HEADMASTER'S REFLECTIONS

Welcome back to Winter Term. Fortunately the weather conditions during our first week back helped us to take on board the true meaning of the word "Winter". As a college with a strong history in the provision of a boarding education for the rural community, my sincere hope is that some of the rains we have experienced in Swanbourne somehow make their way through to the rural communities which are in desperate need of more rain.

Speaking about rural communities and boarding, Scotch College currently has 21 Indigenous students on scholarships through a number of government and private programmes. As part of our commitment to reconciliation and the provision of high quality indigenous programmes at Scotch, we take week two of Winter Term to celebrate NAIDOC Week. This is a celebration for the whole community and provides our boys and staff with a great opportunity to experience cultural diversity and develop an even deeper understanding of the need to live as one no matter where we come from or the racial background we have. Given the last couple of weeks in the public cauldron, which we refer to as political leadership, never before in our history is there a greater need to sit back and take on board that humanity is what the drivers should be, not point scoring.

Our progress towards completing the new Middle School continues to occur at a rapid rate. As promised, Shenton Road was opened on 21 July with the exciting news that the underpass is now a physical reality. While the underpass is not quite ready for use, once again I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Scotch community and the wider community of Swanbourne for their understanding and support of our project.

As with each term it is vitally important that all of the boys from Years 1 to 12 settle back into their regular school routines in order to ensure the opportunities we provide throughout the teaching and learning programmes are maximised through the boys' commitment and effort.

In closing I ask you to particularly keep our Year 12s in your thoughts and prayers as they face a very busy term in preparation for their final exams which are not that far away.

Dr A J O'Connell

Headmaster