Congratulations to the following Year 12 students who received subject awards at today's Final Assembly:
Jonah Adams First in Mathematics Extension 2 First in Physics
Fraser Bennett First in Biology First in Chemistry First in Economics
Bianca Blackberry Diligence in Biology Diligence in Chemistry
Emily Borrell Diligence in Mathematics Advanced Diligence in Mathematics Extension 1
Ava Christie First in Agriculture
Lara Diffey First in Drama First in English Advanced First in History Extension First in Modern History
Lylah Ellao First in English Extension 2 First in Society and Culture First in Visual Arts
William Flahive First in Design and Technology Diligence in Economics Diligence in Hospitality
Tegan Forge Diligence in English Advanced Diligence in Modern History Diligence in Visual Arts
Zara Hiscock First in Mathematics Standard Diligence in English Standard
Alexandra Jackson Diligence in Personal Development, Health and Physical Education
Shyam (Radeshyam) Kugathasan First in Mathematics Extension 1
Lily Lamond First in Hospitality First in Mathematics Advanced First in Personal Development, Health and Physical Education
Charles Ledger First in Business Studies
Olivia Maguire Diligence in Biology
Isabelle Martin Diligence in Agriculture Diligence in Legal Studies Diligence in Mathematics Advanced
Eliza McIntosh First in English Standard
Emily Murphy Diligence in Physics
Alexander Newman Diligence in Business Studies
Amélie Pimlott Diligence in English Extension 1 Diligence in Mathematics Standard Diligence in Music 1
Lewis Schubert First in Industrial Technology
Olivia Sheldrick Diligence in Design and Technology Diligence in Society and Culture
Madeleine Steer First in English Extension 1 First in Music 1 Diligence in English Advanced
Kaizen Taylor Diligence in Mathematics Standard
Imogen Ziebarth First in Legal Studies Diligence in History Extension
From the Library • Alley McKeon
Chess The junior school chess team travelled to Wagga in late August to compete against Lutheran School Wagga Wagga. Players, Year 6 students Oscar Kennedy, Smyan Hegde, Tom Cavagna and Reggie Djordyevic were successful in winning this round, 5-3. We are now in the NSW Junior Chess League Final awaiting our opponent from the Griffith area. Thanks to our brilliant coaches, Billy Stewart and Aston Lau from Year 9 who accompanied us to Wagga. Congratulations also to Oliver Baitch (Year 10) who won the Chess award this week at the sports assembly.
Book Fair We have just wrapped up a very successful Book Fair at Scots raising over $1200 in commission, which we receive in books for the library. Thank you to all families who purchased from the fair!
Year 12 Our Year 12 students finish up this week. It has been a bittersweet time watching them enjoy their “lasts” at the school. Congratulations on a great year and all the best for a busy study time ahead of the HSC exams early next term.
Library Hours Homework Club for Year 5 and Year 6: Monday-Thursday from 3.30-4.30pm Senior School Study Sessions: Monday-Thursday from 3.30-5.30pm The library closes at 3.30pm every Friday
Hockey • Doug Agar
The competitive hockey season ended last Saturday 16 September, with our Minor Premier Under 14s Girls side adding the Premiership title to the trophy cabinet. This 2-0 victory against rivals Norths was a fair reward for the hard work put in by these players all season. A goal from Captain, Jenna Dickins off a penalty corner set the tone early in the match and Scots goalkeeper Charlotte Findlay was rarely threatened on the day.
A late goal on the break from Winnie Monaghan guaranteed the win and ensured that the last few minutes were less pressured that they would otherwise have been. Gracie Brown capped off the day winning not only the match itself, but also Best on Ground in the Final and Best & Fairest for her performances throughout the season.
A number of other students received recognition by Hockey Albury-Wodonga for their performances throughout the year:
Kaylee Rule was awarded Under 16 Girls Best & Fairest, while Patrick Maloney (Magpies) won the equivalent in the Boys’ division.
Ty Salter, playing for Norths was named Best on Ground in the Under 16s Boys Grand Final. Congratulations, also, to staff member Steph Bruce for being named in the inaugural Division 1 Team of the Year for her efforts in goal.
Term 4 brings with it our social hockey competitions. This year there will be an Under 14s competition on Mondays (U14's SIGN UP HERE) and an open-age Twilight competition on Tuesdays (OPEN-AGE SIGN UP HERE ). All are welcome regardless of experience or ability.
In addition to teams in U12s, U14s, and U16s, Scots Hockey Club intends to enter a Division 3 Ladies team in 2024. We are especially looking for adult players for this squad. Please email dagar@scotsalbury.nsw.edu.au or mdickins@scotsalbury.nsw.edu.au for further details or to express interest.
We would like to congratulate Maisey Player (Year 7), who recently attended the Talented Athlete Program for a week in August and has just been selected for the High-Performance Program (D-league) and last night was named in the NSW Country Basketball Team to play in the Australian Country Junior Championships in January. The D-league is 2 tournaments in Sydney a fortnight apart and the Championships will run this year in Albury over a week in January. We wish Maisey the best of luck in these tournaments.
Year 7 Girls AFL Gala Day On Thursday 7 September, our Year 7 Girls participated in the AFL Gala Day at Jelbart Park. The team had a good mix of experienced footballers who made the U/15 AFL Albury Schools Grand Final and girls who are just starting out on their football journey. They played with great teamwork, courage and effort all day.
Round 1 • Xavier Blue 3.5.23 Def Scots 0.3.3 Round 2 • Scots 4.7.31 Def St. Pauls 0.0.0 • Goals Sally Bayne 2, Mia Boers, Sybil Triggs Round 3 • Xavier Green 6.2.38 Def Scots 1.0.6 • Goals Maisey Player Round 4 • Scots 3.2.20 Def Trinity 1.1.7 • Goals Sally Bayne, Mia Boers, Sybil Triggs
Best Players: Sybil Triggs, Heidi Toepfer, Maisey Player, Sally Bayne, Alice Hearn, Mia Boers and Winnie Monaghan.
There is a lot of promise in this team, it was very exciting to watch the girls grow in confidence throughout the day. I encourage all the girls to stay involved in the AFL program next year.
Year 7 Boys AFL Gala Day
On Thursday 7 September, the Year 7 boys AFL team competed in the gala day at Jelbart Park. It was a warm day, with almost a finals atmosphere. The sides comprised nine players from each team with some slightly modified rules.
It was fantastic to see our boys play in a match against opponents of the same age. We were successful throughout the day, winning our pool with decisive victories over St Paul's College, Xavier White and Xavier Green. In the grand final against Corowa High School, we held the lead for most of the match, but with 20 seconds to go, they kicked a goal to equal us.
In extra time, they proved too strong. As a result, we were runners up in what was a strong competition.There were numerous goal kickers and good players, but stand out players were: Harry McDonald, Thomas Mack, and Gus Cameron. A special mention of the fine rucking display by Tom ‘Gawny’ Baxter. - Peter Schneider
CIS Athletics Championships A strong team of keen Scots athletes from the Junior and Senior School travelled to Sydney Olympic Park to compete in the CIS Athletics Championships on Tuesday 19 September. Braving the sweltering conditions, the Scots athletes gave their all in the tough conditions.
Xy Beale was the pick of the Scots athletes, taking home gold medals in the Shot Put and the Discus. Gathering a crowd of interested onlookers, keen to see the Commonwealth Youth Games medalist in action, Xy put on a great show and her gold medals at CIS cap off her tremendous contribution to the Scots Athletics program! We look forward to watching her in Australian colours again in the near future.
Lucy Bolton had an enormous day of competition, participating in 8 events, given the conditions this was such a gritty effort! Well done Lucy! Below are some of the other highlights from the day.
Junior School Highlights Sam Mack • 800m 14th Charlie Brown • 100m 15th Jasmine Fowler • Shot Put 15th, Discus 19th Ardan Magaharan • 100m 22nd
Senior School Highlights Xy Beale • Shot Put - Gold, Discus - Gold Lucy Bolton • Long Jump 11th, 200m 11th, 800m 12th, 100m 11th, 400m 12th, Shot Put 12th, Discus 12th Jett Tanuvasa • Discus 7th, Shot Put 9th Winnie Monaghan • 1500m 13th, 800m 14th Finbar Bready • 1500m 10th Tom Sheather • 1500m 10th Heidi Toepfer • Javelin 9th Alice Eggleton • 200m 13th, 400m 14th Taylor Brown • Javelin Equal 9th Kaylee Rule • 1500m 15th
Well done to all the Scots athletes who made the journey to participate in Sydney. The competition was tough, but there were personal bests achieved frequently throughout the day. Thanks also to the families for making the huge commitment to get there, much appreciated by the school and the students!
Thanks to everyone for a great term of Sport. Have a great break and look forward to working with you all again in Term 4.
Henry Tainton • Rising soccer star’s quest for success
Henry Tainton (Year 8) spends a lot of time watching television. But it's what the rising star of soccer watches that sets him apart from his 14-year-old peers.
He studies Premier League games, pores over FA Cup matches and critically analyzes UEFA Champions League contests with the sole purpose of improving his own soccer.
The Year 8 student models his own game on his soccer idol Kalvin Phillips, a defensive midfielder who plays for Premier League club Manchester City and the England national team, and picks up all sorts of tips from scrutinising the elite games on TV.
Henry plays for Murray United under-14s in the National Premier League and his meticulous pursuit of excellence in his craft has recently been rewarded with selection in the Victorian State Team at the Under-14 Nationals in October.
He started as a 5-year-old playing with Albury Hotspurs in the Mini Roos Series and progressed through the age groups until his family moved to Egypt for two years when he was 10 - where his soccer really took off.
He joined more than 100 other soccer wannabes in trials to join the Paris Saint-Germain academy in Cairo and was successful; even being selected to play up a year level in the Under 12 division.
Henry trained with the academy three times a week for two hours each session and was under some talented coaches, one of whom still influences him in Albury.
Since returning, Henry has joined Murray United but retains links to a trainer in Egypt who provides him with a fitness and gym plan that he carries out under the guidance of his dad, Nathan.
Henry’s training in Cairo was intense but since returning to Australia, the time commitment and focus has skyrocketed. He now trains Mondays and Wednesdays with Murray United, travels down and back to Melbourne every Saturday for a three-hour training session with the State team and plays with United in the NPL on Sundays - wherever the games are held and that can be as far afield as Melbourne, Werribee, Geelong or Bendigo.
On Tuesdays he works on individual skills at home, he works on his specialised gym program several mornings a week and Friday is a rest day unless United throws in an extra training session.
And where does Henry’s schoolwork fit in around his schedule?
“I feel like I have to keep up my school work, especially as both my parents are teachers,” Henry said. “I aim to get all my work done at school in class time so I don’t have any additional homework after school. I suppose you could say soccer is good for my time management skills because I have a lot to fit in during the day.”
His goal is to eventually break into an English academy but it's a tough pathway and Henry is under no illusions.
“It’s very hard. It’s the most popular sport in the world and you have to be really good. I’ve been scouted by teams here from all the State representative training I’ve been doing and there are pathways to professional teams but it won’t be easy.”
That’s where all his television watching might pay dividends. Henry is a midfielder whose specialty is his passing and natural game sense. His coaches tell him he is easily coachable because he listens and responds to constructive criticism for constant improvement. He’s dedicated and works hard.
What might set him apart are the tips he picks up from the best teams and players in the world.
The more games he watches, the more patterns and characteristics of players he sees. Identifying these patterns help him learn soccer tactics he couldn’t learn by playing the game alone. He figures out how particular players or teams adapt their strategy to capitalise on the weaknesses of the other team. He watches specific players to learn what they do with or without the ball; what kind of runs they make, what movements they incorporate, and how they create space for their teammates so that they can receive the ball.
Henry Tainton is leaving no stone unturned in his quest for success. Who knew watching television could be so constructive?
Scots Dance students won the hearts and minds of all involved in the Wakakirri National Story-Dance Festival in two consecutive performances in August and September, ultimately paving the way for inclusion in the Wakakirri national showcase on 18 October. Videos of the top 15-20 performances from Junior Schools and Senior Schools across the country will be released on the Wakakirri website and their YouTube channel to celebrate the final step in the festival, which aims to provide students with a platform to express thoughts, ideas and aspirations through the art of storytelling and dance.
The group has wildly exceeded its expectations in its first experience of the Wakakirri festival and here, dance leader CLARE BARRY (Year 10) shares the group’s journey.
The Wakakirri experience has been fulfilling and exciting.
It started in Term 2 when Mr Lucy announced the idea of Wakakirri and we headed over to the dance studio, met dance teacher and choreographer, Chantelle Hutchins, and auditioned.
The first step in the process was all Mr Lucy. He organised the details and the school supported us. We then had to choose an idea to base the dance on, knowing that the theme was “change”.
Our school selected the category, Society and Cultural Diversity - and we chose to create movement and select music using the theme, the evolution of dance. We rehearsed each week at lunch time and soon enough we were on the bus to Canberra to compete.
This trip was so much fun; Mr Lucy drove the bus, and Ms Mackinlay kept us in our “Wakakirri Matildas” frame of mind, focusing on thinking of others and putting the team first. Chantelle came and kept us calm, particularly when we realised we had left important props, the suitcases, back at school.
We met many fellow Wakakirri performers and teachers from other schools, as our change rooms were adjacent to the holding area, where schools waited nervously, before going on stage.
We had so much fun onstage during our performance, the energy of the audience transferred through to us, and the judges all agreed that we gave an emotive performance. At the conclusion of the performance, Mia Sheather (Year 10), Annabel Sirr (Year 10) and Jonathon Cotter (Year 11) were interviewed and definitely won the audience over with their answers.
The highlight of the evening was our school winning the “Spirit” award which acknowledged the positive actions and cooperative attitude shown by students throughout the day. The award is judged by backstage staff, other schools and organisers and is something we all felt very proud to receive. The bus trip back to our accommodation was loud and, as we all celebrated our achievement, we felt like the Matilda’s in that moment.
A couple of weeks later, Mr Lucy told us the news that we had been invited to perform at the next level, the Wakakirri state final, also in Canberra.
We were all shocked and very excited. Immediately we started rehearsing and organised a fund-raising food stall and raffle.
Lucy Jacka (Year 8), Poppy Hunt (Year 8), Megan Barnes (Year 8), Sammy Walch (Year 10) and Lily Malone (Year 8) started making friendship bracelets, ready to hand out to the lighting and backstage crew, judges and other schools.
The students kept their spirits high and persevered through a few challenges, all the while having so much fun. The quality of performances of all schools during the state final were notably high. Scots was the last school to perform and waiting to go on stage, the nerves and excitement were high. Something really clicked when the curtain came up, the group performed with precision and everyone danced at a level that felt so alive.
The evening concluded with the award presentation.
Our school once again was acknowledged for embracing the Wakakirri philosophy and took out the highly coveted “Spirit” award. It was then announced that three schools would be selected to go through to the national showcase.
To our enormous surprise and delight, The Scots School Albury was announced in this elite group. The decibel meter went sky high when the realisation hit. Considering that this is the first year our school has entered Wakakirri, it was an outstanding achievement. The group of dedicated dancers were all so excited and proud that our video would continue on the 2023 Wakakirri journey through to the national online showcase.
Thank you to the staff and students at Scots who got involved in our Wacky Wakakirri fundraising day, the school for providing us with so much support, Ms Mackinlay for embracing the concept and making sure our “Wakakiri Matildas” spirit was en pointe. Thank you to Mr Lucy for making this happen and driving the bus and to Chantelle for being an amazing choreographer and being a rock throughout this whole experience.
A special shout out to the hair-braiding legends, Grace Pigdon (Year 10) and Lucy James (Year 10), who did everyone’s hair.
Thank you to the parents who made the journey to Canberra to watch the performances and finally, the 17 students who have made this an overall amazing and fulfilling experience that has taken us all the way to the National Showcase.
Lucy heads off on US dance adventure
Lucy Matthews, Year 4, is heading off on a US dance adventure of a lifetime on Sunday - a 10-day trip to the US to perform at Disneyland, Universal Studios and two big US shopping malls.
Lucy and fellow Scots students Patience and Audrey Joss are travelling as a troupe of 18 dancers from MT Creative, which runs the Scots Dance co-curricular program and operates an external studio in Lavington.
It is another string to Lucy’s evergrowing bow in the dance world. She was selected to dance the role of Alice in Wonderland, an invitation-only performance at The Cube in Wodonga earlier this year, and was invited to join the senior production of Introspect at the same venue.
MT Creative instructor Meegan Strauss said Lucy had earned her shot at the senior roles because of her dedication and pursuit of excellence.
“I think it’s Lucy’s drive that sets her apart,” Meegan said. “She’s very dedicated and loves learning new things. She thrives on getting corrections (constructive feedback) and works really hard on them.”
On their US tour, the troupe will perform a 20min routine over four consecutive days and then attend workshops on the other days, including a workshop at Disneyland.
The routine will span the dance genres of jazz, hip-hop, contemporary and lyrical.
Which suits Lucy just fine!
Jazz and contemporary are her two favourites and any time she has an opportunity to perform she will take it.
“I just love performing, it makes me feel amazing,” Lucy said. “It’s the way I feel when I’m on stage and the judges do their critiques; I love it. There are so many variations and so many beautiful dances, there are just a lot of opportunities.”
“I started dance here at Scots but I just wanted to do more competition and perform as much as I could, so I joined the MT Dance Creative studio.”
For the moment, Lucy dances to the choreography of her instructors but she has high hopes of starting to do her own choreography and eventually becoming a professional dancer.
“When I see other dancers doing their own choreography at competitions and the eisteddfods, I think “Oh wow, that’s amazing” and I’d like to do it one day.”
Year 6 Exhibition 2023
The Year 6 Exhibition is the culmination of all our students have learned over the previous six years as part of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program.
As their final year in the PYP draws to a close, students use this exhibition to demonstrate to themselves, their peers, their teachers and their parents that they have, indeed, developed the skills to be a lifelong learner; that they can enact the key qualities of the IB Learner Profile.
For the Exhibition, students selected a real-life issue for which they had a passion or interest and carried out an inquiry, asking questions that reflected an understanding of the concepts of the PYP. They worked in teams to collaboratively plan and conduct their inquiries. The students analysed their findings and applied what they had learned to take positive action in their field of study; using a range of different strategies and disciplines as part of their inquiry.
Students had the opportunity to use various sources in their inquiries, giving them the experience of looking for reliable sources and being honest and transparent with their use. Gathering reliable information and using it effectively is a really useful and transferable skill that students will use throughout their education and later in their lives. And finally, they had a chance to develop their communication and presentation skills when they presented their topic to peers, teachers and parents.
Students chose one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development goals to inform their choice of topic and collectively, the Year 6 students covered a very broad range of topics. They included:
Renewable Energy - Will Clancy, Patrick Mugisha, Sam McDonald, Flynn McCorriston Women in Sport and Business - Millie Glover, Annabel Moar, Grace Buckley Animal Cruelty - Bethany Collier, Kate Andrews, Sarah Wicks Life Below Water - Tully Hurley, Lucy Kilgour, Reggie Dyordyevic Domestic Violence - Harmony Irving, Charlie Barber, Hattie Nickols Zero Hunger - Charlotte Hyde, Iris Johanson, Alexa Marks, Arabella Smit Clean Water and Sanitation - Smyan Hegde, Alexia Franco, Tom Toepfer Climate Change - Parmis Nazari Rad, Tom Cavagna, Reuben Hunt, Chloe Lewin Health and Wellbeing - Sophia Martin, Bella Campbell, Reuben Case, Kaitlyn Gissane Ocean Pollution - Harry Younger, Ben Garvin, Kade Deverell Racism - Ye-Rang Kim, Charlie Henry Natural Disasters - Will Boniface, Amelie Skipwith Community Laws - Charlie Marks, Jobe Warner, Eddie Greenhill AI And Cyber Security - Oscar Kennedy, Max Harrington, Patrick Sirr, Jack Ross
Alongside the development of their exhibition displays, students undertook a fundraising action which ultimately allowed them to raise more than $1600 for Yes Unlimited.
Through the Sustainability Education Art Teamwork (SEAT) Project, a social initiative that educates children on social values and sustainability, students constructed and painted a small stool for a silent auction on the Exhibition's opening night.
Each small bamboo stool was produced in a sustainable bamboo factory in Vietnam, where they used the off-cuts from the bamboo to fuel the furnace to power the factory. It required no glue or nails and was 100% biodegradable.
There clearly had been a lot of work put in by students over the 9-week exhibition preparation period and some amazing information came to light.
Sam, Flyn, Patrick and Will, who chose Renewable Energy, discovered that Iceland operates on 100% renewable energy - mainly wind and hydro - and that Scotland, Costa Rica, Norway and Uruguay all registered above 95% renewables. Australia limped in at 35% renewables.
Millie, Annabel and Grace found that in comparing pay rates for men and women in sports, the NBA figures were a complete outlier that so badly skewed their graphing they had to omit it. They found that men in the NBA received 88.2 times the pay rate of women in the WNBA.
They also found that there were 1.13 million more sports opportunities for men over women and that sports clothing for women was more sexualised and required more skin to be showing than their male counterparts.
They agreed that the NBA/WNBA pay scale difference was their single biggest shock in their studies, although they also were unimpressed that 95% of sports media coverage was about men, 4% about women and 1% devoted to animals.
Bethany, Kate and Sarah found that one in three pet owners abused their animals when they chose Animal Cruelty as their topic. But they were pleased to report that animal abuse reduced during the period from 2019-2022, during COVID.
Tully, Lucy and Reggie investigated different ocean ecosystems in their topic Life Below Water. They found that the Philippines was the worst global offender of plastic use per person, registering 3.3kg per person per year compared with Australia's rate of 0.01kg per person.
They also discovered that 91% of the coral on the Great Barrier Reef has been subjected to some sort of bleaching.
Sadly, but perhaps not surprisingly, they found that humans were the main cause of destruction in ocean systems.
Many of the groups engaged their audiences with interactive games or quizzes and all had an action task they carried out.
Introducing new Head of Girls Boarding • Rachel Rapsey
Rachel has teens' interests at heart.
Rachel Rapsey embarked on a Bachelor of Social Science (psychology) to pursue an interest in working with teenagers, but she only realised that goal when she started as a casual assistant in Scots Boarding in 2019.
Now with her recent appointment as Head of Girls Boarding, Rachel is finally influencing young lives in the way she envisioned all those years ago.
“I like watching teenagers grow and find their feet,” Rachel said. “I want to help them seek their individual identity and potential.”
“I’m looking forward to building on the work that (former Head of Girls Boarding) Elsa Kilgour has already developed. I’d like to increase activities for the boarders and work on avenues for socialisation across the different age groups.”
Rachel comes from an established background in community welfare. She embarked on her Bachelor of Social Science (psychology) 20-odd years ago and on completion, she worked in community care as an assessment officer, predominantly with the aged or those with disabilities. From there, she moved into case management, where she managed short-term support packages post-hospital stay and later assisted with the rollout of MyAgeCare.
Since Rachel started at Scots, she has shown a deep commitment to making the Boarding environment as homely and welcoming as possible, fully aware that homesickness is the biggest challenge for boarders to overcome.
“I like having time to listen to what the boarders enjoy so we can bring a bit of home into the boarding house to make them feel more comfortable.
“Trying to keep so many diverse individuals happy and healthy in a boarding environment involves a lot of flexibility and compromise. That’s where building individual relationships with the students is critical so that you know what makes them happy or sad.
“Any time one of them smiles is all the reward I need for doing this job. As a parent, all we ever want is the best for our child, so I feel very privileged that parents entrust their children to us, knowing that we will do the best we can for them."
Rachel has her own children, two girls and a boy of 21, 19 and 17 years old. When she started at Scots, her own children were much the same age as Scots Senior boarders so she can relate very readily to many of the challenges faced by teens.
Rachel will continue to have a strong presence in Wilson House and will be available to boarding students during the day for a few hours prior to her shifts in boarding.
Enrolments for 2025
Demand for places at Scots continues with strong momentum.
If you have family or friends who are considering a Scots education for their child in 2025 – particularly for Kindergarten or Year 7 – please ask them to complete an application for enrolment as soon as possible (available on our website).
