No. 4, Term Two, 2018

In addition to the younger students improving their reading, the benefits to our students are also obvious. I have been particularly impressed by the commitment, reliability and punctuality demonstrated by our Year 10’s and I have also witnessed their confidence growing as they engage the students in conversations about their chosen books. We have been fortunate to have some Year 11 and 12 students come along and join us this year as well which has been very much appreciated.

Shaiv Ranjith writes, “This particular activity has ended up being one of my favourite CAS services that I have done over the past four years. Connecting with the children is a surreal feeling and I believe that the kids appreciated it significantly. I found myself enjoying helping the kids learn to read and feeling fulfilled at the conclusion of the activity.”

The Year 10 students have embraced the opportunity to read with the students at Clover Hill State School and I have felt so proud to accompany them each week.

If there are other Year 10 students who wish to be involved next Semester, I encourage you to come and speak with me; it is a really worthwhile Service Learning activity.

Each race at the Carnival had over 60 runners competing from all the eight APS Schools. The Somerset team performed exceptionally well.

Four students came away with top three finish and we had a total of six runners who qualified for the South Coast Trials to be held at the same venue on Tuesday 5 June. Four age groups recorded podium finishes with the Under 11 Girls coming first. Somerset secured fourth position in the aggregate standings and fifth place overall.

Here were the notable results:

Age Championships

• 9 Boys – 2nd place Austen Walters
• 9 Boys – 3rd place Michael Rossiter
• 10 Boys – 3rd place Darcy Halloran
• 11 Girls – 3rd Marley Burns

Age Group Podiums

• 9 Boys – 2nd 
• 10 Boys – 2nd 
• 11 Girls – 1st 
• 11 Boys – 3rd

Top 15 Finishers

• 9 Girls Charlotte Kemp 9th
• 9 Boys Austen Walters 2nd, Michael Rossiter 3rd
• 10 Girls - 10 Boys Darcy Halloran 3rd, Jamie Batho 8th, Jayden McLean 9th
• 11 Girls Marley Burns 3rd, Varvara Rubis 5th, Summer Edgley 7th, Rio Burns, 9th
• 11 Boys Elijah Hill 6th, Heath Walker 14th, James Georgeson 15th
• 12 Girls Alex Halloran 6th
• 12 Boys -

These Top 7 Finishers qualify for South Coast from Age 10+: Darcy Halloran, Marley Burns, Varvara Rubis, Summer Edgley and Elijah Hill.

We would like to extend our congratulations to all the runners for representing themselves and the College in such a worthy manner. Many thanks to our coaches and team managers, Ms Oppermann, Mrs Nugent, Mr Cates and Mrs McKenna for their wonderful dedication and countless hours spent training with the team.

Junior School Cross Country APS Results 2018

The Red Ball Tournament was held 28 April and consisted of two Under 8 Round Robin groups for both girls and boys, with eight entries in the girls draw and 18 in the boys. Somerset had five competitors in the Tournament, producing some amazing outcomes. In the boys draw, Patrick Deacon came fourth, Samuel Carson finished seventh, Liam Borin finished eighth, Marcello Lamont came 12th and Josh Rosentreter came 17th. This is a remarkable achievement and some fantastic results for these boys, as only the best Under 8’s on the Gold Coast were selected to compete in the Tournament.

Although we got off to a rocky start, with the courts being completely drenched in rain due to poor weather conditions, supervisors and members of staff were quick to dry the courts and ready just in time for play to commence. The sausage sizzle provided was a great success, selling out of sausages and bread with only a few cans of soft drink to spare. Overall, the Red Ball Tournament was a great success, and many parents commented on how well mannered and efficient the supervisors and members of staff were on the day.

Following these great results, we had an impressive finish at the Orange Ball Tournament, where we had seven students competing. This tournament had two Under 10 draws for both the girls and boys. In the boys' draw, we had Kona Baldock, Fynn Busuttin, Kaii Norman and Liam O’Nuallain all making it to the semi-finals; resulting in a Somerset College semi-final with Fynn beating Kaii 4 to 1 in the final. This is not only an amazing achievement for the boys, but also for the College. We also had William Pluss who finished in sixth place, narrowly losing in the fifth/sixth play offs in a match tie-break. Sasha Hanford came 12th, alongside this Mia Richards was our only girl competitor in the girls' draw, finishing fifth out of 12 people; once again another amazing result.

The supervisors consisted of Lachlan Yarwood, Anthony Zhang, Yukimaro Ii, Ross Burlison, Joshua Hamilon, Noah Jay, Chad Brodbeck and Marcus Ibsen. These individuals are all part or have been part of the Somerset Tennis community and were a fantastic help. We also had some assistance from individuals from Year 6, who were Momoe Gondo, Kugar Ho, Lucas Ho, Molly Green, Cameron Hsieh; all were an amazing help during the sausage sizzle and cleaning up the facility. Doing this, they were able to gain six-hours of community and service.

Overall, both these tournaments were a great success for both the players and the College. The Red Ball Tournament hosted at Somerset has helped Somerset Tennis gain a fantastic reputation with a well-run event and students' impressive outcomes, alongside the results of the Orange Ball Tournament.

The year is 1983. I have been appointed to a teaching position at the newly established Somerset College. There are four-and-a-half Senior teachers, seven Junior teachers, one permanent classroom block and seven demountables.

Day 1 starts and there is no running water. We have blackboards and chalk but no-one remembered to buy blackboard dusters. Our duplicator is a spirit gestetner machine – by the time the copies are made the user feels woozy. The Science laboratory is a classroom with a laundry sink in one corner. I have sawn up blocks of wood before leaving home to use for a friction experiment. My foot is hurting after one of them fell on it.

Fast forward to 2018. We have 11 Science teachers, six Science classrooms, two laboratory assistants, computers, heaps of equipment and commercial printers. Overhead projectors have come and gone, whiteboards have replaced blackboards and interactive whiteboards are replacing those.

Has teaching Chemistry changed? Not in any significant way – the thing that has changed is how we are expected to assess the students. We had QSA, the ASAT test and TE scores, now QCAA, the QCS and OP scores. In 2020 the biggest change will come with external exams.

The thing that has not changed at all is my love of teaching and the pleasure I get out of interacting with young people.

With such tough competition and each race having well over 60 runners competing from the eight APS schools, our students put in a tremendous performance.

The team performed exceptionally well on the day. Numerous runners qualified for the South Coast Trials and Somerset secured third position in the aggregate standings.

We would like to extend our congratulations to all runners for representing themselves and Somerset College in such a commendable manner. Many thanks to Mrs McKenna and Ms Oppermann for their great commitment and countless hours spent training the team along with all other staff who assisted on the day (Mr Healy, Mr Whish-Wilson, Miss Ritson and Mrs Walker).

See full results here.

Age Championships

16 Boys- 2nd Place Mark Ritchie

Top 15 Finishers

(*Top 7 Finishers qualify for South Coast)

• 13 Girls ---------13 Boys *Luke Rana-Smith (6th), *Justin Hammett (7th), Jasper Mansell (14th)
• 14 Girls *Jemma Clements (5th), Riley Davenport (8th), Emily MacBeth (13th)
• 14 Boys Noah Jay (10th), Timothy Hornsey (13th), Tal Mougrabi (14th)
• 15 Girls *Elizabeth Garratt (5th), *Lila Horobin (6th), Miku Adachi (8th), Chloe Cox (11th)
• 15 Boys Troy Turman (11th)
• 16 Girls Rylee Burns (8th), Romany Carlsen-Wareham (13th)
• 16 Boys *Mark Ritchie (2nd), Callum Munro (14th)
• Open Girls *Jessica Cook (5th), Aimee Mulvihill (8th), Tess Arnold (12th)Open Boys Chad Brodbeck (15th)

Jayde McKinnon- Equestrian

Last weekend, with schools as far as Toowoomba and NSW, Jayde and her pony Kenda Park Edwardian, represented Somerset College over 3 days in 3 disciplines in the Interschools Regional Equestrian event and has gained qualifications to represent Somerset at the state titles to be held end of June at Caboolture.

Saturday

Secondary 70cm Show jumping AM5 9th Power and Speed 3rd 6th overall Out of 22 riders up to year 12

Sunday

Combined Training Secondary 80cm Dressage and show jumping 26 riders up to year 12 6th overall

Monday

Novice dressage Secondary intermediate 5th overall

APS Sport Practices during Exams

Students who have an exam (not test) the day following a practice, are not required to attend practice.

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.

Next Week

Monday 14 May - Compulsory APS Practices(1st XV vs SSC @ SSC 4.00pm)

Wednesday 16 May - Compulsory APS Practices1st Football vs TSS @ Somerset - UHL Cup (5.00pm)

Friday 18 May - APS Winter Round 5 vs AB Paterson

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