Celebration of Entrepreneurship - 2024
The 2024 Celebration of Entrepreneurship at Somerset College was a resounding success, thanks to the enthusiastic participation of students, parents, and our esteemed guest speakers.
Over two dynamic days, students from Year 4 to Year 12 engaged in innovative activities, including the YearSIXpreneur and Year 9 business stalls, the Year 4 Adventurerpreneur challenge, and the inspiring Pitch Competition. Our guest speakers, such as Bonnie Hancock and Maddie Kennedy, shared their incredible journeys, leaving students motivated and inspired.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the entrepreneurs who took the time to share their knowledge and experiences, enriching the minds of our students.
A special mention to our key sponsor, McGrath and to our Somerset Alumni Association, whose generous support made this event possible. Their contributions continue to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within the Somerset community.
Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating the power of entrepreneurship and for helping us ignite the future of our young entrepreneurs.
In Conversation with Prof. Donna Pendergast AM
We invite parents of Middle Years students, to join us for In Conversation with Prof. Donna Pendergast AM.
Engage in an insightful session on how to effectively support your middle years learners in preparation for exams.
FREE EVENT | CLICK TO REGISTER
In Conversation with Prof. Donna Pendergast AM
Thursday 10 October
5.30pm: Canapés and Refreshments in the Terry Herbert Foyer
6.00pm to 7.00pm: The Suzanne Roberts Performing Arts Centre
Creating an encouraging atmosphere, helping with time management, and guiding stress management techniques are some of the areas where parents can make a real contribution. Focusing on your child’s well-being rather than just exam outcomes, helps adolescents to stay focused, confident, and less anxious, leading to better performance and a healthier mindset.
This session will be presented by Professor Donna Pendergast AM, who is an expert in adolescent learning. She will share practical strategies, explaining their links to research about adolescent learners, to support your child to be both academically prepared and emotionally supported, with the aim of making their exam journey smoother and more successful.
About the Speaker
Professor Donna Pendergast, Director of Engagement at Griffith University, has had a remarkable career marked by transformative contributions to education. Serving as the Dean and Head of the School of Education and Professional Studies from 2009 to 2023, Donna began her journey as a secondary school teacher, quickly emerging as an expert in student engagement, teacher professional learning, and school transformation, particularly in the adolescent years.
As a dedicated advocate for middle years education, Donna is a Council member of the National Council for Be You, the school-based well-being initiative by Beyond Blue, since 2021. She also serves as an ambassador for the Adolescent Success professional association. She has played a lead role in establishing two schools that are changing the lives of hundreds of young people as they engage in learning that was not possible for them in traditional schooling models.
Her leadership and contributions have earned her numerous accolades, including the Griffith University Vice Chancellor’s Research Supervision Award for Excellence, the Australian Council for Educational Leadership Miller-Grassie Award for Outstanding Leadership in Education, and the Australian Council of Deans of Education Award for Outstanding Service to Education and the Council. In 2024 Donna was invested as a Member of the Order of Australia in the first King Charles Australia Day Awards, recognizing her significant contributions to education.
FREE EVENT | CLICK TO REGISTER
First Place in Science for Year 5
Year 5 Somerset student, Ethan has earned first place at the Griffith University Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) awards this week.
In his project, Ethan investigated How Waterbugs Can be Indicators of Water.
Congratulations Ethan!
Somerset Chess Dominates Term Three Inter-School Tournament
Somerset Chess has won Division A, B and C, receiving medals and merit ribbons aplenty!
The exciting rebuild of Somerset College Chess continued to bear fruit this term as 80 of our Junior School returned to take on the "group of death" zone- Gold Coast Hinterland- containing 140 King's Christian College entries as well as other formidable school competition.
Our growing coaching program, lunch and after school clubs- as well as the return of Somerset coaching legend Doug Williams to help FM Dusan
head up our elite chess program- meant that we were more ready than ever with 20 teams entered in every division.
With an ever increasing buzz and excitement around chess at Somerset, it was exciting to see the hard work and dedication of our kids and coaches paying off!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS
**Division A 1st Place**
- William Zhao (Also equal 1st place individual)
- Theo Appel
- Arthur Chou
- Marcus Wong
**Division B 1st Place**
- Daniel Chen (also equal 1st place individual)
- Alan Zeng
- Jakub Pitura
- Thomas Chudzinski
**Division C 1st place**
- Angie He (also equal 1st place individual)
- Nathan Liu
- Ethan Zhang
- Jacob Kearney
The Year 2 up-and-comers took out Division D last term, went up and immediately won Division
OTHER INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS
Sohan Pateel continues his meteoric rise, debuting in the top division with 5/7. Seeded 41st out of 53 participants, Sohan finished =6th.
Asha Kowalczuk fell painfully short of winning the whole tournament with his final game on Board 1 coming down to the wire. Asha was up a Queen in a tricky position, but was not able to prevent his opponent promoting a pawn with a crowd watching and his clock approaching zero. Also finishing =6th, Asha played absolutely amazing the whole day, with a tournament high and personal best +241 rating performance. I look forward to seeing him continue to grow as he joins the High School squads next year.
Prep Student Xavier Saunders, made his tournament debut with an incredible 3rd place bronze in Division E! Along with Hamish Logan, Harvey O'Brien and fellow Preppy first-timer Oscar Yu, also went home with Team Silver Medal. Amazing!
A big thank you to all our students, parents, coaches and Somerset staff who all contributed to an amazing day!
Check out this link for all the details.
And stay tuned for news around our Gold Coast Finals Team going for States!