Great Scot April 2018 GreatScot_153_April_2018_Online | Page 7

fronts. The advent of the James Forbes Academy for
Performing Arts, the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre for
Science and the recently opened, Spencer Centre for
Design and Technology, has not only provided homes
for the nurturing of passions, it has re-established the
centrality of the ‘marketplace’ as a place of exchange
where minds and bodies collide. Our teaching has
become more conversational and relational, respecting
the creative force that flows from that which is different
in each boy and the power of collaboration. New
programmes have seen boys stretched further in their
areas of strength, given greater opportunity to connect
with those who might think differently to them and
released from rectangular restraints of time and space
to identify and solve problems. We have seen boys
develop a simple warning system to reduce repeat rates
for cataract surgery; an app operated first responder
electronic bandage that compresses, cools and heats as
required; a fully automated aircraft trolley; and a ram-
proof security bollard for pedestrian zones that offers
seating, lighting, data points and an urban garden.
Such is the ingenuity, talent and resourcefulness of this
generation.
That the 2018 Scotch roll has been enhanced by 261
new boys hailing from origins as diverse as Greenwich
(CT, USA), Jerilderie, Box Hill, Pirlangimpi (Tiwi
Islands), Laurieton, Mornington, Gritjurk, Kuala
Lumpur, Kowloon an d Hawthorn gives evidence to the
rich potency of the current vintage.
Returning boys set foot on a campus glowing
in the aftermath of the busiest period of summer
works for our Grounds and Maintenance staff on
record. In addition to the opening of a new Design
and Technology Centre, an old Science building
had disappeared, making possible a glimpse of the
near future which will see a revamped Keon-Cohen
Building as the central cafeteria/dining hall to a
bustling expansive Scotch Square for the boys.
In addition to the continued realisation of our
masterplan, 2018 will see us further enhance academic
care in Year 8 with greater mixing of boys in subject
classes; extend our use of young Old Boys as Academic
Mentors within the English, Science, History,
Languages, Art and Drama departments; explore time
provision for teachers to research and develop resources;
and progress our ‘Shrinking the Core’ plans for Years
8-10, to provide greater opportunity for teachers to
share interests and passions through cross age electives.
We will strive to inculcate in each boy an
appreciation of, and respect for, the inherent value
of each person, so he seeks out, and is excited by, the
potential of new interactions. To fill such engagements
with substance and purpose, we will encourage boys
MR TOM BATTY AT THE OPENING OF THE SPENCER CENTRE FOR DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
to reflect on how the world came to be as it is and
their part in building a better future. We will continue
to unearth passions and hone skills, and so develop
interested and interesting young men ready to meet the
challenges and grasp the opportunities of their age.
As the pathways that underpinned confidence in
a predictable future are disrupted, I suspect it will be
those who have grown up amidst new technologies who
will be best placed to identify and solve problems. The
task of my generation, and those to follow, is to make
sure the young have the tools for the job, the judgement
to see through the fog and the courage to bring lit
flame to inherent accelerant.
I finish by taking opportunity to thank all donors to
the Spencer Centre for Design and Technology, and, in
so doing, acknowledge all in our community who have
given so generously to ensure the physical environment
of our School marries with our educational aspirations
and belief in the enterprise of Scotch boys.
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
7