Great Scot May 2020 Great Scot 159_MAY 2020_ONLINE_V3 | Page 5

and all the relationships of school life, contribute to
it. Respect for the dignity of each person has been
explicitly identified as the foundational principle of a
Scotch education today.
At this time especially, it is valuable to reflect on
the impact of these and other developments, which
can also be illustrated from the 2019 VCE results.
Scotch boys led the APS schools. At the top end, six
Scotch boys achieved perfect ATAR scores, out of a
total of only 29 such boys in the state. With reasonable
assumptions, Scotch boys comprised some 20 per cent
of all boys in Victoria with scores over 99.90.
Scotch, of course, has a non-selective entry, and
especially values the wide range of abilities and talents
among its students, aiming to lift the performance of
all boys. In 2019 the median ATAR score for all Scotch
boys rose to 91.65; again with reasonable assumptions,
the highest median score in the APS.
Scotch also seeks an indicator of the ‘value-added’
by the School. In aptitude testing at Year 5, 37 out
of 180 boys in the 2019 cohort (21 per cent) were in
the top 10 per cent of the total Australian student
population. At VCE level, out of these same 180 boys,
90 boys (50 per cent) were in the top 10 per cent of
the ATAR population. The contribution of families,
as well as school influences, would be reflected in this
statistic.
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, Scotch
is assessing future development planning. In April this
year the Keon-Cohen Dining Hall will be completed
as the centrepiece of the developing St Andrew’s
Square. As the boys return to school, this part of the
campus will give concrete expression to the House
system that has strengthened the pastoral care for
each boy, with further Home Rooms being completed
as resources permit. This development expresses the
School’s emphasis on relationships between boys and
teachers, and boys and boys, that is central to the
educational philosophy of the School.
The objective of the School Council, working with
the educational leadership of the Principal, remains
to see continuing improvement in Scotch education,
which is now at the leading edge of boys’ education in
Australia.
I convey the best wishes of the members of Council
to the whole Scotch Family at this difficult time.
Meeting the needs of each boy remains at the forefront
of our concerns.
SCOTCH’S HEAD OF
HISTORY, DR MARK
JOHNSTON, WITH A
YEAR 11 CLASS
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
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