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

A Gold Achievement

Two of our leaving Year 12 boys have achieved their Duke of Edinburgh's International Gold Award, a very rare occurrence for a student still at school.

The boys will receive their awards tomorrow night at a ceremony at Government House with Her Excellency the Honourable Kerry Sanderson, Governor of Western Australia. Fortuitously our celebrated Pipe Band will be playing at the event too.

Callum Purvis (Year 12, Shearer House)

Many of you won't know that Callum is a qualified pilot and has done a lot of work with the Air Force Cadets. He is planning on attending the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra and joining the Royal Australian Air Force.

In Callum's reflection on completing his award, he focused on the fact he has learnt so many new things as a part of his award and, more importantly, has met people from diverse backgrounds with different outlooks on life.

Simon Ferreira (Year 12, Ross House)

As well as his immense tennis talents, Simon is an accomplished piper. To complete his award, he has spent a lot of time assisting at the Therapeutic Riding Centre in Mt Claremont.

In Simon's reflection, he commented that the award helped him maintain a balanced lifestyle and to appreciate different perspectives on life.

Achieving their Gold Awards is a significant achievement. Congratulations to Callum and Simon.

Disabled Surfing Australia

As summer rolls around, the College community once again looks to get involved in Disabled Surfing. 'Let's go Surfing' Days take place at Fremantle Surf Life Saving Club, Leighton Beach and there are various volunteering opportunities that need to be filled. The dates for these events are listed below but please know that the organisation also puts on events in the south west through the summer.

Below are links to their Facebook page and website. The organisation has said the best place to follow their events is on Facebook as weather changes can mean last minute messaging.

Scotch students can expect more information from their student leaders soon.

Saturday 2 December 2017 (NO PSA SPORT)

Saturday 27 January 2018

Saturday 17 February 2018

Saturday 17 March 2018

https://www.facebook.com/disabledsurferswa

http://disabledsurfers.org/wa/

Shearer and Keys House engage with The Salvation Army

On Friday afternoon, 16 Year 12 boys from Keys and Shearer House participated in a workshop at the Salvation Army Centre in Northbridge, run by Schools Development Representative, Darren Reynolds. The aim of the workshop was for the students to gain a greater understanding of what services the Salvation Army provides to the greater community, whilst establishing an ongoing relationship with our two Houses. The students participated in a simulated activity to illustrate how people can fall into the cycle of homelessness, before getting a tour of some of the facilities at the Centre. One of the places the boys visited was the Market Place, where everyday food items are made available to homeless people. Other resources such as blankets, sleeping bags and school supplies were also stockpiled at the Centre and it was a great experience for the boys to get a sense of how the Salvation Army operates in our community. Moving forward, the boys have several ideas of ways that they can support the Salvation Army and we look forward to getting these activities off the ground throughout the term.

Mr Scott Galipo (Shearer House Head) and Mrs Louise Lilford (Keys House Head)

Anderson v Brisbane Wheelchair Basketball

After seeing the impact of students playing wheelchair basketball at Rocky Bay, Miss Lisa Evans has begun a tradition of Anderson and Brisbane House leaving Year 12s playing a game. Following last year's successful inaugural game, last Thursday the students fought it out with Brisbane winning the game 3-1.

The match aims to raise some funds for Rebound WA and also improve our awareness about people living in wheelchairs and the difficulties they face in our community. It is also a celebration about the skillfulness that our wheelchair athletes have. Amber from Rebound WA certainly showed the boys a thing or two on Thursday.

Both houses are excited to continue the tradition next year.

wheelchair2

Opportunities to get involved with community events

The events below are looking for volunteers to assist them in putting on their community events. Please email me if you would like more information.

Mosman Park Community Fair

  • Craft Fair at Tom Perrott Reserve in Mosman Park for the Mosman Park Men's Shed
  • Sunday 5 November from 9am - 2pm
  • General help eg: selling some raffle tickets, delivering buns / drinks to the BBQ as and when required

Bonjour Perth Festival

  • Saturday 21st October 2017
  • Subiaco
  • Volunteers will be offered a Festival t-shirt and bottled water. Complimentary snacks will be provided for volunteers who work more than four hours.

The Euroz North Cottesloe Cold Water Classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=O5O9JZ6JqF8

Finally, next Sunday the annual Euroz North Cottesloe Cold Water Classic will take place. The event supports the Leukaemia Foundation's mission to care for people living with blood cancer. As the original event site stated, by creating awareness comes funding, with funding comes research and with research comes results.

The Scotch College Triathlon Club will be competing as will plenty of other members of our community. For more information, and to enter use the link below.

https://ncslsc.com/cold-water-classic/

Mr David Kyle
 Director of Community and Service