The Open A Netball team visited Mudgeeraba Special School to deliver some netball skills sessions to Years 7 to 10 students this term.
The afternoon comprised of four rotations, in which we set up activities to teach and practice throwing, catching, movement and shooting.
It was great to see all the students coming out of their shell and engaging with all the games. In the final shooting competition, we observed their persistence and enthusiasm, with our new friends shooting heaps of goals.
Overall, it was a great afternoon of smiles and laughter, and we are so grateful to Mudgeeraba Special School for giving us the opportunity to share our love for netball.
In Term One, Year 7 ventured off to QCCC Mount Tamborine, for camp. This was an opportunity to further develop positive relationships and build resilience in a safe and nurturing environment. The camp was filled with a number of 'character developing' opportunities that aimed to further develop the identity of the individual, and to increase their sense of belonging.
Gever Tulley stated, “Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.”
This timeless quote was evident in all aspects of camp life. On multiple occasions we demonstrated the ‘courage’ to work through challenging problems that allowed them to grow as individuals. It was such a pleasure listening to the students retell these achievements at dinner time while feasting on the delicious lasagna and sipping on the refreshing cordial.
Year 7 camp was a fantastic opportunity for students to showcase their hidden talents and skills. It was such a pleasure watching students supporting each other in the overcoming of fears and self-doubt. The staff loved seeing the students support and cheer each other on as this fostered a profound sense of camaraderie amongst all. This took place in all the exciting activities including rock climbing, orienteering, mountain bike riding, the leap of faith and the unforgettable glow worm expedition.
Mrs Walker’s bush dancing sessions were a massive hit once again. This revealed the groups’ ability to collaborate in a graceful manner dancing the night away. The Nutbush got a massive workout each night as did the chicken dance. The Camp Hall was filled with laughs and big smiles demonstrating the timeless and enjoyable moments being experienced. It was also pleasing to see the staff get involved and celebrate this significant Somerset experience moment. I think the staff screamed louder than the kids during their attempt at the giant swing.
Students and teachers upon departure left camp growing holistically as both an individual and community. The student’s ability to embrace challenge and the unknown will serve them well in their future years at Somerset.
Thank you to the Dean of Activities, Mr Dane Robinson, Activities Assistant, Jacqui Sina and Outdoor Co-ordinator Brendon Wood for organising such a memorable experience.
For my Personal Project I have decided to learn more about the current state of our environment through research into endangered native Australian animals, therefore I decided that my learning goal would be to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current status, potential threats, conservation efforts and latest scientific interventions through independent research. As a young person I have always enjoyed being outside with nature and wildlife.
For my product I have created roughly 200 stamps of 30 different native endangered animals. I have gained and developed many new skills whilst making the stamps, these skills were how to use adobe illustrator, a laser cutter, and bandsaw. The stamps that I have made are 100% environmentally friendly as I recycled scraps pieces of plywood and used fallen branches from both at Quoll Headquarters and Currumbin from the storms that struck Southeast Queensland between Christmas and New Year as the contact point for the stamps to work effectively.
Furthermore, I created an information booklet on all 30 endangered animals with information with current scientific information. One of the ATL’s that was used was research skills. With all the knowledge I gained from this process, I ventured down to the Year 1 classrooms in Week 5, Term One to share my knowledge. Another ATL skill that has played a big part with my project has been organisational skills as I facilitated these sessions with the Year 1s linking to their current Unit of Inquiry.
I look forward to sharing my mural that the Year 1s assisted me with, at the Personal Project evening in Term Four.
Journalist Marina Kamenev has a long writing history behind her, one that spans continents and topics in equal measure. Launched on the week of her 40th birthday, her debut non-fiction book Kin: Family in the 21st century explores the ways in which we choose, or choose not, to have children today. She will be discussing Kin at the Storyfest Literary Lunch.
Even though she’s always loved reading and writing, Marina Kamenev didn’t start out to be a writer. At her parents’ suggestion, she studied architecture for three years, in an attempt to get what was considered a 'proper career'.
However, life had other plans for her.
Marina got an internship with The Moscow Times, an independent English-language newspaper based in Moscow, in 2006. Having spent the first four years of her life in Russia, Marina spoke enough Russian to get by. Her internship coincided with British architect and designer Norman Foster’s visit to the city, a moment that Marina still remembers.
“Because of my background in architecture, I got to interview him. I wasn’t an amazing writer, but it was an amazing opportunity.”
She began working for The Moscow Times full-time a few months later.
“The Moscow Times was fabulous, it was this fertile training ground for young journalists – all these expats and repats like me started their career there.”
Without a formal journalism background, she was able to soak up the writing wisdom of those around her, and she grew to be objective about her writing – which has always worked to her advantage.
“A colleague used to say: words are just words. I never felt possessive about them; I’ve always liked being edited.”
Over the three years she spent there, she became the deputy arts editor of the paper, all the while writing freelance pieces for other English-language publications. Often, these articles would centre around Russian politics, as speaking the language lent Marina the authority to access and report on local current affairs.
However, when it came time for her to move back to Australia, she found that she wasn’t as excited about politics here as she had been in Russia.
“Not that there isn’t a lot to cover here too. But after living in Moscow for years, I didn’t feel a drive to write about those topics in Australia.”
Instead, Marina decided to complete a Master of Creative Writing and, armed with the formal knowledge she had felt she was lacking during her time in Russia, she began writing longer form articles for national and international publications. Her pieces often centred on family, ethics, and assisted reproduction.
“I’ve always been drawn to topics where there is no easy answer, no right or wrong. I began to write about these topics that interested me, like sex after dementia, or medicine testing on pregnant women.”
One topic stood out from the rest, and Marina found herself writing a long-form article for The Monthly about the sperm drought in Australia. The more research she did and the more people she interviewed, a thoroughly complex picture emerged about the circumstances of assisted reproduction in Australia, particularly about conceiving via sperm donation. A deeper interest took hold of her.
“There are so few times that we change our minds – people are often wedded to their opinions. As this story unfolded, I noticed that I flipped – at first I felt for the donors, but the more I found out about donor-conceived people like Narelle Grech, my opinion changed. The deeper I looked into it, the more complicated this issue seemed. There was no anonymous sperm donation anymore, and donors weren’t getting paid; on the other side, families wanting to conceive via sperm donation were also running into barriers and serious challenges.
“I felt like I had a book’s worth of questions. At the same time, I started to think that I wanted to get out of journalism – I was tired of pitching and constantly waiting for people to reply. So it was the perfect time to transition from shorter pieces to a book-length piece of work.”
Marina admits that writing a book was a lot harder than writing articles.
“I thought it’d be liberating to not be constrained by a word count, but it was a lot more stressful. Coming from journalism, I found it difficult to feel the boundaries of a book, and I struggled without an involved editor nearby.
“When you’re doing a journalistic piece, you usually have a very tight angle – I struggled with the looseness of my angle when it came to writing a book. It was also really hard to get people to trust me without them knowing if I was on their side or not. I wasn’t on anyone’s side. That was a big difference: in journalism, people usually trust you because they know upfront what angle your story will take. So it took longer for interviewees to warm up to me.”
When asked what she hopes people will take away from Kin, Marina is hopeful that her writing comes across as fair to both sides.
“The resonant message of this book is the idea that you can agree with two things at once – that you can hold two truths at the same time. I would interview donor-conceived people and really feel their pain, then I’d interview, say, a same-sex couple who really wanted to become parents, and I would feel really happy and excited alongside them. I thought I’d come out of the book advocating for one side over the other, but I didn’t. I hope that comes across.”
Marina will be speaking at Storyfest’s Literary Lunch on 26 March, where she will share more about the writing of Kin, the intricacies of writing long-form non-fiction, and the deeper differences between journalism and the making of a book.
As to whether she has any plans for another book…
“If I get through this first one unscathed, I might think about another book. For now though, I’m excited to be finished with the writing and to get to spend more time with my family.”
Book your tickets to the Literary Lunch and hear Marina Kamenev speak about the making of a 21st century family by clicking here.
The Mr Bassingthwaighte annual tradition of gifting sport-specific uniforms to the open teams, is a cherished moment each year.
More than just a practical gesture, the gifting of uniforms symbolises the College's support for its athletes and fosters a sense of pride and unity within the student body. With each uniform handed out, the Headmaster reinforces the values of teamwork and sportsmanship, reminding students that they are part of a community committed to excellence both on and off the field.
The open team's uniform is not just an outfit; it's a symbol of pride and excellence. Worn by those who set the standard in their respective sports, it inspires younger students to aspire to don the same uniform one day.
What an incredibly generous gesture by the Headmaster.
Our Spartans have reflected on a fantastic round of Futsal after the 2023/24 Club season recently came to an end.
Our Preps and Year 1s made their first kicks of Futsal in our own in-house Futsal programme. Students had weekly training on Mondays and Thursday during Term Four. Matches took place on Saturday mornings. Each week we made new teams to challenge each other.
Our Under 8 to Under 14 participated in the Carrara Futsal League. All matches took place on Wednesday nights at the Sports and Leisure Centre. We entered the league with a total of 13 teams. 2 female teams and 11 male teams.
Somerset represented the Carrara league as followed:
The teams were placed in a group with six to 10 teams and played a total of 14 matches between October and February. We had a Christmas break from half December till the end of January, however, our coaches kept providing training during the school holidays. It is great to see so many students at Somerset during the break.
Our Head of Football and Futsal is satisfied with the performance from all the Spartans. With a total of 120 students playing futsal club, we had more teams than in previous years. The skill level from all students have increased massively over the last months.
We celebrated our Futsal Club season with our annual presentation day. Everybody had a great day with all students receiving their team photo and club medal.
Our Spartans are currently back on the Football pitch for a new Football Club season. We hope to see everyone again at the end of this year for a new Futsal Season.
If any questions in regards Football or Futsal at Somerset College, please do not hesitate to contact me: Maarten DeKruijf, mdekruijf@somerset.qld.edu.au
Our little Masters have been chessing up a storm!
Some of our little Spartans Masters have been out in the chess scene making waves. Alisa and William Lai, Gordon Hu, Paul Sang Yum, Oscar Credland-Ballantyne and Taya Liu all performed strongly at the recent Cookies Rapids Tournament.
Oscar was unlucky to get some tough pairings only to fall to the overall winner Lachlan Wang, the CAQ President Shaun Curtis and recent Gold Coast Chess Club Blitz winner Joshua Cooper. Tough field but Oscar excelled! Well done!
Oscar is currently competing, along with myself and Coach Russell, in the Gold Coast Chess Club Classical Tournament at Burleigh. Good luck guys!
Our Chess Clubs are underway and we’ve had a great turn out with our room filled with little masters playing proper tournament games. We are working on a way to make our weekly results accessible to our school community so you can follow the action!
Go get ‘em Spartan Masters!
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