Week 2, Autumn Term 2023
Dear Boarding Families
I hope that you have all enjoyed the recent holiday break and having your boys back with you at home. I know that for many families this is a very busy time of the year with seeding and hoping for rain on the horizon.
We are happy to welcome some new students into our community this term, Matteo joins us in year 12 and Willem joins us in Year 10, both boys have been day boys and have moved into boarding. We also welcome Alex into Year 10 on a 6 week exchange from Colorado, USA. In a few weeks we will welcome 5 more boys into Year 10 on exchange for the second half of the term.
We also have officially welcomed our new House Mothers into the Senior House. Kerry and Theresa are working well together and establishing their relationships with boys and parents. Please take the time to get to know them and give them an insight into your son so that they can get to know them well. Theresa will be keeping a close eye on Blair Clan and Kerry will be keeping a close eye on Stirling Clan.
Year 11 and 12 Exams
This fortnight is a very important one for our boys studying ATAR and IB courses, as they embark on their first semester examinations. For Year 11s this is their first set of 3 hour exams. The boys are studying in the Boarding House during the day when they are not up on campus. Staff have gone through study skill sessions with the boys in the lead up to the exams which still put a focus on having a productive routine, and plenty of sleep.
Year 10 Pathway week
This week is pathway week for our Year 10 boys where they are presented with a wealth of information about choosing a course and a suite of subjects for their upper schooling. Year 9s and 10s also recently had Parent Teacher interviews on Wednesday 3rd May. There is also the vitally important Year 10 House Head meetings coming up next Wednesday 10th May. Please be in contact with your son’s House Head to arrange a meeting, whether it be online through MS Teams, on the phone, or face-to-face. There are so many options for subjects these days and a huge variety of pathways towards university or the workforce. I urge families to have these conversations and to find a pathway that is best suited to your son.
Boarding Week and Ag Day
With Career pathways in mind, I want to make mention of our annual boarding week and Friday 9th June which is boarding day or more traditionally known as “Ag Day”. Parents might remember that last year’s boarding day was postponed because of weather, and that is why we had a farmers’ market and middle school games on the Senior School Athletics Day instead.
This year boarding day is back, and the theme is to build bridges between the city and the regions. In order to do that, we will focus on exposing boys to opportunities to live and work in the regions. We have around 10 organisations who will be exhibiting, from the tertiary sector and from industry. We also have a guest speaker, Ben Macnamara to address the boys. The Year 12 boys also have an idea to do a dirt bike display of all their motorbikes which I think would be super cool, so keep your ear out for that request at the mid term break of this term!
Senior School Boarding House Routines
I have felt the need late last term and again this term to reiterate to boys in the Senior School House just exactly what our nightly routines are. We found there was confusion amongst the boys as to when they had to be in their rooms preparing for bed and when they had to be in bed and lights out. There has also been confusion particularly from our Year 11 boys around the hand in times for their devices, mostly because phones and laptops are handed in at different times. Please see our nightly routines for the Senior House below.
6pm Dinner
6:45pm Nightly meeting and roll call
7pm Prep begins
8:30pm First prep session ends, boys break for supper and parent contact time. Showers and prepare for bed.
9:15pm Year 9-11 students hand in their phones. Year 9/10 hand their laptops in, Year 11 boys keep their laptops for second prep.
9:30pm All boys Yr 9-12 are in their rooms. Quiet House. Year 9/10 are in bed, Year 11/12 are doing second prep.
9:45pm lights out for Year 9/10
10:15pm Lights out for Year 11/12
For parents organising phone calls with their sons, the best two timeslots are the time just before dinner, 5:30pm or the time after prep, between 8:30pm and 9:15pm (for Middle School parents these ideal timeslots are half an hour earlier, around 5pm and 7:45pm). I say to parents all the time and I know it is not always possible, but I strongly believe that the pre-dinner timeslot is a much better time for the daily phone call as opposed to the post-prep phone call for many reasons. Give it a try, it will change your life!
Perth-Based Carers
Parents would have received an email from the Headmaster recently regarding the school’s Covid policy. The Headmaster has reiterated that if a boy (or staff member) tests positive to Covid-19, whether they are symptomatic or not, they must be away from the College for a minimum of 5 days. From a boarding perspective, this is particularly difficult due to the tyranny of distance, however, it is also vitally important that in a communal living scenario, all boys are protected from contagious illnesses, and this means that isolation and home-care is critical.
On a similar note, with Winter sport here, we have already had a number of times where we have had to follow concussion protocol and even a number of broken bones and trips to the ED. In these instances, boarding also relies on support from Perth Carers
May I ask that all parents check in with their nominated Perth carer and alert them to these possibilities. I appreciate all the support that we get from our Perth based carers and our parents who often have to travel great distances in these situations. We will always try our best to accommodate boys where possible but we do need a community based approach to provide the best possible care for our boys.
I realise that this blog article has been heavily weighted towards the Senior School boys and not the Middle School boys, but it has just been the news of the week as it has happened. In this case, I ask that Middle School parents take note of the old cliche that no news is good news! Our Middle School boys have made an amazing start to the term and I can’t speak more highly of the culture that Mr Mecham, Mrs Seaby, the staff and the boys are fostering in the Middle School House at the moment. I also want to make a special mention to welcome Mrs Sullivan back from her leave last term.
I wish all families a fantastic fortnight ahead
Jordan
End to Ender’s Assembly
Last week’s assembly congratulating the boys on their walk into Albany and Harry Hammond receiving his End to Ender certificate for completing the walk. Congratulations Harry!
Here is Harry’s video of his journey on the Bib Track.
Yr 11 and Yr 12 Boarder’s Ball
Reminder to Yr 11 and Yr 12 boarders to register and purchase tickets for their partners. Email coming today.
Senior Residence – Clan Games
The competition continues with a whitewash in indoor soccer. Congratulations Stirling!
Recreation photos
Ice skating at Cockburn Ice Arena
Mid Term Break – Friday 2nd June to Monday 5th June
Thank you to those that have already entered Holiday Travel Arrangements for your son’s. A reminder that leave for Mid term break needs to be put into Reach no later than Monday, 29th May.
The boarding houses will be closed on Friday 2nd and open from 1:00pm on Monday 5th.
When you enter leave it is from Thursday 1st through to Monday 5th June. Please use Holiday Travel Arrangements when selecting the type of leave.
If your son is travelling over the break, you must send through flight, bus or train tickets to Boarding.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au
Please add all the ticketing details to Reach, as this helps with our transport arrangements to get boys to the airport, bus and train stations on time.
Below are the instructions on how to enter leave into the Reach Leave Management System, please also email if you have any questions regarding Reach or leave entries.
Meet the Mentor
We would like to introduce our wonderful House Mother’s:
Pam Seaby – Middle School Residence
Kerry Wilhelm – Senior School Residence – Stirling Clan
Theresa Moss – Senior School Residence – Blair Clan
Boarding Photographic Competition
Don’t forget to get your entries in for the photo competition. When sending them to Sean, also include where the pictures were taken please.
Entries closing: Friday 28th July 2023