From the Headmaster

A very warm welcome and welcome back to 2018 for the Somerset community. Over this week we had 193 new students, 130 in the Junior School and 63 in the Senior School, begin their journey at the College and we certainly hope theirs will be as rewarding as ours.

We started the year with an enrolment of 1,513 from Pre-Prep to Year 12. On behalf of the College Board, I thank you for your continuing support of Somerset as we enter our 36th year.

Orientation Day 2018

New students at Orientation Day, before the first day of the 2018 school year.

New students enjoying morning tea on Orientation Day

We welcomed the following new staff:

• Mr Spencer Attoe - Teacher, Senior School (PE)
• Miss Eleanor Bamford - Teacher, Junior School – Prep
• Mrs Carmel Ceh - Clinical Psychologist
• Ms Bec Collie - Head of Junior School
• Ms Ann Cook - Science Laboratory Technician
• Mrs Kate Cornell - Teacher, Senior School - English
• Dr Annette Eastwood - Exercise Physiologist
• Miss Rebecca Ellis - Teacher Assistant, Junior School – Prep
• Mr Anthony Farrugia - Assistant Cleaning Supervisor
• Ms Suzie Frawley - Operations Assistant - Events
• Mr Jeffrey Gambin - Groundsperson
• Mr Keita Ishii - Teacher, Senior School – Languages
• Ms Nikita Kerry - Functions Assistant
• Dr Jill Margerison - Teacher, Senior School - English
• Mrs Leigh McNeil - Teacher, Senior School – Science
• Ms Nikki Penrose - Teacher Assistant - Junior School – Year 4
• Mr Mark Pitura - Teacher, Junior School – Physical Education
• Mr Elliot Roberts - Teacher, Junior School – Year 1
• Mr Tony Scanlon - Assistant Cleaning Supervisor
• Ms Lucy Spudic - Events Intern
• Ms Emma Sturges - Strength and Conditioning Coach
• Mr Jordan Wilkinson - Events Intern
• Mrs Neesha Wyatt - Teacher Assistant, Junior School – Years 5, 6 and SS Duties
• Mr Tim Wyatt - Teacher, Senior School (Learning Enhancement)
• Welcome back to Mrs Annette Tayler, Mrs Eileen Wheeler, Mr Mario Keczan, and Mrs Aimee Zambolt.

There have been a number of changes to responsibilities this year:

• Mrs Leesa Eastwell - Year Level Leader – Year 1
• Ms Jacinta Hyman - Acting Year 12 Co-ordinator
• Mrs Sally Leslie - Head of House - Laver
• Mr Nathan Loh - Acting Science Laboratory Manager (Contract – Term One)
• Mrs Catherine Makin - Counsellor
• Mr Dane Oman - Assistant Head of Department – Business and Humanities, Celebration of Entrepreneurship Co-ordinator
• Mr Scott Walsh - Caretaker Head of House – Veivers (22 Jan to 2 March)

Class of 2017 Academic Results

A complete summary of their outstanding results are available at www.somerset.qld.edu.au but the highlights are as follows:

OP, Cohort of 109

• 12 OP 1s, 11%
• OP 1 to 2, 24.8%
• OP 1 to 3, 32.1%
• OP 1 to 5, 46.8%
• OP 1 to 10, 77.1%
• OP 1 to 15, 94.5%
• A median OP of 6

IB Diploma, Cohort of 11

• 40, 36, 34, 33, 31, 29, 27, 26, 26, 26

An average of OP7 equivalent

Tertiary Admission

As part of the changes we made four years ago to find alternative pathways, we had 24 students complete an external Business Diploma. This enabled them to be given a rank score equivalent to an OP 9 for tertiary entrance purposes.

• Therefore, 85.5% of our students were treated as OP1 to 10 for tertiary entrance purposes.
• Likewise, with bonus points for other subjects (Languages and/or Maths C or Higher Level Maths), 25 % of the cohort were treated as OP 1s for tertiary entrance purposes in Queensland.
• The most common OP score over the past 20 years continues to be an OP1. There is only one other school that could claim this.

I look forward to meeting all parents at the Parents' and Friends' Celebration of the New School Year - Welcome to 2018 on Friday 2 February 2018 from 6.30pm to 9.00pm in Towers’ Quad. This function is a wonderful opportunity for parents new to the College and those returning to meet each other and the staff.

Please make this highlight function a priority on your calendar!