Scotch College

Developing the 'Dash' in the Junior School

While I was listening to talkback radio one night, a poem was read over the airwaves that I had once heard at the funeral of my wife’s great aunt.

The poem was titled The Dash, and it reminds us that we need to make the most of every opportunity that is presented before us, and to live each day with renewed enthusiasm. You see, the dash represents the years between our birth and death, and can be seen on just about every tombstone in any cemetery.

The dash represents all of our achievements both successful and otherwise: the way we have loved and cared for our families, the way we have contributed to society, the way we have stopped to help others in their own time of need and the way in which we will be remembered for the difference we made during our living years. We all have our own dash and each one is very different.

The Junior School has used the theme of making a difference to underpin everything that has occurred throughout the year – the development of the dash. In academic and cultural pursuits, on the fields and in the wider community, boys have been encouraged to do what they can to make a difference, encouraged to be their best in whatever is being challenged, to act and think beyond the walls of our great School.

Numerous examples have occurred during the year, with Kapumfi providing an instant recognition of the difference that can be easily made. Other elements of making a difference have included raising funds for charities such The MS Foundation, Anglicare and Can Teen; Peer Support training where boys have a positive impact on the lives of younger students within the school; Year 10 boys sharing their Christian faith with younger boys and other cross-age programs; the opening of homes to billet students from New Zealand; older boys supporting and encouraging younger boys in sport, music, skiing and so on – this list has only scratched the surface!

In encouraging the boys of the Junior School to keep looking for ways in which they can make a difference, I remind them that it is their responsibility to make sure their dash is the best it can be.

Guy B Mason
Head of Junior School