It’s been seven days since students, and to a large extent staff, have been on campus. But with the transition to Somerset@Home on Wednesday, the connections and the learning has continued with 720 Zoom meetings, for 221,756 minutes of Zoom with
14,548 clicks to Zoom.
In this lockdown, it has been not only students, but also staff and teachers that have also been working from home. This has made it a different lockdown and Somerset@Home experience already from last year for our staff. Being able to see students and other staff over Zoom keeps the connections going. It has been once again fantastic to see the spirit, the dedication and commitment of all Somerset staff in making the transition to online. Some of the outfits seen online today for 'Green and Gold' day are certainly testament to that.
The friendly faces of students online, their camaraderie, their focus and their engagement speaks volumes about our students - and the support from their families at this time. Behind the Zoom experience are parents helping to make it happen – assisting our younger students with 'Zooming in' and their learning activities, helping older students find headphones that work and keeping the fridge well-stocked for the inevitable increase in eating that seems to accompany teens and lockdown learning. Our students prove time and time again their ability to be agile and resilient – such vital skills.
Enjoy a snapshot of Somerset@Home from this week in the short video included. Thank you everyone for your commitment and contribution to Somerset@Home.
Founders’ Day 2021 was celebrated in great style with the usual formal ceremony on the Gym concourse, followed by the traditional house lunch and sporting events.
It’s not Founders' Day without the friendly Inter-House competition in the pool, track, and in the Towers Quad. The Inter-House Swimming All Age Relay takes a male and female student from each of Years 3 to 12, from each House, to form a 20 person relay team. This year saw another fine competition with the fortunes waxing and waning throughout the race. After 20 laps of 25 metres across the pool Franklin was deemed to be the big fish of the competition.
Concurrently, The Inter-House Running All Age Relay takes a male and female student from each of years Pre-Prep to Year 12, from each House, to form a 28 person relay team. This year saw another fine competition, with one team striking out well in advance of the competition. After 2400 metres of baton changes around the track, Andrews claimed the trophy.
The Tug-o-War challenges are always competitive and the noise of the cheering as the teams in the Quad is something to experience. Eventual winners this year were Laver in the Lower Junior School division, Andrews in the Upper Junior School division, while Veivers were victorious in the Senior School trophy.
The Courtyard Dash is the grand finale of the festivities, run around the colonnades of the Quad, around the turning circle and finishing in the middle of the Quad in front of the whole school of spectators. There were some close finishes before Kye Reynoldson eventually proved to be the quickest boy on the day and Sofie Clements winning the girls division in fine style.
Congratulations to all students, particularly the house leaders and seniors, for their participation and enthusiasm. The afternoon was fun-filled and action-packed.
Love + Joy + Happiness = B6
On the first Sunday of the mid-year holidays, 20 Year 10 students made their way up to Murgon, a town just 350km to the Northwest of the Gold Coast. It was the sixth time a group from Somerset had visited the region on what are known as B Trips. We were all very eager to embrace the experiences that this trip could bring and were very excited to experience the next five days. Meetings and information booklets, informed us about what to expect, however nothing could prepare us for the emotional rollercoaster and life changing week we were about to endure.
Local Elders greeted us on arrival into Murgon with a Welcome to Country, and a Smoking Ceremony which is a cleansing ritual that is customary when welcoming people onto Wakka Wakka Country. Principal Aaron then gave us a quick tour of his school where we were going to spend a week of outreach and service.
Everyone went to sleep that night excited about what was to follow - the first day we would be working alongside the kids at Murgon State School. To say we weren’t let down is a massive understatement. The children at the school were very welcoming and friendly, and wanted to get to know us and be our friends immediately. In fact, many asked about how their friends who visited last year and the year before were going. Our first day at primary school was certainly one to be remembered – making new friends, meeting new teachers, new routines, trying to establish ourselves on the footy field. Any nerves we had were quickly gone by recess.
Each day at school started with games in ‘The Shed’ until the morning assembly, when we would chant the Murgon Motto that none of us will ever forget - ‘Be Respectful, Be Safe, Be a Learner’. Once dismissed, we’d go to our respective classes and participate in our daily activities. Our days consisted of reading and writing, meeting Prep buddies, some Physical Education, Math, languages, science – you name it, we did it……all the time strengthening the relationship with our new-found friends. The free time we had at breaks often saw us continue the relationship building but this time on the footy field, on the basketball courts or over a book in the library. Then after the final bell each day, we would all meet out the front of the school and bid our friends goodbye before heading off to our own afternoon activities. These activities allowed us to build empathy with indigenous culture. One such activity included a visit to The Ration Shed in Cherbourg formally known as Barambah where our trip gets it’s name.
We will never forget the memories this trip has brought us, and we extend our greatest appreciation to Mr and Mrs Walker, who make this trip possible for Year 10 students each year, and to Ms Easther, who assisted significantly in making this trip as smooth as it was this year. Long may the B Trips continue – we know how important they are.
From identifying snakes, to teaching sign language through songs, and creating a way to involved young kids in reading – these are the latest mobile app creations innovated by our youngest ever participants in the national competition, Tech Girls. This year three teams of Year 5 and 6 girls have taken part in this 12 week long programme in which the aim is to encourage more females to see tech as a potential career.
Today, their final products have been submitted to the competition – a business plan, a prototype mobile app, two pitch videos and a demonstration video of their app. Over the 12 weeks, the three teams have been mentored by women who work in the IT industry, Maya Chester, Olivia Ward and Liza Bertoldi and they have attended weekly meetings with them, either in person or over Zoom. The relationships they have developed with their mentors have been amazing to witness. Mr Royce Smith and Ms Lisa Thomson then worked as coaches supporting as well.
Tech Girls is a fantastic competition to be involved in. This is the first year we’ve offered in the Junior School students and it has been amazing to see the level of engagement, ownership, team work, creativity and organisation that these girls have demonstrated. Each group selected a real world problem, then not only went on to research and ideate a solution, but then created the functioning mobile application. Their passion and enthusiasm throughout the programme has been a joy to see. Every girl should be so proud of what they have created. Their resilience in working in the final week over Zoom to complete all aspects of this challenging competition is a credit to them as well.
The Year 3 students became budding scientists during this year's Science Week festivities. They hypothesised and explored how the world works through learning engagements designed and led by our Senior Science Committee students and their teachers.
These hands on, explosively cool experiments allowed the Year 3 students to inquire into all strands of science and get their hands dirty with rotations consisting of: making a volcano out of a lemon that erupted in colour, popping sounds created by hydrogen, the interaction of forces by creating shapes and racing cars - topped off with the dissection of a cow’s heart and an introduction on the importance of our veins and arteries.
If that wasn’t enough, the senior students continued to dazzle us with an afternoon presentation that included dry ice changing colour; demonstrating pH levels that looked like magic, as well as a hydrogen pop with fiery balloons and a real set of lungs that were inflated with air!
Back in the classrooms, the Year 3 students got to meet and greet a few famous scientists (who coincidently resembled the Year 3 teachers) to link with our note taking lessons and information report writing this term.
Science week is always an exciting time and our senior students were wonderful role models to our young, upcoming scientists. The Year 3s can’t thank them enough for the outstanding effort organising and leading these interactive learning experiences.
As Marie Curie once said, "I am among those who think that science has great beauty," and we certainly do agree in Year 3, at Somerset College.
Our amazing French students displayed their dedication to the subject and their fantastic language skills by entering the Griffith University Modern Language Teachers' Association of Qld (MLTAQ) in speaking competition last month.
They achieved outstanding results.
Audrey Abraham - 1st place
Sophie Beer - 3rd place
Saeesha Kumar - 1st place
Camilla Guthrie - Highly commended
Sarah Nickels - Highly commended
Aleeza Tariq - 2nd place
Auyush Chand - Highly commended
Anna Thomas - Highly commended
Giulia Provenzano - 3rd place
On Thursday 29 July 40 students from Years 4 to 6 joined Somerset’s Alumni Natalie Madden, representing Triathlon Queensland, and Triathlon Head Coach Glauber Correa at the Common for a fun immersion in the sport. The students were able to share their knowledge on triathlon and ask questions prompted by the amazing sporting environment created by the Tokyo Olympic Games.
“Some of the students have previoulsy participated in triathlons before and a few are already part of the program offered to the Senior School," said Head Coach Glauber.
“Our aim is to expand the programme to the Junior School and I’m so grateful to see so many interested,” he concluded.
The experience progressed to a fun Team Relay competition where students simulated the swim with a wheelbarrow walk, the cycling with a piggyback run and ran together back to the start line to switch the team and start the course again. Lots of laughs were had as all the students wore a swim cap gifted by Triathlon Queensland.
“It is a great opportunity to further develop student’s fitness and health and many of them want to start as soon as possible. Literally a dream come true to develop a program that caters for the whole triathlon pathway, from grassroots into high performance, and having such an interest from Junior School students crowns the effort to date,” shared Coach Glauber.
The Junior School Triathlon programme will start soon and all students who participated at the presentation will receive an email with further details.
If you are interested and missed out, please do not hesitate in contacting Triathlon’s Head Coach Glauber Correa.
Our Somerset Equestrian riders experienced very testing conditions as well as for the horses, with 50kmh winds at a recent event and a lot of rain over the competition week.
Mia Reeves on Like a Diamond 13th in Combined Training 60cm
Sibella Bonner on Super DJ 6th in the Eventing 60cm
Sibella Bonner on Tulara For Style 7th in the Eventing 80cm
Jayde McKinnon on La Grande Andres 3rd in the Eventing 95cm (selected to represent Queensland at the national titles in Melbourne)
Jayde McKinnon on Heart of a Warrior 9th in the Eventing 95cm
Jayde was chosen by the Interschool committee to be the rider representative for the Eventing 60, 80 and 95cm for these Queensland state titles. She has also been offered a leadership roll in the Queensland team for National titles in Melbourne.
In Terms One and Two Somerset Futsal participated in Stage 1 of the School Futsal Titles. Somerset had a total of six teams who qualified for Stage 2, Regional State Champion of Champions.
Under 19 Boys
The Boys Tournament took place on Monday July 26 at the Nissan Arena versus Helensvale State High. The first game was all entertainment, with goals on both sides. The Boys put in all their effort and had a lead of 6 to 5, unfortunately they lost 6 to 7.
This performance gave us hope for the second game against Robina State High. The result was a 5-nil win! We were then unluckily beaten by Mansfield in Game 3 and in Game 4 we went down to a superior St. James.
Thank you to our team who represented our College to a very high standard. Oliver Leal, Peter Osborne, Raffi Anderson, Will Burns, Rylan Kennedy and Phoenix Crampton.
Under 19 Girls
The Girls Tournament took place on Monday July 26 at the Nissan Arena. After coming runners up in the Byron Bay tournament, the girls landed themselves in a difficult pool. The first game was a warmup for the girls, who had to find their feet again after a big break between futsal games. They unfortunately went down 4 to 1 in an exciting match.
After an early start, the girls went on to play three more games, all with difficult opposition. The girls always invest 100 percent and represent Somerset College with pride at each game. It was all smiles and laughter for the day, with the girls' sense of friendship and fun a major factor.
Congratulations to Lisa Sinclair, Serenity Thake, Jessica Nguyen, Nina Gray, Phoebe Ross, Victoria Jones, Emily Mai and Vivian Milosevic on representing The College with pride.
Under 13 Girls
The Girls Tournament took place on Tuesday July 27 at Coomera Indoor Centre. The girls were ready from the first minute versus Mabel Park. This resulted in a win for the Spartans. The second game versus Corinda went smoothly with great combinations and goals.
In third game against Helensvale, the girls maintained momentum and showed some class in great teamwork. The girls had a tie against Kawana Waters placing first in the group. They met Islamic College in the Semi-Finals in an a very intense game. Somerset had a deserved win to head into the final against their biggest rivals, King's Christian College.
King's managed two early goals before Spartans scored a great goal by Zara. Unfortunately, King's managed another two goals in the second half, with the final score 1 to 4. Well done to the team who reached the finals two years in a row.
Georgie Zerbst, Zara Ryan, Ari Thake, Livi Budd, Havana Lopez and Pearl Shipley.
Under 12 Girls
The Girls Tournament took place on Wednesday July 28 at Coomera Indoor Centre. The girls seemed nervous but won 1-nil to King's in their first game. The second game versus Corinda State High ended in a 4-nil loss.
The third game the team defeated Islamic College 3 to 1 to advance to the semi-final.
In one of the best performances, the girls took on St. Andrews but their opponents were too strong.
Well done to our Year 6 and 7 students; Arya Bathols-Denzongpa, Ellie Davies, Lava Lopez, Natalia Zotti, Emiti McNamara and Sarah Nickels
Stage 3 Australasian Champion of Champions
The Australasian Champion of Champions is the last event of the programme. This is where all qualifying schools from each of their respective champion of champions will compete for the title of best school in the country. This tournament will be held in November in Queensland. For the first in Somerset’s History, Somerset has qualified for Stage 3 with a total of four teams!
Do you have any questions in regards Football and Futsal? Please contact our Head of Football and Futsal, Maarten De Kruijf.
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