Great Scot December 2019 Great Scot 158_December_ONLINE | Page 51

STAFF FAREWELLS STAFF FAREWELLS 2019 STAFF RETIREMENTS TOM BOWEN Tom Bowen was appointed to an Accounting and Commerce position in 1991, However, his experience in, and knowledge of, word processing, saw him move from teaching Commerce to teaching ICT. Tom has approached every aspect of his teaching in enthusiastic, caring manner. High standards have been set alongside the individual support and encouragement that make them attainable for each boy. Beyond the classroom Tom has been involved in football as coach of the Year 8C team and has been a tutor in both Davidson and Monash. Tom has also been involved in the Year 7 and 8 Thursday afternoon sport programme. His ICT fluency has been put to great use through his role as the School’s Webmaster. SCOTCH WISHES STAFF LEAVING THE SCHOOL DURING 2019 MUCH SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS IN THEIR FUTURE ENDEAVOURS. For many Scotch boys, Tom will always be first associated with the world of rowing. As both coach, and since 2001, Teacher-in- Charge of Rowing, Tom has, with customary zeal, ensured the smooth running of our extensive rowing program. His engagement in the Middle School Thursday afternoon sport program has brought oversight of Year 8 boys putting their first tentative strokes into the Yarra. Tom’s eye for detail, strong organisational skills and comprehensive knowledge of rowing regulations and regatta requirements, have been to the fore in ensuring the many boats and boys comprising the Scotch flotilla have been correctly entered for, and transported to, the numerous and varied regattas, camps and courses across Victoria and New South Wales. Tom’s commitment to the cause and calm, patient approach have played a significant part in the success enjoyed by the club. BARRIE BURTON Our dear friend Barrie Burton taught with genuine humility and enormous heart. His students – knowing that they were in the safest and wisest of hands – went wherever he asked them to go, intellectually and emotionally. More often than not you would find Barrie seated alongside one of these boys, in a gesture of fraternity, engaging in the hard graft of, as he would phrase it, ‘line-by-line’ correction. He knew that this was what mattered most: connecting with each boy at his own level, on his own page, through his own trains of thought. This is why his students respected him: because he saw the value in each of them, and he valued an ongoing commitment – from both student and teacher – to the earnest craft of writing, of personal expression. Every lesson was an act of faith in each boy’s ability, and they responded with genuine affection and toil. www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot 51