No. 2, Term Two, 2018

To quote Mustafa Ataturk, Turkish Army General and, later, founder of the Republic of Turkey:

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmet’s to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are at peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

What we can interpret from this quote by Ataturk? We should not dwell on the result of this colossal battle, whether it was a win or loss; rather, we should focus on the heroism, sacrifice, courage and, ultimately, friendship shown by these men.

Deprivation of food and water, something that could be identified as a crisis to us, seemed of minimal importance to them. Diseases such as tetanus and dysentery were part of their everyday lives. All just the tip of the iceberg to the true horrors of war.

What we know as ‘heroism’ was ultimately redefined by these brave soldiers who, despite the cruel conditions they faced, fought for the future generations of their countries. They were left with no choice but to search for the courage to risk ever seeing their families and loved ones ever again. The horrific fear of knowing that your life will come to an end at any second became an inescapable reality. Yet, these soldiers still held their ground and fought for their country.

After the battle had ended, there were captured ANZAC soldiers on enemy ground. In that instant, the soldiers were most likely wishing they lost their lives to the battle? Some of the Turkish generals suggested they should kill the ANZACs but Ataturk did not approve of such action. He gave the ANZACs shelter and food instead.

What is to be remembered about this battle is the fact that, despite the sacrifice, there was no sign of hatred – only courage, mutual respect and true brotherhood. There is a sense of peace, humanity and friendship which has developed between our countries. What an amazing thing it is that we could decipher such amazing traits of humanity from this battle.

May all soldiers rest in peace as they gave their today, to save our tomorrow.

Whilst the weather did not cooperate this year, with rain falling for the duration of the march, our students were incredibly respectful during this time and the moving service that followed.

Our thanks to Mudgeeraba RSL for organising the event and to the students, parents and Somerset staff who attended.

There was a good mixture of talent from each House, not just reflected in the Age Champions awards, but also in the relatively close point score among all five Houses. Starkey, champions of last year’s Carnival, have continued their reign by winning with just 155 points over Laver.

A massive thank you goes to the assistance of the teachers out on the course for the afternoon and the encouragement they give also received from parents alike. The current ranking for the Arnison Cup stands at Starkey leading the competition with 39 points, Laver the close second with 36 points, followed by Andrews (24), Franklin (21) and Veivers (15 points).

Up next, we have Founders' Day and the highly contested Athletics Carnival!

While it may appear to be over an extended period, simply put, “NAPLAN tests require less than four hours over three days, four times during a student's time at school. It is a point-in-time snapshot assessment of a student's achievements in the areas of literacy and numeracy.

"We all understand there's a lot that goes into a student's education. NAPLAN doesn't test everything happening in the classroom or a school and isn't designed to assess a student's diverse and creative learning, entrepreneurial skills or risk-taking ability.” Robert Randall, ACARA CEO. The intent of this national testing program is to provide a measure of how all Australian school students at these year levels are performing in Literacy and Numeracy.

The performance of each child will be reported to the College community using six bands of achievement at each year level. These bands enable all students across Australia at these year levels to be compared. One of these bands will represent the national minimum standard for students at that year level. We certainly view the rich data we receive from NAPLAN as an opportunity to review our annual goals for teaching and learning at the College.

The actual content NAPLAN tests is informed by the National Statements of Learning in English and Mathematics. Test questions therefore cover aspects of Literacy (Reading, Writing, Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) and Numeracy. In years 3 and 5 these elements will be assessed through four separate papers whereas students in years 7 and 9 will sit a total of five test papers. These tests range between 10 minutes and 65 minutes depending on the year level and will consist of a combination of multiple choice and short response questions.

While preparation for NAPLAN occurs every day through our normal teaching and learning, we do recognise it is important for students to feel comfortable in sitting this style of testing. As such, leading into these tests, students at the College will be exposed to sample questions and have explanatory sessions to become familiar with the format and the expectation of each paper.

Further information about NAPLAN can be found here.

Junior Masters

Near the end of Term One, the traditional Junior Masters were held in the Hinterland Hotel, Nerang. The winner was Eason Wang with 5.5/6. Oliver Yang was second (on countback) with 5, and Raff Atia was equal second (also 5 points).

Results from Junior Masters.

One Day Challenge

In the One Day Challenge (always held on the same weekend as the Junior Masters), the winner was also from Somerset, Aditya Naik (7/8). Ken Wu won second place for the unrated group (4.5 points) and Advait Naik, younger brother of Aditya was third place unrated (4 points).

Results from the One Day Challenge.

Doeberl Cup

Over the Easter long weekend, Gardiner Chess took a group of children to Canberra for the Doeber Cup, one of Australia’s most prestigious and popular annual Chess tournaments. There are four sections (divided by rating), totalling over 200 players: Premier, Major, Minor and U/1200.

The Premier section featured six Grandmasters (the highest title in chess), and many international players. Our Somerset Spartans played very well! Congratulations to all the students on doing a superb job of representing Somerset and Queensland.

Byron Morris held his own in a very competitive field in the Major, finishing on 3/7. Oliver Yang was the star of the tournament, finishing on 6/7 and winning the Minor section. Other Somerset players in the Minor: Ben Atia 4.5, Eason Wang 4.5, Jason Li 4/7, Lyanna Chan, Jennifer Yeung, Charlie Liu, Anson Qu, Raff Atia, Melody Yang, Mayuri Yamaguchi and Sophia Ahern.

Results from Doeberl Cup.

Bangkok Open

Brothers Ben Atia and Raff Atia competed in the Bangkok Open, one of the strongest tournaments in the Asia-Oceania region. The field included players from all over the world, and 12 Grandmasters. Ben did very well, scoring 4/7 and a performance rating of 1691.

Upcoming Events

Gold Coast Junior Championships Under 10 - Under 18 (28-29 April)Gold Coast Junior Championships Under 8 (29 April)Gold Coast Secondary Inter-School Term Two (Wednesday 23 May)Gold Coast Primary South Inter-School Term Two (Wednesday 13 June)

This term, lunch club for Years 3 to 12 is open every day in Toohey 2.6 (above the KIP). Lunch club for Years 1 to 2 is on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the Year 1 classrooms. You don’t need to be signed up, and all levels are welcome.

We hope you all had a good deserved break and kept sustainable over the holidays.

This term is filled with fun and exciting projects. I learned some interesting things during the holiday break:

• Around 16,000 litres of water is consumed to make just one kilogram of beef
• Recycling a single 330ml aluminium drink can saves enough energy to power a TV for over three hours
• Recycling a single 500ml aluminium soft drink can saves enough energy to power a TV for over four hours

If you would like to raise the profile of your business within the Somerset Community by donating give-aways or raffle prizes suitable for the attendees, please contact Suzi Costello or deliver them to the Events Office.

The Minutes of P&F Meetings will be posted on the P&F section of the website, for those interested. If you would like to contribute to the P&F, please come along. All parents and carers are members of our P&F and you will be made welcome.

Our next meeting is 15 May 2018 at 6.30pm in the Boardroom. We have Andrea Lewis speaking at the next meeting on the future of the Celebration of Literature Festival, so do join us.

Date Claimer – Somerset 35th Anniversary Ball – Saturday 4 August.

Rowers raced in quads, singles and double sculls, competing for the Roberts Family Trophy and for the second time in the events history, there was a tie for first place between Starkey and Veivers.

We were fortunate to have Rowing Queensland Boat Race Official, (referee in other sports) Stewart McQuade volunteer his time to explain the Regatta rules to the new students and to officiate throughout the morning. His guidance was very valuable to our rowers and I would like to thank him for generously giving his time to teach the Somerset rowers.

I would like to congratulate the winning houses and thank the coaches, teachers and parents who supported the event.

The rowers will now go on to Race 3 regatta at Coomera Lake in the next month, with the local Gold Coast Schools Rowing season culminating with the Trophy Regatta which will be held at Wyaralong Dam in mid June.

1st - Tie Starkey/Veivers
3rd - Laver
4th - Franklin
5th - Andrews

In Term One, tests of speed, leg power and endurance were undertaken, which comprised Phase 1 of the programme. All students have now received a certificate of their Phase 1 test results, showing how they scored on each of the tests.

Following Phase 2 testing, students will be notified if they show potential for a particular sport and offered the opportunity to trial in one of the Sports programmes at the College. There will also be fitness and motor skill development programmes put in place to assist students in developing certain aspects of fitness.

This programme aims to promote fit, healthy, active lifestyles in Somerset College students.

Rylee Burns - Netball

Rylee was selected in the Queensland 17 and Under Team for Nationals as a mid-courter and a bottom-age player. During the tournament she became a regular starter and played in three positions at C, WA and WD which showed her versatility and endurance.

She was an integral player in the team and they went on to win the bronze medal.

William Baker - Baseball

William played for South Coast 14 Years Baseball Team in the School State Titles at Redcliffe last week. South Coast went undefeated including the Grand Final against Met North with seven straight game wins in four days.

William was declared the MVP of the Game against Met West on Saturday and finished the tournament with a Pitching ERA of 0.00, fielding per cent of 1000.00 and hitting .692 as the lead-off batter (#1) for the team.

He will now prepare for Little League Nationals in June.

State Gymnastics

Last week three senior students from Somerset competed in Queensland Senior State Titles in gymnastics. This competition also serves as selection for the Queensland Team for Nationals. Stephanie Sprague (Year 9), Matthew Sprague (Year 11) and Michael Dobroskok (Year 8) competed in Level 7.

Day 1 of Competition was to establish Overall Ranking and Day 2 was for Apparatus positions. State Team selection was based on both days. Positions in red are top ten in Queensland (Level7):

Somerset Sport Policy

All policies and procedures are outlined in the Senior School Sport page of Schoolbox, under “Sport Policy and Dates”. All students and parents are encouraged to familiarise themselves with these.

Please note, practices are compulsory for both Winter and Summer Seasons.

Hinterland Sports Trials

Hinterland Trials are for strong performers to trial for representative selection in school sport. These lead to Regional and State teams.

Students wanting to trial for these teams, must email or come to the Sports Department ASAP. All trials are listed on the Sports Page of Schoolbox (“Representative Sport” tile) and announced in Notices during the week.

Cross Country

Results on the Inter-House Cross Country held in Week 1 (also under Resources): Age ChampionsHouse Champions

Team TrainingEvery day at 7.00am to 8.15amMeet Ms McKenna and Ms Oppermann at the Track, all welcome.

APS Cross Country - Tuesday 8 May

All students selected for the APS Squad will be notified by email, along with their parents.

In Week 4 the Annual APS Cross Country Carnival will take place at Runaway Bay. The programme will soon be posted on Schoolbox. Students will also have the opportunity for a practice run at the venue 1 week prior, afterschool on Thursday 3 May.

Next Week

Monday 30 April- No compulsory APS Practices – Parent Interviewscoaches will inform teams

Wednesday 2 May - No compulsory APS Practices – Parent Interviews_coaches will inform teams _

Friday 4 May - APS Winter Round 3 vs St Stephens(1st XV to play at a later date due to State Titles)

APS Sport PhotosClick here to access photos of your sport or your team.

All Season details on Schoolbox Senior School Sports page. (“Winter Sports” tile for all season dates, and training schedules of the APS Season)

Sports Information

• Don’t forget to check the Somerset Schoolbox Senior School Sport Page, as well as the noticeboard at the end of the Science Block for all Sports notes.
• If you need more information, drop by the Sports Office.
• The Sports page link must be added to your Schoolbox.
• If you need more information, drop by the Sports Office in the Ray Building.

Student Injuries: If your son or daughter is injured at school sport, it must be recorded at the time by the school nurse/medical person present if parents wish to apply through the school insurance policy. If delayed signs or symptoms arise over the weekend, students must notify the school nurse on Monday morning.

All sporting details are posted on Schoolbox on the Sports page.

• go to “My Links” at the bottom left of your Schoolbox page and click ‘Edit”
• at “Manage my Links”, click “+” at the top right of page
• paste the link below and add title “Senior School Sport”: http://schoolbox.somerset.qld.edu.au/homepage/1466