Scotch College

Pastoral care and Peer Support

The Junior School’s House system enables boys to participate in a range of activities across level boundaries.

Words: Mr Steve Grbac – Junior School House Convenor, Mr Anthony Tasca – Junior School Staff and Mr Paul Mishura – Scotch College Archives Photography: Ms Jocelyn Pride

Year 2 boys worked together in their House groups, and researched the origins and current organisation of their Houses. They were also encouraged to consider why Scotch has a House system, and discuss the activities they are looking forward to. Their work is reflected in the article below.

The Scotch Junior School has a strong House system, set up similarly to the Senior School system, and with a similar emphasis on pastoral care and Peer Support.

All boys in the Junior School from Prep to Year 6 are involved. This enables boys to meet regularly and participate in sport and other activities across level boundaries. Each house has a Captain and a Vice-Captain who have responsibility for helping with Peer Support.

The four houses are Bradshaw (blue), Campbell (green), Healey (red) and Waller (yellow).

Bradshaw is named after David Frederick Maxwell Bradshaw . Born on 24 October 1906, he attended Scotch from 1920 to 1924, joining the Senior School staff in 1930. Following the death of Arthur Waller (see below), Bradshaw moved to the Junior School as its Principal in 1945, remaining until 1953, when he left to serve as principal of Haileybury College from 1954 to 1973. Ordained in Glasgow in 1974, he was minister of the Surrey Hills Presbyterian Church from 1975 until retiring in 1979. Head of Gilray, David Brown, is a grandson. Bradshaw died on 18 September 1995.

Mr Andrew Grant is the House Master and the 2011 Captains are Tom Macky and Isaac Morrisby.

‘The House Captains are important because they encourage their team.’

‘Scotch College has a House system so we can make new friends. We are looking forward to Family Day in 2011.’ (Andrew Bennett, Hugo Bernard, Bailey Dann, Charles Heyburn, Victor Ho, Hunter Rives, Charlie Sinclair and William Tadgell)

Campbell is named after Cecil Hamilton Campbell . Born on 22 October 1901, he taught English at Brighton Grammar School before joining the Junior School staff in 1933, also becoming a resident in Leighwood House. He became Head of Leighwood and in 1936 moved to the Senior School. From 1941 to 1945 he served in the army, returning to Scotch to become Head of MacFarland House (later Lawson-MacFarland) and then Gardiner House (later Gilray). Campbell was Vice-Principal from 1964 until his retirement in 1967, and was Acting Principal during 1964. He died on 14 July 1993.

Ms Sophie Johnson is the House Master and the 2011 Captains are Joshua Copeland and Will Nicholls.

‘The House Captains are important because they support the other boys in their House.’

‘Scotch College has a House system so boys can complete a number of activities together. We are looking forward to the House cross-country in 2011.’ (Victor Jiang, Noah Murphy and James Padgham)

Healey is named after Colin Oswald Healey. Born on 13 April 1911, he was principal of Sydney Grammar School before succeeding Richard Selby Smith as Scotch’s sixth Principal in 1964. He oversaw a significant building program which included the science and craft extensions, the Junior School gym and the maths and science block. During his tenure the ‘Scotch Family’ concept, Great Scot and the Scotch Foundation were introduced. Healey considered Houses an important part of Scotch life, and he improved the House system to enhance pastoral care. He retired on 1 February 1975 and died on 11 October 1993.

Mr Ben Marr is the House Master and the 2011 Captains are Lachlan Joe and Louis Le Deux.

‘The House Captains are important because they help to keep everyone safe and happy.’

‘Scotch College has a House system so we can compete against other Houses and have fun. We are looking forward to having another special event like the 2010 Boot Camp.’ (Giorgio Andrianakos, Jackson Cameron, Mitchell Chang, Campbell Cowell, Oliver Marshall, Aydin Nguyen, Luke O’Brien, Max Smyth and Ben Strang)

Waller is named after Arthur James Waller . Born on 6 March 1886, he was the inaugural Principal of the Junior School at Hawthorn in 1916 with 42 boys. Known as ‘Dog’ Waller, after the cockney rhyming analogy of ‘Waller-collar, dog-collar’, he oversaw the opening in 1917 of the first Junior School building, which was rapidly filling with new Scotchies (170 by 1918). From 1926 to 1945 he was the inaugural Head of McMeckan House. His brother William Alexander Waller was on staff from 1924 to 1951. Waller lived and worked at Scotch until his death there on Australia Day, 1945.

Mr Jonathan Lucas is the House Master and the 2011 captains are Rupert Baxter and William Clark.

‘The House Captains are important because they help and encourage us.’

‘Scotch College has a House system so we can get to know each other and make more friends. We are looking forward to hopefully being named the “Cock House” in 2011.’ (Adam Pai, Thomas Palazzo, Campbell Sinclair and Jia Zhang)

The Houses regularly hold a variety of competitions. Term 1 is swimming and rapid fire cricket, Term 2’s competitions include football, cross-country and House trivia, Term 3 is soccer and public speaking, while during Term 4 there are both T-ball and chess competitions. The overall winning House receives the Cock House Trophy. Campbell House has won the trophy for the past three years – a tremendous effort!

Peer Support

Under the Junior School’s Peer Support program, senior students are trained to work with small groups of junior students to develop mutual trust and friendship.

The program helps students to develop positive relationships and to move comfortably from one school level to the next. It helps younger students to develop life skills. In particular, it provides Year 6 boys with opportunities for leadership, and empowers them to be active participants in the facilitation process, while developing communication and leadership skills.

Junior boys are provided with a supportive environment in which to enhance confidence and build new friendships. As a result, the school community becomes more friendly and supportive. All Year 5 boys undertake Peer Support training at the end of the year. In the following year, these boys will lead a mixed group of Years 3, 4 and 5 boys within their House group. Teaching a specific social skill along with role-playing games helps to make Peer Support an enjoyable experience. GS