In this issue

Each year the College holds a very special ANZAC dawn service to celebrate the lives of our Magnificent 42 past students who lost their lives during World War II. The service is being held on Friday 23rd April 2021, at the College Cenotaph. Please see the invitation below for further information or CLICK HERE.

Are you joining us for a coffee next Thursday morning?

Mr David Marriott | Head of Senior Boys’ Boarding

The end of Term 1 brings the opportunity to reflect on life in and around Hawkins House for the Senior Boys’ boarders and staff. I am pleased to report the boys have continued to commit well to their academic preparation and homework time each week. I trust they will be rewarded for their efforts in their assessment results.

The respect, spirit and tenacity on display for each other, staff and the general upkeep of the boarding house has also been very pleasing. These are values and standards that are extremely important and I will continue to have high expectations of the boys in these areas.

From a social perspective, the weekend’s activities over the past few weeks have be excellent. Several boys have been involved with the various Agricultural Shows within the region, highlighted by the attendance of boarders at the Warwick Show last weekend, where everyone enjoyed an entertaining evening. In addition, the Clean Up Australia service performed by the students was also a great sign of community spirit. The recent games night and BBQ/pool party involving both girls and boys boarding houses, have been real highlights of a busy first term for 2021.

Special thanks to all the parents for your support during Term 1 and also to the Senior Boys’ Boarding staff who have worked extremely well to ensure a great start to the school year.

I  hope you all enjoy your Easter and vacation time with family and friends.

Mr Stewart Bailey | Head of Junior Boys’ Boarding

It is somewhat difficult to believe just how quickly the term seems to have flown by. Here we are at Week 9, arranging travel details for the holidays and compiling a list of new activities for next term.

The first term has been a busy one. Not only for the boys, but for the staff as well – I know from my own point of view, I was expecting that after the initial flurry of activity at the start of the year, that there might be a brief lull in which to catch my breath and get up to date with some office work. That hasn’t been the case.  The vibe around the whole College has been a vibrant, busy one and we have all learned how to embrace this new pace.

I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the large number of new boarders who have joined our “Band of Brothers” and I am already looking forward to see what awaits when our boys come back from holidays after Easter.

The boys have been a pleasure to care for, as always, and while many of them are going through the usual issues associated with adolescence to varying degrees, they are to be commended for their acceptance of and adaptation to life as a SCOTS PGC Boarder, and all that it entails.  Every boarder has immersed themselves into College life.  They have joined an activity, been part of team and found themselves living a little outside of their comfort zone.

It has also been pleasing to see our Senior boarding boys lead by example and take the younger boys under their wing.  Often during the week, I find our senior boy boarders visiting Cunningham House just to spend some quality “big brother” time with the juniors. This makes me extremely proud – especially when most of these boys were a Junior Boy Boarder themselves when joining the College.

I hope the boys enjoy their last week of Term 1.  I’m sure they’re looking forward to a restful yet fun filled holiday with their families and friends.

Mrs Susan Everson | Head of Girls’ Boarding

As we wrap up Term 1, it is difficult to believe just how quickly the last 9 weeks have flown by.  I have enjoyed getting to know the girls and feel we are beginning to establish solid, respectful relationships that I look forward to building on in Term 2.

The past couple of weeks have been busy as usual.  The rainy weather subsided just in time for the annual Warwick Show, which was held last weekend and drew the attendance of lots of our boarders, who competed in a variety of events and activities.  Some girls took the opportunity to take a long weekend of leave with family and friends, while others used their free time to relax and take advantage of everything on offer at the Show.  Congratulations to our girls who walked away with a number of ribbons and prizes over the weekend’s events.

The rain returned at the beginning of the week and the boarding house was awash with excitement as the Condamine River burst its banks.  Everyone across the community was in awe at the volume of water around town.  At one point, there was a concern that the main bridge into town may become flooded, so to avoid the risk of being stranded at school, we decided to remain at PGC for the day.  It was great to see so many other teaching staff members help out in the boarding house to ensure the girls didn’t miss out on any learning time.

We’ll be hitting the shops this weekend at Grand Central in Toowoomba as our final boarding activity for the term.  The girls are excited at the prospect of being spoilt for choice when it comes to shopping.  The remainder of the weekend will be relatively quiet as we prepare to pack up and get ready for the holidays.

I’d like to thank the girls and our SCOTS PGC community for a great first term! I hope you all have a wonderful Easter break and I look forward to welcoming you all back for Term 2.

Mr Peter Wilson | Director of Co-Curricular Activities

I am old enough to have attended school long before the invention of the now-ubiquitous mobile phone and the advent of electronic social media. I can vividly remember at school, a teacher, facilitating an activity to expose the dangers of gossip. The teacher wrote out a message and asked a student in the front row to memorise it and then placed the message on her desk. She then directed that student to secretly share it with the next student. That student then secretly shared it with the next student and so on it went around the class.

The last student was then asked by the teacher to share the message they received with the class and then the teacher read out the original message on her desk. The two messages bore little resemblance to each other. Much of the information in the final student’s message was false or did not even exist in the original message. It was fake news or as it was originally called, gossip.

This message was only passed on by 20 people. On social media platforms, any message or information can be passed on through thousands of people, if not many more. This small demonstration in my school class has resonated with me more recently as we are continuously exposed to the growing amount of questionable and false information in mainstream media and social channels. Information regarding topics such as COVID-19, the best weight loss formulas and the dramatic plights of celebrity life are themes I see promulgated on a daily basis.  How are we to know what is truth and what is not?  How are our children able to determine fact from fiction?

As parents and teachers we need to teach our students to be sceptical and not to make assumptions; to have the courage and energy to ask questions and seek the facts, that is, information without emotion, and to formulate opinions based on validated scientific information.

Deb Perry | Uniform Shop Convenor

The College Uniform Shop has now reopened and will remain open throughout the school holidays on the usual days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday – excluding public holidays).

In Term 2, all students will be required to dress in the winter uniform, so families are encouraged to use the holiday period to organise uniform purchases.

Appointments can be arranged by calling the Uniform Shop on 07 4666 9892.

Mr Tom Bradbury | Assistant Director of Co-Curricular Activities

Basketball Grand Final Time!

Last week the Year 7/8 Girls contested the Semi Final of the SMOBA Friday Night Basketball at USQ.

Their opponents from St Joseph’s College, were a feisty and talented group of girls and the game was very close even at the start of the fourth quarter. As the clock ticked down, our girls skipped away with a couple of 2-pointers to take a 4-point lead. This extended to 8 points with 5 minutes of remaining play and all seemed to be going smoothly despite the frantic end to end play.

Not to be outdone, St Joseph’s came back with their own 2-pointer to leave us with a 6-point lead with 3 minutes to go. A little panic set in and suddenly it was a slender 4-point lead after another easy basket from the girls in gold. The game continued end to end, but we could not sink that elusive basket to give us a handy break once more. On the other hand, St Joseph’s were growing in confidence and sinking baskets at will. We had the game with 20 seconds to play when St Joseph’s took the shot that sent the game to extra time.

The first 3-minute period of extra time saw no changes to the score. In the second period, both teams had players fouled out of the game which left us without the tall timber of Briana Groves. The tense struggle continued until we received free throws through fouls on Isabelle Twidale.

Izzy showed magnificent composure to slot her first one to give us the lead with 2 minutes to play. Superb defence in the final minutes led to another foul throw for us and one successful basket gave us a 2-point lead. The final whistle could not come quick enough. Finally, it did and coach Alexis Carey could breath again after holding her breathe for the entire second period of extra time.

Our girls now proceed to the Grand Final against Pittsworth SHS who also progressed to the Grand Final from Pool C. In a rematch of our round game in Week 3, the girls will face a very talented team that go into the Grand Final off the back of a huge win against St Saviour’s in their Semi Final and the psychological advantage of having beaten us on our home turf way back in the round phase. In addition to this, our girls go in knowing that this is the first SCOTS team in 35 years of this competition to ever make a Grand Final.

We wish the girls the very best, and believe that their success rests firmly in their own hands. With improved defence since their last encounter, it will be an interesting contest of the country schools in this Grand Final. We are extremely proud of how the girls have come together, and, win, lose or draw we hope they enjoy the experience as much as they possibly can.

Senior Hockey to take the turf!

Thirteen of our keen senior Hockey students will take to the field next Tuesday night in their first competition for almost 3 years. The team of 7 boys and 6 girls, will don the SCOTS colours in the Teenage Competition before contesting the Interschool competition and hopefully the Darling Downs All Schools contest later in the year.

We wish the team all the best for their return to the turf and look forward to hearing of their performances.

Netball Fixtures

Our SCOTS Open team struggled a little this week against the more experienced Doorslammers A grade team.  The usual combinations didn’t quite gel and a last quarter change that saw Lelani Lavea take up the centre spot, resulted in a slight comeback, but unfortunately the girls were defeated 43 v 13.

Darling Downs Trials

After a postponement and injuries incurred over the weekend, it was left to Jesse Bohm (Hooker) and Stephan Kruger (Prop) to fly the flag at the Darling Downs 16-18 Years Rugby Union Trials.

Both boys were at the younger end of this equation and went for the experience and to show their wares to the selectors for the future.

In a coup for the College, and an impressive display by the young man, Jesse Bohm was selected as Hooker for the Darling Downs team and will travel to Brisbane in early Term 2 to contest the Queensland Schoolboy Championships.

College Cross Country Championships – Postponed

Unfortunately, since my last newsletter advertising the College Championships for Week 10, we have had quite a flood event that has forced the postponement of the College Championships until the first week Term 2. The new date for this event will be Wednesday 21 April which will be our third day back at school.

The program of events remains unchanged and 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 

Following this, a team from 10 years to Opens will be selected for the Southern Downs and Border District Cross Country to be held on Thursday 29 April, which will also be held on our SCOTS PGC course. On this day, our Southern Downs team 10 -12 years will be selected and our final senior team will be chosen to attend the Darling Downs Championships on 17 May.

James Buchan – Year 7

Dan Hughes | Year 10 Cattle Club Member

Last weekend, the SCOTS PGC College Cattle Club took part in the Warwick Show. The Cattle Club team members had a very successful and enjoyable two days at our local show and it was great to see a big number of other schools from across the region travel to Warwick to compete also.  Congratulations to the following students:

• Ben Carey: 1^st in 15 years and under Prime Cattle Junior Judging.
• Tommy Worboys: 3^rd in 12 years and under Paraders, 1^st in 12 years and under Stud Cattle Junior Judging and 2^nd in 12 years and under Prime Cattle Junior Judging.
• Marty Worboys: 2^nd in 13 to 15 years Prime Cattle junior judging. Marty also won the Pat Flynn Shield of Excellence.
• Georgia Mulcahy: 3^rd in 12 to 15 years Paraders and 4^th in 13 to 15 years Prime Cattle Junior Judging.
• Makenzie Taylor: 2^nd in 13 to 15 years Paraders and 2^nd in 13 to 15 years Prime Cattle Junior Judging.
• James Buchan: 1^st in 13 to 15 years Paraders and 1^st in 13 to 15 years Stud Cattle Junior Judging.
• Layne Frankcom: 2^nd in 13 to 15 years Stud Cattle Junior Judging.
• Emma Corke: 3^rd in 13 to 15 years Stud Cattle Junior Judging.

Grace McIlroy, Georgina Buchan, Maddie Taylor, Ivy Westley, Riley Salvestro, Sarah Morris and Dan Hughes all led cattle in various classes throughout the day and also competed in Junior Judging and Paraders.

In the cattle classes, SCOTS PGC Quantum Q6 came second in the Angus bulls 16 -20 months. SCOTS PGC Quaint Q10 came third in the Angus bulls 16 – 20 months. Despite some stiff competition in the led steer classes, SCOTS PGC Sco-mo came 4^th in his class.

Overall, the Warwick Show, was a great experience for everyone who attended. Thank you to Mr Collett for organising everything and supervising us. Also, thank you Mr Adam Worboys for transporting our cattle to and from the show, it was greatly appreciated.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT….. here is last week’s write up from the Inglewood Show by Year 9 Student Ben Carey.

Last Saturday the SCOTS PGC College Cattle club took part in the Inglewood Show and it proved to be a great success. Congratulations to the following students:

• Dan Hughes: 3rd in 15 to 25 years Paraders and 2^nd in 15 to 25 years Cattle Junior Judging.
• Ben Carey: 2^nd in 14 to 15 years Paraders and 1^st in 14 to15 years and under Cattle Junior Judging.
• Georgia Mulcahy: 1^st in 13 years and under Paraders.
• Mackenzie Taylor: 3^rd in 14 to 15 years Paraders.
• Maddie Taylor: 4^th in 15 to 25 years Paraders.
• Grace Mcllroy: 2^nd in 15 to 25 years Paraders and 3^rd in 15 to 25 years’ Cattle Junior Judging.
• Georgina Buchan: 1^st in 14 to 15 years Paraders.
• Layne Frankcom: 3^rd in under 13 Prime Cattle Junior Judging.
• Sarah Morris: 2^nd in under 13 Prime Cattle Junior Judging

Emma Corke and James Buchan led cattle in various classes throughout the day and also competed in Junior Judging and Paraders.

In the Cattle Classes:

• SCOTS PGC ‘Sco-mo’ came 1^st in his heavyweight class and won the champion led steer.
• SOTS PGC ‘Palmer’ came 1^st in his lightweight class steer class.
• SCOTS PGC ‘Q6’ came first in the British breed bulls 16 -20 months and the Overall Grand Champion Bull of the show.
• SCOTS PGC ‘R3’ came 2^nd in the British Breed bulls 16-20 months’ class.
• SCOTS PGC ‘Q10’ came 3^rd in the British Breed bulls 16-20 months’ class.
• Grimstead ‘Gypsy’ came first, Reserve and Champion in the British breed heifers class.

Overall, the Inglewood Show was a great success and a fulfilling experience for everyone who attended. Thank you to Mr Collett for organising everything, supervising us and driving us to and from Inglewood. We also like to credit the team’s success to Mr Collett’s knowledge and guidance. This weekend we will head off to the Warwick Show. All the best to everyone participating.