From Principal Mark Geraets

I’m excited to know I’ll be seeing our students, who are the heartbeat of our school, back on campus on Monday.

It’s not until the playgrounds are quiet and the classrooms are empty that I really appreciate how much I love watching students greet each other with excitement each morning and the playgrounds buzzing with energy at the breaks each day. Plus Fabio has been desperately lonely without all his friends on the Oval.

The strong connection between everyone in our community has never been more clearly defined than during the past few weeks of COVID-19 lockdown, when we haven't been able to see each other “in the flesh”; we are fortunate to be able to connect online - but it's just not the same.

The lockdown has been more keenly felt at Scots because of the tragic loss of Year 10 student Amelie Borella. We haven’t been able to comfort one another in the way we would normally so it will be restorative for our students to return to their peer support networks.

A hug and a smile in-person can say so much.

Level 3 conditions

Of course, a return to school is not without restrictions, but we are very adept at making these part of our daily routines.

All students will need to have their temperature checked at either the Junior School or Senior School Receptions when they arrive. Senior School students need to wear masks at school, including in the classroom, and mask wearing is strongly recommended for Junior School students.

Parents must remain outside the School grounds for pick up and drop off. At the Young Street Pick Up Zone, we ask that parents remain in their cars.

Much of our daily schedule will be unchanged but we won’t be running any sports, assemblies or other large gatherings. We will continue to adopt COVID-19 health and safety measures such as additional cleaning, use of hand sanitizer and restricted capacity indoors. And it goes without saying that if your child is unwell or has any COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms they should not come to school.

Scots will operate its Hybrid learning model until next Friday, the end of Term 3 for those students who are unable to return to on campus learning.

Can I ask that all families who do not wish their child to return in person just yet or who are unable to return because of restrictions in their LGA, to please notify the School by emailing reception@scotsalbury.nsw.edu.au prior to this Sunday 12 September. Students not returning can continue to access learning online through Scotty, Teams or Seesaw.

The Boarding House will open on Sunday 12 September for boarding students within the bubble, however, students from restricted areas are still not permitted to return.

Canteen closed

The canteen will be closed all of next week, the final week of term. We apologise if this causes you inconvenience, but it will re-open as normal in Term 4. 

Vaccinations

Many students are now eligible to be vaccinated. You can make a booking for a vaccination at the Vaccination Hub in Wodonga on the Coronavirus Hotline number 1800 675 398, on the website here or at some General Practices in Wodonga and Albury. 

Farewell

English, Humanities and Drama teacher and current Year 11 Learning Mentor, Brie Sharp, will leave us today after three years in the Senior School. Brie was also an assistant in the Boarding House in her first year with us, has been a Section Leader and has been involved for the past two years in Junior and Senior School productions and co-curricular Drama. I would like to thank Brie for all her work at Scots and wish her well on the next phase of her educational journey. 

Senior Study Centre

We are very close to launching to our school community the concept drawings for the Senior Study Centre. A start to construction is tantalisingly close - we have commenced an expression of interest process with four local construction companies, we plan to incorporate their feedback to finalise the design over the coming months prior to appointing a contractor early in 2022. Construction will start soon afterwards on the Senior Study Centre, which will sit roughly where the Pipe Band building is on the edge of Wilson Oval. 

I can’t wait to share the drawings with you next week.

Car Raffle Tickets

We still have many outstanding car raffle tickets with families in our community. The car raffle is our biggest fundraiser for the Senior Study Centre and we need to get all the tickets returned - whether they are sold or not. Please help us by returning the tickets and money to the School as soon as possible. 

The best way to do this is to send the tickets in with your child (ask them to deliver the tickets to Reception at the Junior or Senior School) and transfer the money into the school bank account. To make a direct deposit, please contact Reception for the bank account details at reception@scotsalbury.nsw.edu.au or on (02) 6022 0000. You also can pay over the phone by by credit card by calling reception.

Uniform Shop Opening Hours

The Uniform Shop and the Scots Clothing Pool is open on Monday mornings and Wednesday afternoons as follows:

Monday 8.15am – 9.15am
Wednesday 3.00pm – 4.00pm