Monday started with a bang (actually quite a few) with the Science Spectacular. The Griffith and UQ Ambassadors joined the Science Committee Captain to present a variety of explosions, eruptions, pops and magical transformations for our friends in the Junior School. Nick’s iconic snake dance to accompany the carbon snake he had created was an instant success.
Following the excitement of Monday, Tech Tuesday was introduced in the brand-new Design Centre. Flocks of students were ecstatic at the idea of exploring new opportunities open to us: including racing robotics and team Virtual Reality games.
Wednesday saw the Year 10s to 12s scramble to design the best Egg Parachute. Unfortunately, no egg survived the plummet from the Bell Tower (especially the one entered by Brock and Stewart, our lively commentators). The Year 11s took out first prize with the 'Basket' style, with the 'Brick' not far behind.
That night, the work of our Somerset Scientists all the way from Pre-Prep to Seniors was celebrated at the annual Somerset Science Awards Night. It was a lovely evening for students, teachers and parents alike. The mood of the evening was poignantly set by the fervent melodies of the Jazz Band who entertained the masses as they ventured through the awe-inspiring exhibition of our hard work. A thank you must be extended to the students working tirelessly to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Ben Major’s speech exquisitely explained the importance of such an organisation to our country.
On the final day of 2019 Science Week, we watched as the Year 7s to 9s (and Kevin Song) battle it out for victory in the Amazing Race. Mr McLaughlin watched on proudly as five teams from the class of 2022 made it to the final round, the Year 12s having been eliminated due to their incompetency at the Acids-and-Bases station. Congratulations to the Science Committee girls who took out first prize with a three-story high Coca Cola spurt (according to Mr Brodar at least).
The week concluded with the annual Staff verse Student Titration with both Ms Lee and Mr Turner using their polished skills to take their teams to victory.
A big thank you to all the staff and students, as well as our lab techs, for all the contributions they have made throughout this week. Though science is the focus of our committee all-year-round, it is nice to bring it to the greater Somerset community to celebrate Science Week.
We hope everyone enjoyed the 2019 Science Week and are already excited for what is to come in 2020.
Most excitingly, our SOM 3 team were the only one out of almost 50 teams from across the Gold Coast to progress through the entire series completely undefeated! As such, they will be presented as winners of the Junior B Competition at the Gold Coast Debating Finals Presentations at Bond University on Wednesday 21 August. Well done to these five very talented students.
Further, our SOM 1 team were awarded Runners-Up for their efforts, winning 5/6 debates in the series. Well done also to these dedicated debaters.
We look forward to seeing all of these strong debaters develop their skills throughout the rest of their secondary schooling.
On Monday, students drew pictures of famous Italian buildings on scratch paper. Monochrome masterpieces were created of the Colosseum, the leaning tower of Pisa, the duomo in Milano and the Rialto bridge in Venice. Bocce on the Common was next on Tuesday and proved very popular with both students and staff enjoying some friendly competition in the beautiful winter sun. On Friday, students enjoyed a lunchtime viewing of the Disney’s Il Ritorno di Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins Returns).
Many thanks to Mrs Rebecca Collie for supporting Italian Week by attending each event, and the numerous staff that have come to lend a hand, ensuring that all activities ran smoothly.
Grazie mille!
My goal for my Personal Project 2019 had four components: complete a Professional Stunt Course at the Australian Stunt Academy in Nerang, Gold Coast, edit a Showreel containing clips from the course, use my newly acquired qualification in an application to a casting agency and finally, reimburse my parents for the cost of the course.
Through the completion of this programme I aimed to receive a certificate, documenting success in the course, and learn many new skills which can subsequently be used in a future adjunct career of movie stunt acting. This chosen goal is highly challenging on a number of levels; first, physically, the course required underlying physical skills and constant attention to performance and accuracy to limit the risk of injury if not properly executed. Secondly, mentally push myself to complete some of the stunts that may be scary. Finally, the editing process would take a lot of patience and be very tedious. I chose this project as I have always been interested in the behind the scenes movie industry and wanted to work with directors. As a Level 8 gymnast, Stunt Acting seemed perfect for me. I would get to work in a movie while doing something I love, flipping, tumbling and film fighting.
To complete my project, I had to research stunt acting. I ended up finding the Stunt Academy through a family member who had taken a course before. Although I was under the age of 18, I was allowed to complete the course as I had prior gymnastics training (and driving on private property)! When it came to editing the showreel, being a Somerset media arts student helped when it came to film techniques. Using premier pro and after effects were useful in creating an effective and eye-catching showreel.
Throughout the course I learned many new skills and tricks, stunts I never thought I would ever pull off. The stunt co-ordinator, Colin Handley, was extremely helpful and taught me all my stunts. The project proved to be helpful in building relationships with the other stunt people that were doing the course and co-ordinators teaching me in the course which helped make me feel comfortable and allowed me to trust them, especially when I was laying my safety in their hands. I also developed relationships with the agencies I contacted. These relationships allow me to expand on my knowledge of the stunt industry and also have more contacts with other people in my career.
I am so grateful for the experience I was offered and certainly encourage anyone who would consider the course to do it. In the future, this project could help me fulfill my ambition to become a stunt actor. The experience and lessons I have gained from the stunt course have taught me to go for my dreams and goals. The showreel has already provided some future hopes in acting with agencies and could have a future impact on my acting.
Attendants at UQ's Economics Student Experience Day were fortunate to:
• Hear from leading academic economists including Professor Daniel Zizzo, Dr Kenan Kalayci and Dr Jorge Pinto about the latest trends and patterns in economic decision making; • Experience the life of a university student on the UQ St Lucia campus, which included attending a series of lectures with over 500 other students from across Queensland; and • Update their economic understanding to help students prepare for their assessment in Year 12 next year.
The highlight of the day was the presentation by Dr Kalayci, who spoke about the games and experiments economists use to predict the outcome of government, business and consumer decisions.
Thanks must go to Mr Dane Oman for organising the trip and to Mr Royce Smith for his assistance on the day itself. The day is supported by the Queensland Economics Teachers’ Association and helps prepare students for life after high school.
Wednesday night saw our three remaining Years 8 to 12 debating teams compete in the Quarter Final of the Gold Coast Debating Competition.
Our Junior A team had so-far progressed through the series undefeated, so they went into the debate strong favourites. Unfortunately, they faced a narrow defeat from a very strong St Hilda’s School opposition, just losing the fight on the topic Bottled water should be banned.
Open A SOM 1 have put up an incredible fight in the series so far. A team comprised of entirely Year 10 students, unheard-of in the Open A division, their progression to the Quarter Finals was a commendable achievement. All reports substantiate an undeniably high-quality debate, but there must be a winner, and unfortunately, it was All Saints Anglican School on the night. Well done to these young debaters – we look forward to their being a formidable force through their senior schooling.
Open A SOM 2 is our most senior team, comprised of highly-experienced debaters. They have fought all season against the Coast’s best, and on Wednesday night they managed to snatch the win from Coomera Anglican College in an incredibly close debate. Although the Coomera team was polished in their expert presentation, it was our Somerset seniors who prevailed with a superior case – which is, after all, what matters in debating.
Open A SOM 2 will thus represent the College in the Open A Semi-Finals to be held on our home ground on Wednesday 14 August at 6.00pm. Spectators are welcome and encouraged – come along and support our seniors in their final debating series!
You can bring in the following items for recycling:
There are also bins for bottles and cans for students to use while on campus.
The students, teachers and parents of the Sustainability Spartans – have organized this rather amazing service and all we have to do is use it!
(Parent volunteers for the sorting and delivery of certain items are MOST welcome.)
Questions? Want to help? Please contact Katie Norman on Katiebray@live.com.au
These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).
Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:
This information assists schools to:
The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.
The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information.
To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy.
Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal.
If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the College.
The groaning took two forms. Firstly it was an audible testament to the physical decrepitude of some members of the staff team (easily heard also in Jack Luke-Paredi’s vocal entreaties to the First XI fielders: “throw it to Walther’s end”). Knees, backs and shoulders in the staff side are in such poor shape that it was some small comfort to know that we had parent spectators with medical backgrounds. The second round of groaning occurred as the students realised they were not going to catch the decent total that the staff team had set for the chase.
The staff batted first. I survived Mohnish trying to knock my head only to have him clean up my stumps when I circled the ball with my bat, rather than hitting it. Greg Dwyer showed that he can add stalwart batting to his leg-spinning credentials by stabilising the staff batting, allowing a rampant Troy Zernike and a muscling Damien Healy to smash enough boundaries for us to post a good score.
But, in scenes reminiscent of the 2007 World Cup final in Barbados, the students were undertaking their batting in near dark (this explains why two overs of my pies went unpunished), with the game having to be called off early due to an absence of, rather than just bad, light.
The student run-rate was deemed to be insufficient for victory by match referee Walther (also staff captain and umpire who rather embarrassingly appealed for a caught behind while officiating in that capacity) and the game was awarded to the staff. They play the alumni team in the Tri-Series decider.
Thanks must go to the First XI captain, James Guy, whose organisation was terrific for the day, as well as the parents of the students who came down to watch. Thanks also to Somerset staff who came down to watch. It was great to include two debutantes in the staff team: Ryan Beakey and Peer Richards - they look to be great additions to the staff squad.
The weekend started with home games at the Lower Sands and Track & Field. The Under 6 playing versus Burleigh. Burleigh took a quick lead and had good shots on goal. After a few minutes the Spartans became stronger and scored a great goal made by Jesse. The second half, the team showed good character by working well together in defence and attack. Well done Ruben, Emily, Mayuko, Hamish and Jesse.
Under 6 versus Bilambil - The game ended without a winner or loser. Both teams scored twice, and the game ended in a draw. This was a special result as the Miniroos Competition a draw does not happen very often.
The Under 7 Blue versus Palm Beach was an exciting game to watch. Both sides had good touches on the ball, leading to great goals.
Under 7 Blue versus Bilambil started strong going ahead early with two goals from Edward. All players passed the ball well together. In defending Logan was important for the team with good tackles of the ball.
Under 7 Green versus Bilambil was a good game from both sides. Good teamwork and sportsmanship made this enjoyable for all players on the field.
Under 7 Green versus Burleigh showed a lot of character and determination to fight back and winning the game after being three goals down in the first 10 minutes.
The Under 9 played Burleigh. In the second half we saw great goals from Darcy and Daniel. Every goal kick that the Under 9 experienced was an attempt to get out of the pressure through passing. With a lot of movement and teamwork they were at times very successful. This type of football is what the best teams are playing. We challenge them every week to play as a team.
All coaches are looking forwards to the next game.
Please check the Football Club Schoolbox Page for more info.
On Wednesday, Senior Spartans from Years 10 to 12 had the pleasure of attending a seminar at Griffith University which focussed on life after school as an elite athlete. Our Spartans were guided through different agendas in aim of achieving a successful sporting career whilst balancing a university degree.
Student athletes in attendance were:Felix Jackson-King - Track & FieldSteph Sprague - GymnasticsSam Dalton - RugbyChad Brodbeck - Track & FieldDom Bensley - BasketballProsper Nwoko - Track & Field
Thank you to Naomi McCarthy OAM- Manager, Griffith Sports College and Mark Knowles QAS Personal Development Advisor for their insight.
Riley Nauta had a great time attending the AMA Grand Championships for flat track motorcycle racing and has become the 2019 National Champion in two classes and many other trophies to go with his wins. He is now the American National Champion in the 65cc modified class and the 65cc Stock class. He received a total of 16 trophies.
The race was over a week for different events which he won five of his six categories, making him Grand Champion.
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