Year 2 student Harry Greensmith has been holding plant sales out of his driveway, for the past two years. When he discovered how easily he could make money, he became motivated to help others with the funds he had raised.
Harry began been propogating cuttings from plants in his own garden and then with his dad built the plant stall. The youngster was involved with cutting, drilling and painting the stall.
Once Harry created enough plants to sell, he advertised through local Facebook groups. Taking photos of his plants himself, he helped create a poster. This year with the help of his parents, he advertised to the Somerset community.
Harry designed the signs and priced up his goods. With the generous support of by both the local community and some of Somerset friends, he raised $557.
The funds were split between the Tonga tsunami appeal and the Salvation Army's flood appeal.
The first year Harry decided he wanted to raise money for a Save the Rhino charity and raised almost 170 pounds for a charity in the United Kingdom.
See Harry talking about his venture on Somerset Stream.
Congratulations to the April Fitness Members of the Month, Su-Mei and Sebastian Salay.
Su-Mei and Sebastian have been committed to their health and fitness goals by consistently training each week with Amanda at 5.30am.
They have made considerable improvements to their lifestyle habits, which includes eating more nutritional food, eating less take-away and moving more!
Both Su-Mei and Sebastian are feeling better and can see the physical differences in their bodies.
Well done to you both!
Somerset students have recently been taking part in a number of local events. Many of these events and the other upcoming ones are perfect opportunities to hone skills in preparation for the upcoming Inter-School Chess Championships for primary and secondary students in early June.
In the Adult and over 1000QJ division, young Harrison Qu (youngest in the tournament) took on a much older field and scored an impressive upset win as a part of his day.
In the Junior Division, Jenson Turner won his rating division in another impressive performance, whilst Jeremy Zhang and Gary Fei also took part and did well.
This event is held each term and provides an excellent opportunity for girls to play in a relaxed tournament against each other. Young Taya Liu took part in her first ever non-school event and did well scoring three points for the day.
In their recent Burleigh Blitz Skittles night, where players get lives and are knocked out once they lose those lives, three of our Year 12 students took part. Byron Morris took out the event, going undefeated with Jared Consiglio-Cockle finishing in second place. Aarav Rawlley also took part and finished in =5th position.
In the Classical event taking place on Fridays at the moment, a number of students will take part over the coming weeks. We wish the best of luck to Jared Consiglio-Cockle, Oscar Credland-Ballantyne and Harrison Qu.
One of the biggest events on the Queensland chess calendar was held over the Labour Day weekend. With a highly competitive field taking part it provided a great opportunity for players to test themselves. Byron Morris was the leading Somerset student with 5/7 placing him =8th – joint with two of state's top 10! Also taking part were Jared Consiglio-Cockle, Harrison Qu, Aaran Rawlley, and Eason Wang.
Saturday 14 May – Cookies Chess Rapids from 1.00pm: For Novice to experienced
Weekend of 21 and 22 May - Toowoomba Open: Suggested for rated players
Tuesday 7 June – Junior School Chess Championships and Inter-House
Wednesday 8 June – Gold Coast Secondary Inter-School Competition
Wednesday 15 June – Gold Coast Primary Hinterland Inter-School Competition
Not sure if an event is suitable for your child? Email Andrew to discuss.
A great way to get some practice for these events is via the Friday afternoon Chess Club (3.30pm to 5.30pm) which can be registered for as follows:
Year 1 to 3: Register via The Hub and select chess as the activity
Year 4 to 12: Register HERE.
This club continues to grow and we have now taken over a second room to support the growing numbers. Coaches are present to provide feedback between games where possible.
Junior School students also have access to the lunch clubs as follows:
Upper Primary (Years 3 to 6) – Tuesday in Chess Room
Lower Primary (Years 1 to 2) – Monday/Wednesday/Fridays in Year 1 classrooms
As always, for any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via the email link above.
Our Under 15 Girls and Under 8 Boys have been victorious, winning the Gold Coast Futsal Titles. Somerset sent several Futsal teams to the Titles with much success from our Spartans.
On Tuesday 3 May the School Futsal Titles took place for the Senior Girls. Somerset nominated two Under 15 Girls teams, with both playing six matches in their group stage. One of our teams progressed into to grand final to play against Helensvale State High School. Our Girls were unlucky with their changes in the first half but the second half was impressive and saw the team become Girls Gold Coast School Futsal Champions.
Congratulations to Livi Budd, Havana Lopez, Arya Denzongpa Bathols, Ellie Davies, Zara Ryan, Georgie Zerbst and Ari Thake. Thank you to Coach Nigel Witton who worked with our Somerset Futsal Teams during the day.
On Wednesday May 4 it was our Senior Boys' turn. Somerset's Under 16 Boys and Under 19 Boys participated with both teams very strong playing against experienced opponents. Our Spartans played very well but did not progress to the finals.
Thank you to Coach Jonathon Pritchard who worked with our Somerset Futsal Teams during the day.
The Junior School Titles were held Thursday 5 May with our Under 8 and Under 9 Boys playing in their first School Futsal tournament. These Junior Spartans were excellent representatitves of their College. Both teams played exceptionally well in the morning and ended up in the Grand Final, each versing Lords.
The Under 8s came nil-1 down but fought back to a 2 to 1 victory. Congratulations to Denham Barry, Hunter Sharples, Dylan Hu, Thomas Chudzinski, Sam Thompson, and Zach Sanders.
The Under 9s made better changes in their game but Lords took all the changes, and the eventual win. Well done to our runners up, Jakub Pitura, Knox Black, Oliver Moir, Sion Kim, and Kai Edgley.
Thank you to Coach Kydra Walden who worked with our Somerset Futsal Teams during the day.
Last Friday, the Somerset Open Girls Volleyball B Team took the win against All Saints Anglican School. From the get-go, the team showed spirit had a novel sense of enthusiasm and focus.
Going into the game we knew we would have to give it our all if we wanted any chance of beating such a formidable opponent. An immediate lead in the first set thanks to the team’s constant communication, Momo Uchida’s sets and hits, and cheerleading from those on the court and off gave us an essential confidence boost. The nerve-wracking near draw of the second set once again demonstrated the benefits of teamwork, confidence, patience, and a good time-out to catch our breaths and calm our nerves. Indy Hammer’s very quick reflex was a great skill to have in the front line, saving a lot of possible errors. Rhea Dawson’s serve streak brought us to the home stretch in the third set, and we joyously took an unexpected 3-nil win.
On the other hand, our Open A team worked so hard after losing in the first two sets. However, on the third set, they came back with more confidence and stronger hope that they can still win a set. Their incredible skills and teamwork were put to the test! Their alertness, excellent defence, perfect serves lead them to win the third set. Thankfully there were still 10 minutes on the clock and so the fourth set continued. An intense emotion enveloped the court, both teams were nervous and focussed, including our coaches Issy and Mrs Amores. The last five minutes was epic, as Kaelyn Dolan served continuously lifting their score from 8 to 22! She was bringing the thunder! Yes, that was 14 points in a row and leaving no time for the opponent to catch up. So, it was an incredible 2-all game against All Saints!
(Members not in photos: Ashley and Kartier, Open B and Eden, Open A.)
Go Spartans!
During the April Holidays, Somerset Spartans travelled for the College's first ever club Football tour. A total of 10 Students expressed intersted in the FNQ Cup, proving enough participants to enter one team in the Under 10 competition.
Day 1
An early 6.00AM meeting at the Gold Coast Airport for our departure to Cairns.
Arriving in Cairns we made our way to our accommodation for the week, the dormitories from St. Augustine College. In the afternoon our team participated in the Advanced Football Camp. At this camp the students were coached by former professional football players. This was a great start to get ready for the tournament.
Day 2
The tournament commenced with a traditional opening by the indigineous community. Our boys then played three matches and played very well. It was a great experience to play against clubs from other states and cities. In the afternoon the team visited the Cairns Lagoon, where the boys had time to relax in the pool.
Day 3
A few players were not fit enough to participate in the tournament, making the second day a challenge. The coaches were proud of the boys who played each game and did not give up. The opponents and organisers were impressed with the team's persistence despite half the players being absent.
Day 4
The Spartans were unfortunate not to qualify for the finals but most importantly the team was able to spend the whole day together.
In the morning we visited Cairns Aquarium followed by the FNQ Youth Cup presentation.
Day 5
After packing our bags and cleaning our dorms, we made our way to Cairns Airport to fly back to the Gold Coast.
I want to thank all parents who were in Cairns for their support and assistance.
This was a unique experience for all students who participated. Besides learning to become a better football player, we are certain the tour has taught them many valuable life lessons.
We hope that this football tour was the start of many more tours to come.
For any questions about Football and Futsal, please contact our Head of Football and Futsal Maarten De Kruijf.
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