In this issue

Mr Richard Dobrenov | Deputy Prinicipal | Head of Senior School

Universities Show Case + Careers Evening

Last Tuesday, our Year 12 students had the opportunity to attend the “Universities Show Case” to hear about the exciting opportunities for those wishing to continue their studies through TAFE, University, or the Armed Forces.  Representatives from Universities as far north as Central Queensland University and south as the University of New England were present to field questions and inspire our soon to be graduates about the opportunities available at the various institutions.  They were also on hand to explain the differences between school and university life, as well as some of the challenges and rewards experienced when embarking upon a tertiary pathway.

For many of our Year 12 students, the afternoon provided a little more clarity around the myriad of choices that await them at the end of this year.  A natural extension of the “Universities Show Case” is our Careers Evening which will be held on the 11 of July in the Assembly Hall.  An invitation will be forwarded to parents and students in the very near future, as well as a call for expressions of interest from our parent body and the Past Students’ Association.  I look forward to emulating the success of last year’s event in a larger setting, to allow all our Year 10-12 students to attend with their families.

Should you wish to contribute to the evening by speaking to the students about what your profession entails, how you got there and any other information that you feel is relevant, would you please email me at richard.dobrenov@scotspgc.com.au to express an interest?  I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Ms Amy Woodgate | Head of Junior and Middle School

A Wonderful Week 1 in Junior and Middle School

The Junior and Middle School students eagerly arrived in their winter uniforms last week and the academic and co-curricular programs commenced for Term 2.  The smiles on their faces, the excited sharing of holiday stories and the caring nature of our boys and girls always makes it wonderful to be back to school.  It was also lovely to see the way our current students welcomed the new students who started in Junior and Middle School this term into their classes and friendship groups.

This term, we have also welcomed Mrs Monique Trim to our College.  Mrs Trim will be teaching English across Years 7 and 8 and comes to the College with a wealth of experience across the independent and state sector.  Mrs Trim will also be the Tutor Teacher of 07 Green alongside Mrs Robyn Kuhn.

If the list of upcoming events is anything to go by, and with it only being a 9-week term, I am sure that it will be a busy few months ahead.

Below is a list of just some of the upcoming activities for Junior and Middle School.  More details will be provided on SCOTS Connect or via email to the relevant year levels and families as the dates draw closer.

Friday 29 April – Junior School Assembly (5A to host)

Monday 2 May – May Day Public Holiday

Wednesday 4 May – P&F Junior School Mother’s Day Stall

Prep to Year 5 classes will visit the Mother’s Day Stall during class time.  The Stall will be open to all other year levels at lunchtime. 

Wednesday 4 May – Monday/Wednesday timetable swap

To accommodate the number of Monday public holidays this term, the Monday timetable will run on Wednesday 4 May.  This is for ALL year levels and includes specialist lessons for Junior School. 

Tuesday 10 May to Friday 20 May – NAPLAN Online Testing Window

Wednesday 11 May – Middle School Leaders Badge Presentation (12pm start)

Thursday 12 May – P&F Junior School Disco

Friday 13 May – Junior School Assembly (5B to host)

Tuesday 17 May – College Photograph Day

Thursday 26 May – InterClan Cross Country Carnival

Tuesday 31 May – Year 7 Life Education Van Visit

Wednesday 1 June – Middle School Assembly (MS Leaders to host)

Thursday 9 June & Friday 10 June – Junior 5-12 years InterClan Athletics Carnival

Tuesday 14 June & Wednesday 15 June – Senior 13-19 years InterClan Athletics Carnival

Friday 17 June – Term 2 concludes

P&F Mother’s Day Stall

This year, the College P&F will once again be running a Mother’s Day Stall.  This will take place on Wednesday 4 May in the WALEC Library. Gifts will be priced at $5 and $10.

Junior School classes will visit the Stall during class time.  If Middle School students wish to purchase a gift, they may attend the Stall during lunchtime.

The P&F is seeking volunteers to assist with wrapping gifts this Wednesday 27 April.  If you are able to volunteer your time, please meet members of the P&F at Main Reception at 9 am after school drop off.

NAPLAN 2022

The National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is scheduled to run in 2022 for all students across Australia in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.  Students in these year levels will undertake NAPLAN tests in the four domains of Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy.  In 2022, SCOTS PGC College will transition from paper-based to completing NAPLAN online, with Year 3 students continuing to complete the writing assessment on paper.

Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 have engaged in a program of preparation which included participation in NAPLAN National Practice tests.

The NAPLAN test window in 2022 runs from Tuesday 10 May through to Friday 20 May. The finalised schedule has been distributed to parents and carers of students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

At SCOTS PGC College, we approach these days as just another day in the school year.  We prepare our students for these tests through high-quality teaching and learning programs that continually strive to enhance the literacy and numeracy skills of our students.  Students are provided with opportunities to familiarise themselves with the style of questions that may be asked and the test format they may be presented with.

More information about NAPLAN for parents and carers can be found:

NAP – Parent/Carer Support

Public Demonstration Site

Please contact Amanda Hall (Amanda.hall@scotspgc.com.au) if you have any queries or would like further information about NAPLAN in 2022.

Mr Tom Bradbury | Acting Director of Co-Curricular Activities

Holiday Successes

 Co-curricular activities don’t take holidays here at SCOTS PGC and over the school holidays, we had two students very busy with their sports achieving fantastic results.

Ala Frankcom (Year 12) was named in the Queensland U21 Polocrosse team and will play at Morgan Park in an Interstate competition which will also have the New Zealand U21 Team competing. This is a fantastic rise through the ranks for Ala and a great opportunity for her to make an impression with World Cup Polocrosse coming back around after a COVID enforced hiatus. We congratulate Ala and wish her all the best for the upcoming competition.

Not to be outdone,  Zara Kruger received a call up for the Young Matilda’s training camp held last week in Adelaide. This training camp is for the most outstanding young female footballers in the country and a real feather in Zara’s cap. Unfortunately, COVID prevented her from attending the event but she is right on the radar for higher honours in the near future. We congratulate Zara on this amazing achievement and look forward to seeing her in action for the College in the QCIS and SWQ Futsal Titles this coming week.

 Arranmore Afterschool Activities

 Term 2 activities kick off this week as per the Co-Curricular Program. Please check these each week. Students registered for these activities will have received confirmation Tuesday 26 April.

Tuesday | Cooking Club and Netball

Wednesday | Dance, Craft Club and Athletics

Thursday | Role-Playing Games and Rugby

Darling Downs Schools Cup Hockey – April 20 and 21

Week 1 of Term 2 started with a flurry of activity and the Darling Downs Schools Cup Hockey competitions were certainly intense events to kick it off.

On Wednesday, the boy’s team consisting of Lachlan Groves, Mika Repo, Rory Farrell, Hamish Bayley, Mantaj Brar, William Angus, Tanner Henley, Jack McCarthy, James Bourke, and Samuel Bourke proved to be the fly in the ointment for a few teams and after finishing second in their pool, were able to make their way to the top 4 playoffs. Here they met eventual Champions, Centenary Heights State High School.

This team was heavily loaded with current and former Queensland representatives. Our boys held their own for significant parts of their semi-final but finally succumbed to their depth with a 4-1 loss and relegation to the 3rd/4th playoff. Here they had a fantastic contest with St Mary’s College Toowoomba and could easily have turned the tables on these lads had the rub of the green gone their way on a few more occasions.

In the end, the individual brilliance of Sam Bourke was not enough. Although Nicholas McGahan worked hard and our younger guns in Lachlan Groves, Rory Farrell and Will Angus offered significant support, it was not enough to hold St Mary’s out and the game ended with victory to the All Whites with a 1-0 final scoreline.

So at the end of the competition, the boys finished 4th overall – a further improvement on last year’s performance and a top effort for a school with lower numbers to choose from than others.

 The next day the girl’s team comprising of Millie Groves, Briana Groves, Emma Bradbury, Krystal Petersen, Abbey Petersen, Bonnie Petersen, Lily Malone, Georgie Malone, Isobel Lewis, Bryoni Marshall and Belle Meek took their opportunity and made every post a winner.

Two draws early in the competition were fantastic efforts against Downlands and St Joseph’s College, but it was their 4-0 win against Mary Mackillop that sealed their second spot and a trip to the semi-final just like the boys.

Their semi-final saw them face defending champions The Glennie School. Unfortunately, the class of the Glennie team, with several representative players who combined very well, were too good and the SCOTS PGC girls went down 3-0. This also relegated the team to the 3rd/4th playoff where they faced the former five-time champions, St Ursula’s College with their National Championship winning striker. The girls put up one heck of a fight after 2 quick goals to their opponents and managed to claw back a goal in the back half of the match but St Ursula’s put it beyond doubt with another late goal to take the match 3-1.

After a tough but successful competition, the girls finished 4th Overall, equal to the boys and can hold their heads high. Lily Malone was very productive down the right-hand side, captain Millie Groves scored three for the day and led by example at all times, Emma Bradbury defended her heart out and provided great service to the midfield and forwards, and Krystal Petersen was solid in the net.

Our Hockey focus now moves to the Tuesday night Mixed Interschool competition commencing at the Warwick Hockey Association on April 26 where many of our players will participate. We thank Mrs Angela Groves for coaching the two squads during this event and Miss Alexis Carey who managed the teams on behalf of the College.

Cattle Club | Goombungee-Haden Show Results

On first thought, we presumed the Goombungee-Haden Show would be a small event but a great opportunity to compete with the COVID affected calendar so far.

However, there were 130 cattle and at least five schools with lots of team members who were obviously of the same opinion that any competition would be good competition.

Eight SCOTS students went up to the show early Saturday morning. The students and the College gained the following results:

• A win in the Angus Junior bull, which went on to win Reserve Champion bull (Angus)
• In the Led Steer competition – Georgia Mulcahy gained 1st whilst Cruz Hamilton gained 3rd.
• The Under 15 Division in the Paraders Category saw Georgia Mulcahy place 1st, an impressive result given approximately 50 participants contested the event in 2 heats. In the Over 15 Division – Anthony Gimm placed in the top 4.

All the students had a great day and look forward to doing it all again at Goondiwindi Show this coming Saturday where we hope further success will come the way of our hard-working students and staff.

We offer a huge thank you to Mrs Marcella Mortison, Mr Peter Collett and the very supportive parents of our Cattle Club participants for all they do to assist them week in and week out.

Youth Campdraft Training Day

A successful day of training and coaching was held at Allora Showgrounds over the weekend of April 24. Some 25-30 students from the College engaged in training activities to enhance their horsemanship skills with a further 10 external youth riders also attending.

We congratulate our Equestrian Centre Team and the host of volunteers and employees for their efforts in putting this unique event together for our students of Campdrafting.  Thanks also to the College families who supported this event – there are too many to name individually but we’re very grateful for your support.  From all accounts, the day was a resounding success with great interest in the next event proposed for the group.

From Boys’ Boarding 

It has been a smooth transition back into Cunningham and Hawkins House for our Junior and Senior Boy Boarders as Term 2 began with plenty of activity, including a combined boarders Movie Night, and welcoming a new boarding student into the SCOTS PGC family.

The obvious highlight of our first weekend was the College’s ANZAC Day Dawn service. It was a truly solemn experience for all who attended and I would like to congratulate and thank all involved on a wonderful event, in particular the Boys’ Boarders, who embraced the entire service with respect. The commemoration of ANZAC Day continued onto the Warwick town service and march on Monday where our boys, once again, presented extremely well and represented themselves, their family and the College in an excellent manner and spirit befitting SCOTS PGC students.

Both Mr Bailey and I are also pleased to see the majority of boys again engaging well in their academic work and co-curricular activities. The expectations will remain high for the boys as they continue to strive to achieve the best they can in their school work. Productive use of homework time or ‘Prep’ is vital to achieving this goal. Similarly, it is important to remain committed to your sporting team or club activity at both training and performance. Congratulations to the U13 Rugby boys who achieved their first win of the season on Friday night.

We look forward to an excellent term together.

P&F Mother’s Day Stall

This year, the College P&F will once again be running a Mother’s Day Stall.  This will take place on Wednesday 4 May in the WALEC Library. Gifts will be priced at $5 and $10.

Junior School classes will visit the Stall during class time.  If Middle School students wish to purchase a gift, they may attend the Stall during lunchtime.

The P&F is seeking volunteers to assist with wrapping gifts this Wednesday 27 April.  If you are able to volunteer your time, please meet members of the P&F at Main Reception at 9 am after school drop off.

ANZAC Day Commemorations

It was wonderful to be part of the Warwick community’s town ANZAC Services after hosting our own annual Dawn Service last week.  ANZAC Day is a very special day on the College’s calendar as we pay tribute to the Magnificent 42 – our past students who served and sacrificed their lives in WWII.

The College has put together a special video to honour the occasion which can be viewed at the following link:

Click image to view the video

“This simple act of selecting and reading a book for pleasure has been proven to play an integral role in a child’s success during both their schooling and adult life.”

May is Scholastic National Family Reading month, it is the month where families are encouraged to read every night of the month.  Good reading habits are something that children develop from seeing adults read.  Research also shows having parents who are reading role models is crucial for children to first develop these positive attitudes and behaviours toward reading for pleasure. Seeing you reading—whether it’s reading a novel for pleasure, browsing the newspaper for information, or simply flicking through a cookbook or magazine— this all helps your child foster a healthy appreciation of reading and its importance in everyday life (Scholastic Aust).  At SCOTS PGC, we have a well-stocked library with a wide range of books for all interests.  We also have access to eBooks and audiobooks on our ePlatform app or via the Library Services page on SCOTS Connect.

This May is a good chance to share books with your children – no one is ever too old to have a book read to them or just enjoy reading for pleasure.