COMMUNITY AND SERVICE
Local Community and Service Partnerships
Balga Partnerships
Last Friday Dr Alec O'Connell and I met with the Principals of Balga Senior High School and North Balga Primary School. Both these schools host Scotch Year 10 boys on Friday afternoons. In the High School, Scotch boys assist migrant and refugee students with programmes in the Intensive English Unit of the school. At the Primary School, Scotch boys help out with running sport activities.
The purpose of the meetings with the Principals was to look at ways of expanding our partnerships with these schools. There is a lot that our boys can learn from engaging with students attending the Balga schools and there are undoubtedly ways that our school can assist to enrich the programmes for their students. The diversity within the Balga schools, with many students still learning English against a background of difficult home lives, makes it challenging to achieve good outcomes.
Mr W Cordner - Head of Community and Service
Rocky Bay
Scotch College and Rocky Bay have been working together for many years. For some decades now, boys have been going to the Mosman Park centre to assist disabled residents with recreational activities. This year, the organization is celebrating 75 years of supporting Perth people with disabilities. On Sunday September 1, Rocky Bay will be holding its annual 'Walk With Me' event. This year, Scotch Year 12 boys will be participating in the walk - as well as running some fundraising activities along the way. Even though September 1 is 'Fathers Day', it is hoped that there will be a good turnout from Scotch boys and other members of our community in support of Rocky Bay. For more information go to the web site below:
http://www.rockybay.org.au/event/wwm13/
Parkinson's WA Walk
Another organization promoting a walk in September is Parkinson's WA. If you would like to support this organisation, just follow the link below.
http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/UnityWalkWA
Uniting Care West Winter Appeal
This week the College received a letter from Sue Ash, CEO of Uniting Care West, thanking the school for its contribution to the UCU Winter Appeal. This year, Middle School boys and their families contributed warm clothing and blankets to the appeal. It is particularly important for Scotch College as a Uniting Church school to support this cause.
Street Swags
The donation of clothing for the Winter Appeal, complimented the donations of 'Street Swags' to the homeless through the UCW Tranby Day Centre, one of the agencies directly servicing the homeless on Perth's streets. Since 2009, Scotch boys in the Senior School have been packaging and rolling the swags. Inmates from Bandyup Women's Prison sew the canvas outer shells. The boys insert the foam mattresses and make them ready for delivery to various agencies. Many of the swags have been distributed on Homeless Connect Day, one of the events supported by boys completing the IB Diploma.
Knitwits
A new group of Year 8 boys commenced 'Knitwits' this week. 'Knitwits' is a Year 8 club that sits to knit each Tuesday at lunchtime. Over the past nine years, hundreds of Scotch boys have knitted blanket squares and scarves. The blankets have been donated to agencies such as Trinity Learning Centre, which supports teenage mothers. Most of the scarves have travelled with Tanzania Expedition and given to an outpatient service of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi, targeting children with acquired AIDS.
Paraplegic Quadriplegic Association
Since 2006, Scotch boys have been going to the Paraquad Centre in Shenton Park to work at the residential Recreational Centre. Successive groups of boys have helped run the word quiz from The West Australian - or a cryptic crossword marked out on a large white board. The boys have also beautified a large outside area, creating paths for wheelchairs and planting native flowering vegetation to attract birds. This has been a great partnership and one that we hope will continue for a long time.
