Starkey filled lanes and tried their absolute hardest at the Inter-House Swimming Carnival and it paid off. Starkey had never achieved first place in the Carnival in the history of the College.
This victory was a true team effort. For those who didn’t want to swim but swallowed their pride for the sake of Starkey House - this victory was because of them. For those with a love of swimming and competition who dived in as driven as eve - this victory was because of them. For those who couldn’t swim due to sickness or injury but gave their time getting people to race and supporting everyone all the way to the end - this victory was because of them. It was a true embodiment of what we stand for and promote in Starkey: “One House, One Team, One Starkey!”
Only with the House team of fantastically dedicated staff and students was this outcome even possible. Our unrelenting drive to be our individual and team best has positioned us to ensure that this is victory is just the beginning of a what will be a momentous 2018 for Starkey House.
From being totally directed to needing initiative. From comfort to some discomfort. From working as an individual to needing to be part of a team.
In an age when every piece of the curriculum puzzle is scrutinised the value of an Outdoor Programme - a challenge many schools are avoiding - is consistently reaffirmed through the obvious growth from the students in their brief time away.
Four nights from home can be a little disconcerting for some of our young students. I have a suspicion that student’s homesickness is sometimes outweighed by parents missing their children. It is always comforting when a student feels the pangs of anxiety that a quick phone call home, followed by a little loving support from Mrs Rowe has the students smiling again and ready to embrace another night away from their comfy beds. I hope that by Friday last week, our new students feel like they have been at Somerset forever, and our older students, like they have made some new friends.
Based on their engagement in the activities, I certainly could not tell who was new and who was old, one new student made a point of telling me “everyone at Somerset is so friendly”. I guess starting at a new school can be a stressful time and I am proud of our students when I see them make everyone feel so welcome.
The weather gods shone on us very brightly this year, and while we did sweat more than in a Swedish sauna, at least we had very cool evenings to make sleep more possible. From the start on Monday, (where setting up a tent and sharing that tiny space with a new friend is a big challenge), to the adventure-based activity days on Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Wednesday, through to our house activity day on Thursday (where the student leaders join us in a day of activity), to sleeping, or in Ms Reeds meditation session, we were amazed. All students embraced the challenges with good humour, through sleep deprivation and tiredness that would have challenged an SAS recruit.
For students whose ages range from 11 to 12, the prospect of leaping from a perfectly solid platform, (eight metres off the ground into thin air on the Leap of Faith) or allowing yourself to be hoisted high above the ground to self- release on the Giant Swing, can be met with catatonic fear. Yet this year, all students attempted every activity and many overcame extreme fears to undertake the challenges, whether that be archery, mountain biking or damper making.
The final and greatest challenge for many students is the camp concert. The performances proceeded to mock reality television in a clever and entertaining way, often showing the ultimate in bravery. Everyone played a role and contributed, and that is all we ever ask.
It is not just the tree climbing activities that provide avenues for growth. Adventure activities challenge students to overcome fear and ultimately gain a real sense of accomplishment without the stress of competition but it is often the small things that provide some of the most valuable life lessons. Students setting the table for others, cleaning off their plates, pouring drinks for their table, cleaning the bathrooms, assisting others with their tents, planning their own clothes for the week, organising their toiletries, etcetera. While these skills are simple, they are often taken for granted, yet they do need to be learnt at some point. Often the consequences of being lackadaisical at home are not critical but on camp, the consequences can cause real discomfort and a lesson not easily forgotten.
This cohort of Year 7 were outstanding in their willingness to work together, undertake new challenges and embrace the camp experience.
Congratulations Year 7. You are delightful group and I look forward to enjoying your company for the next six years.
Thursday in Week 3, our first group of current Year 11s commenced a five-week placement at Mudgeeraba Special School. Working as classroom assistants alongside the staff from MSS, our students fulfill a wide range of roles. This placement forms part of our Uplift! Programme, in which five Year 11 classes rotate through a range of topics over the course of the year: Mindfulness with Cathy Makin, Transcendence with Jill Margerison, Humanity with Jacinta Hyman and Justice with Daneale Scandrett. And we are indebted to these members of staff for developing these learning experiences.
The Uplift! Programme forms part of our work in integrating the principles of Positive Education at the College. In recent international studies which asked parents what, at the end of the day, they really wanted their children to be, they responded with: happy, confident, contented, fulfilled, balanced, purposeful, healthy and kind. Contrast this with what schools traditionally value: achievement, thinking skills, success, conformity, literacy, discipline and work. Our Uplift! Programme is an attempt to bridge this divide.
Martin Seligman’s research challenged psychologists to look beyond moving people living with mental health issues to a state of "no symptoms". The absence of a negative is not the same as the presence of a positive. Seligman encouraged us to aim for a state of "flourishing". UNESCO now has a strategy on Education for Health and Wellbeing; dozens of countries, including Australia, now have the promotion of student wellbeing integrated within their national curriculums. The initial research on the outcomes of this work has been very encouraging. A recent meta-analysis of over 200 studies demonstrated an 11 per cent increase in student academic achievement when compared to students who did not undertake a programme to promote their wellbeing. Furthermore, young people undertaking wellbeing programmes report higher life satisfaction, esteem, self-acceptance, relationship satisfaction and optimism. By-products here also include finding school more interesting, feeling good at school, reporting they are learning more, and are eager to go to school!
We can only hope these are the sorts of outcomes achieved by the Uplift! Programme.
Year 6 is the transition year from Primary Years Programme (PYP) to Middle Years Programme (MYP). “The students arrive in Year 6 with a fundamental knowledge of mathematical inquiry”, says Mrs Janine White, Junior School Teacher.
“In Year 6, we continue to develop the Approaches to Learning which promote inquiry learning and encourage the application of their knowledge and skills in unfamiliar contexts”, continues Mrs White.
Critically, by connecting students to the problem-solving strategies they are using, teachers are increasing students’ engagement with, and retention of the subject matter that is still as crucial as ever. As Mrs White puts it, “The MYP is the perfect fit for Maths inquiry, which is a drive we are working towards in the Junior School”.
Recently Mrs White has been involved in trialling the reSolve Maths by Inquiry programme. “Personally, as a reSolve champion, I am very much a proponent of Maths by Inquiry” she says. “As developer Dr Steve Thornton explained in a recent media article, [reSolve] is a programme which, provides a range of classroom resources and professional learning tools to teachers. It is built around banishing the idea that Maths is about ticking boxes.”
reSolve: Mathematics by Inquiry, is a national programme that provides Australian schools in Foundation to Year 10 with resources to help students learn mathematics in an innovative and engaging way. As Mrs White says, “it is about developing a deep connection between Maths and the real world.”
As they transition from Junior School to Senior School, students take part in a curriculum that is based more heavily on instruction, but still centred on their personal connection to subject matter. According to Mr Jeff Grocott, Year 7 Mathematics Teacher, the curriculum seeks to, “...provide us with the tool to make better sense of the world around us. Using the MYP framework we are able to engage students in Mathematics that is both real and theoretical.”
Through the MYP framework, students are able to link ideas and issues in society that are relevant to their lives, and the lives of others. As Mr Grocott explains; “Through our Mathematical assignments we are able to provide students with real life situations and examples as to how they might use mathematics later in life on a daily basis. This can provide them with the essential skills that they may use in their careers.”
Later in Senior School, the focus shifts slightly again. "In Year 7 and Year 8, students form an understanding of who they are in their world," explains Mr Abdou.
"By Year 10 and 11, the focus becomes, 'How can my understanding of mathematics help me plan my journey beyond Year 12?'’’ As students progress through this highly interactive curriculum, they begin to see the connections with Mathematics and other areas of the curriculum and apply their mathematical skills to real world problems, become critical thinkers, innovators and problem solvers. (QCAA, 2017)
Regardless of new approaches to technology and to teaching, the same basic goals apply to the teaching of mathematics. When students leave school, they need to be able to apply a basic set of mathematical skills to their lives and to their jobs; whether they work in engineering or finance, sales or trades, or their own small business.
Follow Part III next week to learn the success of students who were taught these methods.
This year, Lunar New Year arrives on 16 February. It is believed to be a year of prosperity and good luck. Your Chinese zodiac is the dog if you were born in 2018, 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970, 1958, 1946, or 1934. People who were born in the year of the dog are believed to be intelligent, loyal, sincere, and responsible.
Students from Pre-Prep to Year 2 have been learning about Lunar New Year customs and traditions, listening to stories, songs and rhymes as well as making Lunar New Year crafts to welcome the Year of the Dog. Lunar New Year is a 15-day celebration starting from the New Year day and ending with the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first lunar month. Next week, we will celebrate the Year of the Dog with food tastings across ELP. A local Chinese chef will join us and offer delicious and tasteful Lunar New Year food to our Prep friends. We can’t wait!
Greeting phrases to say during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration:
Xīn nián kuài lè 新年快乐 Happy New Year Shēn tǐ jiàn kāng 身体健康 Good health Wàn shì rú yì 万事如意 May everything go as you wish Gong xǐ fā cái 恭喜发财 Congratulations and prosperity
Happy Lunar New Year everyone! May the coming year full of prosperity and good fortune to you all!
Our friend James shared with us that male butterflies have two black spots on their wings and females do not. We have been releasing males and females now.
There may be a surprise on Monday with a possible new lifecycle to observe!
Welcome to 2018! After discussions and careful considerations: paper, minimising general waste and organic recycling will be our focus this year. With potentially three new outdoor bins on the way, we have yet to decide where they will be located. The Ray Dining Hall as well as in the Year 3 to 6 recess eating area, are possible positons to house the bins. We will keep you posted!
In the meantime, there are recycling bins found in each Junior School Classroom, specifically for paper and cardboard. Please continue to put your used paper and cardboard in these bins. Members of the PYP Sustainable Spartans and the College cleaning team will continue to empty these classroom bins into a larger recycling bin.
Finally, last year we collected a great deal of used stationery that would have ordinarily gone into landfill. Our next project will be to send these pre-loved supplies to schools in Mozambique, Fiji and a remote school in Australia.
Thank you for supporting the PYP Sustainable Spartans. You will hear from us again soon!
Brittany competed in Townsville last weekend representing the Gold Coast at the state titles for Water Polo. She has now been selected as a member of the Queensland team to compete in the Australian Women’s Waterpolo Country Championships in Rockhampton in May later this year. This is an open age Championship with many of the players being Olympians and Australian representatives, which is exceptional for Brittany as she has been selected at the age of 16.
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.
Every day at 7.00am to 8.15am
Meet Ms McKenna and Ms Oppermann at the Track, all welcome.
Friday 23 February: APS Winter Sports Trials #1/3
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.
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.
All sporting details are posted on Schoolbox on the Sports page.
What: Clean Up Australia Day 2018
When: Thursday 1 March from 3:30pm to 5.00pm.
Where: Meet at the Towers Quad
Who: Senior School Students and Sustainable Spartans
Why: To help beautify the College and surrounds. CAS hours available.
How: Look out for Wufoo form via email in coming weeks, or see Mrs Coombes for further details.
These brothers live and breathe the Viking lifestyle, and are a part of an organisation called Jorth Gar, one of the largest Viking re-enactment groups in the Gold Coast.
They explained fascinating facts and information based on their re-enactment group. Before entering their Viking community, they explain to all the students that becoming a Viking, there were several rules, leaders, tactics, strategies and armour to help them succeed during battle. They put on a fierce fighting display, accompanied by explaining the various weapons they had bought along including thick padded cotton vests, chainmail armour, a sword, spear and shield. The clothing, armour and weapons were very expensive to buy with one of the brothers mentioning that, “the chainmail tunic alone costed around $500.” There was a significant amount of variety that the brothers had included in their presentation, including how one of them made an armour vest for their Year 10 Personal Project.
After reaching out to several Year 8 students and interviewing them about the presentation, the majority of the year level said the barrier of wealth and poor, and the comparison of materials and armour, was the most interesting part of it all, despite their entertaining re-enactment of a Viking fight. Students took advantage of the information the brothers delivered and will certainly use it to further advance their upcoming assessment.
The presentation was very enjoyable and informative, which meant that the Year 8s enjoyed a fun lesson and learnt more about this society. The re-enactors themselves were very knowledgeable and could answer all questions well. The group thoroughly enjoyed watching and the show was definitely a highlight of the day.
We all appreciate the incredible presentation and thank Somerset College for this opportunity. To learn more about Vikings and their re-enactors group, click here.
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