In this issue

Ms Amy Woodgate | Head of Junior and Middle Schools

‘A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has lost forever the child who lived in him.’

– Pablo Neruda (Poet)

As well-know Australian educator and author, Maggie Dent states, ‘children are wired to play.  Play is very serious business for them’.  We have the privileged opportunity of witnessing our boys and girls play each and every day, whether we, or even they, realise they are.

It is easier to recognise play when we observe a group of students building stables for their ‘horses’ out of blocks, or when a young child excitedly shows us the fairy garden they’ve created under a hedge for the family of imaginary fairies.  We can recognise play in our older students playing a game of handball or kicking a football on the oval.

What we may not initially recognize as play is that young person engrossed in the drawing they are creating, the group of students laughing at the outcome of a brain teaser maths challenge or the teenager fascinated by what they have found when they disassembled the engine of a broken down dirt bike to see how it works.

‘Play is a state of mind that one has when absorbed in an activity that provides enjoyment and a suspension of sense of time.  And play is self-motivated so you want to do it again and again.

-Dr Stuart Brown (American doctor, psychiatrist and clinical researcher)

Our initial understanding of play is quite often that of ‘free play’.  What we must remember is that play is a purposeful form of learning that is intrinsically motivated and sees young people actively engaged in discovery.  Playful experiences foster creativity, curiosity and imagination.  Play is loud, play is silent, play is messy, play is solitary and play is interactive.  It can be one or all of these things at once.

In their recent book, Let the Children Play, renowned Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg and academic William Doyle, espouse the importance of play as how we learn from an early age to interact with the world around us.  They state that play nurtures self-esteem and self-regulation, whilst developing problem solving skills, an understanding of social rules and enhancing our cognitive understanding and physical and brain development.  Simply, they believe that play is powerful.

Dr Stuart Brown is the founder of the National Institute of Play based in California.  In his 2009 book, ‘Play’, he describes research conducted in various fields, such as neuroscience, psychology or behavioural science, that affirms the importance of play as a basic biological process that promotes survival, shapes the brain and makes us more adaptable.  He states that play lies at the core of creativity and innovation and is the purest form of expression.

Dr Brown continues in his book to explore the importance of play for all of us, no matter our age.  He proposes that as children we play quite naturally.  We are inquisitive, open to risk taking and take enjoyment from it.  We learn how the world works, how relationships are formed and how friends interact.  We learn to take a risk, to try something new and to let our creativity flow with no bounds.  Dr Brown argues that at some point we begin to ‘feel guilty’ about play, start believing that it is a waste of time, or just something we do if we have spare time.

Perhaps we need to start considering play more in terms of those feelings of exhilaration and pure joy that we all had when we were younger.  That feeling when we made a new friend at the park, built a pillow fort in nanna’s loungeroom or made a new home for that lizard we found in the garden.  Dr Brown proposes that whilst play is different for everyone, being playful, being curious and spending time doing what brings us joy should be a part of all of our lives.  It can be riding a bike, spending time in the garden, reading a good book or making a delicious meal.  There is no right or wrong way to play.

I often find myself reflecting upon all of this when in the Junior School playground.  We are so incredibly fortunate to have this beautiful outdoor environment for our children.  On any given day, there are children doing gymnastics routines on the grass, a group of boys and girls playing football, while others are pushing one another on the birds nest swing.  At the same time as this, children are climbing the towers, balancing on the cargo nets or going down the fireman’s pole.  A group will be making concoctions from water and sand, others will be building a track for their cars and even more will be working together to build a dam in the river bed.  It is simply enjoyable to watch and I find myself leaving the area with a smile after each playtime when I’ve had the privilege to witness the pure enjoyment they achieve from their play.

So with what we know about play, perhaps it is time that we carve out a small spot in our day or week to be playful, to be curious and to experience just a little of that joy our boys and girls do when they are going down the slide.

References

National Institute of Play

https://www.nifplay.org/#Section_1

Brown, S. L., & Vaughan, C. C. (2009). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. New York: Avery.

Sahlberg, P., & Doyle, W. (2019). Let the Children Play: How more play will save our schools and help children thrive. New York: Oxford University Press.

Mr Tom Bradbury | Acting Director of Co-Curricular Activities

Darling Downs & South West Equestrian Championships

Over the last weekend, our Equestrian Team were busy in Toowoomba at the Darling Downs and South West Schools Equestrian Titles.

This is the pinnacle of regional events and these Regional Championships have produced several Queensland Representatives. This weekend our student’s participated in three distinct categories including the Combined Training Event (Dressage and Showjumping), Dressage and Showjumping at several different heights.

In the Combined Events held on Day 1, our students gained the following results.

• Jessica Angus | CT 60cm Champion
• Jessica Angus | CT 1m Reserve Champ
• Sophie Poole | CT 80cm Champion
• Phoebe Sellick | CT 60cm 4th

The SCOTS PGC College Team were Reserve Champions of the Combined training Event with the following competitors making up the successful team – Jessica Angus, Sophie Poole, Phoebe Sellick and Scarlet Hart.

Other placings in the overall placings included, Scarlett Hart CT 60cm 7th and Co-Captain Felicity Hodges CT 80cm 11th.

In the Dressage Events of Day 1 and 2, our students performed quite well with the following class placings

• Jessica Angus | Elementary Dressage Champion
• Felicity Hodges | Prelim dressage 1B 7th
• Sophie Brennan | Elementary dressage 3B 6th
• Jessica Angus | Champion Secondary Novice
• Hanaka Parker | Secondary Novice 6th
• Sophie Poole | Secondary Novice 8th

On Sunday, the third and final day of the Championships, our students moved their attention to the Showjumping Discipline where our riders experienced mixed success.

• Jessica Angus | Champion 1.10m
• Tom Brasch | Reserve Champ 1.10m
• Gabby Sellick | 1m 8^th
• Phoebe Sellick | 90cm 12th
• Sophie Poole | 90cm 13th
• April Davies | 80cm 6th
• Hanaka Parker | 80cm 10th
• Hannah Lawlor | Champion 70cm
• Scarlet Hart | 70cm 3rd
• Phoebe Sellick | 70cm 4th
• Mac Sanderson | 70cm 6th

Finally, in the Showjumping Teams event, Our Team gained 1^st place with Tom Brasch, Jessica Angus, Hanaka Parker and young Scarlet Hart defeating Fairholme, Glennie, St John’s – Roma, St Hilda’s, Harristown SHS and others who had come from all areas for this final opportunity to qualify for the Queensland Championships.

Many of our students have now qualified for the State Championships in the next holiday break and we wish them well as they vie for places in the Queensland Team to attend the Nationals later in the year. We look forward to advising you of these selections once they are finalised and wish them all well for the upcoming events.

Many thanks to all our staff, parents and helpers for their efforts in making the championships such a successful one in the light of the weather conditions, and to the DD and SW Equestrian Committee for their conduct of the event.

Queensland Pipe Band Championships

On Sunday 22 May, our College Pipes and Drums headed to Ipswich for the Queensland Pipe Band Championships, where they faced the best bands in the state. Mrs Christine Peterson reported back the following results from our team’s performances under the tutelage of Pipe Band Co-ordinator and instructor Mr Sandy Dalziel.

Novice Juvenile A

• 1st Brisbane Boys’ College No 1
• 2nd The SCOTS PGC College
• 3rd Knox Grammar School No 1
• Drum Corps: Brisbane Boys’ College No 1

Novice Juvenile B

• 1st Brisbane Boys’ College No 2
• 2nd The SCOTS PGC College
• 3rd Knox Grammar School No 2
• Drum Corps: Brisbane Boys’ College No 1

4B Novice / Juvenile  B Medley

• 1st Brisbane Boys’ College No 2
• 2nd Knox Grammar School No 2
• 3rd The SCOTS PGC College
• Drum Corps: Brisbane Boys’ College No 2

For such a young band, which ours is, these results were most promising and a credit to the determination and dedication of all associated with the Pipe Band from our dedicated staff to our passionate students and super-supportive parents.

Thank you one and all for the time and efforts you all up into our iconic Pipe Band to gain these wonderful results.

Upcoming Trials

• Friday Boys and Girls Rugby Fixtures continue with Finals coming up on May 27 and June 3
• Warwick Interschool Hockey Fixtures continue on Tuesday evenings
• Years 7-12 Basketball Fixtures continue every Monday evening in Term 2
• Darling Downs Cross Country – Toowoomba – Tuesday 24 May
• QCIS Cross Country – Downlands College – Wednesday 1 June – Team to be advised
• SCOTS PGC Junior/Senior Athletics Carnival – 1500m Events – To be advised
• SCOTS PGC Junior Athletics Carnival – To be advised
• SCOTS PGC Senior Athletics Carnival – To be advised

From Boys’ Boarding

Mr David Marriott | Head of Senior Boys’ Boarding

For all the boys in boarding at SCOTS PGC, National Boarding Week presented an excellent opportunity to showcase what it means to share that ‘special bond’ that is unique to a bunch of boarding brothers. The shared experiences of life in this environment can be captured in many wonderful ways, so enjoy reading about just some of them, and viewing the photos in the gallery.

The Year 10 group shared a ‘family supper’ together and reflected on how they all can contribute in a positive way toward their boarding house. The respect and genuine mateship were obvious for all to see during a great time together.

Out of the adversity of the recent ‘Flooding Friday’, all the boys found themselves restricted to the boarding residences for the day. What followed post-lunch, in drizzling rain, was a game of ‘Mud Footy’ that will certainly be remembered by all involved for many years. The boys participated fully, with smiling faces, in a wonderful show of spirit and mateship by all Junior and Senior boarders.

Tuesday evening involved boys from several year levels in Senior boarding working together with staff member, Troy Rankin, to begin the refurbishment of the pool table. It was fantastic to see boys enjoying time together and working with tools on something that will benefit many boys now and into the future. This was again a great sign of house spirit.

On Wednesday, our Junior boarders, with the help of Mrs Marriott, showed off their cooking skills and made the Australian classic, chocolate crackles. There was plenty of food on offer and the highlight of the activity was the shared supper in Hawkins house that evening. Boys from from Years 5 12 shared food, laughs, basketball matches and genuine care for each other throughout another special time together in boarding.

Thanks to all the boys and staff who contributed to these excellent events. We have all had a great week in boarding.

P&F Junior Disco is a hit!

A very big thank you to all the families who attended our P&F Junior Disco.  The event was deemed a huge success which was evident from the many little (and big) people who donned their disco shoes and danced the night away.  The P&F are now turning toward preparations for their next event – a family dinner in the Des Davey Dining Hall.  Stay tuned for details!

Year 1 Spotlight

Mrs Sharyn Bomford | Year 1 Teacher

The Year 1 classroom has been a hive of activity over the semester. We have grown together, welcoming new friends and families into our cohort, and love being a part of the Junior School and SCOTS PGC College community.

Each of us is excited about how much we have developed since last term in different areas of the curriculum. I have shed proud and happy tears as each child has achieved personal goals along the way. It is always a privilege and pleasure to be a part of their learning journey and see the joy on their faces when they attain their goals.

Writing this term has taken off with children writing personal recounts. We were particularly proud of our ANZAC Day pieces at the beginning of term, and we are about to publish some of our creative writing stories.

We have enjoyed visits from our Year 5 buddies who have assisted us with some of our Science and Geography tasks. In Science, planning, designing and building our classroom zoo was very exciting last term. Year 1 class decided which animal enclosures to include then went about researching what each animal enclosure would need. Tabitha and Hank, along with his big brother Brady, designed an amazing elephant enclosure. The crocodile enclosure designed by Cooper and Peyton was also a favourite at our zoo.

Geography lessons this week put our mapping skills to work and gave me the opportunity to share my Western Australia road map with the class from my trip last year. The children remembered the postcards I’d sent and the experience we shared via Facetime from Busselton Jetty and the aquarium. We used our maps to work out how to get to the Humanities building and dropped in to visit Mr Keevers and his Year 12 class. During our walk, we really enjoyed the sunshine and autumn leaves too. We decided to collect the autumn leaves to make pictures of ourselves to add to our school pictorial map we are putting together.

The transition the children made from Prep to Year 1 has been a wonderful experience for all involved.  I can’t wait to see where the rest of the year takes us!

Up, Up and Away

 Nicholas McGahan | College Captain & Pipe Major

We are off on a huge adventure!

At the end of Term 1, five students from our Pipes and Drums Corps were invited to join Brisbane Boys College to travel to Scotland in July and August to perform at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.  Pipers – Nic McGahan (Year 12), Fraser Collins (Year 11), Rory Macfarlane (Year 11), Sam Bourke (Year 10) and Drummer – Josh Hullock (Year 11), together with Mr Sandy Dalziel, are all off to Scotland on a once in a lifetime adventure.

We are incredibly honoured and humbled that we have been selected by Brisbane Boys College to join them as the only Australian band performing at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2022.

We have been busily learning new tunes, practising at Kingswood every morning, travelling to Brisbane weekly for practices and generally preparing ourselves for the crazy schedule that we will have in Scotland.  With a full week of 10 hour daily rehearsals on our arrival and then twenty-five daily performances (sometimes two shows a day), there will be no rest for us.

To add to this amazing opportunity, following a couple of warm-up competitions on our one day off per week, we then get to compete at the World Championships in Glasgow.  As Mr Thompson said, “This is the Olympics for Pipers and Drummers!”

As I said in my School Captains Speech earlier in the year – we need to take the opportunities that present themselves to us.  Catch that bus.  Take that ride.  This just might be the ride of our lifetime!

Up, up and away.