Over the years I have seen many talented students, teachers, parents and guests share their little piece of magic in our community. Often the talent is a particular skill be it in the classroom, on the sporting field, in performance or an insightful presentation. We are blessed to be able to observe and be part of a community where success is bountiful and celebrated with wholesome praise.

In assembly today we acknowledged the academic success of those students who received a Principal’s Academic Semester Award. Many students were also awarded Academic Letters or Academic Colours. For 15 of our Year 12 students the highest award of College Academic Colours was presented. We congratulate and celebrate those students. We also had a rousing start to our assembly with a long-awaited performance by the Caledonian Corp. It was great to have the pipers, drummers and dancers bring back the Scotch magic into our lives. 24 students received Caledonian Colours for their contribution to the Corp and for many of the seniors their tutelage of younger students. The band is as large as it has ever been and sounds as always amazing!

My greatest lessons have come from those students, staff and community members who have shown me how grit, mindset, and a keen sense of purpose come together to overcome adversity. In a year characterised by challenge and change we have witnessed many experiences and stories which have shown us the depth of humanity.

The highlight of today’s assembly was the telling of Katelin Gunn’s story. As many of you know Katelin and two of her friends were involved in a serious vehicle accident on the Gunn property in December 2018. As a result of the accident the three girls have been on a significant journey of recovery. Katelin suffered life-threatening injuries and paraplegia. Her journey back from that moment in time has been as you can imagine fraught with difficulty and huge challenges.

Callum McPherson (’11) put together a thoughtful podcast of Katelin’s story which we shared with our campus community today. It is hard not to believe in miracles once you come to understand the severity of the accident and injuries Katelin received. 

But today at the start of the second semester, in our second century in circumstances unknown to our contemporary world we were able to stop, pause and reflect on what it is to truly show resilience and overcome misfortune. We used today to mark a turning point for the three girls in their journey and to show our students that courage and bravery coupled with grit and future hopes make for success in our lives. We are so proud of each of the girls and what they have achieved in moving forward in their lives.

Katelin’s story will be posted on our Facebook page and I hope you find the time to take inspiration and hope from this journey at a time where we may feel somewhat overwhelmed and face uncertainty. Thank you Katelin, Zara and Evie and we wish you every success as you continue to grow your dreams and hopes.

In this week’s eNews you will find important information regarding School Sport and Covid – we appreciate your support in leading by example regarding social distancing at all school events be they at Scotch or other schools. 

Importantly, as we move into planning our programs for 2021, Teresa Hanel (Head of Teaching and Learning) has provided a comprehensive guide to pathways and processes associated with this planning. Please take the time to read through and ideally start the conversation with your adolescent about their academic program for next year. 

John, Kelly and myself are looking forward to being out and about at various sports events this weekend and hoping to catch up with many of you.

Here’s to a brilliant Winter Sport season which was kicked off with a 4-0 victory by our Open Girls Soccer against Immanuel on Wednesday afternoon – great stuff!

Dale