JUNIOR SCHOOL
skateboarders around the country . Former Junior School boys also competed in Tokyo , and we hope that some of the current cohort may be inspired to challenge themselves to represent Australia in the Brisbane Olympics in 2032 .
However , the transition from school student to Olympic athlete is a challenging one and will rely on relevant opportunity , reflection of one ’ s own journey , analysis of performance and then planning of specific goals ; a step-by-step process that will require a great deal of hard work and perseverance .
In a recent ‘ Literature Circles ’ session with a group of Year 6 boys , I challenged the boys to analyse Robert Frost ’ s well-known poem , A Road Not Taken . The final three lines : ‘ Two roads diverged in a wood , and I – I took the one less travelled by , and that has made all the difference ’ were understandably interpreted by the boys as – go in a different direction to everyone else and it will be more rewarding .
However , they embarked on a deeper analysis of the poem and began to identify some of Frost ’ s nuances . They recognised and empathised with the challenge the traveller faced when standing at the divergence of paths through the line ‘ And sorry I could not travel both ’. They then unpacked the lines ‘ Yet knowing that way leads on to way , I doubted if I should ever come back ’.
In this discussion the boys came to an agreement that the paths would eventually converge and , while one may be more interesting than the other , the traveller would likely end up in the same place . However , they then challenged their own thinking ,
wondering if the experience the traveller had on the more interesting and challenging path may have created a better outcome for them in the end . They finally suggested that the road less travelled most probably developed some implicit benefit that , while reaching the same end point , had an impact that was influential .
Being new to the Scotch community I have had the privilege and pleasure of looking at it with fresh eyes , and learning the many influences on the boys as they make their own unique transitions during their time in the Junior School . I am delighted to learn that the wide variety of opportunities placed at the feet of the boys have been ( and continue to be ) carefully considered . Curricular and extracurricular development involves research and analysis of contemporary discourse , all before applying the thinking to the Scotch context and that of our cohorts of boys . The School benefits from a strong connection to faith , to its own history and to the community , all of which are integral to the aforementioned context .
If challenge is provided to our boys , and a period of transition is expected , it will be one that is age appropriate , values based and foundational . The clear aim is to help the boys build a solid platform upon which any transition is possible , and to use the experiences they have had during their time at Scotch to positively influence whatever direction they wish to take in the future , be it as an Olympic skateboarder or simply to travel overseas to experience roads less travelled or strange new sports .
8 Great Scot Issue 163 – September 2021