NSW Bushfires: Scots College students to be relocated from Glengarry

Scots College has announced its alternative arrangements for students following the devastation caused by bush fires at its Glengarry campus.

• Magistrate slams Kate Ritchie’s husband over driving record
• Sydney airport creep: ‘My impulses got the better of me’

The prestigious Scots College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has announced how it plans to relocate dozens of students after its bush campus was damaged in the south coast bushfires earlier this month.

A number of its buildings at the Glengarry campus were wiped out by a vicious blaze that gripped the Kangaroo Valley.

Now, with students preparing for their first week of term under a cloud of mystery, the school has announced alternative plans that will see students instead spend time across a number of facilities in Katoomba, Appin and Jindabyne.

What remains of a student dormitory at Scots College Glengarry campus, with bedframes still standing.

No boys were at the campus when the fire roared through, however, four staff members’ homes were destroyed in the same blaze.

All Year 9 Scots College students are required to spend six months at Glengarry in what is seen as an important rite of passage for the teenagers.

The six months of the year the boys spend there is considered a rite of passage by former students. Supplied

The Currowan bushfire which caused the destruction is still being controlled by the RFS, more than a month since the flames took hold.

Scots principal Ian Lambert praised the efforts of the team at Glengarry in a letter to parents today.

“I would like to thank the Glengarry team for their non-stop efforts in searching for, assessing and negotiating the alternate facilities, Dr Lambert said.

The college before the fires raged through the south coast. Supplied

“They have done an exceptional job.”

In the wake of the destruction there was an outpouring of grief from former students and staff, who shared fond memories of the campus affectionately known as “Gazza”.

Dr Lambert, at the time of the blaze, vowed the school would rebuild what many consider an iconic part of the institution’s history.

ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENTS

Term 1

Weeks 1-3: Base Camp at Tallong Outdoor Education Centre, Old Wingello Road,

Tallong.

Weeks 4-8: Base Camp at Katoomba Convention Centre, Cliff Drive, Katoomba.

Parent Hikes will be at the College’s Bannockburn campus.

Weeks 9-10: ‘Rotation 1’ of special, two-week focused, integrated academic and

outdoor education program. Across the program, boys will spend two weeks at

each of the following three locations:

Cataract Scout Park, Appin

Bannockburn and Glengarry

Bungarra Alpine Centre, Jindabyne.

Week 11: Bannockburn for six-hour Rogaine and return to Bellevue Hill on

Wednesday 8 April.

Term 2

Weeks 1-2: ‘Rotation 2’.

Weeks 3-4: ‘Rotation 3’ (and Parent Hike for Dorms A and B).

Week 5: Canberra experiential History curriculum week and Mountain Biking (and

Parent Hikes for Dorms C, D and E).

Week 6: Three-day Solo and 24-hour Rogaine (concludes with Exeat Weekend).

Week 7: Special extended adventure experience.

Week 8: Adventure experience concludes and Long Journey Home commences.

Week 9: Long Journey Home concludes. Boys arrive at Bellevue Hill on Wednesday

24 June.