In this issue

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This week, our Junior and Middle School Hockey players stepped out on the turf at Warwick Hockey Association, for the Primary School Grand Final.

In miserable rainy conditions, the SCOTS team were pushed to the limits by the Freestone students. Lachlan Groves put us in front about midway through the game to break the tense deadlock. Freestone broke out a few minutes later to even up the score. Another goal some minutes later through Colby Miller, put SCOTS back in the lead but Freestone made another attacking raid, only to be thwarted by a swooping Timothy Amos who saved the day.

The last few minutes seemed like an eternity as the team attacked and defended ferociously in the drizzling rain. The final hooter finally broke the tension of the match to give SCOTS the win in a very fitting final to a fantastic season. Colby Miller topped off the afternoon being named the SCOTS Best and Fairest Player for the season.

Congratulations to all team members (listed below) for their contributions to the team and their fantastic win!

Colby Miller, Lachlan Groves, Hamish Bayley, Charles McCosker, Hunter Miller, Timothy Amos, Nathanael Amos, Cody Baker, Bonnie Petersen, Will Grayson and Clay Darragh

 

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Mr Mark Richards | Director of Learning and Innovation

Technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives, and now education systems around the world are being updated and upgraded.  COVID-19 has accelerated this change, showing us what can be achieved and pushing companies to develop new and different programs.  At SCOTS PGC, we are tapping into the digital revolution and adopting new technologies to help students reach their full potential.  Through the adoption of our SCOTS Connect platform, we aim to enable a more flexible and individualised approach to ensure learning can continue regardless of the multifarious challenges of life.

The Next Generation

Although some might view technology as pervasive, for younger generations, it is ever-present.  I sometimes find it hard to grasp that my son, now an energetic two-year-old, will never live in a time before the iPhone X. Ten iterations had been developed before he was born, the flip-phones and Nokia bricks of my youth are ancient relics of a pre-information age.

The combination of evolving educational needs for children and a more uncertain future of work means that updating what children learn, and how they learn it, has become a crucial issue for our College.

Classrooms 2.0

In a survey of 1,400 educators, the majority believe classrooms of the future will be centred around self-paced and personalised learning.  This student-centric approach enables students to have some autonomy over their learning, based on individual interests and skill level. This can be facilitated by artificial intelligence, coding, and video-based learning under the guidance of our College teachers.  During a recent visit to our Year 9 and 10 STEM elective class, I was amazed by the clever and creative mobile apps the students were developing – coding and designing their own software programs from scratch!

 

Video Learning

In the same survey mentioned above, 98% of educators view video learning as a vital component in personalized learning experiences. Most institutions report incorporating video into their curriculums in some way, but even higher demand for video-based learning may come from students.  This is because video learning increases student satisfaction by 91%, and student achievements by 82%, which is why our teachers are increasingly using video for tasks like:

• Providing material for student assignments
• Giving feedback on assignments
• Flipped instruction (blended learning) exercises.

A flipped classroom overturns conventional learning by focusing on practical content that is delivered online and often outside the classroom.

 

Creating First-Class Humans

The benefits of technology as teaching aids are undeniable, however we are not in the era of “iTeachers” yet.  What is more important is that these aids are used in tandem with developmental and educational psychology—ultimately keeping students rather than technology at the core of education.

The future will be about pairing the artificial intelligence of computers with the cognitive, social and emotional capabilities of humans, so that we educate first-class humans, not second-class robots”

—OECD, Trends Shaping Education report

 

After all, how children develop these skills is perhaps less important than their ability to navigate change.  If we can inspire our boys and girls to be their best and equip them with the ability to use the latest technologies, they can overcome anything.

 

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Natasha Paganin | Equestrian Captain

The SCOTS PGC Equestrian Team had their first Interschool Equestrian event for the year, which was hosted by Glennie. We had 8 riders representing SCOTS over the weekend and each rider competed extremely well and should be very proud of their efforts.

Unfortunately, the Rathdowney Memorial Campdraft was postponed until further notice due to = wet weather. Next weekend, we are all looking forward to (and hoping for a clear weekend) at the Fairholme College Interschool event and our very own Warwick Show.

Please see results from last weekend:

Interschool QLD The Glennie School Event 13-14 March

Dressage:

Sophie Brennan:         3^rd in 1b Preliminary

4^th in 1a preliminary

Reserve Champion Overall

Sophie Poole:              6^th in Preliminary 1a – 63.2%

5^th in Preliminary 1b – 68.75%

7th Overall

Jess Angus:                  4^th Overall in Preliminary

Amy Jeffries:               9^th in Preliminary 1a – 60%

13^th in Novice 2a – 56%

Hanaka Parker:            12^th in Preliminary 1a

7^th in Preliminary 1b

Astrid Harrison:           16^th in Preliminary 1a

11^th in Preliminary 1b

 

Showjumping:

Sophie Poole:              6^th in A2 – Clear round

12^th in AM5 – 1 rail

12^th in Special two-phase – 1 rail

10^th Overall

Jess Angus:                  8^th Overall 1m

Thomas Brasch:          2^nd in AM5 90cm

7^th Overall in 90cm A2

Felicity Sellick:             5^th in A2 110cm

3^rd in Special two-phase 110cm

Hanaka Parker:            14^th in Special two-phase 70cm

Astrid Harrison:           14^th in AM5 80cm

16^th in A2 80cm

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Mr Tom Bradbury | Assistant Director of Co-Curricular Activities

Welcome to the Week 8 update. The length of this article should indicate just how busy our kids have been!

 

Southern Downs Trials

Last Friday our 10-12 year olds had their chance at gaining selection to various Southern Downs Teams.

The following students were selected in the Southern Downs Team for the following sports.

Hockey – Lachlan Groves, Nathanael Amos and Bonnie Petersen

Netball – Hannah Bourke and Bethany Moore-Kirkland

U11 Rugby League –Colby Miller, Harrison Grayson and Scott Wainwright

U12 Rugby League – Innes Nowlan, Douglas Lawlor and Tommy Worboys

We wish each and every student the very best at their Respective Darling Downs Trials in the near future.

 

Rugby Union Kicks Off!

Last Friday evening the Downs Rugby Teenage Competition kicked off with our teams playing Highfields.

Our U13 Boys took on Highfields Redbacks, which saw the boys defend tenaciously but starved of possession in the first half. A few mistakes in defence led to the Redbacks jumping ahead on the scoreboard. At half time, the objective was clear, ‘hold the ball”. Our possession improved in the second half with solid pressure built against the Redbacks and some smart defence by Ethan McDonald, who made a tackle, got to his feet, stole the ball, ran 20m and brushed off two defenders to score under the posts. This effort gave the boys some heart and was successfully converted. The final scoreline didn’t reflect the tenacity and character of our boys, who were all pleased with their performance, as was Head of Rugby, Mr Anthony Savovski.

The U15’s also started under the pump, defending solidly for the first 10 minutes. After two yellow cards, the boys were left to defend with just 13 players for the remainder of the half. Some outstanding defence out wide from Alec Blunden forced a final desperate pass that missed the mark and held the score to 5-0 at half time. A red card early in the second half led to another long period of 15 versus 14 and the boys paid the price, with Highfields capitalising on minor errors. A second half resurgence unfortunately, wasn’t enough to reel in the opposition, and our boys went down 22-0.

The U17 Boys took the entire first half to warm to the occasion. Lineouts proved to be our downfall which lead to a 25-0 deficit at the break. The boys rallied after the break and held onto the ball much better, conceding just 5 points in the second half.

We thank the Warwick Water Rats Rugby club for their inclusion and support of our players and coaches in offering this opportunity to play in the Downs Rugby Teenage Competition.  We look forward to improving results over the coming weeks.

 

Basketball Finals

Our Year 7/8 Girls have continued their winning ways with a hard fought win against Glennie in last week’s Preliminary Final. This Friday, they take on St Joseph’s in the semi-final for a spot in the Grand Final, in a week’s time. We wish the girls the very best for a successful game.

 

 

 

Netball

The annual Laura Geitz cup was held in Toowoomba last weekend.  Our SCOTS PGC team consisted of Lizzie Caton, Amira Duffy, Hannah Eising, Sophie Flick, Summer Jacks, Eliza Moore-Kirkland, Jorgi Owers, Halle Rooney, Molly-Rose Sinclair and Izzie Twidale.

Our girls did not disappoint with their on-court performance and demonstrated great sportsmanship throughout the day.  The team gained plenty of experience in attack and defensive tactics and improved their reaction times with each match they played. The girls ranked fifth on the ladder in the B Division with an excellent game in the last round against Warwick SHS. This match round probably stood out as their best performance, forcing turnovers and demonstrating excellent goal shooting skills.

Holly Naughten and Alexandra Rickert participated in the coaching of umpires’ activities and further contributed to the provision of quality umpires at the competition.

An excellent experience was had by all!

Ladies Netball competition [Warwick & District Netball Association]

Our Open Girls competed against Aftershocks, a very strong A grade team, on Monday night.

The girls fought hard but eventually lost the match 21 to 33 against a strong Aftershocks outfit. The girls have improved immensely since the start of the year and must be congratulated for their great attitude and effort on the court.

Our Junior Girls had a strong start Tuesday night, but a weaker second quarter gave Fruit Tingles a large lead which was hard to come back from.  The girls finished strong but still resulted in a loss 25 to 12.

 

Boys Futsal Grand Finals

Monday evening saw the finals played at Harristown with some cracker games played across the three divisions.

I had the pleasure of watching and refereeing several of the games as I moved between the two courts. The standard of play was outstanding in several aspects. It was pleasing was to see the improvement of most teams across the tournament.  Toowoomba State High School have improved immensely but was what even more amazing, was the way our SCOTS lads rose to the occasion for the final matches.

Results of the final matches and our placings were as follows…

 

Division 1 (Years 10-12)

Downlands A (3^rd) v SCOTS 1 (4^th) – What a great game this turned out to be!  All credit to Downlands for the win and final composure to do so, but the improvement from the SCOTS boys really made the game a fantastic contest. Their previous outing saw Downlands run out 12-0 winners. The Downlands team was, as ever, the most outstanding for them, whilst each one of the SCOTS boys contributed to a very determined and greatly improved effort.  The final score was 5-3 to Downlands.

 

Division 2 (Years 8-10)

Concordia A (5^th) v SCOTS Green (6^th) – In what was always to be a David versus Goliath battle, Goliath came out the winner, in the end, easily defeating their younger and more inexperienced opponents. To SCOTS’ credit, our boys never gave up and were gracious in defeat. Well done to Concordia on their clinical display and 16-1 victory.

 

Division 3 (Years 6-8)

Concordia B (3^rd) v SCOTS Blue (4^th) – This contest became a one-sided affair with the very well drilled SCOTS Blue Team taking the lead early and never relenting. The SWQ 12 years Title Winners showed just why they won, with an outstanding performance that left the usually very consistent Concordia B side wondering what had happened. Concordia genuinely did not play badly; they just had no answer for our SCOTS side that continues to improve and is hungry for each victory.  The game concluded with an 8-0 win to SCOTS.

We also wish the SCOTS boys the best as they travel to the ‘Champion of Champions’ tournament later in the year.

SCOTS Cardinal (7^th) – Our SCOTS Cardinal round out the Division after a tough 5 week’s competition that saw the lads winless. However, they carried on throughout, trying desperately to improve and demonstrating glimpses of this at different times.  It was great to see them have a great time, despite the absence of a win throughout the competition.

 

College Cross Country Championships

In Week 10 this term, we will be holding our College Cross Country. All events will start and finish on Briggs Oval, and the program of events will be as follows:

8.45am          Assemble in Grandstand on Briggs Oval

9.10am          16-18 years Boys                 6km Championship

9.12am          9 years Girls/Boys                1500m Championship

9.25am          11 years Boys/Girls             3km Championship

9.27am          8 years Girls/Boys                1km Championship

9.40am          12 years Boys/Girls             3km Championship

9.42am          7 years Boys/Girls                800m Championship

9.55am          13 years Boys/Girls             3km Championship

9.57am          6 years Boys/Girls                600m Championship

10.10am        14-18 years Clan                 2km Participation Event

10.12am        5 years Boys/Girls                400m Championship

10.25am        10 years Boys/Girls             2km Championship

Prep to Year 4 return to class for Periods 3-6 as per normal

10.35am        14 years Boys/Girls             4km Championship

10.40am        15 years Boys/Girls             4km Championship

10.45am        16-18 years Girls                  4km Championship

11.20am         Clan Sing Off

11.40am        Clan Cross Country Presentations 

More details will be emailed home in the coming days and Clan meetings will be scheduled next week.

 

Upcoming Sport trials for our students…

• DD U18 Boys Rugby Union
• DD Girls Rugby League
• DD 16yrs Boys Football
• SD Touch

 

QCIS Swimming Carnival 

On Monday we returned to competition in the QCIS Association with our annual Swimming Carnival held at Concordia College.

The day was superbly run by our friends at Concordia and the students all had a very enjoyable experience. The team was on song with all attending students competing whole-heartedly in all scheduled events.

In the age groups results we managed to secure the following pennants through the efforts of our students.

Open Boys    William Gilmore and Nicholas McGahan 

U13 Boys       Bailey Harm

U12 Girls        Bridie Hutchison and Bonnie Petersen 

Several records were broken with Bailey Harm prominent in establishing several new marks.

The Open /U16 Boys Freestyle Relay had a very good win against their city counterparts. In the Girls All Age Relay, SCOTS finished 3^rd in a blanket finish that was undoubtedly the race of the day. The Boys All Age Relay went one better gaining 2^nd to the powerhouse of TAS.

In the race for Aggregate Points SCOTS finished 4^th with Toowoomba Anglican School taking the top spot.

In the Percentage Trophy stakes, we finished 3^rd, with TAS again taking the coveted prize.

This year saw Toowoomba Christian College and Our Lady of the Southern Cross College joining the Association to realign the association to a truly regional group here on the Darling Downs.

Our next interschool competition will be the QCIS Cross Country to be held here at SCOTs in early June.

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We are excited to announce that our very own William Gilmore was named Darling Downs Team Swimming Captain for the 2021 Queensland Championships to be held at Chandler next week.

Well done to Will and best wishes to both Will and Bailey Harm who take on the best in the state next week in Brisbane.

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Toni Crawford | College Canteen Convenor

The canteen is back for 2021!

This year, I invite more parents to get involved and connect through our Carnival days and the College canteen is the perfect place to do that.  We welcome any type of help on these days.  You may like to get arrange some other parents from your child’s year level or a group of parents you feel comfortable with; the P&F would welcome your support in helping to ensure we have a good volunteer base to contribute to the success of our College and their events.

We are continuing our ‘Containers for Change’ fundraising and I will ensure we have a couple of signed bins near the grandstands, for the students to place their empty bottles and cans in.  I can then cash these in at the depot after the carnival.

EFTPOS is now available in the canteen. Please be mindful that we only keep a small cash float, so please avoid bringing $50 and $100 notes if possible.

To register your interest as a volunteer at the upcoming Cross Country Carnival, please sign up here:

volunteersignup.org/QELPH

To sign up, just follow the instructions on the page – it only takes a few seconds.

Thank you for volunteering!  If you need to get in touch or have any questions about volunteering in the canteen please email Toni Crawford (Canteen Convenor) at tc7274@gmail.com

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The Uniting Church in Queensland Synod extends an invitation to all students from Years 7-12 to this take part in this year’s EASTER MADNESS.  Please refer to the poster for all the key information.  Sponsorships are available.  If you have a student that is keen to go, please let me know.  Students are also welcome to visit my office to express their interest.  Rev. Willie | 0472 516 964

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