In addition to the exhibition of student work, there were performances by members of Wordsmiths as well as musical items by Min Jae and Uni Kyeong accompanied by Mrs Roberts. Congratulations once again to all the prize winners on the night – your work was of outstanding quality and you should all be very proud of your achievements. It was wonderful to see the variety of work on display from all areas of the Design Department.
The People’s Choice Award was awarded to Jacinta Mai (Year 10) for her incredible piece.
Year 12 students Sebastian Angliss-Li, Elaine Fei, Valerie Fang, Bella Mulvihill and Aimee Mulvihill were all commendable shortlists for the Somerset Senior Art Award.
We thank local artist, Seabastion Toast, for her time on the evening and for selecting Valerie Fang (Year 12) as the winner of the Somerset Senior Art Award 2018.
A huge thank you to the Maintenance and Events teams for their help with the Exhibition, as well as to Mr Keefer, Ms Scandrett, Mr Dwyer and Mr O’Brien for their tireless efforts. See you again next year at Synergies 2019.
Showcase is always an inspirational evening, as students from pre-prep to year 6 have the opportunity to shine and express themselves, and to share their love of music. This semester’s performance was held in the Basketball Courts in the Spartan Gym, due to the renovations in the Performing Arts Theatre. The evening also used a new format, with rotations of three groups at a time. Many teachers, parents and students commented that the courts provided good acoustics, and that the venue provided a good opportunity for the students to watch their peers.
Each year, the Junior School students come together to perform a combined item. This is always a highlight to see, and this year proved no exception. Students involved in musical ensembles from Pre-Prep to Year 6 worked together to perform the 2018 Music Count Us In piece, One Song. The band and orchestra was led by Mrs Rowe, and the choristers by Mrs Black. This performance was particularly special, as the students worked together in a team or ensemble.
The lyrics came to life as the Pre-Prep to Year 6 students sung:
We are united, no point in trying to hide it, we stand higher. We come together, it’s sounding better, united, we stand higher…All we need is one song…
Thank you to Mr Bassingthwaighte and Mrs Collie for watching the performances. A great big thank-you to Mrs Roberts for her wonderful accompanying skills; Mr Roberts for his venue managing, stage managing and general assistance; Miss Morley and Mrs Flynn for their technical support; Mr Flint for letting us use the venue; the Maintenance crew for assisting with the set up; our dedicated conductor’s and directors - Mr Pearce, Mr Keczan, Mr Mitchell, Mrs Little, Mrs Rowe; and all of the Junior School staff who assisted on the evening. We are also extremely appreciative for Ms Higgs and Mr Gerald’s photography expertise and assistance, as they captured some of the special moments of the night.
Thank you to our families and friends for your continued support and of course, a thank you to the dedicated students who have worked so hard to polish and prepare pieces for the event. To use the words of the late Richard Gill:
"We teach music so that children can make their own music. We teach music because it acts in a unique way on the heart, mind, soul and spirit of the child, stimulating thought and imagination in very special ways. These are the real reasons for teaching music."
Public Speaking is such an important skill. It is developed and encouraged through a student’s Somerset College years. Students present a speech every year as part of the College curriculum. Then, in early September, over a hundred Junior School students in Year 4 to Year 6 participated in the Somerset Public Speaking Competition. There were many outstanding moments as students overcame nerves to present in front of adults and other students; as teachers witnessed the growth in a student they had previously taught and were now adjudicating; as students who had ‘braved the conditions’ to move out of their comfort zone, felt the warm response of an appreciative audience. Forty-five students were selected to then present their speech at the A.B. Paterson Competition. The Year 4 students present once only and represented our school with pride.
The Year 5 and 6 students presented in heats and then, if successful, moved to finals and then a Grand final at each year level. Of course, we realise that adjudication can be a subject of discussion, however, all of our students spoke very well. At A.B. Paterson, they were in a competition involving schools from all over the Gold Coast, the Hinterland and northern NSW.
Somerset had three students in both the Year 5 and 6 Grand Finals – an extraordinary result. Ayla Chirathivat-Geralds and Emily Nickels took out first and second places respectively in Year 5 and Anna Thomas won the Year 6 Grand Final. Both Finals were tight!
We are very proud of every student who entertained their audience while speaking, at whatever level. We hope that their experiences generate growth and a love of presenting. Well done Somerset!
Grand Final Placing
Benji Liu
Second in Year 5
Emily Nickels
First in Year 5
Ayla Chirathivat-Geralds
Grand Final Placing
Sienna Briggs
Wei-Wei Shen
First in Year 6
Anna Thomas
With around 60 golfers participating, this year’s golf day was another great event and would not have been possible without the support of our Major Sponsors Tony Hickey from Hickeys, Mark Bath and Sean Bath from Palm Meadows Golf Course.
We would also like to acknowledge our Gold Sponsors, BBC Digital, onPlatinum ICT, and Hickeys Lawyers for their continued support. AFM and KPMG supported the event with a Hole Sponsorship. The competition was lively throughout the 18 holes of Ambrose, with the strong winds posing some challenges. Nearest to the pin and longest drive were played and the banter was in full swing during the course of the day.
Mr Travis McLean from Custom Sports Group kindly donated a Somerset Spartan Umbrellas for each of the players. Travis has been a wonderful supporter of the Somerset Golf Classic for the past five years and we thank him for his generosity.
We would also like to thank Lee and Peter Harrington, from The Golf School Palm Meadows for conducting the Guess your Driving Distance competition and videoing each players swing using the Trackman technology.
1st Prize: Custom Sports Group (Travis McLean, Jayden McLean, Blair Carter, Flynn Carter)
2nd Prize: IGYB (Ernie Lin, Thomas Yeh, Benson Kao, Joe Chen)
Hole 5: Shannon Overs
Hole 8: Lea Jeffriess
Hole 11: Ernie Lin
Hole 15: Dave Whitechurch
Hole 3: Travis McLean
Thank you to Tony Hickey for providing for the lucky door prize, two OIXX Golf Bags which were won by Simon Reid and Matthew Shoobridge.
You are most welcome to bring chairs and blankets, parking is available on Clover Hill Drive.
The programme, when available, will be emailed to students and will be accessible on Schoolbox and the College website.
Jarrod's Rakugo and Kyogen performance entertained us for a whole hour. Some students and teachers volunteered to try out some of the special performing techniques. Moreover, Jarrod shared with us various stories about his language-learning journey and the many opportunities this journey presented to him, such as appearing on Japanese TV and radio shows, meeting Japanese celebrities and being invited to perform at various events.
Students in attendance certainly had a great experience and were able to learn some cultural aspects of Japan through this performance.
Somerset won top awards in the Classified Collections, Scientific Investigations and Communicating Science categories. Bursaries were also generously given to several students for recognition of excellence in their achievements. Among these were the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, QLD Branch and the Australian Acoustical Society.
The following students were the recipients of these prestigious awards: Emmeline Anthony, Anna Georgeson, Momoe Gondo, Chloe Ming, Nicholas Tan, Desmond Chuah, Jacinta Mai, Lilly McCoomb, Kevin Song, Grace Kennett and Jason Zhang.
On behalf of these talented and hard-working students, I would like to sincerely thank all the science teachers at Somerset College for their dedication, guidance and support in our endeavours. I am very proud to be a part of this victorious Somerset team.
Kaii Norman finished 1st.
Ethan Stewart finished in 3rd place.
Liam O’Nuallain finished 7th
Sasha Hanford finished 8th
William Pluss finished 14th
Jamie Batho finished 17th
Special mention to William and Jamie you won the sportsmanship awards on the day. They won a free session at Pater Rafter Arena in Brisbane.
The game proved to be a great spectacle, providing a lot of laughs to the students and staff who turned up to watch.
Thanks to our own umpires Helen Hockings and Lola McLaughlin for doing a great job controlling the match.
Congratulations to Varvara Rubis (5H) and Mako Inkai (5N) who both recently competed in the National Clubs Gymnastics Carnival on the Gold Coast. Varvara received first place for her individual ribbon routine and this result was outstanding achievement as she competed with gymnasts all across Australia.
At the competition, both students competed in four individual events with Varvara finishing ninth overall and Mako placing 13th. They were also involved in seven group routines. The results of these team events were as follows:
Mako is traveling to Russia in December with four other high performance Elite Gymnasts for an intensive training camp experience with Russia's best Gymnasts and coaches.
Sarah Hammett (6Z) will be representing Queensland at the Schools Golf Nationals from 11 to 15 November in Geelong. We wish her all the best of luck.
This event will take place on Wednesday 14 November at the College Pool from 9.00am to 11.00am. Students will compete in a variety of events on the day and will be expected to arrive to the College in House uniform, with their swimmers on underneath. All parents are most welcome to come along and support.
Tuesday 13 November - No Junior APS Summer Sports Training (Junior School Art Show)
Wednesday 14 November - Lower School Swimming Carnival – Year 1 and Year 2
Thursday 20 November - No Junior APS Summer Sports Training (ELP Christmas Concert)
All information about Junior School Sport can be located on Schoolbox by clicking on the Junior School Sports page.
A number of Somerset athletes once again performed well at the Queensland Schools Athletics Championships. Some athletes have now qualified for Nationals in Cairns in December, with more detail to follow.
1st Place:
Kade Reynoldson (Pole Vault)
Kye Reynoldson (Pole Vault)
Ella Crough-Heaton (Long Jump and Triple Jump)
Jasmin Baker (Javelin)
2nd Place:
Felix Jackson-King (Triple Jump)
Sam Reeve (200m)
Madizen Wilkins (Shot Put)
3rd Place:
Sam Reeve (100m)
Erin Crough-Heaton (Triple Jump)
Well done to our other competitors: Nayan Patel (fifth Long Jump, 4th 200m Heats), Abbie Kavanagh (seventh 100m Hurdles Heats), Jake Sherrington (11th 100m Hurdles Heats), Diaz Henry (14th Triple Jump), Rylee Burns (fourth Triple Jump, ninth High Jump), and Chad Brodbeck (fifth High Jump).
Week 4: No compulsory practices due to exams
Friday 9 November: APS Summer Finals Round - 1.00 to 3.00pm
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).
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.
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