Head of Middle School

Our NAIDOC Week activities last week were an exciting mixture of dance, art, food, sport and inspirational speakers. The challenge is, as it is every year, to sustain the respect, enthusiasm and interest in learning about Indigenous culture throughout the year. Pictured below is a completed sand mandala created by the Year 7 & 8 boys that depicts their journey from home to Scotch College and another that shows the boys prior to the BBQ they hosted for Middle School.

Last Friday's Middle School assembly was our Academic Excellence Awards Assembly where we acknowledged students who achieved at a high level across the curriculum in Semester 1. The criteria to earn a Certificate of Academic Excellence is a total of 30 points or more across any five subjects. Senior School use a similar criterion to award Academic Excellence in Years 9–12 with boys who earn Academic Excellence across those years able to receive Academic Colour Ties and the possibility of Academic Honours. A more detailed description of how to earn Academic Colours and Honours in Senior School is outlined on the Teaching & Learning page.

In Week 5, the Senior School Drama Production, the musical We Will Rock You will hit the Dickinson Centre stage. It promises to be an amazing showcase of talent and a very entertaining evening. In one sense it is the culmination of the Performing Arts programme at Scotch College, a programme that offers the boys the chance to get on stage or be a part of a production as a musician or actor from Year 6 onwards. The Middle School Drama production 'Kicker Thompson' is auditioning now for its season that opens mid next term.

This week I finished interviewing potential scholarship students for 2021. One of the most illuminating questions I asked was: "What book is currently sitting on your bedside table?" It was a question that opened up the conversation about reading, what they enjoyed, how often they read, whether they read hard copy books or read on a device and what they perceived the importance and benefits of reading to be. The reminder from this is that reading is like fitness – it is a habit that needs to be grooved and developed so that it becomes automatic. As young adolescents, boys will develop the habits we allow them to. Reading remains our most fundamental literacy skill, one of the key foundation stones for learning and understanding. My question is: what book is on your son's bedside table at the moment?