We started the year with an enrolment of 1,523 from Pre-Prep to Year 12. On behalf of the College Board, I thank you for your continuing support of Somerset as we enter our 37th year. It was quickly apparent that the students settled very well to their classes.
We welcomed the following new staff:
After the close of 2018, I regretfully accepted the resignations of Mr Shane Lunniss, Director of Sport and Mr Matt Rowlands, Head of Wellbeing.
Welcome back to Mrs Bianca Hipperson, Mr Greg Juniper, Mrs Cathy Makin and Mrs Helen Moffatt from their well-deserved leave. We wish Mr Craig Sayer a well-deserved term’s leave chasing triathlon glory.
There have been a number of changes to responsibilities this year:
Class of 2018 Academic Results
A complete summary of their outstanding results are available here but the highlights are as follows:
OP, Cohort of 134
The most common OP score for Somerset students 1992 to 2018 continues to be an OP 1, an incredible achievement.
IB Diploma, Cohort of 12
Tertiary AdmissionAs part of the changes we made five years ago to find alternative pathways, we had 22 students complete an external Business Diploma. This enabled them to be given a rank score equivalent to an OP 9 for tertiary entrance purposes, enhancing their opportunities after graduation.
I look forward to meeting all parents at the Parents' and Friends' Celebration of the New School Year - Welcome to 2019 on Friday 8 February 2019 from 6.30pm to 9.00pm in Towers Quad. This function is a wonderful opportunity for parents new to the College and those returning to meet each other and the staff.
Please make this highlight function a priority on your calendar!
Changes to Semester Reporting Processes at the College
To gather information, we received feedback from parents who attended forums, from Heads of Department and faculty staff, and from Year 7 to 12 students who attended a forum with Dr Brohier and Mrs Sauer. We unpacked that information with curriculum leaders and with the College Leadership Team.
The feedback was invaluable and provided the impetus to move toward the implementation of continuous online reporting for our students. This type of reporting refers to online access of results and comments that coincide with key summative assessment dates. Results are progressive (meaning students will see rolling totals and grades) and comments focussing on strengths and areas that need improvement. Online reporting will complement current semester reports; however, these would take on a new format, with final subject comments not included.
Continuous online reporting is strongly supported by research. The availability of timely, quality feedback is acknowledged to be one of the most significant determinant of success for learners. A reporting system that provides continuous feedback online, accessible not only to students but also parents, will allow students to continually evaluate and improve performance with the support of their teachers. Hattie’s (2011) Visible Learning, which analyses global evidence on student achievement, identifies that the most significant contributor to student learning is quality, timely, feedback. Dylan Will (2011) states that feedback should focus on what needs to be done in order to improve, and how this can be achieved.
The College sees there are a number of tangible benefits derived from providing continuous online reporting to our students and their families. These include: • Timely feedback – feedback and results provided online within a defined period after a key task is completed and assessed, enabling the students to act on feedback immediately to inform future learning. • Feedback is specific to an individual student’s progress and learning needs. • Parents will view results and comments for key assessments at the same time as their child, receiving information in ‘real time’ rather than at two points within a year. This will provide parents with the ability to identify and support action toward improvement prior to the next assessment. Parents and students will receive an alert when results and comments are available. • Builds on authentic communication between a teacher, student and their family, providing a greater sense of shared responsibility. • No “surprise results” at the end of a semester. Parents and students are aware of results and grade progress prior to the end of each semester. • Access online anywhere, anytime, via a secure link to be made available on the Somerset Portal, during Term 1.
Student connections between their plans, their actions, their grades and feedback is also an important part of the continuous reporting process. Their increasing ability to articulate their learning as more than just a response to the unit studied, will see them develop into a resilient, self-motivated and limitless learner. We believe the focus will move from “how I went’ to ‘how I learn’, which is a significant focus of our International Baccalaureate and Senior QCAA programmes.
While we are extremely proud of our current reports, we know that effective ‘real time’ feedback has a massive impact on student learning. At our 2018, Scholar’s Day Mr Bassingthwaighte announced the College would be introducing continuous online reporting into Year 6, 7, 8 and Year 11 in 2019. Over the coming week’s students and parents will continue to receive updates and hear about opportunities where further details will be unpacked. Subject teachers and House Tutors will also work with students to help them access this new system and support them in using the information provided in a positive and beneficial manner.
We are certainly excited to be taking this next step and look forward to rolling it out into Years 9 and 10 in 2020.
Laos is one of the least developed countries in Asia, with almost 25 per cent of the population living at or below the poverty line. Most people live in rural areas where access to health services and education are limited. A high proportion of children are malnourished and it is common for kids to die from preventable diseases such as Japanese encephalitis, beriberi and malaria. Many young people either do not go to school or have to leave after just a few years to work in agriculture.
One of the factors affecting economic development in Laos is the presence of large quantities of unexploded bombs scattered across the country. Between 1964 and 1973 US forces dropped an estimated 240 million cluster bomblets on Laos, around 80 million of which failed to detonate. They also sprayed large areas of the country with toxic chemicals, including Agent Orange, which continue to cause disabilities in children and pollute food and water sources.
Despite these challenges, young people in Laos are very welcoming and are determined to work hard to improve their lives. Learning English is a useful skill as it provides opportunities to work in tourism and to study in other countries.
I really enjoyed getting to know Lao people whilst volunteering at Big Brother Mouse. They were grateful for the opportunity to speak to a native English language speaker and were interested to learn about life in Australia. We talked about our families, our day-to-day lives and our hopes for the future. I learned about the different cultural groups in Laos and how difficult it can be to escape poverty.
During one of the visits, I spoke to a novice monk who explained that he had joined the monastery to bring good fortune to his family. His daily routine involves waking up at 4.00am to prepare for chanting, collecting alms and cleaning the temple. After breakfast, he spends over an hour walking to school, where he stays from 8.30am to 4.40pm. The monks are not allowed to eat anything after 11am, they cannot play sports and they have very little free time during the day.
I was impressed by how hard young people are prepared to work to improve their life chances. I also gained an appreciation of how fortunate we are to have high living standards, free health care and excellent education.
If you travel to Luang Prabang, consider spending a rewarding couple of hours helping local people to learn English at Big Brother Mouse. A bus leaves for the school every day at 8.50am and English conversation sessions run every day from 9.00am to 11:00am and 5.00p, to 7.00pm.
This is a celebration of Pi together with all things mathematical and is open to all ages up to infinity (but not beyond). There will be talks, tricks, pilates, pi reciting and much, much more. In August a similar festival will acknowledge that other important irrational number, Phi (also known as the Golden Ratio).
‘Lunch and Learn’ talks will continue on Tuesdays where pupils can present on any mathematical topic to an eager audience of staff and students who are hungry for knowledge and eager to drink from a fountain of knowledge.
Another project for 2019 is the restoration of the Menger Sponge to its former glory. This was a structure built from 2400 business cards by SMS members five years ago. The Menger Sponge is a theoretical structure with an infinite surface area but with zero volume!
And as we welcome 2019, here are a few facts about the number 2019 that you might find interesting;
The Bulletin covered his exceptional performance in a full back page article titled, Our Hole in Gun.
Justin (Year 9, Franklin) told the Bulletin, "It felt good that something had finally clicked for me in a tournament."
His coach labelled him a rare talent.
We congratulate Justin on his achievements and look forward to seeing what he accomplishes in his future.
We had a Year 5 and below team and a Year 4 and below team.
The Year 5 and below team was:
The Year 5 and below event was played on orange balls with a modified court. There were 10 schools at the state finals and we happened to go undefeated into the final, when we lost to Fig Tree Pocket State School. The team finished in second place which was a great achievement.
Our Year 4 and below team was:
The Year 4 and below event was played on red balls and a modified court. With the courts being so small it makes this event so much harder to be successful. There were 25 schools that qualified for the state finals and Somerset happen to place third in this event. One of the highlights was Liam O’Nuallian getting the Sportsmanship Award for the whole tournament.
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