From the Head of Middle School
Congratulations to our Year 6 boys, their teachers and Outdoor Education staff following 2 weeks of Lancelin camps that had all the weather elements except snow. Strong winds blew tents away, whipped up sand and wild surf, rain complicated things, but the response from all boys was brilliant; they accepted the conditions as they found them and made the most of it. Judging by the activity and the smiles in the photos on display in the Middle School the boys had a great time despite the testing conditions.
MYP Community Project: Year 8 2018
Last year the College made the decision to contain the MYP, the IBO's Middle Years Programme, to a three-year programme for Years 6-8. Essentially the MYP at Scotch College now starts and finishes in the Middle School. One of the features of the MYP delivered in schools around the world is the culminating project, an individual, inquiry driven project, in the final year of the MYP. For the last 8 years at Scotch this has been the MYP's Personal Project completed in Year 10.
The IBO has also developed a Community Project, an inquiry focused collaborative project that centers on service as a result or consequence rather than an item or product as is common in the Personal Project. The underpinning ideals of the Community Project are to:
- Develop collaboration as a skill for life
- Develop service as an attitude for life
From 2018 our Year 8 students will work toward completing a Community Project as their culminating project of the MYP at Scotch College.
In brief terms the Community Project will involve students working in self-selected groups of three, each group with a supervising Middle School teacher. The Community Project will be a timetabled subject in Year 8 with a concept and skill building focus in Summer Term, the project unfolds with its service delivery in Autumn Term culminating with a Showcase presentation in Winter Term. Ideally the Community Project aims to support students working collaboratively on a project of their interest that delivers 15 hours of service. The concept of the Community Project will be introduced to Year 7 students and families this term on Thursday 23 November. More details about this event will be sent to Year 7 families soon.
Spring Term Middle School Assemblies
Due to Year 12 WACE and IB examinations happening in the Dickinson Centre over the next 4 weeks, our next two Assemblies will just be for students and staff, in Week 4 and Week 6, held in MacKellar Hall. In Week 8 we return to the Dickinson Centre for our final Assembly, our IB Learner Profile and Learner Attitudes Awards. In this Assembly we recognise students in each year group and within each curriculum area for their positive attitude to learning, their willing engagement with their peers and perseverance or sustained effort. These are the attributes we wish to highlight as being at the core of successful lifelong learning.
Mr Richard Ledger
Head of Middle School