Newsletter, Term 4, Week 8, Friday 2 December 2022

Junior School Meet the Teacher • Wednesday 7 December @ 9.00am

Junior School Final Assembly • Thursday 8 December @ 9.00am all welcome

Senior School Final Assembly • Thursday 8 December @ 11.15am all welcome

Junior School House lunch and Carols • Thursday 8 December @ 1.30pm

Speech Day • Friday 9 December @ 1.15pm all welcome

Scots Equestrian Interschool Challenge • Saturday 10 December and Sunday 11 December @ AWEC

Junior School office closes • Monday 12 December

Main office closes • Monday 19 December

Main office re-opens • Thursday 5 January 2023

Young Engineers Camp • Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 January 2023

New Boarding Families Afternoon Tea • Sunday 29 January 2023 @ 3.00pm

Year 7 Orientation Day • Monday 30 January 2023 @8.30pm

Term 1 begins • Tuesday 31 January 2023

Scots Highland Gathering • Saturday 11 March 2023

As our School continues to grow and flourish, so do the support structures for our students; to provide days filled with opportunity, laughter and learning. Growth brings with it new possibilities and I am writing to inform you of some staffing changes for 2023.

Staff Leadership Changes

I am thrilled to announce the following leadership changes effective January 2023:

Mrs Megan Dickins adds the role of PYP Coordinator in the Junior School to her current remit as Head of Pedagogy. Megan has embedded Design for Deep Learning across the school and recently presented as an expert at the AIS Conference.

Ms Jane Mackinlay has been appointed Stage 5 Leader (Years 9 and 10). Jane joined us last term and has a strong background in student wellbeing and much experience with middle years learning.

Ms Sarah Bowman moves to the position of Head of Department for English and Languages Other than English (LOTE). Sarah is an astute and compassionate leader with a compelling desire to champion the learning of students.

Mr Jim Papas will take on the role of Head of Department K-12 for Technology and Applied Studies (TAS), Design and Technology (DAT), Visual Arts and Vocational Education and Training (VET). Jim is a highly experienced leader with a clear vision for the Technology area and has already commenced some innovative programs since joining us earlier this year.

Mr Nathan Tainton has been named our new Head of Department for Mathematics and PDHPE. Nathan’s vision, skill set, passion and determination will allow him to both refine and further develop our Mathematics and PDHPE programs.

Ms Sarah Rae has been appointed as the Careers Advisor. Sarah has a clear strategic plan for the development of our careers program from Years 7-12 and has already joined the Riverina Careers Hub Planning Committee.

Please join me in congratulating Megan, Jane, Sarah, Jim, Nathan and Sarah. I know they will be well supported by the existing senior academic leadership team, comprising:

Mr Simon Goss – School Chaplain
Mr Thomas Hartshorn – Head of Department for Science and Agriculture
Mrs Paula Gleeson – Head of Department for Humanities and Commerce
Mr David Coughlan – Head of Department K-12 for Music & Drama
Mrs Trish Thomas – Leader of Inclusive Education
Mr Rob Cowan – Head of Student Learning
Mr Stewart Lucy – Head of Performing Arts
Mr Roger Barrows – Stage 6 Leader (Years 11 and 12)
Ms Melanie Davies – Stage 4 Leader (Years 7 and 8)

Coinciding with these changes, some Leaders conclude their service to Scots at the end of the year:

Mr Jason Carr

After 20 years of teaching at Scots and 12 months of long service leave exploring new areas of study, Jason Carr has accepted a senior position at a local primary school. Jason has fulfilled many roles at Scots, having taught across all levels, supported the operations of the school as Junior School Coordinator and led initiatives in sport and mathematics. His passion for teaching and learning is second to none and his love of sport and the occasional disco will never be forgotten. I would particularly like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Jason, who contributed significantly to teaching and learning at the school. I know that you will join me in wishing Jason all the very best for the future.

Mr David Smith

David has recently been appointed to a senior position at a local school. David has developed our Sport co-curricular program over the past six years, introducing a varied range of sports and activities. We wish him all the very best in this new stage of his career.

We will commence the recruitment process immediately for a new Head of Sport.

Miss Georgie Parker

Georgie is taking 12 months leave from Scots to experience infants teaching in one of Australia’s most prestigious schools, Geelong Grammar School. We look forward to her bringing a wealth of knowledge with her back to Scots. Georgie has been instrumental in shaping our Primary Years Program and we thank her for all her efforts and wish her all the best for this adventure.

Mr Nick Payne

After four years teaching across Year 4 and 6 and leading our Junior School sport program, Nick and his family are relocating overseas. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his great initiative in helping lead the Year 6 Exhibition, Hooptime basketball teams, Ride to School Days and sporting events.

Academic Staff Changes

We also bid a fond farewell to the following staff:

Mrs Kate Spargo

Kate has been a stalwart of the early years teaching team in the Junior School for many years now, beginning her time at Scots in 2008. She has been instrumental in supporting the academic and wellbeing needs of all students in this time and regularly assisted with the Infants Production and Monday night netball program for many years. I would like to thank Kate for her many years of service and look forward to her ongoing connection to the school.

Mr Stephen Orr

In the Senior School we are farewelling Stephen, who is returning to Adelaide to be with family. We thank him for his contributions in English and the broader cultural aspects of the school.

Ms Keiko Sanderink

We thank Keiko for making the commute from Bright to Albury this year. She will be returning to a school much closer to her home. In 2022, she coordinated the Japanese Immersion Camp and the North Eastern Japanese Language Teachers Network Annual Speech Contest. Keiko has made a significant contribution to the Languages department this year.

Ms Mary Toney

Mary is returning to a local school for 2023. We thank her for her short time with us and her work in the Japanese department.

On behalf of the school community, I would like to express my sincere thanks to these individuals for their contributions to Scots.

I am excited to welcome the following new academic staff for 2023:

Erin Newton – Erin joins Scots as an Early Year's specialist and will teach in the Junior School. She brings vast experience in literacy and numeracy research. Erin is already a valued member of the community with her own children at Scots.

Rhiannon Dunlop – Rhiannon joins as a classroom teacher for Junior School, with significant leadership experience in primary school settings. Rhiannon also is a current Scots parent and will be familiar to many in the community already.

Katie Smith – After many years of being involved in our school community across both classroom and sporting activities, we are thrilled to have Katie join us as a Junior School Classroom teacher for 2023.

Stephanie McNamara – Stephanie is returning to Scots after a year teaching at local school and will teach Mathematics and Science.

Tammy Nielson - Tammy will return to Scots to teach Japanese, after 12 months at Melbourne Grammar School.

Amber Pope – Amber joins the Senior School team in teaching Humanities. Amber has taught in Canada, England and China before coming to Australia in 2017. Bringing with her a wealth of experience, Amber has taught at schools in Melbourne and most recently at a local High School.

Simon Goss – Simon will take on the additional responsibility of teaching Stage 5 Drama, bringing 35 years of experience in the classroom and a wealth of experience in the dramatic arts space, including time at NIDA.

I am incredibly excited about the future of Scots in 2023 and beyond. We have a strong team of exceptional leaders and staff who, together, have a purposeful focus on supporting and empowering every student to reach their potential. I am especially looking forward to working alongside the wonderful team in the Junior School next year.

Please join me in thanking all our wonderful staff for their contributions to The Scots School Albury throughout 2022.

A most sincere and grateful - Thank you!

Over the last four years during my time at The Scots School Albury, I have been the lucky one. Why? Because more often than not, I have been the first one to show families around the school, introduce them to classrooms and teachers and provide them with a glimpse of what life at Scots is all about. The opportunity for me to share the amazing stories of learning, students’ abilities to overcome challenges and most definitely triumph, is one that I have not taken for granted. Touring new and prospective families around the school has been one of the most rewarding parts of this role.

Just the other day, a family which had just enrolled their children for 2023 asked the question during the mad morning rush: ‘Why is everyone so happy?’. To them, a school morning with children happily playing, teachers meeting and greeting and action a plenty, was a foreign concept. My answer to this question was simply: ‘It’s the culture of Scots; one built on respect and understanding’.

Now, this reaction to the school is not uncommon. For me, this is the most rewarding aspect of this role because I get to meet these fresh faces and see them transform into kind, principled, knowledgeable young citizens who are curious about the world around them and how it all works.

Scots is also a place of great contradictions; on one hand, we are a school of great tradition, held in high regard in the local community for our outstanding outcomes, standards and expectations. But we are not stuck in time either. We are a progressive school, seeking to offer the best education possible built on an understanding of current research and best practices from around the world. We are inclusive and diverse, too, and to this end, we continue to grow in knowledge and expertise as educators at the forefront of learning and support for our youngest students.

As my time at Scots comes to an end, I look forward to sharing the final events of 2022 with you all. Our community has been severely tested and disconnected over the past couple of years and it has brought so much joy to me to see it rise again through celebrations of learning like our recent Infants Production, Music Assembly, Dance Concert and more. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you all professionally and personally for entrusting your children in our care, for it is the privilege of witnessing their growth and development, happiness and wellbeing that makes this job the most rewarding of all!

Celebrations for the end of the year

Last Friday evening we were blessed with great weather to be able to celebrate the end of our preschool year with our families here at Preschool. It was a wonderful night to spend time with friends, a luxury we have missed the past few years. There was such joy on the children’s faces as they arrived, right through to the auctions and raffles that we were so lucky to be able to enjoy due to the generosity of all the families at preschool. Along with face painting, icy poles and friends - what's not to enjoy?

But we know that end of year celebrations can be a little overwhelming for children at times. Changes in routines, late nights, big family gatherings and new faces with school transitions can sometimes bring out some big behaviours. This is not a choice they are making- it is a communication: I am feeling overwhelmed ... I am tired ... I feel frustrated ... These new clothes are scratchy ...

This usually happens just when we don’t need it - right at the end of a Christmas party with friends, in line to see Santa or in a busy shopping centre with lots of noise and people. I've been that Mum!

But it might be worth taking a second to reframe your reaction. I have a favourite saying – connect before you correct. Re-think about what that behaviour is saying to you and see if you can acknowledge the need for connection. Another favourite saying I have is: “When their storm meets your calm, co-regulation occurs”. And children of this age will need co-regulation before they can self-regulate. It’s also a great opportunity to look at boundaries: that you can say no to things you don’t feel good about, be it hugging an unfamiliar relative, friend or a bearded man in a red suit or even a familiar friend when you don’t want to or when you are just wanting some alone time as the social battery is a bit low. I wish you well! It’s not easy.

But on that note, I hope your family has a lovely Christmas. May it be filled with love, laughter, good health and connection. Thank you to the staff of our preschool and school for their continued passion to providing the highest quality early childhood education. Thank you to the families who have trusted us this year with such an important journey for your child. But my biggest thank you is to your children. They have made me smile, every single day! I have learned alongside them. I have laughed and played. It is a joy!

One of the stories my mother told me of her time as a nurse was working at the hospital in Bendigo. She used to reminisce about the wonderful friendships and close working relationships she had with the other nurses there.

Part of her role was working in the maternity ward. Sometimes, a baby would be born whose future was either compromised, or stillborn. My mother would gather with the other nurses and they would form a circle. As one nurse would wrap and hold the precious life in her hands, the others would either stand in silence, or pray over the baby. In that moment, that moment of presence, a community gathered and prayed lovingly for protection over a newborn.

Two thousand years ago (most historians agree that it was around the year 7-4 BCE) a child was born. Stories used about this child’s birth centre around a young girl (around the age of 14) and her husband (around 20 years old) travelling to Bethlehem and being rejected from inns and accommodation, and forced to give birth in a stable.

The community this story was written for would have been outraged: nowhere in their culture would refusing shelter to a woman in labour be permissible. The idea that a baby would be born in a stable was unfathomable.

The point to this story was that Christ was born into abject poverty, under trying circumstances, and was in no way a person of wealth, influence or power in the societal sense. This is a stark contrast to the opulence of many churches and the power they wield. And in the midst of it all is a young girl, tasked with raising this newborn with the faith granted to her by the message that her son was special; and a young father whose faith was tested.

Vaclav Havel, Chezch poet and playwright, once said, “Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”

The image of my mother praying over a newborn in a hospital ward; Mary looking down upon her Christ child, neither woman knowing with certainty what the future held, but in that moment, feeling nothing but love.

Every person we come across is as precious as the newborn Christ. So if you plan to put “Christ” in Christmas, feed the hungry, comfort the afflicted, love the outcast, forgive the wrongdoer, welcome the disenfranchised, and inspire the hopeless. Let love abide.

A brave 27 students took up the Great Victorian Bike Ride Challenge, riding 310km over five days, earlier this week. The group worked together as a team encouraging and helping one another through the tough undulating ride. The students wrote this account of their experience:

We started at Koroit on Saturday, where we set up camp and had an 8am start the next morning, not really knowing what we got ourselves into. Over the four gruelling days of riding, we would pack up camp each morning and set off on a ride anywhere between 68-88km throughout the Otways before setting up camp again (generally in the rain) at our new base for the night. As a team, we started together and finished together wearing our distinctive school jersey with pride. We were often commended on cycling etiquette and cheerful nature encouraging others along their journeys. As we rolled in as a team along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay we had achieved 308km and 1900 meters elevation, with the most of that coming on the last day.

As there was a last-minute change to the course we would not get to ride more than 100km in a day. A handful of students showed great determination and chose to ride an extra 20kms on day 5, to reach a memorable achievement of 100kms in a day.

We were very grateful to have eight wonderful parents join us throughout the ride. Each night we met in small groups, led by parents and teachers to debrief and reflect on the day in preparation for the next. A daily highlight was the spokey-doke fines meetings, Mr Hanna’s awards and Sophia’s “ditchers” update.

The chilli waters of Anglesea was a great way to break up our trip home and help bring some feeling back to our stiff and sore legs. More importantly the surfing lesson was a great way to celebrate the week with our new-found friends. Whilst some of us questioned why we signed up in the first place throughout the ride, we all found ourselves suggesting to our parents at pick-up we cannot wait until next year.

Some of our/memorable things about the ride were:

Reaching 100km in one day.
Riding in a group with friends.
Making friends with other schools.

In Semester 2, Year 8 has taken a different approach to Learning Mentor sessions. The year level was broken up into four groups that mixed the LMs and helped form new friendships and grow new skills. Here are their stories:

Student Action (by Sara Butko)

This year, the Year 8 group as a cohort split into four different student-led groups. The student action group created a present drive for children staying in the hospital over Christmas and a chance to create bonds and meet the Year 2s at the end of this term. The Christmas present drive gathered over 25 presents which meant every child got a present, these were all kindly donated by students within the Year 8 cohort.

We recently had an activity session with the Year 2s where we played several games including rob the nest, tag chasey and many more fun games that will help create bonds between our high school and junior school students. We believe it is important to create bonds between the high school and junior school so that we can form more connections and created a more connected environment.

End-of-year activities (by Lilly Barranyay)

For the past term, our group has organised an end-of-year activity that requires communication, critical thinking and creativity to finish the year with a fun celebration. Throughout each LM session, the team worked hard to organise this, communicating with one another and even creating a Google form to gather feedback from other Year 8 students about this day. Everyone has contributed individually; whether it is cooking for the BBQ or creating idea boards; expanding their ideas to be more creative, working independently and developing teamwork skills. This has brought us together as a team and improved our sense of community at Scots.

Year-level assembly (by Georgia Perkins)

This semester our group has been productively collaborating with our peers to create an informative assembly for our year level. We have investigated relevant information found from Year 8 by our scouts Geordie Mahon and Archie Showers (our courageous leaders). We used other groups' information to implement into our assembly. This included things such as local sporting achievements, weather, the necessary equipment for Fun Friday (led by Aleira Tucker and Bonheur Rusagura), local news and student achievements. This opportunity has really allowed us to bond as a year group and allows us some control over our schooling. We are very grateful for this opportunity to prove ourselves.

Fun Friday (by Ben Pendlebury)

Fun Friday started from LM 8.1 (also known as Mr Smith's LM). The group 8.1 had Fun Friday if we did our reading perfectly during the week. In Semester 2, Fun Friday was open to all of Year 8 so we could share with the rest of the year level. Now, the Fun Friday group comes up with fun activities to do every LM on Friday. We’ve played basketball, netball, capture the flag and plenty more sport activities. Playing sports helps us learn to control our emotions and channel negative feelings in a positive way. It also helps us to develop patience and understand that it can take a lot of practice to improve our physical skills. Fun Friday also acts like a break for the end of the week.