It is great to have our Senior School community back on campus in the first step towards our 'normal' practices. I commend our students for the manner in which they have responded to the situation and adapted to the changes - it is a credit to the boys. There were, and will continue to be, challenges, so the need to keep working together, adapting to the circumstances that are presented and supporting each other remains at the forefront of what we do.

I would also like to thank our staff for the manner in which they embraced online teaching and the delivery of the online program to our boys in the last two weeks of Summer Term and the first week of this term. The dedication and commitment to building and delivering the high quality online teaching programme was outstanding. Our Wellbeing programme that started in Mentor groups each morning was very well received by our students and, when looking at the SCOT programme in its entirety and thinking of some of our staff (yes, me included), the phrase "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" could not have been further from the truth.

However, despite being back at school and in a situation that appears to be improving by the day, it is incumbent on all of us to continue to do what we can to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our community. As individuals and as a school we have a responsibility to work within the guidelines and restrictions that currently exist, as we transition back to normality. At school, we all want the return of our Boarding Houses, co-curricular programme, camps, Chapel and Assemblies. To have our Pipe Band, sporting teams, musical production, debating programme and our Moray site up and running will be fantastic, but some will take more time than others and I ask for your patience while we respond as advice is updated. There is nothing we would like more than to have the school fully operational again, but not at the expense of the health and wellbeing of our community.

Thank you to all members of our Scotch College community for your understanding and support during the COVID-19 situation. We look forward to the return of all those activities that complement the Teaching and Learning and Wellbeing programmes of which we are so proud.