Student Leave Arrangements and Policies
All leave from the Boarding community is permitted by the Head of Residence, or Head of Boarding in the context of TRUST, that students go to the places and hosts they have applied to go to and not anywhere else. It is impossible for boarding staff to follow every boarder and ring every host family to check that boarding students are doing the right thing.
It must be emphasised, however, that even if a leave request by a student is in accordance with the contact as set down within the leave arrangement, staff still reserve the right to permit or deny leave at their discretion.
Overnight leave on weekends is permitted for boarding students when going into a family situation where there is parental supervision. The school does not allow boarding students to take overnight leave with young hosts, and this may include some brothers and sisters. This policy does not call into question the integrity or responsibility of specific young hosts but acknowledges that young people and the situations, in which they live, may not be suitable overnight host places for boarding students.
School activities, such as Saturday sport or school camps take priority over leave requests.
If a boarding student stays with ANY PERSON who is not an authorised host, or who has not been approved by the Head of Residence, or Head of Boarding, or signs out to go to one place and goes somewhere else, this is seen as a severe breach of this trust and is treated as a serious disciplinary situation.
If a student on leave returns to the boarding house the duty of care reverts to the school and if he wants to leave again he will need to complete a separate application for leave. Boys cannot sign out for the day and then come and go as they please.
Under no circumstances can a boy on leave return to the House after 10pm on any night without having made prior arrangements with his Head of Residence, or the Head of Boarding. If a boy breaches this rule it is seen as a severe breach of this trust and is treated as a serious disciplinary situation.
Hosts (For Parents)
Parents will be required to complete a host list which outlines the people with whom you will allow your son to visit or stay with while on leave. Parental supervision and a family environment is expected for all weekend leave.
All boarding students require a Perth-based host/guardian that can take the student out of boarding in the event of illness, injury, or disciplinary measures. A boy’s Perth-based host/guardian goes into our system as an alternate contact in the event that parents are uncontactable. The Perth-based host/guardian needs to be specifically identified to Boarding Administration so that they can be entered into our system.
Please ensure that you know or have had contact with the people you put on your son’s host list and that they have signed the appropriate form and are comfortable with the notion that they may be supervising your son for weekends. This contract will be supervised by the Head of Residence or Head of Boarding and can only be changed by written request from parents.
When adding or changing a host’s details, contact must be made with Boarding Administration and details must be emailed to Boarding.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au between 8am-4pm Monday to Friday.
Host details cannot be changed over the weekend.
Reach: Online Leave Management System
An online leave management system called REACH manages all leave at Scotch. All support documentation can be located within the ‘help’ section on the website and a comprehensive induction of the system will be conducted at orientation.
It is our expectation that boys will always sign out of the House, no matter where they are going, and sign back in when they return.
Leave Types
Category AOff campus leave that requires approval from either a parent/guardian or Head of Residence. |
Overnight Leave
This is leave that requires a boy to stay overnight from the Boarding House either during the week or on the weekend. The parent/guardian must first approve the leave before being further approved by the Head of Residence. Boys need to return by 5.30pm on Sunday night. This type of leave is to be submitted by 8pm on the Thursday prior to the weekend. Day Leave This is a period of leave from the Boarding House that does not occur overnight. Boys need approval from their parents or guardians as well as their Head of Residence. Boys must return to the House by 5.30pm. This type of leave is to be submitted by 8pm on the Thursday prior to the weekend. Year 12 Friday or Saturday Night Leave (5.30pm to 9.30pm) This type of leave is only available to Year 12 boys and is approved by the relevant Head of Residence. This type of leave is to be submitted by 8pm on the Thursday prior to the weekend. Community Sport This type of leave is for boys to complete if they wish to participate in community sport. It is available to all boys. This leave must first be approved by parents or guardians and then by the Head of Residence. This type of leave is to be submitted by 8pm on the Thursday prior to the weekend. School Approved Activity This type of leave takes into account any activities that are approved by either the day or residential schools. Holiday Travel Arrangements This leave is designed for you to outline your son’s travel arrangements. Using this type of leave for the holidays simply helps us with our organisation. This type of leave is to be submitted at least three weeks before the holiday break. |
Category BOff campus leave that does not need the approval of either a parent/guardian or Head of Residence. |
Local Leave
This type of leave allows the boys to go to Claremont, Swanbourne or Cottesloe. It is for a period of one and a half hours for students in Years 9 to 12. Years 7 to 8 boys may have one hour leave to Claremont Shopping Centre (this is at the discretion of the Head of Residence and is normally only on the weekend). The staff member on duty can approve this. The relevant Head of Residence may place extra conditions on this type of leave depending on age and other factors that the Head of Residence may be aware of. Beach Leave This type of leave allows the boys in Years 10 to 12 the opportunity to go to the beach. This leave is for three hours only. The conditions on this type of leave are that the parent/guardian must have completed the beach leave form and deemed their son competent to swim (in flat and surf conditions) and approved them to be able to go to the beach. A list of eligible boys will be located within the House Office. If the boys are not surfing, then they will be required to swim within the patrolled areas (between the flags). Our on-call person would also have had to check the swell conditions and let the staff member on duty know that the beach is safe to visit. Staff will not let any boy go to the beach unless the above has been completed and the boys agree to the conditions. Recreation This type of leave takes into account those students who are on recreation. This would have been a pre-organised activity that the boys would have signed up for prior to the weekend. Scotch Sport This type of leave takes into account those students who are at Scotch Sport. |
Hosts
Parents will be required to complete a ‘Host List’which outlines the people with whom you will allow your son to visit or stay with while on leave. The School does not permit overnight leave with young hosts. Parental supervision and a family environment is expected for all weekend leave.
Please ensure that you know or have had contact with the people you put on your son’s host list and that they have signed the appropriate form and are comfortable with the notion that they may be supervising your son for weekends. This contract will be supervised by the Residential Head of Year or Director of Residential Life and can only be changed by written request from parents. Discussion of who is and who is not a suitable host while your son is at Scotch would be helpful.
Generally, if a host is emailed in by a parent before 3.00pm Monday to Friday, we can have them uploaded into REACH by 5pm that night.
Details of the Host must be emailed to Boarding.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au
Holidays
Boarding students are not permitted to leave for holidays earlier than the stipulated time except when permission has been granted by the Head of Middle/Senior School, or Head of Boarding. When returning to school after the holidays boarding students are expected to be in at 5.30pm on the day prior to the beginning of the school term. If travel arrangements do not allow this, then it is necessary to seek, in writing, the permission of the Head of Middle/Senior School or Head of Boarding for approval of variations. Boarding students are expected to travel from home directly back to the Boarding House.
The College views very dimly any request for early departure from, or late return to, the Boarding community (i.e: leaving before the appointed time on the day classes finish or returning after 5.30pm on the day before classes commence).
If there are exceptional circumstances, a request should be addressed in writing to the Head of Middle/Senior School, Head of Boarding or Head of Residence in plenty of time to be fully discussed by the parties involved. If tests are missed due to early departure, then it is usually not possible to reschedule these tests for another time.
The policy guidelines for end of term arrangements are:
Early departure is only permitted in extreme circumstances, for example,
- a) Non-frequency of travel to more remote areas,
b) Personal one-off situation (emotional instability, family crisis, or highly significant event).
In the case of travel arrangements, genuine need must be established, and it should always be with a regular host. Relevant factors for consideration may include age of the student, time of travel, difficulty with luggage, complexity of the situation and the boarder’s ability to cope. Just like any weekend leave, any arrangements should be confirmed by parents in the week prior to holidays with the Head of Residence, Head of Boarding or Head of Middle/Senior School.
All holiday and long weekend travel arrangements need to be entered within the online leave management system (REACH) as ‘holiday travel arrangements’ with the details of the departure and arrival times clearly noted.
Travel
All travel bookings are the responsibility of the parents and must be entered into REACH. Parents book students’ travel subsidy flights within WA. Subsidised travel forms can be obtained either from the ‘forms’ section on the Boarding newsletter or by contacting Boarding Administration. A completed copy of these must be forwarded to the school so they can be verified and submitted to the appropriate government department. A cab charge is available for boys to get to airports, train or bus terminals and the cost of these will be charged to your account.
If you have any questions regarding your son’s travel or you need to clarify the arrangements, please contact the Boarding Administration on (08) 9460 6655 or via Boarding.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au.
Return Time from Holidays and Long Weekends
The Houses will be open from 3.30pm on the day before school starts. Dinner will be provided at the end of long weekends and at the beginning of term from 5.30pm. If your son must return earlier because of transport arrangements, you must notify the Head of Residence or the Head of Boarding. These details should be emailed to them directly or the relevant House email.
IF YOUR SON DOES RETURN EARLY, HE MUST STAY AT THE BOARDING HOUSE.
PARENTS MUST BE AWARE THAT THERE IS NO GUARANTEE OF SUPERVISION BEFORE 3:30 PM
Terminal Transfers
Scotch College offer your boys the opportunity to be transferred to meet their flight, bus or rail travel. Departure is usually very seamless with the boys being collected at designated points on campus. However, arrivals back in to Perth is a very logistical operation that takes a great deal of planning and staff to ensure that all transfers are meet.
When requesting Scotch College transfers from Scotch to the Airport or Bus/Train Terminal it is important that the boys follow the guidelines set out below:
Our staff collect a number of boys from the Airports and the East Perth Bus Terminal.
We ask that you inform your sons to remain at the Airport until our staff arrive. We may be 5 or 10 minutes behind schedule due to the different collection locations and the number of pick-ups so DO NOT LEAVE. If, for logistical reasons we cannot arrange a staff member to collect your Year 10, 11 or 12 sons, we will email you before the intend arrival date with a Cab Charge voucher and taxi arrangements.
Our transport staff will carry a mobile for Airport and East Perth Bus Terminal transfers, this number is 0402 983 085, please add this to your contacts as this is our preferred form of contact directly with the driver to ensure your boys are safe and everyone is collected. We also advise you to add this number to your son’s phone so that they can contact the driver during the busy transfer period.
T1 Flights: Please wait at the baggage carousel inside the Airport.
T2 Flights: Please wait at the baggage carousel inside the Airport.
T4 Flights: Please wait at the baggage carousel inside the Airport.
East Perth Bus Terminal: Please wait inside the main terminal building.
We appreciate your assistance with informing the boys of the importance of their safety and our staff’s