Head of Middle School
Student-Led Conferences (SLC) were the focus at the start of Winter Term with boys analysing their Semester 1 Reports, assessment feedback and producing a set of goals and an action plan for the second semester. The COVID-19 social distancing rules forced our hand into looking for an alternate mechanism for boys to demonstrate the growing accountability they have for their learning via their Student-Led Conferences.
Microsoft Teams became the means to deliver these meetings and after the fortnight of conferences, we surveyed you as to your satisfaction with this mechanism. The table below is the data from that survey which indicates between 83-89% satisfaction with this method of delivery. The COVID-19 period has highlighted the value and effectiveness of online conferencing right across the workforce. Given your feedback, it suggests the online SLC mechanism will be one we continue to use into the future. Future SLCs will offer a clear purpose and context for the development of video conferencing skill set in our students. It is important to note, however, that online conferencing has not and will not ever remove the opportunity for a parent seeking academic or pastoral information by directly contacting their son's teachers. What we have discovered in online SLC's is an additional communication mechanism that can really help our mission of preparing boys for life.
Highland Games
Week 9, Friday 25 September
To finish this term Middle School holds a half-day Highland Games event on the last Friday of term. Highland Games was once a fixture on the College calendar and a walk through the College's Archives highlights the fun and activity of these days introduced by former Headmaster Mr Bill Dickinson in 1976.
The Middle School Highland Games, with the boys dressed in House uniform, commences with a sausage sizzle for lunch, coordinated by the MS Pipe Band, before moving to the oval for Tug-o-War, the Kiltie Dash, Putting the Stone, the Hay Bale run and other events. The Middle School pipers will perform prior to the newly elected Chieftain commencing the games. The Scotch College Pipe Band Parents Support Group will manage the sausage sizzle and will also hold a stall on the oval with cakes, drinks, snacks and College paraphernalia for sale. As it is an outdoors event, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and dogs on leads are more than welcome albeit being mindful of social distancing restrictions.