Scotch College

From the Principal June 1999

A new heart for the arts

Scotch's interest in the arts can be traced back to 1857, when Edward A'Beckett was awarded a prize for 'Excellence in Music'. Master A'Beckett later became the first pupil enrolled in Melbourne Grammar!

An exciting future for the arts at Scotch is detailed in this edition, through the creation of The James Forbes Academy: Schools for Music, Drama and Communication. This will provide specialised facilities for teaching and performance in these three areas of the curriculum.

Centuries of civilisation have shown that the rich tapestry of the arts helps to make a complete society and deepens our understanding of the world and ourselves. 'Music is a universal language', (Wagner); drama nurtures emotional literacy; effective communication fosters a more confident, and articulate nation.

Viewed educationally, the arts provide enormous developmental opportunities:

• the acquisition of lifelong skills
• the discipline of commitment to practice and rehearsals
• the advantages of cross-age, co-operative ventures
• a heightened capacity for team work
• sensitivity to and dependence on others
• the challenge of performance, with no place to hide
• the satisfaction of pleasing an audience
  

Schools the world over have embraced music and drama programs. That it is expected today is demonstrated by a Canadian Headmaster who asked, following a tour of the campus: 'It's all quite wonderful - but what does Scotch do for the arts?'

An all-round Scotch education requires a balance of the athletic with the aesthetic. We should have fly-towers as well as diving towers, orchestra pits as well as cricket nets, concert stages as well as landing stages, artistic goals as well as goal squares.

But for the arts at Scotch, our greatest need is physical. Over 60 years ago, thanks to a most generous benefactor, the Mackie Hall of Music was opened. While we remain extremely grateful for that gift - and the name of Helen Mackie will be perpetuated in the planned building - it is fair to say that we have done little since 1939 in a physical sense and the Music School is inadequate and outdated.

Over 700 boys learn musical instruments. Drama is firmly established in the curriculum and as a co-curricular activity and all develop communication skills. But the absence of a real home for performing arts severely limits the extent and quality of our program.

Although performance is an essential element of the arts, Scotch does not have a proper venue for performing either music or drama. Most concerts and plays are held off-campus, deterring expansion of the program and causing administrative, logistical and financial headaches. In the circumstances, the performing arts staff, ably led by Messrs John Ferguson and Stephen Ritchie, work miracles to enable boys to reach the heights they do. Clearly, however, it is time to lift our game in arts education.

The immediate focus of our new Master Plan is to replace the Music School with The James Forbes Academy and to provide high quality performance and teaching venues for music and drama. I must confess that in my time as Principal nothing has caused me to lose more sleep than the question of recommending to the School Council that such an extensive project should be first on our list of physical priorities. Equally, however, I have never been more excited by the prospect of adding such a magnificent facility to Scotch.

Scotch is fortunate to be able to contemplate and then commit to an enterprise on this scale. At a series of dinners in March and June I was thrilled and proud to officially launch the Scotch Foundation's campaign to raise $7 million as their contribution towards The James Forbes Academy. Already we have been encouraged to have received some deeply appreciated gifts (reported elsewhere)!

As Scotch looks towards and beyond our 150th year - celebrating visions old and new - I warmly invite all members of the Scotch Family to make a very special effort for a very special addition to a very special school.

Dr Gordon Donaldson