This week we welcomed the Pre-Prep Dads into our beautiful Pre-Prep environment to enjoy a special morning of fun. The Pre-Preps prepared lemonade and pizza scrolls to share with their dads and made special gifts that resulted in some huge smiles.
We saw Dads in the sandpit, dads on the obstacle course, dads reading, painting, building and having fun. Beautiful memories made together as the students enjoyed showing their Dads some of their favourite Pre-Prep activities.
“My favourite part of the morning with my Dad was…..everything.” - Torachiyo
“My Dad really liked the pizza scrolls, I ate lots of them too.” - Thomas
“I liked building with Duplo with my Daddy.” - Chloe
After winning their semi-final this week as the affirmative on ‘School examinations should be banned’, Junior A Somerset 3 will compete in this year’s Gold Coast Debating Grand Final at Bond University Saturday 16 October.
Ayla Chirathivat-Geralds
Emily Nickels
Mia Richards
Abigail Brinkworth
Noa Chester-Haviv
It was at the start of the year when a group of stubborn and argumentative friends decided to try something new. It was at the start of the year when Gold Coast Debating’s Junior A SOM 3 team was created. We did not join Debating having many expectations, other than the late Wednesday afternoons, 'us time', a break from stressful school, and a couple of hours to be in a safe, creative space where being stubborn and argumentative was not seen as annoying, but as prized traits.
It was during the training sessions and when the first round of debates came along that we all thought, “Hey, we’re actually kind of good at this!” We would never have guessed, however, that we would be winning our Semi Final debate and become one of only two remaining teams in all of the Gold Coast left in the Junior A competition! We are all so grateful for this opportunity and no matter what happens in the Grand Finals, we are so happy that we have made it this far.
In my opinion, the best part of debating is not the new eye-opening perspectives, interesting topics or even learning valuable skills but the people you get to meet and know better. It is the kind and instructive coaches, challenging opponents, adjudicators with great feedback, the supportive audience, and most importantly your team that makes debating so rewarding.
The team you join may have someone like-minded who, without this opportunity, you might not have spoken to before. Before you know it, you become great friends. Or it might be a team of established friends that are looking for an opportunity to spend more time together. Whatever the case, I think these reasons alone are good enough to try out debating. Why not give it a go next year?
So, whatever your story is, whether you have had a passion for debating from a young age, or just want to get better at convincing your parents, I deeply encourage you to find a group of compatible friends and create a debating team like we did, or meet new friends who share your passion. Who knows, you might even go higher than you ever thought you could.
Good luck!
Thank you so much to Miss (Kate) Coombes (our coach – a lawyer!) and Ms Lynch for always being so supportive and pushing us to think beyond the expectations. We couldn’t have done it without you!
We recently went through the process of organising our Fiction collection by genre. Similar to a bookstore, we have arranged our collection by category, making it easier for our students to browse and find the right book for them, whilst also encouraging them to branch out and find something new to read.
We are all aware of how important reading is for students. Research by Josie Billington (2015), points to just some of the benefits - academic achievement, mental health, increase in vocabulary, social and cultural awareness, communication, emotional intelligence. The decision to ditch the traditional Dewey System of organising fiction purely alphabetically by author surname in favour of organising by genre, whilst controversial for traditional libraries, was intentional on our part. Our sole focus is to increase student engagement and anything to get our students reading!
Students can browse the collection to find their next read from any of our 13 genres – Action, Adventure and Sport, Fantasy, Science Fiction and Dystopian, Mystery, Crime and Spies, General Fiction and Classics, Indigenous, Scary, Animals, Funny, Graphic Novels and Biographies.
Organising our fiction collection the way a bookstore is setup, gives our students the agency to find the right book for their mood. Initial indications are looking very positive and the informal feedback has been overwhelming - they know exactly where to look when they want to satisfy their need to escape into another world or just need a laugh for that long car trip into regional Queensland!
In Information Literacy this term, Prep students are exploring how objects move in different ways. They are learning basic coding skills by using Ozobots, Code-a-Pillars, Blue-Bots, Cubettos and Kinderbots, our newest robot friends.
Through play, students are developing their self-management, thinking and social skills. Students have also learned about the difference between fiction and non-fiction books with a focus on various texts on robots and other moving objects. We are having so much fun in the library! Beep, bop, boop!
Since 2017, the Somerset Celebration of Entrepreneurship has developed a reputation as the premier youth entrepreneurship festival in Australia. During this five-year period, the Festival has evolved and grown rapidly, yet we still maintain our focus on connecting the problem solvers, creative thinkers and innovators to empower and promote entrepreneurship on the Gold Coast and in Queensland.
As the community is no doubt aware, it has been challenging to hold the Festival in 2021. However, now more than ever we must celebrate entrepreneurship because it will be the light that leads the Gold Coast and Australia out of the health and economic challenges that we currently face.
Thank you once again to our supporters and sponsors who are acknowledged in this Festival Guide! Your generous support has made it possible to provide complimentary tickets to the Festival in 2021. Moving forward, our aim is to keep tickets free, so that the Festival can continue to connect the entire Gold Coast community and empower the entrepreneurial mindset for which the city is famous! Please tell all your friends and family about our sponsors and supporters so that we can continue to keep Festival tickets free in the future.
Thank you for visiting Somerset College and attending the Celebration of Entrepreneurship. We welcome you warmly and look forward to sharing the Festival with you over the two days!
The Tour de Valley Team Cycling Challenge allows riders to experience the beauty of Currumbin Valley, following Currumbin Creek through the lush countryside.
I am seeking expressions of interest, so summon your Spartan Spirit and I will get further details out to you when we have numbers.
The ride sets off 31 October and costs $65 to join.
For those who have not cycled much, the TDV offers riders of all abilities the opportunity to race in a fun, safe, event. Teams are four to six riders over 36 kilometres.
For more information, please email Ash Abdou.
Somerset competed at the Future Stars Tennis event 29 August, this time held at Queens Park Tennis Centre. We had students competing from Prep all the way to Year 5. We fielded some of the youngest players, who really shined throughout the day!
In the Red Ball part of the competition, we had the youngest side among all the other clubs and out of the six teams that competed throughout the day, Somerset placed third which is an amazing result. Special mention goes to prep students Ava Johnson, Dylan Kingston, and Taya Liu, who were the youngest competitors on the day, also getting their first match wins at this event. Taya Liu also received an award for showing great sportsmanship. Well done to our students, and all other red ball competitors!
In the Green Ball section, Evie Wilson and Ailin Zhao competed for Somerset in what was the toughest Green Ball division so far of the season. Finishing fifth overall, the girls displayed some awesome doubles skills and solid teamwork, even though this was their first event together. Another great result for somerset tennis!
Our Orange ballers on Sunday played a flawless day of tennis, winning every single rubber against the other clubs to take out first place! This is our best result so far in the Orange Ball section of the day. All students showed great sportsmanship throughout the day, with Year 3 student Benedict Thompson, receiving four out of the four votes for sportsperson of the day. Again, well done to all out of our orange ball students!
Overall, it was a great day of tennis, with Somerset students producing some amazing results, and we hope to keep producing some more great results at upcoming tournaments!
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