Farewell to our Leavers of 2014
Last Friday the whole school witnessed one of Scotch College's great ceremonies. Great, not because it was big and elaborate, but great because it highlighted what our College is all about. It was March Out, essentially the "farewell parade" of our Year 12 boys, or rather our young men. They were our School Leaders, with or without badges. They have watched over the year groups below them and have been our role models via their attitude and actions. They are boys who have invested time and effort into sport, music, drama, academic and co-curricular life of the College. They have run, swum and cheered at Inters, sung loudly at Chapel, worried about exam results, marched proudly at the front of their Houses and performed in the band at Assembly. They are boys who have made strong, enduring friendships and are now about to take it all into the wide world; some to work, some to university, some overseas or interstate. March Out is a great event because of its significance. The recognition by the Year 12s that they had completed something special was obvious too as they shook hands with the Headmaster and their School Captain.
I was impressed with the respect our Middle School boys afforded the leaving Year 12s. I also got a sense that they knew this is where they would be soon enough: receiving a send-off with pipes and drum and the best wishes of two thousand proud parents, teachers and fellow students. Sometimes we get asked, "What does it mean to be a Scotch student?" Observing a March Out answers this question better than most of us could.
Important Events
Outdoor Education features prominently in Middle School this term with Year 6 students travelling to Lancelin on their Surfing Expedition in Weeks 3 and 4. Year 7 boys completing two full days of their Sailing Programme on the river over the course of the term.
In Week 4, Year 7 boys will be involved in an Artist in Residence programme with Rowena Walsh, a prominent Perth landscape and nature artist. Year 7 boys will work on several large collaborative pieces of work focussing on the natural and man-made environment that surrounds Scotch College. The artistic focus will be on colour creation and working with mixed perspectives with the finished product hopefully helping us 'christen' the wall of our new Gallery beneath the new Library.
Year 8 2015 Electives in the Arts and Design Curriculum Areas
Year 7 boys will bring home a set of notes describing the elective opportunities we are offering in the Arts and Design areas for Year 8. Students will have had each course described to them by teachers in these areas and had the chance to ask questions. The notion of electives in the Arts and Design areas is to offer students a chance to pursue an area of interest whilst working on the core common tenets of the curriculum area.
Mr Richard Ledger
Head of Middle School
