UPPER SCHOOL
MR TIM RAYNER HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL
TAKING A DAY AT A TIME , KEEPING POSITIVE , AND BEING ADAPTABLE
A recipe for today ’ s world
Although the Queen , the Governor-General , and the State Premier were aware of this event , not many others in Victoria were . My next door neighbour ’ s 100th birthday was , by virtue of current health restrictions , a very quiet affair , although we did manage to sing happy birthday to Margaret from the safe distance of the front path .
Margaret , the oldest and longest resident in my street , served in World War II and has lived through some trying times , including the Depression of the 1930s . Margaret ’ s cheery character and interest in people – she never forgets my children ’ s birthdays – is matched by her resilience . Despite the restrictions and lack of celebrations , she was very pleased to have received 55 cards and to have spoken on the telephone to so many friends and family .
Taking a day at a time , keeping positive , and being adaptable does seem to be a good recipe for today ’ s world , where recently we have faced some very confronting circumstances .
Boys were genuinely pleased to be back at school after their first spell of isolation ; the consensus was that being at school was significantly better than being at home . Read into this what you will ! The glass half-full approach also extended to recognising that some of the activities on offer were compromises and not quite the same as before , such as online teacher interviews , which had many positive responses from parents , and boys , depending on what was said by teachers , of course .
During this time , many of us have had to navigate and adapt to new technologies . For some , the time frame to get up to speed has been short , but we have risen to the challenges and now find ourselves navigating our Learning Management System and Zoom as though we are old hands , or Year 9 boys .
I would be mightily surprised if Zoom is not one of the words of 2020 , at least at Scotch anyway . Boys and staff alike have taken to this medium due to its ease of use , and although not the same as a face-to-face meeting , or a class , it is a satisfactory compromise .
Our website has also seen several changes , with weekly contributions from our Principal and Chaplaincy . Support , help and advice run through many of the pages , as we think of others rather than ourselves . Through our Dean of Students and School Captain , boys have been encouraged to contribute to our website and share some of the activities in which they are involved . We can already see how such technologies will be able to improve the quality of education offered in future years , when the current crisis is finally behind us . So there are some positives .
House competitions have continued , although sometimes in a modified form . Mr Keith Oatley and Heads of Houses have done a marvellous job in running a cock house competition that means so much to the School and boys . Activities like House Chess , Public Speaking and Debating , while occurring online , were little changed , but House sport and drama had to be approached more creatively because of social distancing .
Team sports were out , solo efforts were in . This led to activities like golf ( nearest to the pin ), hockey goal shooting , penalty taking in soccer , and goal kicking in AFL . House points were awarded and boys competed with gusto , pleased that they could show off their skills , albeit to a reduced audience . I very much expect , at the end of this year , the reaction of the boys to the announcement of which House has won the trophy will not be different to any other year .
www . scotch . vic . edu . au Great Scot 15