From the Head of Senior School
Last week we enjoyed the creative talents of a large number of boys across music, visual art, drama and media through the daily activities organised to celebrate Arts Week. Highlights included the wonderful production of The Island of Dr Moreau by boys in Years 8 to 10; daily art battles where boys painted pictures in 30-minute time frames and live music performances were held daily at lunchtime. Tuesday night saw the Year 12 drama students perform in the Foundation Theatre and the opening of the student art exhibition, Inspirations, was held on Wednesday night. Thursday night had a large audience gather in the Dickinson Centre to enjoy the film productions of the Year 9 - 12 Media students at the Director's Cut Media Awards Night. The standard of film was very high leaving many in the audience in awe of the boys' creative and technical skills. The week ended with the Music Department's Spring Concert. This was a fitting end to a busy Arts Week that involved numerous boys across the different year levels sharing their creative talents and interests.
In what was clearly a very busy week, we also celebrated the end of season for a number of co-curricular activities at the Senior School assembly. The presentation of Colours and Honours awards for winter sport, debating, public speaking, academic workshop, chess, community service and drama highlighted the diversity, effort and level of achievement so many of the boys give to their respective activities. To illustrate the breadth of opportunity available at Scotch College, the assembly began with a wonderful performance by Vaughan Chin on alto saxophone that was then followed by a report on the Pipe Band's performances at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo; inspiring speeches on the sporting seasons just passed; Oliver Heath's (School Captain) reflections on mateship and Harry Sinclair's (Captain of Athletics) rallying call to the School on the eve of the PSA Athletics Championships.
As we commence the second last week of term many of us may be looking back at the past seven weeks and asking, "Where did the term go?" Time always seems to pass quickly when we are busy. At Scotch College we are very busy. The week passed is just a small sample of the range and effort the boys and staff give to the College on a weekly basis. While a wealth of opportunities and experiences surround every boy all the time, for our Year 12s these experiences are quickly coming to an end. This became obvious last Thursday when the Year 12 cohort marched to assembly for the last time. For many boys this will mark the end of five years of marching up to the assembly.
I wish the boys in Year 11 well for their end-of-year examinations commencing this Friday and look forward to seeing many of the Year 10 boys and their families at the Personal Project showcase on Friday evening.
Dr Rob McEwan
Head of Senior School
