Celebrating Founders' Day

Old Scotch Collegians in civvies struck a contrast with the boys in the Pipe Band kilts as they marched together in front of friends and family on the School oval.

Please click here to view the full story and photographs.

Class of 1959, 50 Year Reunion

The 1959 leavers' enjoyed a full day's programme for their 50 year reunion on Friday 18 September, thanks to a proactive 1959 reunion organising committee.

Please click here to view the full story and photographs.

Entrance Scholarship Reunion

Past and present recipients of the JA and Gordon Gooch Entrance Scholarships recently attended a gathering in the new Science, Design and Technology building on Tuesday 1 September 2009.

Gordon Gooch was a student of Scotch College from 1907-1912 and became a great benefactor of the School. He established Scholarships and although his funding for these Scholarships ran out many years ago, the School continue to fund them annually in honour of Gordon Gooch's great contribution.

The School was pleased to host past recipients of the Gooch Entrance Scholarships, ranging in age from 19 to 60. They were joined by several of the School's present student recipients and the School was very fortunate to host some descendants of JA Gooch, Gordon's brother, who was a student at the school in 1914.

Scotch Students vs. Old Boys Football Match

The annual Scotch Students versus Old Boys football match was played Friday afternoon 19 June with the students winning by 3 points.

Old Boy Drew Banfield (1991), plus a number of other ex WAFL footballers and some leavers from 2008 made up the Old Boy side. A highlight was James Hindle (1985 and current staff) kicking 3 goals, 2 being from a combined distance of 5 metres.

Tom Ledger (Year 12) led the students side superbly. The game was played in great spirits.

Anzac Day Chapel Service

Reverend Chas Lewis took time in a busy, administrative assembly on the first day of Autumn Term to acknowledge Anzac Day and speak about a new war plaque, provided by the OSC Committee, to honour the lives of Mr John Needs (OSC '64) (Vietnam war) and Mr Geoff Mills (OSC '62) (Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation).

A friend of the Needs' family, Mr Graeme Johnston (former Scotch parent and former 2Bn PIR Soldier), together with Owen Ashby (former 6Bn RAR Soldier), Mr Terry Needs (OSC '65 and younger brother of John Needs) and Trevor Gardiner (former 6Bn RAR Platoon Commander), pictured with the plaque, were delighted to hear that it will be displayed in the foyer of Memorial Hall.

Beverley PSA (Public Schools' Association) Annual Dinner

Scotch College were the proud hosts of this year's 75th Anniversary of the Beverley Dinner, held at the Beverley Golf Club on Friday 1 May. Scotch provided the guest speaker, Mr John Welborn ('87), ex Wallaby and renowed rugby journeyman. A total of around 80 were in attendance, from Aquinas, Christ Church, Guildford, Hale, Trinity and Wesley, with 28 of those being past Scotch students. A bus travelled from Scotch College with 12 past students on board, driven by the Acting Headmaster, Mr Peter Freitag and a wonderful evening of socialising was enjoyed by all.

Seniors' Luncheon

The annual luncheon for those students who left Scotch more than 50 years ago was held in the School Dining Room on Friday 8 May, with 113 Old Boys in attendance. Sam Edwards, Year 12, Keys House, provided atmospheric piping during the pre-luncheon period. Acting Headmaster, Mr Peter Freitag gave an update on School life in 2009 and Mr Angus Horwood ('57) shared his recollections of School days in the 1950's. A superb luncheon by Mr Brett Barrett ('92) and his catering staff, complemented a memorable day of reminiscing with school peers.

College Cup Sailing Regatta

The College Cup Sailing Regatta is a PSA event held annually in May. This year Scotch fielded two crews, thanks to the kind sponsorship of Peter Barblett (OSC '79) of Headwear Stockists. Skip Lissiman ('74) and Scott Glaskin ('75) organised the crews and Kim Gamble ('73) kindly provided his launch and skippering skills for spectators and crew support. This was a fabulous day of racing which saw one Scotch team in contention from the start but after being disqualified from a race, slipped out of contention to finish 5th whilst the "other" Scotch team ended up 3rd overall.

Jonathon Blaxell returns to his roots

Old Scotch Collegian and Senior Firefighter, Jonathon Blaxell ('93), returned to Scotch College this week to talk to the Year 5 boys about team work as part of their Unit of Inquiry in the PYP. Jonathon took time out from long-service leave from the Osborne Park Fire Station to talk to the boys about the importance of team work in his role as a firefighter. He spoke about the value of communication among team members and the importance of having a plan in order to work towards the same goal.

Jonathon's visit was an excellent example of how Old Scotch Collegians can get involved at the School. If you would like contribute to school activities please contact the OSC Manager, Helen Brown.

Scotch College Football team of the 20th Century announced

The Scotch College Football team of the 20th Century was announced at this year's annual Founder's Day Dinner and includes some of the biggest names in football.

Mal Brown ('64) was named as Captain with Ross Glendinning ('73) as Vice Captain. The squad members boast impressive football careers, having played at WAFL. VFL and/or AFL level.

A panel of knowledgeable Scotch College football minds spent months prior to the dinner researching School. WAFL, VFL and AFL records to come up with a list of 50 potential Scotch squad members before MC and prominent sports journalist, Michael Thomson ('77) announced the team of 22 at the dinner.

This year's Founders' Day Dinner was a huge success with its biggest crowd yet. Around 360 Old Scotch Collegians attended the dinner and included leavers who attended the College from 1945 to 2007.

See photos of this year's Founders' Day Dinner here.

New Head of Music for Scotch College

The beat of the Scotch drums resonates strongly amongst the Scotch College community and this is certainly the case for Old Scotch Collegian ('89), David Coughlan, who has recently been appointed as the new Head of Music for the School.

The recipient of a Music scholarship to Scotch College, Mr Coughlan excelled at Music during his education here, being awarded both Colours and Honours in Music.

After studying Music at the University of Western Australia and gaining a Graduate Diploma in Education at Edith Cowan University, Mr Coughlan went on to teach Music in a range of independent and government schools in Western Australia for a number of years before moving to the United Kingdom.

In the UK he took on the position of Teacher in Charge of Music at the Trinity Church of England School (Surrey) and then Assistant Director of Music at Reading Blue Coat School.

Since returning to Australia in 2000, Mr Coughlan has gained his Masters of Education while teaching Music at Wangaratta High School in Victoria for the past eight years. He was also appointed Director of Music there in 2007.

Mr Coughlan said he was excited at the opportunity to return to Scotch College and contribute to the School that has been so influential in his development as a professional musician and educationalist.

We look forward to welcoming him at the beginning of 2009.

Old Scotch Collegians selected for Olympic Games

Three Old Scotch Collegians have been selected to represent Australia at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Jamie Beadsworth ('02) (pictured) will make his Olympic debut with the Men's Water Polo team at the Beijing Olympics which kick off on August 8th with the opening ceremony. He is one of three Western Australians to make the team this year. Jamie played in the 1st Water Polo team at Scotch College from 2000 to 2002. Jamie's sister, Gemma, has also been selected for the Women's Olympic Water Polo team.

Jeremy Stevenson ('03) will also make his Olympic debut with the Men's Eight Rowing crew and is one of the youngest rowers on the team.

David Dennis ('97) will join Jeremy in the Men's Eight and represent Australia at his second Olympic Games, he also competed in the Men's Coxless Four in Athens in 2004.

Old Scotch Collegian wins national award

Old Scotch Collegian and West Perth engineer, Sven de Jonghe ('96) was recently honoured with an ISIS Future Leader Award.

The Property Council of Australia announced the award at a gala event held in Melbourne in early June.

His work on the refurbishment of the Perth Town Hall and the design of the new Fiona Stanley Hospital paved the way for this national honour that recognises industry excellence. Mr de Jonghe's employer, Bassett Consulting Engineers (BCE) nominated him for the award after he won the Property Council of Australia's WA Young Achiever Award last year.

Following his secondary education at Scotch, Mr de Jonghe graduated from the University of WA with a Mechanical Engineering degree and first class honours in 2000. He joined BCE shortly after and was made associate Director approximately three years ago. At 26, he was the youngest Associate Director in the firm's 80-year history.

Mr de Jonghe was the State's first accredited GreenStar professional and has been involved in the design and rating of projects seeking GreenStar certification. GreenStar rates the overall ecological footprint of new constructions.

Old Boys vs 1st XVIII Football match

A star studded Old Boys line up defeated the Scotch College 1st XVIII Football team on Friday 13 June.

Former AFL players James CLEMENT (Collingwood), Rowan JONES (WC Eagles), Mark GALE (Fremantle Dockers) and Drew BANFIELD (WC Eagles) along with four former WAFL players plus current teacher and crowd favourite James HINDLE were the big names on the day.

The 1st XVIII seemed a little star-struck in the first half but managed to close the margin to 40 points at the final siren.

Final score: Old Boys 15.10 (100) 1st XVIII 9.6 (60)

More photos

School Captain's ANZAC Address

The School Captain, Michael Denny, gave a stirring ANZAC address during chapel this week. It is a tradition for the School Captain to share his thoughts on ANZAC Day with the School community. Michael spoke exceptionally well and demonstrated a mature understanding about this important day in Australia's history. To view a copy of Michael's speech, click here.

Goland Club

Members of the Goland Club were invited back to Scotch College this week.

Comprised of past Scotch Rowing students, the Goland Club supports Rowing at the College. Members were invited to the annual Boat Club Dinner on Thursday 3rd April and those who attended also visited the College the following day to view Pipe Band and Marching demonstrations. They were joined by Head of Rowing, Mr Grant Ford. Rowing coach, Mr Jame Hindle, recited a poem at the Boat Club Dinner. Please see attached for a copy poem, "That's What Rowing's For".

A special part of this Assembly was the "send off" for all Rowing boys competiting at the Head of the River the following day.