A celebration for our Somerset scientists was held July 22 to 25.
The Somerset Science Committee led multiple sessions throughout the week exploring the fields of Chemistry, Physics, and Biology.
Testing our knowledge through Pastoral Care Kahoot quizzes.
Exploring themed problem solving through science 'escape rooms'.
The Year 12 experts illuminating the minds of their peers through presentation of the Somerset Zed Talks.
Shooting for space (with varying degrees of success) during a rocket competition.
Griffith University’s, Science On The Go team putting on a sensational science show.
Of course, most important of all, liquid nitrogen ice-cream creation and the Cake My Science competition.
Thank you to the Science Committee for making this celebration of sciences possible.
As we finalised our Human Migration and how early ancient civilisations were created, we decided to have a bit of fun.
Martin our Chef made a huge batch of shortbread dough to form ‘Clay Tablets’ and we used the ‘wedge’ to write our very own cuneiform messages on the ‘clay’. What was even better, we got to enjoy it, once it was cooked.
First week back at school this term we were able to reap the benefits of our hard work last term and be treated to the viewing of our ‘History Mystery’ documentaries. Each of the five classes were treated to a ‘Red Carpet’ entry with each winning group receiving an Oscar Award!
The ‘History Mysteries’ were sealed in brown envelopes and then groups of 5 students were organised into roles to research and produce a two-min documentary to present on their own ‘News Break’ TV studio programme.
The cohort were delighted to see their peers in a presenting role based on the following historical mysteries around the world:
I wonder what Ancient Egypt holds this term?
Photographer-Charlotte Daniel 7.4
Before Science Week, our Year 3 students were treated to an explosive educational experience with the Big Bang Science Show. The show, filled with captivating experiments and demonstrations, vividly illustrated how heat can change the state of matter, leaving students both amazed and inspired.
The interactive show provided a hands-on learning experience, allowing students to explore an important scientific principle in a fun and engaging way. They learned about temperature differences, the role of insulators, and conducted their own experiment. This event not only deepened their understanding but also sparked their curiosity and encouraged them to ask further questions.
The Big Bang Science Show perfectly complemented our current Unit of Inquiry where students have been inquiring into how heat can cause matter to change state and how humans can use this principle. This incursion has been fantastic in reinforcing classroom learning with a hands on learning opportunity.
Our thanks to the presenters from Big Bang for delivering such an inspiring and educational show.
"Women of Valour was an incredible experience the college implemented this year, between Year 7 and Year 11 students. The program consisted of five rotations of valuable lessons.
Friendship, where the girls made friendship bracelets, mentors, where they discussed who their mentors are (to which many said Taylor Swift), social media and the harm of unhealthy comparison, movement, an opportunity to get out of the classroom, and finally the importance of resilience. I believe the year 7 girls left this experience knowing how, in the words of Michelle Obama, 'There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.'"
~ Ayla Chirathivat Geralds (Year 11, Andrews)
"Over the last few weeks, a group of Year 11s took the initiative to mentor the Year 7s Women of Valour workshops. We led workshops on the topics of friendship, the role of mentors, social media, movement, as well as failure and perseverance during PC. We demonstrated leadership, with full control over how we wanted to direct these workshops. Furthermore, we all made sure to reflect after each workshop to improve and further enhance the workshop experience to ensure the Year 7 students were able to make the most out of each session. It was great to chat and build relationships with the Year 7s. I’m sure it was also fun for those who got to speak to us as we had been in their shoes just a few years ago. I know the Year 11s definitely enjoyed working with the younger year. Thank you to all the teachers and staff that were able to make this opportunity happen for both the Year 7 and Year 11."
~ Jolina Zhang (Year 11, Starkey)
This week the Pre-Prep classes have experienced a traditional tea(茶cha) tasting in their Mandarin classes with our Mandarin teacher Lü Laoshi.
We have learnt that tea is divided into green tea, black tea, yellow tea, white tea and dark tea according to it's colour. Lü Laoshi demonstrated a traditional Chinese tea ceremony using Jasmine green tea. Students then had a taste of a few decaf black and green teas as well as a red fruit tisane.
The Pre-Preps enjoyed the experience in our Junior School Mandarin room.
Somerset had its best show at this year's Readers Cup Competition.
Congratulations to Imogen, Emma, Casey, and Bryanna for taking second place at the Readers Cup Competition at Hillcrest College recently.
Another successful day saw two busses of keen Somerset secondary students take on over 300 of the best High School chess players on the Gold Coast.
Our top four chosen students took on the best of the best to compete for a hotly contested spot at the State Finals later this year. With the pressure on, our All Star Team pulled off several upsets and held back a who's who of Gold Coast Private Schools to only fall behind the stacked King's teams.
Somerset Chess legend Eason Wang (4.0/7) made his return as our Board 1 strengthening our team considerably with his 1533 rating and taking on the big boys. Welcome back Eason!
Elijah Hadikusmo (5.5/7) continued his blistering form on Board 2 with an excellent result and a performance rating 227 points higher than his rating!
Oscar Credland-Ballantyne (5/7) on Board 3 smashed it, coming up with 2 huge clutch draws against the twp King's teams both rated over 400 points higher than him.
Our decorated Captain, and Girl's chess champion Sophia Ahern (3.5/7) rounded out our top
four with an awesome performance including a huge draw against King's top team Josh Cooper rated over 500 points higher.
Awesome work by our Premier Team!
Taking place at TSS, our qualifying Premier All-star team were joined by another four teams in A Division, two Teams in C Division and one Team in D Division with some amazing results.
Congratulations to the following students:
'Somerset 2' won Division A 2nd Place out of 22 Teams - Melody Yang, Jeremy Zheng, Ruhara Mapandara, Annika Lim.
'Somerset 6' won Division C Overall 1st Place out of 22 Teams- Caspar Crampton, Jaden Jiang, Joshua Thompson, Arjun Rai.
Caspar Crampton won Division C Individual =1st Place out of 76 participants
Merit Ribbons- Melody Yang, Jeremy Zheng, Ruhara Mapandara, Annika Lim, Bobby Long, Jaden Jiang.
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