Scotch College

Peer support

Student leaders Matt Spargo and Paul Greening, together with Head of Social Education, Mr Nick Browne, recently spoke on behalf of the Peer Support Foundation to the Rotary Club of Balwyn.

The Peer Support programme is now in its second year of operation at Scotch and groups of trained Year 11 students have been working successfully with Year 7s once a week.

The programme covers concepts such as self esteem, respect and tolerance and is designed to foster healthy relationships within the school community, as well as assisting the Year 7s to adjust to life in the senior school.

Peer Support Foundation chairman Mr David Walker requested help from Scotch in promoting the work of the foundation to the club, who were responsible for providing the seeding finance which established Peer Support in Victoria 10 years ago.

Paul and Matt spoke about the experience of being a Peer Support Leader and the value to be obtained from the programme. They were obviously convincing, as the club presented Mr Walker with $65000 to develop the foundation's work further.

The night also saw Mr Walker presented with Rotary's Paul Harris Fellowship award for his work with Peer Support and other community organisations.

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Family and Supreme Court judges at Scotch

On Wednesday 30 April and Monday 5 May Mr Justice John Fogarty of the Family Court and Mr Justice Philip Cummins of the Supreme Court of Victoria respectively, visited Scotch to talk to Unit 3 & 4 legal studies students.

The topic of their address was Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse. The legal studies students studied this area of the law for their CAT 1 report and benefited greatly from their visit.

Mr Justice Fogarty headed a number of enquiries into child abuse in the middle to late 80s and early 90s. His investigations were one of the main pressures upon the government of the day, which led to the mandatory reporting legislation. He has also been a constant campaigner for the increasing of funding and resources for mandatory reporting.

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Mark of an Adventurer

Yr 9 student Mark Wilson (son of Hugh Wilson '66) has received scouting's top honour, the Adventurer Cord. A member of the 19th Camberwell group, Mark was one of only 55 boys and girls Victoria wide to achieve the award. The award, equivalent to the Queen's Scout award in Venturers, recognises scouts who have proved themselves to be model citizens and leaders.

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A win at Geelong Highland Gathering

The Scotch College Pipes and Drums, having lost a good core of pipers and drummers in 1996, has struggled to come up with good piping and drumming form. However, their hard work was rewarded by a win over Haileybury in the juvenile section of the Highland Gathering in Geelong on Sunday 6 March. Congratulations to Ross Campbell and the boys for putting in that extra effort to win over their arch rivals Haileybury.

Members of the band went to Scotland in June this year, as part of a trip that has been worked towards over the last 18 months. The band is planning to meet the Principal Dr Donaldson in Ireland during their 18 days abroad.

While in Ireland they will attend the European Pipe Band Championships in Bangor. They will then travel to Scotland where they will visit places such as the unique piping school at Boreraig on the shores of Loch Dunvegan and the piping school in Edinburgh Castle. Their travels will then take them 'on the road to the Isles' the Isle of Skye, the tiny island of Iona, Culloden and Glencoe.

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To Canberra with music

This year the biennial Combined Schools Music Festival was hosted by Canberra Grammar School. Scotch is one of the founder schools of this festival, and last hosted it in 1993. This year a party of our musicians combined with young players and singers from all over Australia to perform a number of works including the magnificent Belshazzar's Feast by William Walton.

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Teachers' Centre ready for Day 1, 1998

The Bursar reports that S J Higgins, the builder is working hard to ensure that Stage two of the Resources Centre development (Library, Computer Centre and now Teachers' Centre) at the school, is on schedule to be operating at the beginning of the 1998 academic year.

Teaching staff have been very patient but should be well pleased with the end result. Special features include staff work areas, staff lounge, boy/staff reception, interview and meeting spaces for teachers with parents and boys, a generous staff dining area, offices for Vice Principal and senior staff. Ancillary amenities include sports change rooms for staff and facilities for cleaning staff.

Mr Garry Martin, architect for the project, is delighted the way in which some of the architectural features are emerging including the barrel vaulted entrance, which leads to a large atrium, lit by a roof lantern and enclosing a feature fountain. He commented that as well as meeting the school's needs, this building will provide a very pleasant environment for boys and staff, with an external appearance, which has architectural integrity to other school buildings.

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Religion and cultural diversity conference

From 28 to 30 July some of the world's most eminent religious leaders gathered at the Carlton Crest hotel for the 1997 Religion and Cultural Diversity Conference. It provided a forum to facilitate an exchange of ideas about multiculturalism and social cohesion, as well as exploring ways to nurture and benefit from religious tolerance.

Many notable speakers included: Cardinal Francis Arinze, His Excellency Sir William Deane and His Excellency Sir James Gobbo, who addressed the 350 delegates, of which only four were students. The conference provided an opportunity to listen and learn from others, and further Australia's image as a truly multicultural society.

The delegates discussed the importance of respecting different cultures, and the enrichment that diversity can provide. One of the key issues addressed was that society needs to recognise and value difference, tolerance being the first step towards acceptance and understanding.

Dr Adamou Ndam Njoya, the President/Moderator of the World Council on Religion and Peach, USA, best summed up the similarity between religions, when he said that religions are like deep wells that all end up in the same underground stream. When this is understood, then the true benefits of cultural diversity can be appreciated.

Leon Sher, Yr 11

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Geography field trip

Bone seed is a noxious plant of plague proportions in the You Yangs Regional Park, located between Geelong and Melbourne. Led by staff member, Mr Ken James, Scotch boys in Year 9 have been working on this important project of eradication for several years.

Part of a geography field trip to the park by some Year 9 classes involves spending an hour clearing bone seed from a specified area. Scotch College is one of more than 40 school and community groups, who are helping remove bone seed from the park.

Australian Geography Competition

Seventy five Year 10 students were involved in the competition involving 25,000 from more than 400 schools. 28% of our students were placed in the top 10% of the competition, with James Hare and Peter Iser finishing in the top 1% of students.