In this issue

Mrs Susan Everson | Head of Girls’ Boarding 

That’s a wrap! What an amazing boarding year that we have all had.  This year has seen our Girls’ Boarding community flourish with the welcome arrival of thirty new girls, new staff and the revitalisation of some tired dormitories into new and fresh living spaces. Whilst all of this has been happening, our girls have embraced the new changes with vigour and maturity.   Our earlier prep times have become popular over time and the girls are looking forward to implementing new initiatives in 2022 which they have worked on collaboratively.

I’d like to personally congratulate all the girls on the special accomplishments that they received at last week’s College Speech Day. This is an excellent representation of all the amazing girls that we’re proud to have as part of our boarding family and what makes SCOTS PGC boarding a special place to grow.  I’m incredibly proud of each and every one of you and can’t wait to see what further progress you make during your time here.

On behalf of all the staff at Girls Boarding, I’d also like to wish all the boarding families near and far, a safe and Merry Christmas.  We look forward to seeing you all in the new year -fresh, enthusiastic, and ready to embrace 2022.

Mr David Marriott | Head of Senior Boys’ Boarding

The group of young men who have formed the Senior Boys’ Boarding family in 2021 set out with a collective goal to ‘live’ the College values of Respect, Tenacity and Spirit to the best of their ability in all aspects of their boarding life during their 2021 journey.

Led by Boarding Captain Darcy Zammit and Vice-Captain Adrien Mayfield, the boys of Hawkins House have achieved these ambitions, and much more. Most importantly, many strong, positive friendships have also been formed amongst the boys throughout the year. Congratulations are richly deserved for all the boys on achieving such important milestones. Thanks for being yourselves, positively contributing to the House throughout the year, and for continuing to strive to be the best man possible. Special mention to the ten young men who made up the Senior cohort of boarders this year. These boys are a true credit to themselves, their family and the College. They have displayed wonderful leadership and maturity and set a great standard for all other boys to follow. I wish them well in their future endeavours.

I would like to thank all the parents, guardians and carers of our boy boarders for the support and trust you have shown toward me and the other staff who work in Hawkins House. It has been a pleasure to work with your sons throughout the year, hopefully making a positive impact. A big thank you to the wonderful boarding staff for all your time, effort and dedication in supporting the young men in our boarding care. You have done a great job. Finally, special thanks to the College Executive, led by Mr Thompson, for their unwavering support of our boarding community.

May the 2021 year always hold fond memories for our Senior Boys’ Boarders.  We are looking forward to seeing all of our returning boys in 2022 after a much deserved holiday break!

Mr Stewart Bailey | Head of Junior Boys’ Boarding

Like any year, 2021, has been a time when our boys have been challenged to produce an academic result, a sporting achievement, and represent the College in our co-curricular program.  Their ability to achieve one or all of these challenges has provided focus to the lives of all our students.  Our academic students have excelled through disciplined application. Our athletic heroes held centre stage during some epic battles on the sporting field and the co-curricular program has been a source of great pleasure for the boys.

Regardless of any noteworthy performance, the overriding quest in our boarding environment is to do whatever is in our power to assist our students in their bid to find happiness. Dr Tim Sharp, wrote a particularly good article named “Finding Yourself”.  I quote the following passages from that article.

“To begin with, I’d like to address one of the biggest mistakes made by those wanting to live a better life and experience more happiness: some people simply try too hard! Further, if what you’re trying is not working then trying even harder is not likely to lead to a successful outcome either! …

I am encouraging you to think about the notion that happiness does not necessarily come to those who work the hardest but rather to those who work the smartest; and in the context of happiness, working smart often involves just being. … So rather than asking if you’re trying hard enough, try asking if you’re trying the right approach…

And finally, happiness is not something you will “find”; “you” cannot ever really be “lost”. If you’re nor clear about what to do to achieve more happiness it’s more likely to do with you not acknowledging or not honestly facing up to that which you probably “know”. Happiness is inside you and happiness can only ever be experienced in the ‘here and now”; so instead of asking where can you find happiness ask instead, how can you create more of it”.

The relationships we have, as a boarding staff, with our residential students is very special. This relationship must be built on mutual trust and evolves over time. The link between a student’s happiness and their relationship with staff is a vital part of every individual feeling safe and secure in the boarding house. The bond between staff and students should also extend to our parents. When the link between student staff and parents is complete we can be assured that the individual student will thrive and prosper in the boarding environment. This is one of our ongoing goals at SCOTS PGC College.

I’ve had a wonderful time this year, enjoying the company of your sons and watching them grow and develop into mature young men.  On behalf of all the boarding staff within Cunningham House, I’d like to wish our families a safe and happy holiday.  We look forward to welcoming you all back for an even bigger and better 2022!

With their examinations completed, our Year 7As found some time to have a little fun in the classroom. The students completed a series of Minute to Win It challenges during class this week, learning how physics and gravity can make it hard to balance, catch, shift and move things.

Take a look and see if you can guess what games we played!

Year 9 students have done a great job on their vegetable gardens this semester after completing the highly anticipated ‘Monster Vegetable’ unit in Year 9 Agricultural Science.   Students have learned how plants work and what they need in order to grow properly.  The practical side of the unit allows them to put their knowledge into practice and grow their own monster veggies.

At the beginning of the semester, students set out in small groups to prepare their vegetable patches in the Ag plot next to the gym.  They evaluated the various types of irrigation systems used in large scale agriculture to determine what would work best in their own scenarios.  Their preparation also involved assessing macro and micro nutrients within the soil to later determine what would work best to fertilise and nourish their vegetable plants.

The competition aspect of this unit was hugely popular and this week, Mr Collett judged each garden to award winners for the ‘best looking garden’ and the ‘biggest monster vegetable’.

Congratulations to Ben Carey, Lachlan Woods and Slava Cheredov who were the winning group with the best looking garden and Molly-Rose Sinclair, Tyler Caldwell and Ben Cameron who had the biggest marrow. It weighed a whopping 3.2 kg!

We are currently collating the 2021 Tartan Yearbook and are now in the process of taking orders.

Please click on the Tartan 2021 – Order Form link or contact the College Reception to place your order.

Mr Tom Bradbury | Assistant Director of Co-Curricular Activities

Thank you

As the year comes to an end, we take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all participants in our Co-Curricular Program for 2021.
To the students, coaches, teachers and officials who have participated in, supported or officiated in some capacity, we give you our sincere thanks for the way in which you have conducted yourself as members of our SCOTS PGC Community.

In 2021 we have had success across a range of sports and activities.

Our Equestrian program continues to grow and grow with some forty students now involved in lessons or competition on behalf of the College, in both English disciplines and Campdrafting. The Futsal program continues to go from strength to strength, with our girls particularly making waves at the highest levels of competition. The Boys Super Schools Rugby competition continues to grow and the final game of the year on Briggs Oval was a cracking way to finish the season. Our Cricket Program has attracted school competition back to Briggs with some smashing performances by our First XI and U14 teams.

The Swimming Team swept all before them at Border District and the Warwick All Schools competition. The Athletics team dominated the Border District, Warwick All Schools and QCIS events. The Cross Country team won the Border District and QCIS Events with second at the Darling Downs Championship behind Fairholme and Toowoomba Grammar respectively in the girls and boys categories.
Our Arranmore Program attracted more students to our afterschool program of sports and activities for Years 1-6, with the Cooking Club a huge hit in Term 3 and 4 to name just one of the highlights. Golf and Netball were added to this program in 2021 and were well received by our younger students.

Our Choirs, Rock Bands and Ensembles were still a little starved of activities due to restrictions but the Junior Choir charmed us all at the Junior and Middle Speech Day assembly and the Rock Bands impressed at the Junior School Playground Opening and Senior Speech Day. The Pipe Band never fails to excite with the dedication to practice and their stirring performances always a favourite for present and past community members alike.

I could go on and on but that would be preaching to the choir because you are all fully aware of the vast activities available here at the College.  Again, thank you all for your participation at whatever level and we look forward to offering our broad program once again in 2022.  I take this opportunity to wish all our community members a happy, holy and safe Christmas vacation spent with family and friends regenerating in preparation for another big year ahead.

Queensland All Schools Athletics Championships

Recently several students participated at the Queensland All Schools Athletics Championships and gained great success. The final events of these championships involved the hammer throw which was held separately from the main carnival.

This has been an event in which our College Captain, William Gilmore, has excelled over his time here at the College and this year was no exception. Will in his final competition as a SCOTS student, performed exceptionally as always and gained 2^nd place in the U20 Boys event qualifying once more to attend the National Championships next March.

We take this final opportunity to congratulate Will and thank him for his service to the College over many years, through not only his performances but the humble way in which he has always gone about his competition.

SCOTS Junior Touch Competition – Term 4

Our final day of the 2021 Junior Touch Competition saw 120 young players from across Warwick take the fields to wrap up another great competition. Our U9, U12 and U14 competitions were well received after the cancellation of the 2020 Competition. We thoroughly enjoy hosting this event each year and the opportunity it gives our older students to coach and referee the younger students. This is just another learning opportunity that our Co-curricular Program offers all of our students. Watching the interactions and seeing the coaches and referees improve as much as the players, is extremely very rewarding for us as educators.

Darling Downs Futsal representation

Last weekend, Mr Tom Bradbury, Mr Simon Mascadri and Phoebe Sellick represented the Darling Downs Region at the Queensland School Sport 13-14 Years Futsal Invitational.

The event was a festival of Futsal with outstanding competition. Mr Mascadri’s boys were truly challenged after several withdrawals from their team caused some lack of cohesion. Fortunately for the girl’s team, we had all selected players in attendance and the girls gelled fantastically. Phoebe Sellick from SCOTS PGC was one of our top three players as she filled the Pivot role in front of the attacking goal and scored several for the red, white and blue.

Phoebe’s Darling Downs Girls were very unlucky with one-goal losses to four regions, putting them towards the bottom of the draw. They finished 6th overall but lost to the eventual winners, Sunshine Coast, 2-1 in a game described by the Sunshine Coast as their toughest of the tournament.

We congratulate Phoebe on her participation at this event and the significant contribution she made to the team.

Demi Hayes named Australian 7’s Captain

Recently, SCOTS PGC past student Demi Hayes was named Captain of the Australian Rugby 7’s Women’s Team for the upcoming World Series that returns to Dubai.

Hayes was surprised at the announcement telling Rugby.com.au, “I really had no idea I would be named captain,” She went on to say, “I knew we were all having meetings with coaches to see where we were going heading into the future. That’s when Johnny Manenti asked if I could step up to the position of being captain.”

Hayes was a student at SCOTS from 2011 -2014 where she started playing Touch and transferred her skills to Rugby 7’s. Demi also was an outstanding young track and field athlete and loved all the sport she played here at SCOTS.

We congratulate Demi on this prestigious appointment and wish her and the Aussie Women’s 7’s all the best for their first international competition since the Olympics.

Upcoming Events for 2022

January:

• Saturday 29 January | SCOTS Futsal Coaching Clinic

February:

• Tuesday 1 February | BD Summer Trials – Cricket, Tennis, Touch
• Wednesday 2 February | College Senior Swimming Carnival 13-19 Years | WIRAC (Week 2)
• Friday 4 and Saturday 5 February | Allora Show
• Tuesday 8 February | College Junior Swimming Carnival 5-12 Years | WIRAC (Week 3)
• Wednesday 9 February | BD Swimming | Stanthorpe venue to be confirmed
• Friday 11 February | Clifton Show
• Wednesday 16 February | 20 Cricket U14 & Open v Downlands – @ Downlands
• Thursday 17 February | Warwick All Schools Swimming | WIRAC
• Friday 18 and Saturday 19 February | Killarney Show
• Sunday 20 February | Laura Geitz Netball | Toowoomba
• Monday 21 February | Southern Downs Swimming Carnival | WIRAC
• Thursday 24 February | BD Winter Trials & SD Basketball | Warwick/SCOTS

March:

• Thursday 3 March | SD Touch | @ SCOTS
• Saturday 5 March | First XI v Downlands 50 Over Match | Briggs Oval
• Wednesday 9 March | QCIS Swimming 10yrs-19yrs | @ Dalby Pool
• Saturday 12 March | QCIS Jazz Under the Stars | Toowoomba
• Monday – Friday 14-18 March | SWQ Futsal Titles  | Toowoomba (age groups to be confirmed)
• Friday 18 and Saturday 19 March | Warwick Show | Warwick Showgrounds
• Thursday 25 March | SD Netball, Hockey, Football and Rugby League | Warwick
• Tuesday 29 March | College Cross Country Championship 5-19 Years | SCOTS (Wet day Thursday 31st March)

Arranmore Activities – Weeks 3-9 – exact days and activities to be advised

Mr Kyle Thompson | Principal

Again as we come to the end of this year, I have reflected on my last newsletter article last year titled ‘A Year like no Other’. It would appear that this title may become a standing title for every article I write at this time of year! So to coin a phrase: It has been, as we all know, a year like no other.

However, it is with great pride that I look back at the many achievements of our students, families, and staff as they have processed, implemented and engaged with the continued significant changes we are all continually presented with. Our students have generally worked hard and adapted to the demands placed on us all.

Our values of Spirit, Tenacity, Authenticity, Respect and Excellence have been on display throughout the year. All of our staff and students, indeed our families in have shown great tenacity when tackling particular difficulties and changes, problem-solving new ways to do things and collaboratively sharing solutions to ensure the best possible outcomes for our boys’ and girls’ education.
There continues to be a demonstrated importance of schools as a pillar of community, a place of consistency and caring, and a hub of social interactions that are so important to society as a whole. This year has seen more of our individual ‘character’ demonstrated and strengthened. There is plenty of ‘character’ at SCOTS PGC. This character and our ability to make the most of every aspect of school life will stand our students in good stead beyond school.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our staff. They have gone above and beyond staff and achieved some great things for our students. Every year is a year of change and they continue to embrace this with goodwill, professionalism with our students at the centre of what they do.

I would also like to thank all parents and carers for their support this year. A great deal of what we do at school cannot be achieved without you and your co-operation and support. I again sincerely thank you and we look forward to working closely with you again next year.

So as my thoughts turn toward the beach, I will leave you with some Hawaiian rules to reflect upon as we slide into the Christmas holidays:

• Never judge a day by the weather
• The best things in life aren’t things
• Tell the truth – there’s less to remember
• Speak softly and wear a loud shirt
• Goals are deceptive – the unaimed arrow never misses
• Age is relative – when you’re over the hill you pick up speed
• There are two ways to be rich – make more or desire less
• No rain no rainbows

Have a wonderful holiday, enjoy not being or enjoy the just being. We all look forward to seeing you all again in 2022, which no doubt, will also be a year like no other.

It’s hard to believe we have reached the time of year where it is time to start planning for next year!

The College website has been updated with the 2022 Stationery Order information and order forms.

This year, stationery orders are due to the Uniform Shop on or before Friday 26 November 2021.

Please access all information relating to 2022 Stationery orders from the College website by visiting: https://scotspgc.com.au/uniform-shop/