We have had 1675 Zoom meetings, 679,550 minutes of Zoom meetings and 30,911 Zoom participants – and that was just this week. With Somerset@Home, our learning has certainly transformed over these past weeks as we have shifted to delivery on our online platforms.
Agile has become part of our day-to-day and the creativity and can-do attitude of all has never been valued more than in these times. Along the way, we’ve extended our existing use of platforms and challenged some traditional ways of doing things to great effect. The relationships at the heart of our time in the classroom still remains core; we’ve simply had to look at different ways to continue to be engaged – teachers with students and students with teachers.
One of our great tenets of ‘continual improvement’ has continued to hold true. Each week has brought new improvements and additions to Somerset@Home. In the Junior School, as teachers and students have become familiar, comfortable and confident with Zoom, additional sessions have been added for subjects, specialist lessons and small group sessions for a more individual learning or guided reading. In the Senior School, tutorial sessions and small group sessions have been options used as needed, small group sessions with Heads of House and Year Level Co-ordinators have been scheduled to catch up with students and moving forward, break out rooms in Zoom will be on offer for collaboration and discussion.
The continual improvement has not just been with our Zoom sessions, departments and year levels have continued to look at how different learning activities can best occur and made use of a range of different software and solutions to great effect. Teachers and students have become Schoolbox whizzes and learnt new skills and different ways to collaborate and learn. The benefits of this time with the use of technology in teaching and learning will be something that will not be lost.
The transition to online has continued to evolve – exercise and sport has gone online, music lessons, Wordsmiths, dance lessons and IT Help. Teachers have been creating video content – from videos on simultaneous equations, to world heritage activities, to phonics lessons and Photoshop tutorials – and students have been engaging with these as our statistics continue to affirm.
We all cannot wait until we can be back together again in the same physical space, but the learning certainly has not stopped and week by week, the online opportunities are being extended and challenges are being addressed. The support of all in our community at this time is valued and appreciated – parents helping children, students working with teachers, IT staff assisting with support requests and all staff developing new ways of working and responding to these times. Along the way too, we are reminded of the richness of what occurs at Somerset and the experiences that we will all enjoy when we return.
At our Investiture Service in February, we said that never in our lives will we be surrounded by so many people who are dedicated to our success, and in these unprecedented times, this statement couldn’t be more true. To say that we are grateful for everything the school has prepared for us to continue our academics through online learning is an understatement.
While Zooming isn’t particularly the first thing you think of when someone says Senior year, it has been a huge success in its own regard. We can speak for many of our peers when we say that you can still have fun, laugh and learn even in an online environment. Also, if our calculations are correct, we have kept the Senior Learning Centre kitchen spotless, I mean absolutely spotless, for over a month now! What an achievement! I think that deserves a prize, maybe a ping pong table, not sure. But probably a ping pong table.
Senior cohorts around the world have all faced the same challenges but the ways in which we have handled and overcome these are a true testament to the strength and unity of our cohort who we are lucky enough to still have at the push of a button. We particularly want to thank Mrs Crowley and Mrs Cornell for everything they have organised for us throughout these weeks and checking in on how we are all going. If we could get through this, we can get through anything together.
Somerset has always been a busy place, teeming with eager students, loving teachers and so many wonderful people. Whilst the College grounds might seem somewhat eerie at the moment, the bustling and lively atmosphere that is Somerset College is now being experienced a whole lot more virtually. We can’t say we were ever expecting to bump into our siblings this often at lunch time and online schooling is certainly not how we were expecting senior year to pan out, but we truly are glad that we are all able to be in this together (but ironically apart) during these certainly interesting times.
The holidays and school feel like they’ve been overlapping each other for a while now and it’s great having all this extra time… for Netflix and the immense amount of exercise we’ve totally been doing, but we do miss the feeling of being within 1.5m of another human being – although we don’t really remember what it’s like anymore! When they said technology was the future, we’re not sure if this is what they meant, but to be safe and healthy during this situation makes us realise just how fortunate we are.
Still being able to learn effectively and see our classmates and teachers is a reflection of the staff’s dedication to our success, and most importantly, the IT department that managed to get the majority of our entire schooling lives into the virtual universe as quickly as they did. The fact that our teachers, in particular our spectacular Heads of Houses and Year Level Coordinators, are so willing to reach out to us and make sure we’re all travelling (emotionally, not literally!) well, confirms that Somerset is truly a wonderful place to be, because “Somerset” isn’t our beautiful campus, but the kind hearts of those who are proud enough to call it home.
My name is Lara Culleton and for my Year 10 Personal Project I constructed a hand-stitched falconry glove. The glove is specifically designed for use in bird of prey displays at Medieval re-enactment events.
The use of falcons, hawks and eagles in hunting dates back to approximately the 13th Century BC. This was a privilege reserved for middle to upper classes, and was particularly popular throughout Europe and parts of Asia. Since 2013 I have had the privilege of being a reenactor at the annual Abbey Medieval Festival as a member of the falconry group, and have developed an increasing interest in Medieval European history as a result. Birds are a long-held interest of mine, as I have watched my father work with them from a young age. The creation of this product has enabled me to express and combine my passions in these areas, whilst also providing much needed equipment for professional raptor handlers.
I was largely inspired to create my own customised glove to use at the Abbey Medieval Festival. Through my research I discovered that there is also a demand for them from wildlife demonstrators, exhibitors and rehabilitators, who currently have to import gloves from overseas. As I had no prior experience working with leather, I had to essentially learn the whole material construction process from scratch. Initially, I had intended to create two gloves designed for different bird species, however as I progressed with my first it became apparent that it was going to take considerably longer than I had anticipated. I decided to focus on making only one glove, and after a few months of strenuous but gratifying work had completed a unique, fully functional and authentic piece of handmade falconry equipment.
Throughout my project, I have developed a further appreciation for the skills involved in leather crafting, as well as a greater understanding of the need for raptor handling equipment in Australia. I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge involved with this project and am very pleased with my product.
Adventure, power, tranquillity, excitement, stuff and celebrity are what people commonly seek, when what they are actually looking for is happiness. You can certainly experience something like happiness during those pursuits, but the difference is that genuine happiness persists when the laughter has died, and the buzz has gone.
Sadly, real happiness is not found in those common ambitions. We all know of people who have tasted the peak of each of them, maybe all of them, but have still not found happiness.
Happiness, the kind that is buried so deep in us it cannot be crushed, is found in our relationships. Whether you are one who thrives in the company of many or is only truly comfortable with the few you deeply love, it is those relationships that most determine your sense of happiness.
The good news is that strong relationships can maintain an inner sense of wellbeing from happiness without much effort. You don’t have to do stuff or have stuff, you just have to know stuff about each other - that you care, that you love, that you admire – and the relationship quietly does its happiness thing.
The bad news is that because relationships are so powerful, breaks and disappointments quickly steal happiness. It is why the effort to maintain them provides such powerful returns.
This is particularly important as we live life in relative isolation. When you bunch any group of people up in an unusual way, in a short period of time small annoyances become giant frustrations.
The cute constant chatter of your little sister becomes a whining roar in your head. The glibness and cheekiness of your teenage son becomes a message to your brain that he is irresponsible and disrespectful. The economy with language of your husband (the five word sentences and four sentence conversations) becomes more agitating every day as your thinking grows to interpret it as showing that he is disinterested, or dumb, or both. And the mother, who is constantly busy tweaking the edges to ensure the family and home runs efficiently and with warmth, starts to be seen by all she loves as interfering and irritating. (Please excuse the stereotypes. If I’d take the time to cover all of the possible variations this would have been a very long article – feel free to plug in your own scenarios.)
Avoiding this is not hard, or even that difficult. It begins firstly by recognising that in a crisis the negative comes easily, the positive requires effort. And secondly that you do not address the negatives by targeting them, you do it by undermining them with the positives.
Decide to play a positive role in your family, act on that decision, and the power of your relationships will generate happiness and act as a psychological sanitiser that kills the negative virus.
Commit to saying “please” and “thank you” often; seek opportunities to affirm and praise regularly.
Laugh at jokes, even silly ones, and take five deep breaths before you snap at anything.
Choose to do at least one kind, unnecessary thing each day, and to unquestioningly forgive at least two slights.
Before you go to sleep identify the three or four things you fell short with during the day; before you leave your bed in the morning think about something you especially love about each of those whom you love.
And, whatever you do, keep in mind that in a relationship the only person you can change is yourself.
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