Boarding at Scotch College
Years 7 to 12
Perth City 10km
Swan River 1.4km
Middle School Residence
Claremont Quarter
Claremont Oval
Claremont Showgrounds 600m
Senior School Residence
Scotch Playing Fields
Swanbourne Train Station 200m
Fremantle 8.8km
Cottesloe Beach 2km
From the Headmaster
DR ALEC O’CONNELL
Scotch has been welcoming boarders for over a century. Since 1897, thousands of boys from Western Australia, interstate and overseas have joined our community and made a substantial impact on our great College.
As a school, we value what boarders bring to our community. They bring experiences and knowledge that introduce our day students to agricultural and regional life and diverse cultures. Our regional and remote boarders bring the resilience, grit and ingenuity that comes with living in smaller towns and communities where you rely heavily on yourself and those around you to face whatever challenges life might serve.
We know our boarding families are proud of where they’re from, be that Kununurra, Mingenew, Esperance, Macau or Tokyo, but also want their sons to have the very best opportunities that a Scotch education can offer. We understand the richness of the communities that exist across Western Australia, interstate and overseas and, I promise you, what we offer at Scotch truly is a community for life.
Welcome to Boarding
MR JORDAN OWENELL
At Scotch, we believe the essence of a successful school is its community and when it comes to our boarders we know that community is paramount.
Celebrating diversity
Our boarders come from across regional and remote Western Australia, interstate and overseas. Our students are from diverse backgrounds, and places, and we value every one of them.
When boarding at Scotch, boys build relationships that they will maintain for the rest of their lives, they learn to respect others and appreciate differences. They develop independence and resilience, while learning how to negotiate the world around them.
A community to belong to
We believe in the old saying – a home-awayfrom-home – and we deliver this. We do this through our strong focus on wellbeing, student leadership and peer-to-peer mentoring programme. Through our senior boarding clans, we carefully consider which clan, and community of boys, a boarder will thrive in. While our location ensures our boarders are never short of green space. Our boarding houses back onto 10 hectares of playing fields and Lake Claremont. Sitting between the Swan River and Indian Ocean, the houses are minutes from Swanbourne Train Station.
Our boarding families are a big part of our community and it’s not just the students who make friends for life. We run social events for boarding parents and work closely with all families to make sure every boarder is supported and heard.
Wellbeing and support
We know that boarding is a significant emotional and financial decision for many families, something that we very much appreciate. Our boarding staff are also our teaching staff, making the transition between school and boarding seamless. Furthermore, our Heads of Clans and Residences are always available to assist boarders and their families.
Our boarders live busy, vibrant lives. They build friendships with students from our sister school, Presbyterian Ladies’ College, and from neighbouring schools. They learn life skills, go to festivals, the movies and the footy. Boarders make up approximately 10% of our school population and they are an important part of the College’s past, present and future. As our day students know, boarders always have the best stories.
Come and explore our community, meet our incredible boarding team and discover how your son will thrive in boarding.
Mr Jordan Owenell Head of Boarding
Sometimes the small things make all the difference
These are just a few examples of how we care about our boarders at Scotch.
TRANSPORT
You never have to worry about who’s picking up your son from the airport, train or bus station or taking him to the physio. We’ve already sent the bus and a staff member is en route.
ROLE MODELS
Many of our tutors are young alumni. They understand the journey and are someone our boarders look to for support and advice.
GREEN SPACE LAUNDRY
Walk in the boarding house door, grab afternoon tea and walk out again. You’ve just stepped onto our 10 hectares of playing fields surrounded by the stunning wetlands of Lake Claremont.
You won’t need to worry about dry cleaning the maroon school blazer or who’s going to wash the uniform. Our team has got it covered.
Day and boarding life
CONNECTING BOARDERS AND DAY STUDENTS
Our Middle School and Senior School boarding houses connect seamlessly with our sub-schools. Many of our current middle and senior teachers are also boarding staff, providing tutoring support and ensuring our boarding houses run smoothly.
As a school, we celebrate Boarders’ Week, which culminates in a Scotch favourite: Ag Day. Our regional boarders lead the show with a country cook-up and demonstrations and activities that showcase the regions. We hold an annual Boarding Photo Competition where our boarders, their families and boarding staff submit photos from across Western
Australia and the globe. The winning entries are showcased throughout the school and on Scotch’s social media and demonstrate the incredible diversity of our boarding community.
We celebrate Chinese New Year where Scotch’s local Chinese families join boarders to make dumplings for dinner. It’s a great example of our home-away-from-home culture and is a time to reflect on the distance that many boarding families travel for a Scotch education.
Support for our students
In Year 12 boarders learn the skills necessary for life beyond school and the boarding house.
Wellbeing
Professional support
We have two school psychologists who provide regular support to our boarders. Our Middle School Psychologist visits the Middle School Residence weekly to lead discussions alongside our Middle School House Parent.
Our Lead Psychologist works across the Middle and Senior School boarding houses. They work closely with our Head of Boarding and Heads of Residences to ensure that all boarders are supported in both boarding and in school. The Lead Psychologist consults regularly with families and relevant staff where needed and works with staff to ensure they can provide strong, adaptable pastoral care and mental health support.
Positive masculinity
All Year 10 and 11 boarders undertake the Tomorrow Man programme. This 10-workshop series is delivered over two years and focuses on developing healthy masculinity and building strong relationships, with an emphasis on respect and consent.
Life skills
The renowned Tomorrow Man programme transforms in Year 12 as boarders learn the skills necessary for life beyond school and the boarding house. Year 12 boarders learn financial literacy skills, how to write a resume, plan their perfect gap year, and what to do when you don’t know what to do in a series of online micro-courses.
Our senior boarders gain workshop skills in metal and woodwork, test their culinary abilities in a cooking course, learn to do their own laundry (we have washing machines onsite) and, in Year 12, undertake a barista course.
Academics is an extremely important focus for us and we ensure that all our boarders have the support they need across all three pathways, including WACE ATAR, and VET, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma.
From Sunday through to Thursday we run academic tutoring sessions. We have a very high staff to student ratio and our tutors are a mix of teaching staff, both male and female, and high achieving university students.
Our Assistant Heads of Residence are all teaching staff, making them well connected to other staff and giving them a firm grasp of the curriculum. They are responsible for overseeing all our boarders’ academic progress and work with key staff in the College to ensure our boarders are performing to their personal best.
Friends, brothers and mentors
Many of our boarders liken boarding at Scotch to living with your friends and brothers. Mentoring and peer-to-peer relationships are a big part of how we achieve this camaraderie.
Our Year 12 boarders mentor our Year 7 and 8 boarders in a formal mentorship programme. Our Vice-Captain of Middle School Boarding (a Year 12 role) also coordinates informal ‘big brother’ mentoring sessions during prep, which takes place three times a week. Here, younger boarders can get help with their homework from senior boarders.
There’s also ongoing social interaction from shooting hoops to sharing afternoon tea and meals and simply hanging out. If a younger boarder is feeling homesick, our boarding staff will endeavour to reach out to a Year 12 boarder to provide additional support, alongside our staff.
Clans and captains
As boarders move into the Senior School Residence, they join one of two clans: Blair or Stirling Clan. Each clan is led by a Head of Clan, who supports them through to graduation and is the main contact for boarders and their families.
There’s ongoing social interaction from shooting hoops to sharing afternoon tea and meals and simply hanging out.
Our student leaders in boarding also provide warm and caring leadership for all our boarders. Each year our boarders elect a Captain of Boarding and three Vice-Captains. The Vice-Captains oversee Blair Clan, Stirling Clan and the Middle School Residence.
We put great thought into who goes into which clan, which is one of the reasons they start in senior boarding. In Middle School, boarders can find their feet and their friends. It is a space for them to grow as they prepare to enter Senior School. However, we follow familial links for our clans. So, if your older brother was in Blair Clan, you will be too.
Twice a term we run Clash of the Clans, which can feature everything from sports matches, quiz nights and table tennis. Our clans are there to encourage community, inspire personal excellence and help our boarders develop their own identity and relationships within a supportive environment. They are another level of support for our boarders on top of the pastoral care, peer mentoring and academic assistance we offer.
Walking the Bibbulmun Track
BUILDING GRIT AND RESILIENCE
The Bibbulmun Track is a 1,000km walking trail that stretches from the Perth Hills to Albany. At the start of their boarding journey in Year 7, our boarders take their first steps on this spectacular and challenging track, completing it in their final year of boarding at Scotch in an experience we call ‘End to Enders’.
Walking the Bibbulmun is an iconic part of boarding at Scotch. It’s a journey that bonds boarders for life. Our boarders come off the track with greater independence, knowledge of themselves and what they can achieve, and relationships that have been tested and strengthened through perseverance and camaraderie.
Walking the Bibbulmun is an iconic part of boarding at Scotch. It’s a journey that bonds boarders for life.
For many of our boarders, the Bibbulmun will become the most memorable experience in their boarding and school life. These shared experiences define our boarding community and enable boarders to discover what it takes to develop grit and resilience.
Scotch College Indigenous Network
All Indigenous students are part of the Scotch College Indigenous Network, known as SCIN. Led by our Indigenous Student Programme Coordinator and Indigenous Student Mentor, this support programme sees our students meet weekly, hear from a range of guest speakers and participate in leadership forums and activities.
We work closely with MADALAH for the programme, and our Indigenous students, many of whom are boarders, join an orientation camp at Point Walter and attend MADALAH’s Welcome to Country at the Swan River.
Our Indigenous programme staff provide an extra layer of support for our Indigenous students, ensuring they develop a strong sense of cultural identity and awareness.
We also have Indigenous tutors on staff who provide additional academic support and mentoring sessions with MADALAH graduates.
In the wider school environment, our Outdoor Education team work closely with Noongar elders to teach Indigenous histories and culture specific to our Moray Outdoor Education Campus in Dwellingup. A Noongar elder also gives a Welcome to Country for all boarders as they start their journey on the Bibbulmun Track.
Throughout the year, we celebrate First Nations culture through events such as NAIDOC Week, where SCIN students lead activities and talks throughout the school.
The Taigh Programme
TRANSITION TO BOARDING
Our culture of compassion provides boys with a place to learn and grow.
Through our Taigh Programme, we help new boarders feel at home with engaging online sessions and unforgettable in-person camps.
In the six months before his first day, your son will develop new friendships, build fundamental social skills and form academic routines that will prepare him for life at Scotch.
Taigh home (Scottish Galic)
The programme is designed to provide the boys with opportunities to connect with future boarding house mates, to communicate in an exciting new context and to build their confidence as they prepare for the journey ahead.
The boys will work together each week in an exciting online landscape designed for them to showcase their homes and communities.
Taigh Programme goals
Connection
Connecting with the boys and their families who are on the same journey will be a confidence building experience as they prepare for the transition to boarding at Scotch together.
Communication
The boys will meet online each week and, on some occasions connect with Year 6 boys at Scotch via assemblies and collaborative projects. These warm and supportive interactions enrich the boys’ communication skills.
Confidence
The boys will build their confidence as they become aware that they are not undertaking this journey alone.
Key dates
July
Taigh Orientation Camp
November
Middle School Orientation and sleepover
Weekend recreation
Social events
Almost every weekend, we catch up with other boarding schools, male and female, for sporting events, festivals, movies, ten pin bowling or trips to Adventure World. It helps that we’re right near the Swanbourne Train Station, making it an easy trip to the Perth CBD and Fremantle.
In February, we hold our annual Boarders Ball with Presbyterian Ladies’ College. Our senior students also have cross-campus classes with PLC, which sees students from each school often travelling between the two campuses.
There are so many activities happening on campus each weekend that our boarders regularly catch up with students from other schools.
Community sport
Many of our boarders join local community sporting teams, such as football, hockey and rugby. Our day parents will often pick up boarders if their son is in the same team for weekend or evening sporting matches.
Food, health and facilities
About the food
We provide five meals a day, with snacks and fresh fruit always on offer. Dinner includes two meat options, a vegetarian option and plenty of vegetables and salads. Of course, we provide dessert every night.
We’re a community so all our boarders eat together in our Dining Hall, overlooking our impressive playing fields. On weekdays, boarders drop by the canteen to grab recess and lunch.
Our catering team use fresh produce, often locally grown, and cater to all dietary requirements and preferences.
Fitness and facilities
Our boarders have weekday and weekend access to our 50m swimming pool, playing fields, gym, tennis courts, basketball courts and cricket nets, and a weights room within our Senior School Residence.
Health needs
Located right next to our boarding houses, our Health Centre team are always available to help. The centre is staffed by a dedicated team of registered nurses from early morning until night, with someone on-call 24 hours a day. The team manage medical appointments and any accompanying transport for our boarders. They also provide emergency nursing management, primary health assessments, referrals to relevant health specialists, health education and pastoral care.
Where you’ll live
BOARDING HOUSES
We have two boarding houses – a Middle School Residence for Years 7 and 8 and a Senior School Residence for Years 9 to 12. The houses mirror our day-school campuses, which helps us to support our boarders as they develop and grow.
Each boarding house has a games room, theatre room, pool tables, fully stocked kitchen, onsite laundry facilities and plenty of books, video games and board games. They’re also bordered by a basketball court, our vast playing fields and the native wetlands of Lake Claremont.
All students start their boarding journey in dormitory-style accommodation, which offers a balance of privacy with plenty of opportunities to socialise. In Years 9 to 10, boarders share double rooms, while most Year 11s and all Year 12s have their own room.
