Scotch Oakburn's Lachie Wright retires

On Friday, Scotch Oakburn College's head of junior school retired from the place he has called home for almost half a century, having left a legacy on the college's educational landscape and its students' lives.

On a final walk through the school's Elphin junior campus, the once junior school principal reflected on the "good old days" and thanked the thousands of young people he was privileged to meet, reminiscing on "the memories of so many students that I treasure, along with the teachers who have helped them find their passions".

READ MORE: Loyal customers check out of Coles after store upgrades

"It really has been an honour to serve the college and to support so many students, colleagues and families over these four decades," Mr Wright said.

"I will miss it, undoubtedly; it and the students will always mean the world to me."

Mr Wright's Scotch Oakburn journey began as a student in the 1960s, and even then he called the school home as a boarder, living on campus for six years from 1962 to 1968.

It had been a far smaller school then - "a lot has changed in 50 years", he said - and in his final year at the college, Mr Wright showed a sign of his leadership tendencies to come as school captain.

He would return to the college over a decade later In 1983, when the head of junior school position caught his eye and he returned to his home town and home school in Launceston, having already taught and lectured in Hobart.

READ MORE: Tasmania leads death rate with heart disease, dementia top killers

Over the next 40 years, countless memories and milestones were met. A famously reticent public speaker, he remembered his first junior school speech night address, calling it a "trial to say the least". And telling the story of a school camp with the year six cohort almost 30 years ago, he recalled one student "picking up a snake and putting it in his backpack".

"It was only after the third student came up to me and told me about it that I thought there might be something to it," Mr Wright said.

And those kinds of occurrences where a student did something out of the ordinary put a spotlight on the things Mr Wright loved about his job: no two days, no two terms were the same.

"Because we teach students, not lessons," he said.

"Students are ever-changing and there's no script for what they may do and the art of teaching, like students, is always a work in progress."

Mr Wright's teaching ethos was forged by and for students and grew as they grew. For 40 years he kept abreast of the educational landscape, joining institutions like the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA), where he was granted a fellowship in 2016 for his varied roles across the industry.

At a state level, Mr Wright was the Tasmanian branch's club president, its secretary and at a federal level was a presidential nominee, as well as a board and executive member, where he influenced the independent schools across the country.

READ MORE: Tassie teaching duo set to launch AI-powered education tool

When was appointed in his position at the junior school, it was a small campus of 150 students and 18 staff. The school has gone on to have more than 500 students and 100-plus staff members.

Scotch Oakburn has become a family tradition for the Wrights: both of Mr Wright's sons, Sam and Tom, have attended the school.

And as he finished his final year at Scotch on Friday, Mr Wright's grandson Henry celebrated being half way through his first, having started at the junior school in January.

The occasional "grandad" had been heard a few times across the playground.

Aside from his family being part of the school, the legacy Mr Wright hopes to have left at the college was as a caring man who helped build a "caring place where everyone belongs".

"It's those sorts of things that are important," Mr Wright said.

READ MORE: 'Livelihoods at risk': Outrage as Tasmanian companies left on the chopping block

"In the jargon, we talk about being student-centred, having children know they have choice in their learning, opportunities to pursue their passions.

"I guess I hope that the students that have been here once upon a time feel it's helped them to get to where they wanted, to realise their dreams, whatever they might be."

In retirement, Mr Wright's dreams are to spend time with family, to travel and to fit in a few rounds of golf and a splash of gardening.

"There's a lot on the list to do," he said.

Mr Wright said that students "spend almost 20 per cent of their lives at school", and that means teachers "have to make it home for them". His time at Scotch Oakburn amounted to more than 50 per cent of his own life - and it certainly was home.

Why not have your say? Write a letter to the editor here:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: