 2, the boys competed at their first Senior School, Inter-House Swimming Carnival. It was held in the outside pools at the HBF Stadium in Mount Claremont. Again, the weather was perfect for swimming and another great day of racing and cheering was had by all involved in this event. A special shout out to the Deputy Head of Senior School, Mr Gareth Williams who turned up the music with a classic ‘Playlist’ that had something for everyone, hopefully next year he will play some more ‘Coldplay’. All Houses competed with pride, but the ‘Green Machine’ Alexander House won the overall event. Well done to all the Boarders who swam for their respective Houses.

PSA Sport

On Friday, of Week 2, the boys will compete in their first round of sport versus Trinity College. We ask the boys to compete with pride and to compete with a sense of fairness, showing the expected Scotch sportsmanship. Good luck to all boys competing for the first time.

On Saturday, the 16th of November, the alarm bells were ringing throughout the House at 5.30am … Wake up and get ready for the Bibby!!! We all met at the back of the dining hall to form into our walking groups and collect all of our supplies for the next 7 days of walking (well, three and half, because of re-supply on the Tuesday). We boarded our relevant buses, one destined for Dwellingup and the other for Collie. Group 1 was led by Mr Mecham and Ms Amber Fresh along with Edward, Tyler, Dardayne, Kody, Jahlil, Orson, Brooke, and new comer, Ben Simpson, with injured player Kalib re-joining the team at re-supply for the second half. Group 2 was led by Mr Rhys Holdman and Ms Shaye Pett along with Tom, Oscar, Brodie, Sid, Eli, Jyrone, Michael, Eason and George.

Group 1 arrived in the beautiful town of Dwellingup with the expected temperature being 38 degrees for the day. Before our 13km walk, the Staff fueled up on some decent coffee and the boys enjoyed a pie from the Blue Wren Cafe. We were all set, with plenty of water and some good walking legs, off we all went … the heat was turned up, but we powered our way and arrived at the Swamp Oak Hut. A quick change into our swimmers and we headed down to the Murray River for the best swim ever!! we spent a couple of hours at “Fang Falls” cooling down before heading back to the hut for another surprise. Mr Jacob Miolin (Outdoor Ed) turned up in the ute and cooked the group a BBQ dinner with an Esky full of cold drinks … ‘what an end to an awesome day’ even though a few insects were out that night, falling asleep under the stars makes it all worth while.

Day two, we were not woken up by alarm bells, but by ‘laughing Kookaburra’s’ instead. We made our way from the Swamp Oak Hut to the Murray Hut, which was a tough 19km hike up and down some decent hills. The reward was once again a swim in the Murray River.

Day three, saw us leave the Murray Hut and make our way to the Dookanelly Hut which was a good 19km hike again. On Day four we hiked 15 kms to reach the re-supply at the Harvey-Quindanning Road. We met up with Group 2, shared some good stories, had a BBQ lunch and crossed over to complete the rest of the hike until both groups return back to Scotch on Friday. I just hiked to the re-supply and swapped with Mr Steve McLean who will finish the rest of the hike with Group 1. I managed to take a few photos and I have posted them below:

MORAY CAMPS

This Term, each of the Year 9’s attended the Scotch Moray Campsite, which is located in Dwellingup. The boys went down in there HASS classes and spent a week with the Outdoor Education Department – camping, rafting, orienteering and being challenged on the high ropes course. Ask your son if he attempted “The Leap of Faith”? These Moray Camps tie in nicely to ‘The Great Outdoors’ theme in the Year 9 Boarding House.

PSA SPORTS

Winter Sport had boys playing AFL, Soccer, Rugby, Hockey and Badminton. All boys learn great lessons about commitment and work ethic and it’s a good balance with all the other commitments at Scotch College. The boys trained and played hard all season. Below are some action photos from the season.

COMMUNITY SPORT

Kody, Orson and Thomas all played Hockey for the Westside Wolves this season. Tyler, Kalib, Edward, Sam, Dardayne and Oscar all played Football for the Swanbourne Tigers. The boys got knocked out at the semi-finals but had a great season overall. Tyler won Best & Fairest and Kalib won Runner-up B&F. Congratulations to all boys who play community sport.

HOUSE FUN

On a regular basis, boys from the three Boarding Houses will meet down at the Playing Fields for a game of Gaelic Footy. A great way to have some fun on a “No-Tech Tuesday”

INTER-SCHOOL ATHLETICS

The boys competed at the Inter-House Athletics, followed by the Quads and finally the Inter-School Athletics. Scotch College won this year’s Interschool Athletics Carnival. Kalib Dempster Park was simply outstanding competing in his 800m and 1500m races on the day, winning both events and contributing to Scotch College winning the overall PSA trophy.

WOODSY’S WORKOUT

Every Tuesday evening after ‘Prep’, Academic Staff member Alex Wood takes a group of boys up to the Gym for some serious Cross Fit exercise. The boys are starting to see the benefits of all their hard work while having some fun at the same time. This workout session will continue next Term.

SOUP KITCHEN

The Community and Service program is being well represented by Thomas, Kody, Oscar and Sid who help out making soup for the Homeless. They attend cooking sessions at the Scotch Kitchens and the soup gets delivered to the Homeless through the organization: Second Bite ‘Soup Kitchen’

WOOL JUDGING at the Royal Show

A number of the boys helped out with the wool classing at the Royal Show. The organisers commented on how polite and helpful theses boys where and how the work was done very quickly.

They were very impressed and thankful, well done boys.

Edward Graham, Kody Waters, Orson Bairstow, Sid Cullen Falconer, Jyrone White, Thomas Sounness, Samuel McGinniss, Tyler Messina, Oscar Rogers, Eli Blackburn, Calvin Smith, Brooke Milner, Brodie Haywood, Jahlil Hajinoor Fuller and Dardayne Russie.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Winter Term

We have had another great Term in the Year 9 House, the boys have already learnt some crucial routines and responsibilities in the House. The boys continue developing in their Academic, Sporting and Social programs throughout the term and when they return after the holidays they will be big Year 10’s!!

As you can see from the photos below, the social was a great success.

The Autumn Term has been full of activity and achievement. The Senior School Academic program saw the boys completing NAPLAN testing and receiving their Semester 1 Reports. The Boarding ‘Prep’ program was crucial in guiding boys to both excellence and achieving personal bests.

The transition of moving from the Year 8 to the Year 9 structure, which has boys completing work in their own room and at their own desk, while being monitored by Staff and being able to access help from Tutors and Academic Staff has created a sense of Academic ownership for each boy.

After the Semester 1 Reports were issued, we completed reflection and I have asked all boys to create ‘SMART’ Goals for each of their subjects for Semester 2. Parents can view their son’s individual goals, on ‘SEQTA’, clicking the ‘Goals’ tab on the lefthand side of their profile.

Art & Design

Throughout, both the Academic and Boarding programs, boys are involved in the Creative Arts and D&T. We have some very talented artists and designers in our Boarding House.

Jyrone, has found a passion and excellence with drawing, not only in the Visual Art class, but also as a form of creative expression in the Boarding House. Jyrone spends hours, on his drawings, a great distraction from ‘devices’ and great way to enhance your well being. He loves drawing portraits of famous people and often of people who inspire him.

Tyler and Orson are equally as talented in Design & Technology. Below are their final constructions from metal work.

Marching

Pre-Cultural Food Night Photo

Fran’s Famous Afternoon Tea

Birthday Boy

PSA Sport

Shearer House in the Boarding House

The annual ‘Shearer House’ in the ‘Boarding House’ afternoon was a highlight of the term as the Day boys came back to the Boarding House with the Boarders, ate a delicious afternoon tea, played some pool, chess and PS4 and then down to the Ovals for a game of Gaelic Footy, followed by dinner at the Dining Hall. Mr Scott Galipo (Head of Shearer House) really likes this tradition and we have done it for the past three years now.

Farewell ‘Tommy Mutter’ for now – see you soon

29 July 2019 – Afternoon Tea

We boarded the train at Claremont Station and travelled into the City. We made our way to Bam Bam Boo for a proper Chinese dinner. First up was some Jasmine Tea and a round of Dim Sum, which included: Spring rolls, BBQ pork steamed buns, steamed and pan fried Dumplings and Chili & salt squid tentacles. The chop stick skills were then put to the test with a main meal which included the options of, chicken, pork or duck and rice or noodles. We really enjoyed this cultural experience, the food was great and the social experience of dining out together was awesome.

We crossed the road to Yagan Square for a single scoop of some delicious Italian gelato at Jersey Jacks. Salted caramel, NY cheesecake, Mango and Chocolate was just some of the amazing flavors to choose from. It was a perfect finish to a great evening. We jumped back on the train with our tummies full and got back to the Boarding House safe and sound.

The 2019 Agricultural Day was a huge success, with a free dress day, Lamb rolls, Bannister Downs milk, Coffee, Machinery, Royal Flying Doctors plane all celebrated outside the Senior Boarding House. All the Year 9’s had a great day, congratulations to all the Year 12 Boarders and all the Staff who organized and ran this fantastic event!

The Year 9 Boarders supported the day and celebrated in style, dressing up in their best Country outfits and getting involved in the day’s activities.

The 2019 Boarding Photography Competition is now open for entries. All Year 9 boys can enter their photos in the Year 7-9 Category. All Year 9 parents and family members can enter their photos in the Family Category. All Year 9 Staff can enter their photos in the Staff Category.

Send your photos to: sean.mecham@scotch.wa.edu.au

Below are some previous entries from the Year 9 House:

We have had both the upstairs ‘Lounge room’ and downstairs ‘Recreation room’ Televisions replaced with new Smart TV’s. Downstairs is used mainly for TV, Foxtel and Playstation and upstairs for Apple TV shows. Both these spaces are crucial for a bit of downtime in a very busy schedule.

Sofa’s

We moved the wrap around ‘Lazy Boy’ sofa upstairs and got two more new grey sofa’s to compliment the other two in the downstairs space. Both spaces look really good and the boys and ‘Indie’ are enjoying these new additions.