Scotch College

President’s Column

As the Year 12 boys passed the torch from one year to the next at their recent Final Assembly and Torch Ceremony, it is time to reflect and thank the Year 12 parents who have contributed so much to the school over the years. On behalf of the Scotch Parents’ Association, I would like to thank these parents. I am grateful for all the hard work they have put in and the support they have given to various auxiliaries and to other areas of the school. I am sure that the friendships they have made with other parents will last long after their son has finished school. Both the boys and their parents will always be part of the family of Scotch College. They will realise that even if they move far away from Australia, they are sure to meet another Scotch family somewhere around the world.

The VCE exams will soon be upon us and they are sometimes a stressful time for families. I wish all the boys well and hope that they are able to achieve their best possible results. After all their hard work, it will all soon be over and there is life after VCE!

The start of Term 4 saw the tradition of Family Day and it was in my view a fabulous success. The weather was perfect and with the great weather, the Scotch families arrived; the boys, their parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters and many other visitors filled the grounds. Many were old boys who took the opportunity to show friends proudly around their school.

There was so much for a visitor to enjoy. The House Athletics showed off the boys’ talents and the enthusiasm of the Junior School students to have a go and take part is always a highlight. Both the Design and Technology and the Art Department displays were amazing. Not only did they display the diversity of the opportunities available to the boys, the boys’craftsmanship was brilliant! Together with all the stalls run by the various auxiliaries, there was certainly a lot to look at on the day. I want to thank everybody who helped to make the day such a wonderful success: parents, teachers, administrative and maintenance staff and friends.

For the boarders’ parents, Family Day is a fun weekend to get together with their sons. Don Jelbart and his committee put on a wonderful weekend of activities. On the Saturday night they had a delicious dinner, which was followed by the Boarders’ Revue. When talking to many of the parents it dawned on me that so many people travel a long way to support their sons. Many had travelled from overseas, some from Singapore and another from Fiji. All told me how happy they and their sons were with the life in the Boarding House. At the Revue we were very well entertained with a variety of acts that showed enormous talent and lots of good hearted humour.

Recently I attended a wonderful production of My Fair Lady. Whilst this is a production put on by the Old Scotch Music and Drama Club, there were so many current Scotch staff working behind the scenes and committed to making the show the success it was. The singing was beautiful and the costumes breathtaking and the sets very professional. Well done OSMaD on another superb production! And those of you who have yet to see one of these productions, look out for what OSMaD has in store next year!

Finally, the SPA Annual General Meeting is on Monday, 8th November 2010 and I look forward to catching up with as many parents, as possible. All are invited to attend.

Gary Goldsmith
President