A record crowd filled our grandstands for this year’s Somerset Gift, held October 7 on our tartan track. More than 250 top quality athletes of all ages and from around the Gold Coast, Queensland and Australia competed in the running and pole vault events.
Founded in 2017 the Somerset Gift embraces the three C’s of – College, Community and Competition. The event is held in partnership with the Queensland Athletic League and is one of the unique sporting events on the College calendar – giving participants the opportunity to compete for prize money in a variety of athletics events.
The eagerly awaited Dr Michael Brohier Staff Cup was the opening race, with Somerset’s Sports co-ordinator Jacob Heron coming in first. Nick Donaldson and Lily-Dee Dixon ran first in the Open 100metre male and female events.
We recently had New Caledonian students visit the College. Below is a passage they wrote about their school and the visit they shared with us.
"We will introduce you to the Essau Voudjo de Poya College. The College was opened in 2011. It accommodates around 120 students and around 15 teachers. We come from a rural bush village, the "bush" of New Caledonia in the Northern Province. Poya is a small village located on the west coast. About half of the students live in the village of Poya, the other half lives in the surrounding tribes, some by the sea (like Nepou) and others in the mountains (like Gohapin or Montfaoué). Some of us leave at 5.30pm in the morning to come to school. Classes start at 7.15am and end at 4.15pm.
In our college we learn French, Mathematics, History Geography, moral and civic education, foreign languages (Spanish English) and Kanak of our era (Adjie, Paici), SVT, physics chemistry, technology, EPS, musical education, and the visual arts. We have a School Journal, a chess club, a choir, and a sports association.
We are part of the LCE (European Languages and Cultures) option, and are 4eme and 3eme students (Year 8 and 9). We would like to thank Somerset College personnel and students for such an amazing opportunity. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. We were impressed by the beautiful surroundings and brand new and spacious facilities at Somerset such as a big swimming pool and beautiful theatre."
At Somerset College, we’re proud to be taking part in the Queensland and New South Wales Schools Blood Drive.
When we come together, we can make a real impact and save even more lives. After all, every drop counts!
Do you want to learn more about blood drives and making a difference together?
Visit https://www.lifeblood.com.au/b...
The drive was possible thanks to Bronwyn Lee, Head of House - Andrews, who accompanied the willing group of students, including Iona Radcliffe who dontated on the day she was legally eligible, her 18th birthday.
For the past five weeks, I have had the eye-opening opportunity to spend my Thursday lunches at Mudgeeraba Special School. As a privileged high school student, it was a confronting reality to find that not everybody is as lucky as I am; however, in saying this, the joy I felt in being able to make a person’s day just by spending a short 50 minutes of my time is truly unfathomable.
When given the opportunity to read the Scholastic books donated by the Somerset community, the smile seen on each kids face truly warmed my heart. This experience for Year 11 students was truly unforgettable, and was an invaluable insight into how others see the world.
Being given the opportunity to be involved in this programme changed my perspective, and encouraged a deep motivation to make the most of my time, better striving towards my goals.
Throughout this year a number of the Year 11 students visited the Mudgeeraba Special School to play and learn with the children. Throughout each group’s five consecutive trips, Somerset students developed relationships and fond memories with children of all ages and disabilities.
We were even more fortunate to provide the school with their Dream Cricket Set by raising money from our BBQ fundraiser held earlier in Term Two. The cricket set consisted of multiple activities in which the difficulties could be changed to suit the child’s need. The set’s range of activities appealed to each of the children who laughed and cheered as they successfully achieved their goals.
Seeing and hearing the pure joy each child felt was surreal and such a special memory that we will forever cherish. As another year of Mudgeeraba Special School visits continue, we are so thankful to Mr Walker and the Mudgeeraba Special School for providing this opportunity for us to open our eyes and observe how a small gesture of kindness can brighten someone’s day.
The Somerset Spartans Triathlon Team was outstanding at the QLD Club Championships this weekend. The State competition is divided by Club size and our Spartan Squad is the second-best Small Club (<50 members) in QLD for 2023 to 24.
Moreton Bay Triathlon celebrated the 11th Annual QLD Club Championships. The conditions on Sunday morning were extremely challenging and all races had the swim distance shortened for water safety. The cold wind and rain punished all participants and our brave Spartans came home with seven podiums and another seven Top 10 performances out of 25 representatives among student-athletes, staff, and parents.
The Somerset Triathlon athletes will now enter a solid training block preparing for the 2023 All Schools Regional Championship and Queensland Aquathlon Championship. We are taking our largest ever group hoping to bring the overall All Schools title to Somerset.
Somerset teams recently participated in the Queensland Inter-School State Finals in Brisbane. On Friday, the Girls Finals was held with the top Senior team finished in third position and the top Primary team finishing fifth. Our top scorer for the day was Maurice Wong who earnt herself a Merit for her performance.
Over the weekend, our Open team competed in Primary and Secondary divisions as well. The Secondary team won three matches, drew one and lost two. Star of the team was Eason Wang who went undefeated on Board 1 and sored 4/6. In the Primary division, two teams had qualified. Both teams won three matches, drew one and lost two. Stars from each team were Jeremy Zhang (Board 2, Team 1, 4/6) and Year 2 student William Lai (Board 4, Team 2, 5/6).
Over the holidays, many students played in various events around South-East Queensland. In the Nell Van de Graaff Classic at the start of the holidays, Oscar Credland-Ballantyne finished = second in the Junior Division with 4.5/6. Jeremy Zhang scored 4/6 to finished = fifth. Jeremy also played in the tough under 1600 Queensland Championships and performed well in that event whilst gaining further experience, whilst finishing = third in his rating category.
There are a number of upcoming events including the Individual Age Championships 25 October with invitations sent to parents shortly.
For all chess enquiries please email somerset@gardinerchess.com.au.
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