Scotch College

Leave your mark

Paving the way to a great success story –

The Pavers program – ‘Leave your mark’ – has been a runaway success. Mixing metaphors a little, one observer in the OSCA tent at the recent Family Day was heard to say, ‘They’re selling like hot bricks.’ But all is not lost – you still have a chance to leave your mark and help make the Old Scotch Square a place to remember.

If it has been some time since you’ve visited Scotch, now is the time to travel down Callantina or Fordholm Road to Morrison Street, to understand why we’re so enthusiastic about this development.

You’ll see the Old Scotch Square – the new gateway to the Senior School – the magnificent Burning Bush sculpture and the start of what will be a feature of Scotch for generations to come. The Burning Bush sculpture was created and constructed with funds raised by the leavers of 2002 and 2003.

Like the Quadrangle, the Chapel, the Memorial Hall, and the James Forbes Academy, the Old Scotch Square is now a focal point in the school environment and a popular meeting place.

The names of a great many past students, past principals, teachers, chaplains, parents, and others are already in place in the Old Scotch Square, assembling like a crowd around the Burning Bush to celebrate and mark their association with Scotch.

The demand for pavers has been so great that all original Family/Team pavers have been claimed by those eager to see their family, team or group name etched into history. This is a stunning result. However, it has given OSCA something of a problem, with the obvious demand from those wishing to form family groups or those involved in remembering their place in ‘legendary’ Scotch teams of history, remaining unsatisfied.

Exciting new Pavers release

The creative solution to the complete sellout of larger pavers has been to offer new approaches to those wanting to form groups of names. The bonus is that the number of names to be collected together is now not limited to five (the previous limit on family and team bluestone pavers).

To add to the attraction of the new release, the pricing of pavers in the Old Scotch Square has been reworked, both to acknowledge the patterns of demand and to allow the Scotch Family greater access to pride-of-place positions around the Burning Bush.

The ‘Leave your mark’ project is an opportunity to contribute to the growing range of OSCA ‘Pave the way’ programs, including mentoring for Old Boys and students and student assistance, among others. If OSCA is to expand its support services to Old Boys, to members of the Scotch Family and to others who find themselves in need, we must expand our corpus to generate sufficient income to achieve this.

OSCA already makes a difference. Help us to achieve our goals by being part of this exciting initiative.

You can apply by ringing the Old Scotch office on (03) 9810 4122, by email to tim.shearer@scotch.vic.edu.au or online at www.oscanet.com.au.

Richard Beveridge
OSCA Council