Scotch College
|
|
|
|
'Scotch genuinely attempts to give each student appropriate consideration and attention'... |
|
Preparing our students for the future
Most parents would like to know with some certainty how well their children were managing at a much earlier age. But this parent realised that the life demanded a much fuller canvas to allow its quality to be accurately assessed. He presumably wanted to evaluate his son's life as a whole, including family relationships, community involvement, the spiritual dimension, and the ability to face the challenges and difficulties that life presents. All of this would be in addition to considering career or business successes. From this perspective school is a preparation for what is to come, rather than an end in itself. However, it is an important influence on the way in which its students develop. Many of the bricks that make up the structure of one's life are laid in its early stages and the long-term importance of those skills and characteristics are well understood. Any endeavour to evaluate the success of a school should obviously consider the way in which its students are developing those essential skills but the full picture requires a longer perspective. Scotch College in 1999 has 1846 boys, aged from four to eighteen years, in attendance. 144 full-time teachers, augmented by a squad of part-time and visiting teachers, assisted by 52 secretarial, technical and administrative staff, supported by 24 ground, maintenance, catering and residential staff are busily going about their business. Teachers conscientiously prepare and deliver a well constructed and tested curriculum, then become sports coaches, leaders of Services and tutors with responsibilities for the pastoral care of a group of boys. Boys gain an appreciation of the quality and commitment of their teachers as they progress through the school, that peaks in year twelve as the demands of the VCE receive their teachers' committed and dedicated attention. The boys' involvement in and enthusiasm for their total range of activities is quite admirable. Parents, depending on their availability and opportunity, are found delivering students to and collecting them from school, spectating and supporting their sporting endeavours, attending their artistic performances and generally demonstrating their interest in their sons' progress and development. Activity at Scotch is huge and unavoidable. Its purpose is not always so easily understood. But it is Scotch in action, setting about its constant task of meeting its stated goal: the provision of an education that seeks the development of the whole person and encourages each student to achieve at the highest level of which he is capable, in all his activities. The individual nature of this aim is a huge challenge for the school. The aim recognises that each student has a unique set of talents and that success should be measured against those talents. This means, of course, that a Tertiary Entrance Ranking of 86 could be a wonderful success for one student and a significant disappointment for another, depending on the latent ability of each. Evaluating whether or not an individual has achieved at a level appropriate to his ability is difficult enough on the academic level. It is far from easy to be quantitative where different talents or the development of life skills are concerned. However, the difficulty in measuring outcomes is no excuse for failing to try to achieve the goals of achievement in all activities. Scotch genuinely attempts to give each student appropriate consideration and attention, whether he is at the top, bottom or somewhere in the middle of the ability range. The staff, at all levels, deserve commendation for their efforts on behalf of all boys, and it is annually heartening to receive letters of appreciation from parents who recognise the quality of the educational opportunity their sons have had at Scotch. Forty may be too early to know how well one's offspring is going. But the experience of Scotch graduates over the generations suggests that a valuable launching pad for life beyond school is provided by our formula of strong classroom teaching, good pastoral care, high expectations of behaviour and community involvement, along with extensive sporting, services and co-curricular programs. Dr FG Donaldson
Great Scot
|
At what stage can the success of a school be measured? This question was prompted by an overseas Principal recalling a conversation he had with a parent of one of his school's old-boys. 'And how is your son making out?' asked the Principal. 'It's much too early to tell' came the sage reply, 'he's still only 40'.
Updated: Thursday 23 June 2011 © Scotch College 2011