St David's Uniting Church Service • Sunday 6 November @ 9am everyone welcome
Shrek auditions, Years 4, 5 and 6 commence• Tuesday 8 November
Infants Production • Thursday 10 November @ 6pm (book here)
Remembrance Day Chapel Service @ 10.45am • Friday 11 November
PreKinder 2023 Orientation •12.45pm • Friday 11 November
Year 12 Graduation Ball • Saturday 12 November
Years 1 & 2 YMCA Skateboarding Program • Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 November
Year 12 2023 Parent Teacher interviews 3.30pm-6.30pm • Monday 14 November
Year 9 & 10 examinations • Wednesday 16 November
Year 2 Big Day Out & Sleepover • Thursday 17 November
RAS Tennis Year 4 & 5 selected students • Thursday 17 November
Teacher Report Writing and Curriculum Day • Friday 18 November
Student Free Day (whole school) • Friday 18 November
Boarders EXEAT Weekend • Friday 18 - 20 November
Please note the following changes to the Calendar
Senior School Final Assembly • Thursday 8 December @ 11.15am all welcome
Speech Day • Friday 9 December @ 1.15pm all welcome
From Head of Senior School • Kelly McKay
As Mark is on leave, I am Acting Principal at the moment. Yesterday you would have all received an email detailing my change for 2023. I am very excited to be taking on the role of Deputy Principal and Head of Junior School. Most would be unaware that I began my leadership journey as Deputy Principal at Yarrawonga Primary School many years ago. I have many fond memories of this time and look forward to getting to know the younger members of our community and their families.
It is with great pleasure that I extend my own welcome to Janine Haymes, who will join our wonderful Scots community in 2023 as Head of Senior School.
Janine and her family are returning to the region having spent time as Deputy Head of Secondary at Australian International School in Hong Kong. She has lived and worked in Albury for many years prior to her overseas role and is very familiar with The Scots School Albury, its values and tradition. She has a wealth of experience in pedagogy, English and languages, as well as experience with NESA on HSC-marking for Advanced and Standard English. I'm sure Janine will be a huge asset to our Executive Team.
We also are finalising a number of other staff appointments and these will be shared with you as they are completed.
All of our Year 12 students have completed their HSC exams and we are all looking forward to celebrating their achievements next Saturday night at the Albury Entertainment Centre. We are looking forward to hearing from alumni and current Scots Head of Business Operations, Caroline Pooley.
With only five weeks to go of the academic year, we begin our preparations for various academic and co-curricular celebrations. Alongside this our 2023 Year 9 and 10 students are completing their final subject selections for next year. This is very much first in first served so please return these selections to us as soon as possible.
From Head of Junior School • Matthew Boundy
New Head of Junior School
Our school community learned of the appointment of Kelly McKay as the new Head of Junior School yesterday and I am very excited for the opportunity to hand over this responsibility to someone with such broad experience in education and school leadership. Miss McKay and I have worked closely on many initiatives in the past couple of years, from the implementation of Schoolbox to school operations and well-being programs, just to name a few. Having shared experiences working in some of Melbourne's largest and most prestigious independent schools, we both understand the complexities of working in Preschool to Year 12 schools and the need to ensure a sense of connection and belonging regardless of the age of the students in your care.
I would also like to congratulate Mr Nash Clark on the elevation of his role to Deputy Head of Junior School. This change in title and responsibility reflects the positive impact Mr Clark has made on the Junior School community, leading wellbeing, House and staff initiatives throughout the year.
We will start the formal ‘hand-over’ process in the coming weeks and I look forward to ensuring a smooth transition between myself and Miss McKay as leaders of this amazing community and school.
NRMA - Road Safety Incursion On Tuesday, we were fortunate to have a visit from the team at NRMA, which provided our students with some essential reminders about road safety. For what may be perceived as a boring topic, they certainly found creative ways to engage our students, from songs and animations to back seat driver challenges and crazy scientists in wigs: the sessions had something for everyone. The main message, of course, was all around our children taking a more proactive role in safety on our roads, whether as a pedestrian, cyclist or passenger. More information about the initiative can be found below: https://www.mynrma.com.au/community/education/primary-education-road-safety-information
Life@Scots - International Mindedness - We R One, We R Many Today saw the Junior School awash with colour and culture, highlighting the diversity of people within our community and the respect we show for the world around us. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Year 5 students for leading the School in this inquiry and to their teachers for their guidance and support. While understanding the interconnectedness of societies from around the world is not easy, activities such as this help our students become better informed global citizens who are more likely to make good choices for a safer, more sustainable future.
While there is often great delight at the opportunity to jump in puddles, catch rain drops on your tongue or spot a beautiful rainbow, the rain and flooding we are experiencing in our area can bring other emotions and reactions that aren’t as positive. Children can become anxious about the flooding around their homes and preschool and feel overwhelmed with the possible dangers and loss that they perceive to be happening.
We know that often children find it difficult to put into words how they feel. This may result in expressing it through their behaviour. This might be in increased separation anxiety, increased toileting accidents and difficulty in managing big emotions. These can range from subtle changes to big differences in behaviour. At Preschool when there is heavy rain, we remind children that this is a safe place to be, that we are nice and dry inside and that the playground puddles will dry with sunshine. There are lots of resources for families to access if you would like more information and ideas on ways to support children through these events. You can always access these online.
That being said there are some great learning opportunities that come with rain and water. We can learn the properties of water and rain (Science), measure the rain (Maths), use new words to describe the rain and increase vocabulary (literacy) and so much more. Water, possibly less than we are seeing now, can be calming - to play with, to bathe in and drink.
Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher if you feel that your child may require extra reassurance or you think may benefit from other specialised supports. We can help with this.
From our Chaplain - Simon Goss
Year 4 students on camp
Words are failing at trying to describe my experience of the Year 4 camp. But the word I keep coming back to is “kind”. No sooner had I got my bags out and was carrying them to my room than young Tom asked, “Can I help you with those, Mr Goss?”
I was so shocked by this sudden natural act of kindness and generosity that Tom ended up carrying my pillow and sleeping bag. Students constantly praising each other’s efforts; not just accepting difference and diversity but celebrating it; cheering each other on, buoying each other up when challenged. It was humbling that these young children were showing what we as adults should be like.
Jesus tells us to love one another. There is nothing so simple, nor as complicated, as that. We are challenged to show respect and love for EVERYONE. How can we love our enemies? How can we love those who cause violence or pain to others? How can we love when we are stuck judging others? These are not easy questions to deal with, yet Jesus loved all and called us all his friends. Jesus had a loving friendship with all of his disciples and we are called into this loving friendship with God.
A few years ago, I had the privilege of teaching some amazing students. One girl, Sarah, had a learning delay and a few other disabilities. She had two incredible friends, Eliza and Tayla, who would often check in and make sure Sarah was included and involved in the life of the school.
One day, Tayla was away, and as I was on playground duty, I could see Eliza and Sarah sitting and playing quietly together. A group of other girls walked past the two, whispering to each other and sniggering as they approached Eliza and Sarah. One of the girls approached the two playing, and said to Eliza: if Tayla was here, you wouldn’t be playing with Sarah.
I can still remember Eliza’s reaction. She looked at Sarah, then up at the bold student who had challenged the friendship. Eliza stood up, looked at Queen Bee in the eye, and said very calmly, “If Tayla was here, she would be down on the ground playing with us.” Queen Bee backed off, snorted and walked back to the group.
God’s love is not a superficial love - God doesn't just say the word. True friends will stand up for one another and for what is right. This is real love. Do any of us have this true friendship in our lives? Sometimes this is hard to work out, especially for me. As I moved to university, I lost a connection I had with my friends from high school. I now have a close group of people I can call true friends. Some I have only known for a few months. I believe our friendships cannot be measured by time, but only by quality of the relationship.
There is another saying: treat others as you want to be treated. We all accept the love that others give us, but are we as quick to give that love as we are to receive it? God loves EVERYONE, no matter how rich or poor, what school they go to, or what others think of them. Jesus is the example of how to love.
Conference for Head of Pedagogy • Megan Dickins
Scots Head of Pedagogy Megan Dickins challenged educators to find better ways to engage students during her presentation at the Deep Learning Lab statewide conference in Sydney in October this year.
In a novel approach, Ms Dickins told her workshop audience to complete a worksheet on the weather in silence for the first 5 minutes.
Then she transformed the room with an acting performance worthy of an Oscar. She donned a raincoat and carried an umbrella, used a water sprayer and smoke machine for effects, stood in front of a green screen with video of the Dartmouth Dam spilling in all its glory and read from a teleprompter app all in the guise of a TV reporter giving an account of the weather.
Her aim was to show fellow educators how easy it can be to present the same information in a format that engages and delights.
As Head of Pedagogy, Ms Dickins investigates best methods and practices for teacher delivery here at Scots. She is part of a professional network of teachers within the Association of Independent Schools which focuses on pedagogical outcomes in NSW schools. Team Leads from the group meet online twice a term and occasionally in-person at conferences such as this.
Her conference presentation focussed on research that “sticky learning moments cause a neurological chemical reaction that forms and stores long-term memories” and she was able to draw on her vast knowledge of the NSW curriculum.
“I honestly think that the curriculum is one thing, but being able to walk out of school with a toolkit that you can apply to any situation is so much better,” Ms Dickins said. “If kids can take what they learn into the real world, then we’ve done our job.”
With a change in the curriculum due in 2024, Mrs Dickins is mindful that teachers need to work in depth on one unit rather than spread themselves thinly across everything - much of which could potentially change in little over a year.
Once teachers have embedded the philosophy into one unit, they will be able to apply it much more easily across all units after the curriculum change.
“My message to teachers is that if we create a good learning environment in the first 10mins of a class you can engage the students."
Mrs Dickins’ presentation embodied the “whole picture” of teaching: she used a range of different techniques including modern technology: a green screen, Zoom and a teleprompter app which all helped to complete the picture.
“What I tried to convey in my presentation was that it can be easy to embed these things into your teaching. Learning should be engaging. Kids should want to come to your classroom. Last week I used a “dead body” to teach a history lesson.”
Anniversary Reunions for former students
Old Scholars from Scots and our founding schools shared memories of how the good times rolled at school during an Anniversary Reunion weekend recently.
Former students of Albury Grammar, Woodstock Presbyterian Girls School and The Scots School Albury walked down memory lane in a Saturday night function at the Albion Hotel followed by a School Tour and luncheon in the Scots dining hall on Sunday.
Many had dug out their old Yearbooks to bring along; others had photos and everyone had stories to tell.
The biggest representation was from the Class of 1972, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, while the oldest attendee was George McPherson, from the Class of 1947, followed by Margaret Watson, from the Class of 1953.
Chris Allitt (Class of 1982) and Ross McPherson (Class of 1981) travelled from Queensland to attend.
Our area has been identified by NSW Ministry of Health as an area at risk of an outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis in the coming summer period. To help minimise the risk of this occurring, NSW Health has purchased insect repellent from two different sources, Juno Labs (Bushman’s Products) and RID Australia which they have supplied to the School.
Over the coming weeks we will be issuing to each student a bottle of insect repellent which will be handed out by classroom teachers or learning mentors.
In light of this advice, we encourage students to apply the repellent daily during Term 4 2022 and Term 1 of 2023.
Please see attached facts sheet on Japanese Encephalitis.
The Clothing Pool will open at the following times on the dates listed below:
Wednesday 16 November 2022 from 2-3.30pm Wednesday 7 December 2022 from 2-3.30pm
On these days, the Clothing Pool will not open in the morning.
Maths competition success
Scots students had the opportunity to enter the Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) competition, a one-hour problem-solving competition designed to encourage student curiosity and promote multiple modes of thinking.
The following students had exceptional results:
Year 7: William Paffen – Certificate of High Distinction.
Year 8: Archie Showers – Certificate of High Distinction, Ammar Syed – Certificate of Distinction
Congratulations, also to the following students:
Year 7
Amy Hayes – Certificate of Credit James Hector – Certificate of Credit Lily Malone – Certificate of Credit Georgie Smith – Certificate of Credit
Year 8
Lucy Bolton – Certificate of Credit Charlotte Findlay – Certificate of Credit Georgia Perkins – Certificate of Credit Ted Williams – Certificate of Credit
Thank you to everyone who took part in this year’s competition.
- Deanne Sparkes
Writing Workshop for Senior School
Writing Workshop for Senior School
Need some help with your writing? Having trouble knowing how to answer extended responses? Not sure where to get the information for your writing?
The solution is here! Come to a writing workshop to unlock all the secrets of great academic writing so you can make sure you say what needs to be said in your responses.
Who: Year 7 -12 students who are interested in improving their writing through organisation and structure. When: Wednesday afternoon 3.30-4.15pm Where: S7- Mrs Tainton’s classroom What: the following topics will be covered in these weekly workshops:
We have many new books that have arrived and are on the shelves in the Library. There is a great selection for all readers so come in and see if there is one you like. We also have a popular display of books that have become movies.
Can students and parents please start rounding up library books at home to return to school? The end of the year is approaching quickly, and your help here would be much appreciated. Thank you!
