The Thistle - An E-Newsletter of Scotch College, Perth, Western Australia

Community and Service

Service-Learning in Action

The Year 10 service-learning programme has begun for the term with boys taking part in activities timetabled for Friday afternoons. The activities are as follows:

  • Rocky Road: Boys spend time with disabled residents taking part in recreational activities at Rocky Bay.
  • Primates: Boys work with primary-aged students in Swanbourne Primary School, Scotch Junior School and North Balga Primary School.
  • Mimates: At Balga Senior High School, boys engage with recently arrived refugee and migrant students undertaking an intensive English language course.
  • Braemar: Boys travel to Braemar Village in Willagee to take part in games and other recreational activities with the elderly residents in the centre.
  • Pararec: Boys assist therapists with recreation sessions for disabled residents at the Shenton Park Paraplegic-Quadriplegic Centre.
  • The A Team: Boys hear first-hand accounts from individual members of various disadvantaged groups in the broader Perth community and advocate for these groups within our community. The first group visited Romily House on Shenton Road to investigate the issue of mental Illness.
  • Sportsmad: Boys help with refereeing or coaching of PSA Middle School Sport.
  • Backyard Blitz: Working with the community agency 'People Who Care', boys travel to a different location each week to serve the elderly and disabled, performing garden clean-up's and basic home maintenance tasks.
  • Habitators: This group assists with the restoration of the Lake Claremont natural habitat. Working with 'Friends of Lake Claremont' - they help to rejuvenate the bush land and swamp ecosystem.
  • Stablemen: Boys assist volunteers at the Claremont Therapeutic Riding Centre with various manual jobs around the stables to enable riding for the disabled to take place.
  • Tranby: Boys learn about the issue of homelessness from the UnitingCare West - Tranby Centre staff and homeless clients. Rolling and distributing 'Street Swags' is part of this activity.
  • Little Sisters: The Order, 'Little Sisters of the Poor', cares for the elderly in a residential setting. Boys spend time talking to residents and playing board games with them.
  • ICEA Yarn: Boys take part in reconciliation workshops run by the young leaders of ICEA - Indigenous Communities Education and Awareness foundation on the issue of reconciliation.
  • Mad WORLD: A small group of boys work with academic and Young Australian of the Year (2013) - Akrim Azami to take action on social Justice issues.

In addition to the activities described above, boys rotate through an activity called r.u.MAD? (Are You Making a Difference?) This is a guest speaker programme with a focus on local service agencies and current issues. Experts present ideas and challenge the audience to think about how change comes about - at an individual, community national or international level. As part of the Year 10 programme, boys can also undertake to complete a Surf Lifesaving WA - Senior First Aid course. The Emergency Services Cadets offers a programme for Year 10 boys that runs concurrently.

c and s collage

Year 10 Short-Term Exchanges

Offers of places for Year 10 boys have been received from St Andrews College in Christchurch, New Zealand and also Belgrano Day School in Argentina. We curently host a boy from Belgrano who is able to provide information about the exchange to Argentina. Boys who are interested in either schools should see Mr Cordner.

Mr Bill Cordner
 Director of Community Service