Firstly, welcome back to all our boys, young men, and their families to Spring Term, which if you take your eyes off it too quickly, you will no doubt find yourself be staring down Santa and his helpers!
Recently, I watched with interest and intrigue, the final episode of the original series 7 Up, now 70 Up. This series commenced with the famous claim, “Give me the child until he is seven, and I will give you the man”. While I found the whole series a fascinating vignette into life’s journey, seeing the myriad of unexpected changes and outcomes for each participant, I am not sold completely on the shows original premise.
Every family knows that children grow up quickly. Sometimes the change is obvious; at other times, we look back and suddenly realise just how far they have travelled. This idea reflected a conversation I had with two boarding mums just last Thursday at the boarders’ chapel and dinner. Schools have a special opportunity to pause at important moments in that journey and acknowledge not simply what a boy has achieved, but who he is becoming.
In essence, this is the value of a meaningful rite of passage such as our College’s March Out, held last Friday 16 October.
Whether it marks a transition between our sub-schools, the beginning of greater responsibility for students such as last week’s Senior School leadership programme, or the conclusion of Year 12, a well-considered ceremony allows boys, families and the school to stop, reflect and celebrate together. It says to each boy that we see you, we know you, you belong, and we recognise the person you are becoming.
Importantly, these occasions also recognise that no boy grows up alone. His journey is shaped by parents and carers, siblings, friends, teachers, coaches and mentors. Rites of passage give us an opportunity to acknowledge those relationships and to remind our boys that belonging to a community brings, challenges, support and responsibility.
In the immediate sense, these moments build connection, gratitude and belonging. Their greater significance, however, may only become apparent years later.
Our hope is that the rituals and traditions our Year 12s have experienced at school become reference points and waymarks in their lives. They remind them that growing older is also about growing in character, learning to take responsibility, showing courage when life is difficult, caring for others, contributing generously and understanding that they are part of something larger than themselves.
Ultimately, families and schools share a remarkable privilege helping boys become good men. This can be challenging in our rapidly changing world and the expectations our boys will continue to face as they enter the post school period of their journey.
That journey does not finish when a boy leaves school. The qualities nurtured through these important moments will hopefully travel with them into adulthood, shaping the friend, colleague, partner, father, community member and leader he may one day become. I am very fortunate to have first-hand experience of this watching a 2011 Scotch graduate become part of my own family, and being inspired by him as a partner, dad and son-in-law. Also, the connection to many of his OSC friends tells me our Year 12s are in for a great post-Scotch life.
If our rites of passage help boys leave us more confident in who they are, grateful for those who have walked beside them, and conscious of their responsibility to others, then we have succeeded as a college, and our boys have achieved something genuinely enduring.
Once again welcome back and have a great term and fortnight.
Dr Alec J O’Connell
Headmaster
