No. 2, Term Four, 2019

On Thursday night they celebrated the conclusion of the Exhibition with parents and senior staff. The Great Hall was certainly a frenzy of creativity, passion, enthusiasm and achievement. Our Year 10s undoubtedly excelled and were keen to share their accomplishments with those who joined them. If you managed to walk through the Hall and look at the exhibits last week, I am sure you would agree the standard of presentations was simply a credit to all involved.

So many standouts ranging from a recycled artwork of Elvis Presley, a robotic arm, a restored antique piano, novellas, novels and children’s books, a political analytical text, recycled teddy bears for charity, indigenous jersey, dress making, solar planes, fabulous sculptures, photography and coffee table books, amazing creative artwork, including fine arts projects, music compositions, architectural models, heartfelt books delving into cultural heritage , video of stunt work, a renovated boat and car, go-carts, innovative surfboard designs, incredible videos focusing on topics ranging from stunt work, skateboarding and a variety of sports, gravity reduction office chair, a motorised push bike, sport programs for elite athletes, environmental service projects, and sport uniform design … the list is endless and represents the many varied interests and talents of our students.

To put this journey in perspective, the Personal Project is a requirement for students in the fifth year of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP). The project itself encourages students to practise and strengthen their skills, to consolidate prior and subject-specific learning, and to develop an area of personal interest. The Personal Project provided an excellent opportunity for our students to produce a truly personal and creative product or outcome, which demonstrated consolidation of their learning in the MYP. The personal nature of the project is important given we are asking Year 10 students to complete an assessment over a nine month period – the fact that it revolves around a challenge that motivates and interests the individual student is what makes the final outcome so impressive. Most importantly, we recognise completing the project isn’t a commute. It’s a road trip, full of deviations and byways that so often become the source of true learning.

So to all those students who were standing proud next to their products on Wednesday and Thursday evening, who worked diligently on their online blog and willingly shared their personal stories about their journey with others, we congratulate you. We recognise it is a mighty achievement that did at times seem daunting, yet you reached the end through determination, self-motivation and tenacity. All great skills to take you forward into Year 11!

Our main purpose was to play games that improved their co-ordination, quick-thinking and many other important skills. We learned a lot through this experience about young children, how to deal with them and how they think.

This is certainly a very rewarding experience. Active Kids was a lot of fun for us, and the Year 1s and 2s. We definitely enjoyed going every week and playing games with them that we haven’t played since we were in those grades.

Active Kids is a very valuable experience and we absolutely loved every second of it.

Students from Somerset College achieved excellent results and those students whose achievements were outstanding were rewarded with Certificates of Merit, Credit, Distinction and High Distinction.

In total, six students achieved scores in the top 1% nationally and were awarded High Distinction certificates. We had 36 students achieved results in the top 2% - 10% nationally and were awarded Distinction certificates. The names of these students appear below.

High Distinction (Top 1% of Australia)

• In Year 7 Patrick Liu
• In Year 8 Tristan Song
• In Year 9 Kei Naito, Anna Georgeson and Aaron Lim
• In Year 11 Clare Hong

Distinction

Year 7

Luke Tanke and Xavier O’Brien (Top 3%)

Penelope Deacon and Sean Perry (Top 4%)

James Georgeson (Top 6%)

Kakeru Adachi, Gene Wu and Lily Kimberly (Top 8%)

James Young, Aaron Huang and Rick Hu (Top 11%)

Year 8

James Bindra (Top 6%)

Luke Shirley and Aditya Naik (Top 8%)

Max Deffenti, Nitika Bethi, Yuvi Chauhan and Helen Zhang (Top 10%)

Year 9

Marc Hagan and Daniel Harvey (Top 2%)

Nathalie Brown (Top 3%)

Ruben Yam (Top 4%)

Bowie Zeng and Lauren Chan (Top 9%)

Cindy Xue (Top 11%)

Year 10

Angus Cheung (Top 2%)

Chloe Ming, Adachi Miku and Elaine Wang (Top 5%)

Kevin Bao (Top 9%)

Year 12 

Harry Ko (Top 2%)

Kevin Song (Top 9%)

I would like to recognise the participation of students from Somerset College who took up the personal challenge of ICAS and extended themselves academically.

Following a short stopover in Vancouver, we finally arrived in the Big Apple, one of the world’s biggest financial capitals. The group tired from a day’s worth of flying and travelling took a short car ride to the Chelsea Inn, where we stayed for our little adventure.

Our first night saw us walking to Times Square and as the bright lights of the blinding billboards started to engulf us, it finally hit us that we were in New York. We were excited for what the next two weeks could have in store for us.

Some notable highlights of the trip include going to the Top of the Rock during sunset, which allowed for an excellent view of the Empire State Building. For an hour we took photos, while poor Keanu had to wait. The tour of Madison Square Gardens is where we learnt the history behind the world-class venue and where we explored the VIP rooms and locker rooms. Then there was the Wall Street tour, exploring Central Park (the natural gem in the middle of madness), the 9/11 memorial museum, enjoying a Mets baseball game, seeing the Statue of Liberty, doing lots and lots of shopping and the list truly does go on.

Among all these activities, we attended the British International School of New York for two days which allowed us to experience school life in America. Although the class sizes were very small, we were able to make many friends and have fun conversations on school-life and what it is like living in New York.

We also had the chance to take a day trip to Boston to explore many famous locations including the Boston Harbour where the Boston Tea Party took place. We also visited the Harvard campus with our tour guide Bruno. There was also a trip to Washington D.C. to see the White House, the Capitol building, Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial.

A personal favourite experience of mine was the NBC Studios tour. This tour allowed us to go on set of various famous shows including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, SNL and NBC News. It was fascinating to experience these sets in real life after seeing them on TV or YouTube. We had the opportunity to go behind the scenes and explore the areas in which the magic of live television took place. With large screens lining the walls of rooms, it was easy to understand the huge amount of effort it takes to make live television perfect. Along with all of this, we created our own late night show and with Stevie acting as the host and Keanu acting as the celebrity guest we were able to create quite a comedic piece. Although we did not see Jimmy Fallon or any famous celebrities while on the tour, it was a very enjoyable experience for us all.

It is safe to say all of us had an amazing time navigating New York. From group dinners at Olive Garden, to late night runs to Target to stock up on snacks, to seeing vomit on the subway, we were all able to truly experience every aspect of New York, making memories that will last a lifetime.

Congratulations to Staff Spartan of the Week Andy Wrigley and Daneale Scandrett for their dedication and commitment to coaching practise and engagement at Friday afternoon Sport. Both Andy and Daneale constantly display the Spartan Spirit.

Football

Every Friday after school Year 2 students Evie-May Coates and Zhander Griffiths make their way to Robina to train in the Gold Coast United Talent Centre. The Talent Centre is a programme supporting the development of boys and girls between seven through to 13 years old. United works in collaboration with clubs in the local area in the aim of creating world-class environments for children to enjoy the game and develop their football abilities. At all times their centres are designed, not to take children away from their own club football, but as an extra session under their expert coaches.

Congratulations to Evie-May and Zhander who have taken the step up! These young players have benefited a lot from the additional training.

Baseball

William Baker was been selected in the 2019 Queensland School Sport Baseball U15 years team in April this year and was also awarded the MVP of the 2019 Qld School Sport State Championships Baseball U15 tournament.

The Qld School Sports Baseball team was in Canberra for their tour versus ACT and NSW from 4 to 8 October. William travelled as part of the 14 year baseball tour. He topped many of the statistical K.P.I.s for the team, and had a lot of fun!

Golf

The Hammett family was busy on the golf course over the holidays achieving great results from the Jack Newton International Junior Classic golf tournament in the Hunter Valley. This is the biggest junior tournament in Australia across all age groups and attracts players from all over Australia as well as international players from Canada, Hawaii, Japan, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa and South Korea. The tournament is played over 72 holes across four days.

Justin, Sarah and David played very well all week and achieved some outstanding results. Justin won the overall Boys Championship with a total of 3 under par for the 72 holes. Sarah finished runner up in the overall Girls Championship and won the 12 Year Old division. David came fourth in the 11 Year Old Boys division.

Horse Riding

 Jade McKenna has taken her horse Eddie to a national dressage event over three days. What an amazing experience they had placing well after the dressage despite a set back on the cross country course.

Four riders from each state made up the competition. There was no room for error with these riders and their amazing horses were awesome to watch.

Under 8s

The Green team scored three great goals, an achievement they can be proud of. Unfortunately, Victory claimed a few more goals to take the win.

While the Green team was playing the White team was warming up. After discussing the formation and starting line-up, the boys and girls were ready to go. The opponent GCFA took the lead and was bit stronger than us. The White team was able to score one goal in the first half and one goal in the second half. Well done everybody!

The Blue team practiced against each other. With their opponent not turning up, we took the opportunity to play a practise game on Saturday. Through this game, the players will be stronger for next week. Thanks to the GC Futsal referees to help the players with explaining the game rules.

Under 15s

The Under 15s started their Futsal season last Wednesday in the Carrara Elite League. The Spartans played their first games versus The Rangers, who exist of players from Robina City Football Club.

After discussing the team tactics the boys were ready to go. Being a bit nervous, we started slowly on the ball. This resulted with a goal for The Rangers but Somerset came back to 1 all with a great goal from Ethan Robinson. This was also the half time score. In the second half we were the better team. We created lots of opportunities but the ball didn’t go in. The Rangers' goalkeeper had some great saves and had two successful counter attacks. The game ended in 3 to 1 for The Rangers.

Sometimes the result is unfair but the way we played and the amount of opportunities we created gives us lots of hope for next week.

If you have any questions, please contact the co-ordinator of Football and Futsal: mdekruijf@somerset.qld.edu.au

While a torrential and much needed downpour the morning of the event looked certain to wipe away any glimmer of hope, it couldn’t dampen the spirits of some of the region’s finest athletes who arrived determined for a slice of the $23,000 being given away in prize money.

The rain stopped and the clouds parted just in time for the official welcome. You could tell the competition was going to be fierce, and when you have one of Australia’s finest athletes Sally Pearson watching from the grandstand, you know you’re in store for a special afternoon.

The Gift in the past has presented us with many memorable highlights and this year was no different: 

• Michael Fenson took out the Michael Brohier Cup. He finished strongly with Peter Gallagher and Katie Hodge taking second and third. Many thanks also to Bronwyn Lee and Jayde Martin for showing their school spirit and taking part.
• The inaugural Pole Vault competition was an astounding success with Cameron Macdonald and Jade Arbuthnot taking the respective honours. Former Olympic Medallist Tatiana Grigorieva was on hand to present the medals and students Kade Reynoldson, Matthew and Stephanie Sprague should be commended for taking part. Special thank you to coach Howard Arbuthnot for organising the competition.
• Our students competed well throughout the day with Britney Ingr, Prosper Nwoko, Felix Jackson-King, Savannah Walker, Liam Thornton, Louis Ladbrook, Kye Reynoldson, Jake Iles, Darcy and Alex Halloran, and Jake Giltrap-Good all making the podium. Ingr finished third in the 100m Open Female Final while Sam Reeve Finished 4th in the 100m Open Final. All should be commended for their efforts as many were competing against more experienced athletes.
• Alumni Ryan Neale had an impressive return to the College, finishing 2nd in 100pm Open Final.
• Bree Masters and Connor Loughnan won the 100m Female and Open races respectively. Both winners received a check of $5,000 for their efforts.

Once again we were assisted on the day by our friends at Mudgeeraba Special School and special mention must go to student Elijah Palmer not only for his service but also for competing in the Open Mile and 100m races – in his wheelchair. It was a fantastic effort that epitomizes what the Gift is all about. The motto of the Gift is College, Community, Competition, and it was great to see these traits on display.

A full list of results can be found here.

The generous support of our sponsors enables us to produce such a wonderful event so many thanks to:

• The Somerset Alumni Association
• Councillor Glenn Tozer – City of Gold Coast
• Heidi and Mark Sowerby
• Somerset P&F Association
• Catchcam Electronic Security – Nigel Aiken
• AON Insurance
• National Australia Bank
• Arakan Martial Arts
• Ignition Athletics Club
• Solid Ground Landscaping
• BLK
• Essential Coffee/I luv Slush
• Travelsim
• ABC Building Products
• Mercedes-Benz Gold Coast

Several Spartan athletes clocked their season best times for the time trial, but up against tough competition from around the State were unable to progress to their A-Finals. Saturday afternoon saw heats of the Year 8 and 9 girls double sculls and the Year 9 boys double sculls. While Harry Jordan and Callum McClure, and Zac van den Brink and Xavier McMullen progressed the other doubles were eliminated. The Year 8 girls double of Georgia Daly and Lillian Tan, missing out by just one and a half seconds. Callum McClure followed his single scull and double scull effort up with a Silver Medal in the South Coast Inter-Regional Under 16 representative quad. A great way to round out the first day of competition.

On Sunday it was the Year 10 boys' quad who claimed Silver, just getting in front of Cathedral College on the line. A great result as the conditions got harder and harder to row in as the day went on. Callum McClure and Nicholas Tan had their A-Finals for their single sculls, with tough competition pushing them out of the top placings.

Monday was a tough day for all competitors as the third day started to show signs of tired bodies. Tom Liu repeated his performance from last year, bringing home a Gold medal for the Para-Rowing event in the single scull. This is a great recognition for the hard work and dedication that Tom puts in to be involved in a sport that already has so many challenges. His ability to make the most of what an individual is capable of, is a great role model for all of us.

It was great to see so many Spartan athletes representing the Somerset spirit of competition. Great teamwork and support across all age groups and both genders working as one at the toughest competition in Queensland for School rowing.

Gold

Para-Rowing LTA Single Scull – Tom Liu

Silver

Inter-Regional Quad Under 16 Boys Quad – Callum McClureBoys 

Year 10 Quad Scull – Nichols Tan, Cam Smith, Fergus McKeon, Josh Mills and Austin Macrossan