Scotch Reports Issue 174 (April 2019)

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TORRENS PARK CAMPUS Rustic Pathways: Laos Late last year, 15 recent graduates travelled to Laos in Southeast Asia to take part in a service trip through Rustic Pathways. Upon arrival we were greeted by our local leaders with flower necklaces before we headed to base camp. Here we caught our first glimpse of the Laos culture, with the historic wooden buildings and simple living styles that reflect the caring and communal Laotian culture. While in Laos we undertook two service projects; constructing a boat ramp in Sop Wan village and helping to build a community centre in Panoor. These service projects enabled us to bond as a team and importantly, to work with the people of each village and learn about their families and lives. We worked alongside kids who were carrying buckets of cement and rocks along tricky pathways, often lugging more than they weighed. Doing service work in these villages developed our manual skills in areas such as laying bricks, cladding, rendering, mixing cement, but most of all, helped us to develop a desire to do the hard work required. There were many other amazing experiences we had in Laos, for example the elephant conservation park or giving alms to the monks. Looking back on our journey though, the two things that stood out to us all were the local children’s willingness to learn and the generosity of the families that took us in. The children would take any opportunity to interact with us and learn, whether this was playing UNO, dancing the Nutbush or quietly sitting down to study English with Ms Davey and Ms Kidman. In both villages, families gave up their living areas for us to sleep in, while they all moved into a smaller room. Both Maddy and I experienced great generosity from our host family, giving us oranges each night after attempting to communicate family stories and memories with us. While this trip was a lot of fun, we also had a deep insight into their culture – some had elements of which proved shockingly different to our norm. Death is just a normal part of their day, which we quickly realised after being woken up to the slaughtering of many pigs at 5am. Each village was just like a big family; they helped each other, looked after each other and most the time we didn’t know who actually lived in which house. This unity was clear when it came our time to leave. Each village provided us with a blessing ceremony, where animals were sacrificed, and we were blessed by each elder tying a bracelet on our wrist. Everyone in our group had something to take away from the trip. Whether that was getting through a hard day of work and cooling down in the Mekong River or attempting to play cricket with the kids, it was a rewarding journey that we will always remember. We can be people of impact and we know we will definitely look for ways to support others who are less fortunate into the future. LUCY HAMMOND & MADDY ANDREWARTHA ('18) Feature Assisting the local community with building projects in Laos 18
TORRENS PARK CAMPUS Reconciliation Action Plan In 2019, Scotch will be launching its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), created with the assistance of both staff and community in conjunction with Narragunnawali, a branch of Reconciliation Australia specifically created to support the creation of Reconciliation Action Plans for schools. Our Reconciliation Action Plan is a formal document discussing our connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people both past and present. It is about the actions Scotch College has undertaken, continues to undertake and looks forward to undertaking as we move toward stronger and greater connections with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Scotch’s centenary marks a significant point in time as we move into our next 100 years, with the overarching goal to authentically and respectfully move toward a shared future where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, history and perspectives are innately considered within our school curriculum, community and structures. As a school, we understand our position in history. Our great college was founded by Scottish immigrants 100 years ago upon a landscape intricately connected to Kaurna People for many thousands of years prior. By embedding an understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture in our curriculum, we can help to foster greater connections with that same community into the future. It is important that we understand our place within this history that spans thousands of years to better relate to the current challenges and complexities they face. Our vision for Scotch is to enrich our students’ understanding of these challenges and to move forward long a positive and rewarding path toward Reconciliation, particularly with the Kuarna people, the traditional owners of this land on which Scotch College stands. This is an ongoing journey into the future. This commitment encompasses many areas under the headings of Relationships, Respect and Opportunities. Included within these are relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in our classrooms, building relationships with community, ensuring our cultural competence, respecting the history of Reconciliation in Australia including education around taking action against racism, understanding current affairs and issues as well as acknowledgement of country. We are also looking at opportunities to create inclusive school policies, plan our curriculum and celebrate our RAP progress. A large thank you must go to the members of the RAP group, Kelly Sharp, Georgia Bradford, Sam Smith, Michael Roberts, Georgia Seppelt, John Reeves, Shahleena Martin and David Pace as well as the support of the Senior Leadership Team. ALISON MCCARTHY Yalari Coordinator Feature Michael O'Brien's Welcome to Country at the Centenary Sculpture Unveiling 19
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Page 6 and 7: SCOTCH STORIES Andrew Saies I atten
Page 8 and 9: EARLY LEARNING CENTRE ELC Literacy
Page 10 and 11: MITCHAM CAMPUS Authors in Residence
Page 12 and 13: MITCHAM CAMPUS Way2Go Year 4! The m
Page 14 and 15: TORRENS PARK CAMPUS Class of 2018 R
Page 16 and 17: Destinations for the Class of 2018
Page 22 and 23: PHILANTHROPY A Century of Philanthr
Page 24 and 25: SCOTCH COMMUNITY A Time to Celebrat
Page 26 and 27: OLD COLLEGIANS Straight Scotch FROM
Page 28 and 29: I’M SUPER PROUD OF WHAT WE’VE C
Page 30 and 31: OLD COLLEGIANS Old Scotch Cricket A
Page 32 and 33: Rowing Scotch College Old Collegian
Page 35: At Urban Habitats we have a passion

Scotch Reports Issue 174 (April 2019)

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