Scotch College

The Scotch College Foundation: Thirty Years On

In 2003 the Scotch College Foundation turns thirty, which makes it one of the oldest foundations in Australian schools.

It is also one of the most successful as the work done in those early years, on a part-time and voluntary basis, planted seeds which have proven fruitful for Scotch in the intervening space of time. The Foundation was established to assist the College financially as it expanded its building and educational programs.

A cornerstone of its existence was to preserve and build on the goodly heritage and vision of the School's forefathers and to encourage each generation to leave the School in a more improved state than when that generation started. A key emphasis of the Foundation was also to assist the School to move towards a greater financial independence so that the vagaries of state and federal government funding would not have debilitating effects on parents or on the School itself.

These were noble aims and huge goals, and ones that the Foundation has continued to keep in mind over its thirty year existence. Perhaps more than ever before, however, we need to revisit those goals and reinforce our commitment to them. The effect of the new Federal Government SES Funding Scheme will begin to have its impact over the next three years, as the Principal has written about in the last edition of Great Scot.

The School Council has taken the immensely important decision to approve the construction of Stage Two of the James Forbes Academy with the full support of the Foundation Board of Trustees. Both of these circumstances will have a profound impact on the School - and ultimately for the good of the entire Scotch family.

The Foundation and Endowment

The SES funding situation means that Scotch will be looking towards its widest family and friends to provide the extra financial support that the School will need over the next few years. This will, in turn, help to move Scotch towards that greater financial independence which is desirable and beneficial to all. In 2003, the Board of Trustees of the Foundation has decided that there will be a major initiative to increase financial support for endowments within the School. Such endowments will take various forms:

• scholarships and bursaries for the boys whose parents face financial difficulties
• assisting staff salaries to ensure that Scotch attracts and keeps the best staff in all areas
• providing additional educational programs and enhancing existing ones
• enhancing the sporting programs throughout the School
• developing new and exciting programs for music, drama and communications within the James Forbes Academy

Following the educational models in the USA, as the Foundation Funds grow in size, so the value of general endowment will increase to offset rises in school fees in the future.

This is indeed a noble aim and a significant challenge, and one to which members of the Foundation are committed.

The Foundation and the James Forbes Academy

The success of the new Music School within the James Forbes Academy is undisputed, and what has been achieved is already the envy of other schools and tertiary institutions around Australia. The challenge of completing the Academy by the end of 2004 seems daunting, but it is one which has been willingly accepted given the outstanding achievements in Stage One.

The Foundation has again thrown its full weight behind this project and will continue to seek financial assistance from the entire Scotch community to support the School in this magnificent work, which will have a lasting impact on the lives of generations of boys, parents, staff and friends of the school. We have seen the beginning of how drama and music have already been improved for the future. We can just begin to imagine how great that improvement will be as the friends of Scotch 'rally to the call' to support the School through the continuing work of the Foundation.

'Forty Years On' asks that we should have 'goals to guard'. The song also encourages us to embrace 'fights for the fearless, and goals for the eager'. The goals lie before us, especially over the next two years with the James Forbes Academy. They are different from those of thirty or even ten years ago, and we hope that the work we do now will make them very different from those that will face the Foundation forty years on. As we move towards those goals with a clear understanding and vision of what we wish to achieve for the School, the Foundation is glad to say it is vibrant and excited at the prospects, 'For we've nailed our colours firmly to the mast'.

For information on how you can assist the Foundation to support the work of the School, contact the Director of Development, Alan Watkinson, on 9810 4300 or by email at alan.watkinson@scotch.vic.edu.au.

Alan Watkinson