Service Council

Ronnie Fellows-Smith Service Council

The Service Council has been very busy in the last term of the year, which for the Year 12s is our last term ever.

For our final big event we organised the Big Freeze – a fundraiser run by FightMND to try and defeat motor neurone disease. To play our part in this great cause, we sold Big Freeze beanies alongside running a lunchtime ice-filled dunk tank for the teachers.

Our goal was to organise a multi-level service event that incorporated elements of direct service, fundraising, awareness raising and also a bit of frivolous fun. Everyone in the Service Council was proactive in taking on a specific role during the planning phase. The Big Freeze was a logistically complex event to organise and it would not have been possible without the amazing organisation and commitment of all the boys in the Service Council. On top of the demanding pressures that Year 12 brings, the Service boys still attend regular meetings and uphold their House-based Service commitments. I believe that it is this dedication that has allowed the Council to function as a cohesive unit and accomplish everything that we have applied ourselves to.

The Service meetings are integral to everything the Council does, as they allow the boys to raise questions and voice their opinions. The Service meetings have also facilitated the expansion of House-based Service events into events which the whole school has embraced, such as Anderson House’s red-nose marching becoming a whole school activity.

It has been great to see everyone’s ideas develop and succeed, and while there have been setbacks, I cannot think of a time where the Council was not able to overcome a problem. I would argue that the last term for the Service Council has been our best. Admittedly, it took a while for everyone to find their footing and grasp what was required in their role. Since then, however, we all have matured into our positions and that has culminated in a very efficient team.

With mock exams looming dangerously close on the horizon, the Service Council is slowly winding down operations for the year in order to focus on our final weeks of high school.

It is humbling to be slowly moving away from the amazing support structure and community of Scotch College, however, I can confidently say that every boy that held a service leadership position has made the most of their opportunity, sticking to the 2020 school motto of honouring the tradition and forging a legacy.

I also feel that it is important to recognise our Chaplain, Reverend Gary van Heerden, who has recently moved into the position of Head of Service. It was really great to work with someone who not only supported the Service Council but also pushed us to pursue our ideas, something for which I am very grateful.

A Year in Pictures

As the year draws to a close we reflect on the challenges, the highlights and what makes us a community.

Clockwise: Eden Scott, Year 2, with Hayden Browne, Year 12; Football 1st XVIII player Raquell Bin Rashid, Year 11, photograph: Derren Hall; Rugby 1st XV celebrating winning the Brother Redmond Cup, photograph: Derren Hall; Jack Dodds, Year 2, at yoga; Ben Elderfield climbing a tree at the Year 2 and 12 Get Together; Live Music Monday performance; Year 7s Dallmyn Kelly and Oscar Ho from James House competing in tug-of-war at the Highland Games; Shearer House performing at House Singing

Mrs Cara Fugill Teaching and Learning

An Education that Speaks Volumes

Having spent much of Summer Term planning for online delivery, it was refreshing to have our boys return to a near normal programme in Week 2 of Autumn Term.

Having experienced teaching online, I can confidently say face-to-face teaching is unsurpassed. The art of teaching is not about guaranteeing children learn the teacher’s knowledge, it is about helping students to broaden their repertoire of skills so they can process and use the complex information that teachers are presenting.

A good teacher will be gathering relevant information about each student to better understand which learning environment will promote engagement and provide sufficient challenge. By assessing the way children respond to the delivery of new concepts, tasks, questions, problem solving, collaboration and assessment, a teacher learns the ability of each child in relation to the multitude of skills that need to be developed in childhood to become capable teenagers and independent adults.

Online delivery, whilst satisfactory for sharing our understanding of content, misses such a critical part of our job. If, as teachers, we need to be able to determine information about our students, then the way we deliver our lessons needs to have a great deal of variation. To observe social capabilities, students have to collaborate in complex social settings. To observe research, they need to investigate a topic independently over a long period of time and engage meaningfully with the content. To observe communication, we need to offer them the opportunities to share their ideas to a variety of audiences through different mediums using subject-specific language. To observe thinking, we have to provoke the learner not to adopt their first idea and to seek truth through challenging their beliefs; understanding how knowledge is derived and testing their arguments through a variety of thinking strategies.

In 2016, Scotch College set about designing a building that captured the complexities of modern education and on Thursday 3 September 2020 the College officially opened the Mathematics and Commerce Building, forming a link between the School of Music and our Middle School. A stunning multi-level building designed to teach as well as deliver an inspiring place to learn. Around the building you will see geometric shapes on walls, circle theorems in carpets, music chiselled into stone, wood panelling representing notes to the school song, braille, binary code, history of famous entrepreneurs, cartesian planes, trigonometric angles in degrees and radian… the list goes on.

Although capable of teaching, the building is also the centre of learning and has been designed to offer a wide range of flexibility, so teacher delivery is not confined to the four walls of the classroom. With moveable furniture, endless writing spaces across walls and

cupboards to encourage student expression, break out spaces for group work in expansive corridors, exam centres and lecture theatres for heavier content delivery, bookable quiet rooms for students to work independently, and recording studios for teachers to prerecord lessons, the opportunity for variation of learning is abundant.

This space was designed with a senior secondary student–centred focus and aims to promote student agency whilst fostering a sense of calm through bright lighting, stylish furnishing and sophisticated architecture. This is complemented by the state-of-the-art technology embedded throughout and allows teachers to seamlessly move between various modes of delivery.

The push for teaching general capabilities was the first indication that the Australian education system was about to be transformed in order to make sure this generation of learners are prepared for the impact of technology on their working life. The International Baccalaureate has been committed to enhancing student agency for many years. It has devised a way of planning units of work that integrate meaningful central ideas in order to bring multiple disciplines together.

There is no doubt this method of education is more challenging for teachers when it comes to planning and delivery, even with outstanding facilities at their fingertips. The challenge of learning is also felt by the students as they grapple with understanding complex ideas rather than being handed the knowledge.

However, challenge is such a critical aspect of neurological development, which includes essential neurological processes, that establishes patterns of behavioural and emotional functioning. When a teacher can provide such a challenge in a supportive and safe environment, whilst observing and responding appropriately to behavioural and emotional cues, then the magic of learning can occur, and we see the benefits of young minds being stretched so they too can go on to achieve extraordinary things.

Mr James Hindle Wellbeing

As life in WA has returned almost to what it was before COVID-19 hit, I have been reminded of one of the key stoic beliefs, about the importance of being prepared for things to change.

Stoic philosophy focuses on living in the moment and being aware of – and appreciating – what is around us, whilst acknowledging the transitory nature of life. It requires us to pause and consider how fortunate we are to have what we have, whilst understanding that life can quickly change.

Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who spent time in several concentration camps during World War II, including AuschwitzBirkenau. He survived but came to realise that those who had a reason to live were more likely to survive. He also observed that those who sacrificed some of their food to share with others – who cared about something other than themselves – were also, on balance, more likely to survive. He came to understand that, even in the worst imaginable conditions, human beings still have a choice about how they respond to the circumstances in which they find themselves. This is a key lesson for our students to come to understand.

Time for Stillness and Quiet

Our programme built around mindfulness continues to grow. In the past few terms, all students in Junior School have experienced the benefits of weekly yoga sessions. These, combined with the Pastoral Care timeslots which are built into the timetable, provide numerous opportunities for students to pause and to discuss wellbeing issues. In Middle School, we ran a weeklong yogi-in-residence programme during Winter Term, with all boys taking part in meditation sessions run by Helen Heppingstone. In the Senior School, we have continued to offer our Brain Reset sessions for Year 11s and 12s each Wednesday and, last term (for the first time) in the lead-up to the examinations, we offered Bite-Size Brain Reset – short, before-school sessions where Years 10–12 could learn and practice simple relaxation skills which they can utilise wherever they are and whenever they feel the need.

Time for Connection

When the College went to learning from home at the end of Summer Term and the start of Autumn Term, it was obvious that the thing which people missed most was the human interaction and the relationships which exist between students, and between staff and students. We continued to search for ways to recreate this connection online; this time has made us value what Scotch is even more.

We must guard against rushing back into old ways of doing too much and not giving enough time to simply being.

Over the past term, I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time in the Boarding Houses on Wednesday evenings, working primarily with the Middle School boarders. We have spoken about the importance of boarding to our community and about boarders making good choices, particularly when living in a community.

In a similar light, our R U OK? Weeks in both Senior and Middle School continue to grow. This year, the theme was ‘There’s more to say after R U OK?’. I spoke of the challenges we face in seeking positive mental health outcomes, including:

Noticing when things are not right with someone and being brave enough to ask them if they are okay

Having the courage to listen when what the other person has to say may be difficult to hear, and the courage to offer support and follow up if they are not ready to talk or they say they are fine

Being brave enough to ask for help when we are not okay

Remembering that this is not just something we should talk about one week a year Like NAIDOC Week, which reminds us about the ongoing need for reconciliation and healing in our country, R U OK? Week is a reminder that there are attitudes and behaviours we need to practise over and over again so that they become habits. Every day should be R U OK? Day. At the heart of it, good mental health is about being kind; showing kindness to others and ourselves, and taking time out of our lives to show someone we care enough to notice and to ask them how they are doing and what we can do to help.

Child Protection

Over the past few months, we have been working to update our complaints procedure. Whilst we hope that our students will know an adult within the school they trust enough to speak to if they are experiencing difficulty, we understand that they may also prefer to use an online service.

There is now a ‘Tell Us’ tile on the home. scotch website and our public website, which enables people to contact us with their concerns and suggestions. There is also an email address which students can use. We have ensured all students are aware of these options and how to access them. We have also produced a revised Student Code of Conduct, which commits the College to ensure that all students feel safe and valued so that each child gets the most out of their time at Scotch.

We consulted Senior School students whilst formulating this complaints procedure and the Student Code of Conduct. We believe that these documents are important statements of principle that make clear the behavioural expectations which we hold for all members of our community, and the process to be followed when people do not meet these expectations.

There is nothing more important than ensuring students feel safe and valued at their school.

Vice-Captain of School (Operations) Jarvis Banfield, Boarding Captain Brenton Macauley, School Captain Josh Ledger, Head of Student Council Jim Allan and Vice-Captain of School (Service) Simon Arnott