COLLEGE
NEWS

As you might be aware, the College is undertaking a rigorous accreditation process with the Australian Childhood Foundation (ACF). One of the key steps in our accreditation journey was to conduct a thorough review of our existing policies and procedures. We examined every aspect of our school’s operations, from recruitment and vetting processes to behaviour management strategies and reporting mechanisms. This critical self-assessment allowed us to identify areas that required improvement and implement changes to strengthen our child safety framework.

With our policies and procedures now updated, the College reaches a significant milestone in the process next week, when we complete a three-day Safeguarding Audit. Around 90 personnel from across the College will meet with ACF representatives to review our progress.

As we near the completion of this stage of our ACF accreditation, we recognise that this is not an endpoint but rather a milestone in an ongoing commitment to child safety. We remain steadfast in our dedication to providing a secure and nurturing environment for all our students. The ACF accreditation has been instrumental in helping us strengthen our practices and continually evolve to meet the changing needs of our students and the wider community.

I encourage you to review the College’s relevant policies on the College Website.

Scotch Oakburn College Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy
Scotch Oakburn College Inclusion and Diversity Policy
Scotch Oakburn College Code of Conduct Policy
Scotch Oakburn College Community Code of Conduct
Scotch Oakburn College Complaints Policy

Ben Marsland
Deputy Principal

Road Safety Week

This week is an opportune time to remind ourselves of the importance of road safety – for both drivers and pedestrians – around the Elphin Campus, in particular between 8:20 am and 8:45 am and 2:50 pm and 3:15 pm daily.

Close supervision of children around the gates, on footpaths, when getting in or out of vehicles and when crossing streets is vitally important. Pedestrians crossing Elphin Road should use the traffic light crossing and in Claremont and Erina Streets (there are no pedestrian crossings) an adult should always support children crossing the road.

Drivers should adhere to all traffic rules as well as being alert to the presence of young children at all times. Parking only in marked spaces (not over driveways nor double parking) and complying with all road signage are imperative for safety as well as courtesy.

Thank you to everybody for prioritising care and safety for all students as well as all road users, especially in the short but busy drop-off and pick-up times each school day.

Round Square

Scotch Oakburn is part of the Round Square schools organisation which is made up of more than 250 schools globally. Visitors to the Elphin Campus will have seen the Round Square emblems on the pavement in front of the Jean Gardner Wing and inside the Claremont St gate near Lemana. There are many layers of learning and personal development underpinning Round Square and embedded in age-appropriate daily learning experiences at all year levels across the Junior School. More details of these can be readily found on the Round Square website. At the top level there are six key IDEALS which are shared by all member schools.

Internationalism: Discovering and embracing similarities and differences between countries and cultures, promoting lasting transnational understanding and respect.

Democracy: Developing a personal compass for equality, fairness, justice, self-discipline, responsibility and a desire to do what is right for the greater good.

Environmentalism: Broadening horizons to understand humanities place in the universe, the forces that shape our surroundings and the impact we have.

Adventure: Pushing ourselves beyond perceived limits, crossing boundaries and discovering capabilities more than we thought possible.

Leadership: Recognising that successful leaders are driven by a desire to be of service to others and to nurture, guide, develop and help others to improve and succeed.

Service: Being ready and willing to volunteer and help where needed, applying and developing our skills and understanding in support of individuals and communities both close to home and further afield.

House Captains

Year 5 students have a range of leadership development experiences throughout the year as well as a number of opportunities to take on leadership roles. These include House Captaincy and the next set of House Captains were recently elected and will lead their House teams in the lead-up to, and at, next week’s Inter-House Cross Country afternoon for Years 2-5. Congratulations to:

Briggs: Luca Sluce, Victoria Allen
Dean: Harriet Kearns, Alfie Beaumont
Nance: Lucy Veerhuis, Sam Sullivan
Fox: Hamish Cooper and Alice Hyde

Lachie Wright
Head of Junior School

Tasmanian Japanese Poster Competition

This year’s JATNET poster competition’s theme was “The Year of the Rabbit”.  Students in Year 6 classes studying Japanese this semester submitted entries.  The competition was really tough!

Seven posters were chosen by the Japanese teachers, however, only three submissions were allowed from the College.  Congratulations to Evan Abbott, Izzy Adams and Edie Kwan for making the initial cut and securing participation certificates in this Tasmania-wide competition.

Jenny Banbury
Coordinator of Japanese

Rostrum Voice of Youth Northern win

After four years of entering Rostrum Voice of Youth and working tirelessly on her public speaking skills, Charlotte Ball (Year 11) has broken the drought by winning the Northern Final together with a Kuba Meikle from Launceston College.  Congratulations, Charlotte! She will participate in the State Final next month with the possibility of making the Nationals in Melbourne.  We wish her all the very best!

We had five students in total demonstrate their developing public speaking skills with strong efforts from Gina Kumar, Varani Harry Peiris, Mollie Gray and an Encouragement Award given to Miheli Somarathna.  They were all fantastic ambassadors for our school!  A special thanks to Ms Gina Slevec for her support on the day.

Katie Lester
Person-in-Charge of Public Speaking

Glamming it up at the Great Gatsby

It was a night of nights! Saturday 6 May was definitely an evening to remember. Beautiful decorations of candelabras, hanging pearls, elegant greening lighting and a classy gold and black colour scheme showcased the TCE Ball theme of The Great Gatsby. It was like being transported straight back into the 1920s. The amazing, warm, exciting atmosphere and vibe the Hotel Grand Chancellor brought this year was something unforgettable, the close attention to detail was obvious with the outstanding service and décor.

But it wasn’t all glitz and glamour; it was fun too. Students enjoyed an array of amusing activities from guessing the baby photos of current TCE students and some teachers too. The game of two truths and lie about some teachers left some students shocked at the convincing lies offered.

The dance floor saw the finely attired students shake it up, and it was fantastic to see the students enjoy each other’s company, with laughs and chatter present.

The night was definitely captured by our incredible photographer, Sidhonie Page-Smith, who snapped some great memories throughout the evening at the tables, on the dance floor and at our photo booth.

As always, the TCE Ball takes a team to turn it into reality, and it couldn’t have been done without the brilliant help and support from the incomparable Works Department, the Art Department, especially Ms Carmel Dilger, VJAM, Mrs Joy Russell and the Seniors’ Committee for the love, effort and care they put into making the event run smoothly and effortlessly.

As the Great Gatsby character Jordan Baker said in the novel. “And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties, there isn’t any privacy.” It was a large party indeed, in size, fun and memories.

Clair Russell
Seniors’ Committee Member

Student Achievement

Lochie Plunkett (Year 9) has been named in the Tasmanian Under 15 Boys football team and will compete in Ballarat in late July. He is one of only five boys included from the north of the state.

Ali Foot
Head of Sport

Netball

The NHSSA netball roster kicked off on Saturday with close to 50 Senior School students taking to the courts in freezing conditions at Hoblers Bridge.

We had a great start to the season with four teams coming away with a victory and one team’s game ending in a draw.

Coming up this Saturday our two Year 9/10 teams will be facing off. If you want to come and cheer on our College teams, all games are played at 8:00 am or 9:00 am at Hoblers Bridge. Just remember to wear a beanie.

Justin Clarke
Person-in-Charge of Netball

Hockey

For the 2023 season, we have nominated two co-captains, both great leaders on and off the field. I asked them to introduce themselves:

Thomas Gleeson: “I have been playing hockey since Year 7 and have loved every second of it. All of my coaches throughout my time have been really supportive and encouraging while giving great advice. It’s been great rising the divisions with a solid group of teammates that have stuck it through to Year 12. Everyone has always stuck to the task at hand and never given up. By far our biggest rivalry has been with Launceston Grammar, with everyone wanting to get the win against them and there being a lot of feeling in our matches. When I finish this season, I will not miss the cold winter nights in which we play, but I will miss the comradery and teamwork that is involved in hockey.

Tyler Petrusa: “I was born in Seattle, Washington, USA and lived the first 11 years of my life there until I moved to Launceston in January 2017. It was during my time in the USA that I first discovered my love for hockey, as my family and I would occasionally watch our local ice hockey team, the Seattle Thunderbirds. In my spare time, I like to bake, cut hair, create instrumental music and volunteer at the Door of Hope as a Youth Leader-in-Training.  I feel absolutely honoured to be a Scotch Oakburn College Boys Hockey Co-Captain alongside Thomas Gleeson and I am eager to work together with our team to go out and play some great hockey. Buckle up, because this season is going to be something special!”

—

The season has started well for the boys.  The Under 14 team was unlucky to finish their first match with a draw against Launceston City, and they won their second match 6-1. This Saturday they will play Queechy Penguins in a clash of the leaders.

The Under 19 team has had two close games so far: a hard-fought draw against Launceston Grammar for their first match 2-2 and a tough loss 4-3 against Queechy High School. If we had had subs and could have rested tiring players the result may have been different. The boys will aim for their first win this season on Monday against Tamar.

Fabrice Dauchez
Person-in-Charge of Boys Hockey

Girls Football

The season has begun with three convincing wins against our three opponents in the Northern SATIS competition. The squad of nearly 30 women includes Year 7 to Year 12 players. Several of our players this season are very experienced, having developed their football skills in teams from Auskick and beyond. We also have a number of representative players aiming to represent the state in AFLW competitions.

Fiona Taylor
Person-in-Charge of Girls Football

Sports Mindset

There is a story told about Mike Tyson that when he was making his comeback, he was very timid with his sparring partner, having suffered so much over his career, he didn’t want to suffer anymore, so he only tipped and tapped when sparring with his partner.  On about the third go, his sparring partner landed a huge punch to the right of Mike’s face and it was at that moment, that he swelled up inside, his energy, his motivation, his emotion, all exploded inside as he said to himself, “I belong here.  I am meant to be here” and the rest is history.

This week the Boys and Girls Firsts AFL Teams traveled to Burnie and it was hearing this Mike Tyson story that I became inspired to give the students an excerpt from our book, In Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick (page 227).

It inspired them which could have contributed to their wins; each team winning by over 20 points. As you read this and if you play a sport, I ask you to wonder, has there been a moment when you decided you belonged?  We work to ensure all our students feel they belong playing for Scotch Oakburn.  We support them because we believe they belong.  I share the excerpt from the book below:

“I totally belong here!|
I commit to making it a good one.
I control my feelings and the attitude that I bring into this game.
I choose my focus…  I choose my focus.
I choose to focus fully right off the bat, from start to finish.
I decide to make it great.
I decide to embrace the challenge, through the ups and downs.
I decide to draw the positive lessons from each experience.
I am lucky to be here doing what I love to do.
So it’s cool.
Full Focus.
Simple joys.
Nothing else matters.”

Rev Grace
Sports Mindset Coach