Scotch College

Thank you all for everything

“Schools can be remarkably enduring enterprises, if they are good enough. Be assured – Scotch is good enough to have a justifiable intention to be here for centuries.”

Twenty-five years ago my family and I experienced a wonderfully warm welcome at Scotch. Coming from half a world away, there was a huge amount to learn about this School.

Its heritage and traditions were obvious. The reputation for producing Old Boys of significance in Australia and beyond was formidable. The enthusiasm of its student body for a wonderfully broad program was admirable, and their loyalty towards Scotch was fierce. The standing of Scotch and the associated expectations within Australia were daunting. Connections with the Church and relationships with the Old Scotch Collegians had been a matter of conflict in the late 1970s but had been resolved with the incorporation of the School, although some uncertainty persisted.

In spite of the uncertainties, the welcome given us in 1983 was spontaneous and almost overwhelming in its warmth. The fabled ‘Scotch Family’ was real and a wonderful strength, demonstrating a remarkable sense of belonging that continues to characterise our School community today.

I quickly felt at home with the boys of Scotch. Their hopes and fears, their foibles and excuses, their joys in success and their swift recovery after sporting defeat, their aspirations and the uncertainties of adolescence were much the same as those of Irish boys.

Nowadays, I find that the sense of excitement and challenge associated with education is as strong as ever. Today’s boys are different, in that they are of the digital era, with its opportunities and distractions. There is a deeper appreciation of the importance of gaining qualifications. Yet they are much the same, in terms of the energy and enthusiasm that characterise much of their lives. The challenge, as always, is to harness this energy in pursuit of worthy educational goals.

Scotch has evolved over the years, offering a much broader curriculum designed to meet the needs of our non-selective intake. We have progressed towards measuring an individual’s progress against his aptitudes, and the bar of expectation has been steadily raised, academically and across all aspects of our programs. Our quest is for the growth and development of each boy, and for imparting wisdom. This is the stuff of education. I am impressed by the present generation of students, and optimistic about their ability and willingness to become significant and contributing citizens.

Students flourish where they experience that cooperative triangle involving boys, family and school. In selecting Scotch for their sons, often at significant cost, both financial and in terms of commitment, parents have been pivotal. Without their boys there would be no Scotch! I hope we have deserved the confidence they have placed in us, and I thank them for their unfailing involvement and encouragement.

The staff of Scotch is a wonderful group, of teachers, administrators, grounds and maintenance staff and technical assistants. These are the people who translate the rhetoric of policies and brochures into the reality of daily experience for our boys. Their work is central to the task of educating the whole person found in each boy. I am very proud of the qualities of our staff, and I thank them for making Scotch the School it is.

Scotch has benefited enormously from the generosity of innumerable financial supporters, enabling physical development and benefiting many students and families through endowed scholarships and bursaries. I do hope that each benefactor has the sense of satisfaction that comes from contributing to something great.

Those Old Boys, who regard Scotch with that ‘keen but loving eye’, provide a background of remarkable interest and support that can be so important to maintaining our reputation and elevating our expectations.

None of what has happened at Scotch over recent decades would have been possible without the support and work of the Council, who I thank sincerely. I have been blessed to be able to work with four wonderful Chairmen. Bruce Lithgow was Chair when I was appointed; he did a great deal to help me in those often bewildering early days. He will surely be remembered for his contribution towards reuniting the Scotch community.

Sir James Balderstone, a giant of Australian commerce, demanded ever tighter fiscal discipline, with his belief in treating parents as shareholders.

Michael Robinson, another giant of Scotch, ran the Council with a never-wavering determination that everything should be of the highest possible quality. His skilled negotiations to minimise the impact on Scotch of the ever-widening south-eastern tollway was of huge importance.

And David Crawford adds a wealth of corporate experience to a long family connection with Scotch. His first major task – appointing the next Principal – has been impressively successful, giving cause for genuine optimism for the coming years.

I am most grateful for the confidence placed in me by the Council that appointed me. Their patience was very important in the early days of finding my feet, understanding Scotch and eventually setting directions. Subsequent Councils have been courageous and effective in their willingness to support and encourage numerous educational, pastoral and physical developments.

We have been allowed to dream about how best to improve the School and, with remarkable courage, Councils have overseen the realisation of many dreams. They have enabled a wonderful sequence of building developments; they have supported the transforming team-teaching approach in Years 7 and 8; they have encouraged the Indigenous Students’ Program (and how deep is the educational need in this element of Australian society?); they have allowed the challenge of the Kapumfi Project with World Vision.

Is it not wonderful that today 450 Zambian children attend a school in new buildings, built through Scotch generosity, and providing the only realistic opportunity for a more prosperous future for a region of desperate African poverty?

Being a Council member is a huge responsibility, and the willingness shown by our Councillors to accept the challenge with no reward other than satisfaction is a great credit to all involved.

I have always approached my professional work with a sense of Christian vocation, trying and hoping to be of service through the world of education. This sense has intersected with Scotch College’s fundamental philosophy of being a Church-connected School and providing an education ‘consistent with the teachings of Christianity’.

I view it as an enormous privilege to be involved in the world of education. It is a privilege to be associated with a great School. It is a privilege to have been working in an era of stunning technological and educational development and change. It is a privilege to have experienced God’s blessing on our school.

Of course, with privilege comes responsibility. We all, within the widest Scotch Family, must recognise our responsibility to the future, to Almighty God, to our students, to our children, and their children.

Inevitably, as I say ‘farewell’ I look forward, carrying the baton towards the changeover. I am pleased and excited to know that Tom Batty already feels he is reaching, as he says, with both hands, to accept it. I like the relay analogy, for Scotch is a continuum and not a sequence of discrete events. The continuum stretches from our origin in 1851 through today and extends to an indeterminate future. If we take our inspiration from schools like Eton College, founded in 1440, Scotch’s future could be measured in centuries.

It has been my privilege to have been part of Scotch for 25 years, and I thank all who have travelled part of the journey with me, including my family. In expressing my gratitude, may I extol you all to retain an attachment with and support for our great School in future years. May we exercise effectively our responsibility as a result of the privilege that has been ours through our involvement with Scotch College. May God bless Scotch in the years, and, hopefully, centuries ahead.

Thank you all for everything. Adieu.

Dr F Gordon Donaldson AM
Principal