No. 5, Term Four, 2019

The Burleigh location where the service was held, holds great value in the history of the local Yugambeh people and has been used for generations as a place to meet for occasions.

At the commencement of the service, we were greeted into the bora ground by a member of the local community in the native tongue of the Yugambeh people. What was particularly moving about the service was seeing people of all ages getting involved, sharing words and giving a performance. One that particularly stood out to me was a poem written by Cecil Fisher, an indigenous veteran who served in the Korean War. He used poetry to challenge how we treated our indigenous diggers and was a heartfelt piece that left me feeling disheartened by our actions. However, one line resinated me and writes, “If only one day they could march together side by side”. I believe services like this one held annually on the Jebbribillum Bora Ground promises to honour those who been unrightfully outcasted and is a testimony to reconciliation. It is important that we remember and honour those who willing signed their lives for this country

What was special about this year's theme was the installation of a new artwork in the hall beside the memorial. This installation – made from stainless steel – replicates the artwork found on the memorial rock in a permanent form and was significant for all those involved. I would like to thank Mr and Mrs Walker for the opportunity and to the Yugambeh Museum for allowing us to join them at this important service.

Our day began at 7.15am and we arrived at Tyalgum by 10.00am, NSW time. We were met by the friendly staff of Tyalgum Ridge Retreat who provided a healthy snack before we set off on our first activity. The skies were clear and the fresh air filled our lungs as we headed out in our groups to the flying fox, archery/low ropes, group initiative and waterfall walk. Other activities that were to follow on the camp were canoeing, camping skills and visiting the baby goats which were born only four weeks ago.

On our first night, we were visited by the very talented Fauna Fetchers, Bridget and Sophie, who brought their collection of rescued reptiles. We all had an opportunity to hold or pet a lizard or snake. Some of us were open-minded and demonstrated the learner profile of being a risk taker to hold the variety of friendly reptiles.

The second day was the busiest. We commenced six-hours of activities starting at 8.30am (NSW time) with morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea in between. By 4.00pm, we were exhausted but not too tired to have free time and practise our performances for the talent show!

That evening, we witnessed some of the best acts ever to be seen on the Year 3 camp. There were magic tricks, art and craft lessons, dancing, singing, jokes, acting and many other performances. Many students received a prize for their act.

Rise and shine for the final day and we had one last activity to complete before we had to leave. But first …. It was time to clean out our rooms and pack our bags. We had a lot of trouble putting our sleeping bags away, but with a little teamwork, we all packed up just in time (well some of us did).

Before we headed back to school, we had one last stop to make: The Green Cauldron Farm owned by a Year 3 family. We arrived in our buses at the farm ready and excited to explore a real working farm. We discovered that the Green Cauldron Farm produced a huge amount of vegetables and edible flowers that were completely organic, meaning they don’t use and insecticides or pesticides on their plants. Six quick rotations around the machinery, packing room, greenhouse, propagation area and out into the fields or crops, added to the student’s knowledge of Sharing the Planet and sustainability. After a brief lunch, we hopped back on the buses and made our way to school to meet our families. We were so excited to see them, that some of us even forgot our bags when we went home!

We had the best time on camp and we can't wait until our next camp in Year 4.

We performed this year's song at Showcase on Monday evening to our family and friends with orchestra and concert band. Our Year Prep to Year 5 classes performed the song on celebration day with their year groups, and the Years 5 to 6 Junior Chorale joined in song with Mudgeeraba Special School students.

We celebrate this event as Somerset proudly has a tradition of promoting the Arts and quality music education for students. It is my philosophy as a teacher that music is for everyone. Music Count Us In is a fantastic learning opportunity for students to work together and be part of such a large scale performance, and an enjoyable experience that they will remember. Somerset Junior School have participated in Music Count Us In since 2016, and it is embedded into their Term Three and Term Four music curriculum.

Research shows the impact on the brain, how it helps students engage in school, and the links between music learning and academic skills. Music is unique in its flow-on benefits to students who learn it. Such an event allows students to inquire into why we learn music, discovering how music helps our self-confidence, self-discipline and teamwork. Music helps us learn about the world, releases happy endorphins, improves memory, develops creativity, improves hand/eye co-ordination, relieves stress, improves literacy skills, let’s us link to and express our emotions, helps us work as a team, helps one find beauty in things, develops a sense of community, improves listening, helps us celebrate, motivates, reduces anxiety, and has many more benefits. We also highlight that not all schools offer music education, and stop to take notice and appreciate the many opportunities we are given at Somerset to participate in music programmes.

In all IB Programmes, the 'Approaches to Learning' (ATL’s) are seen as playing a central role; therefore, encouraging the skills, habits and disposition necessary to succeed in learning, both at school and for the rest of the student’s life.

The lesson concentrated particularly on the ATL skill category of Social and its cluster -collaboration. It was wonderful to see our students show empathy to others when working in diverse teams as well as carry out a variety of roles and accept responsibility when working in groups and use social networking to build relationships effectively.

The Age Divisions were broken up by years of birth. For the 2002, Jack Luke-Paredi successfully defended his title from 2018, winning Gold with 6/7. In 2003, Nina Varcoe was tied first and won Silver on count-back. Lyanna Chan won Gold for 2004 with 6.5 points, Silver was won by Angus Cheung on 5.5 and Jennifer Yeung won a ribbon of merit (fourth with 4.5/7).

In 2005, Byron Morris won Gold for with 6.5, while Jason Li got Bronze with 5.5. Kenny Ming won Gold for 2006 with 6.5. In 2007, Eason Wang finished equal first with 6/7 but just missed the medal on countback with 6/7. The Gold medal was won by Raphael Atia, current TSS student and former Somerset student. Also in 2007, Sophia Ahern and Melody Yang won merit ribbons with 5 points, while Bobby Long and Riley Jennings also did well with 4.5 points.

The 2008 was won by Anson Qu with a perfect 7/7. Sasha Hanford, who lost to Anson in the last round, was = third (sixth on countback) with 5.5 points. Aadi Rai scored 5, while Ken Wu scored 4.5. In 2009, Michael Rossiter tied for second with 6/7 (fourth on countback). Denver Bannerman was = sixth with 5.5, and also doing well on 4.5 points were Kseniia Igumenova, Chris Sui and Tyler Bethscheider.

Oscar Credland-Ballantyne was = sixth with 5.5 in the 2010, while Annika Lim scored 5 points and Rafael Brand also won a merit ribbon with 4.5. Elijah Hadikusumo won Bronze for 2011 with 6 and Sehaj Gill scored 4.5 points. In the 2012, Calen Tang won Gold with 7/7, while we had six students winning merit ribbons: Alessandro Martinese 5, Kitty Pallister 5, William Bailie 5, January Walker 5, Miranda Shum 4.5 and Alexandra Smith 4.5.

The 2013 and 2014 (Prep/Pre-Prep) was combined, and the 2013 won decisively by our Prep superstar Harrison Qu with 7/7. Preppie Dylan Hu won Bronze in the 2014 with 4/7. Well done to all students that participated at the Individual Age.

QLD Rapids at King’s

Eason Wang had a great result at the Qld Rapids held at King’s Christian College on Saturday 24 October. Eason won the entire event with 6/7, with wins against multiple strong adult players – some coaches, who shall remain nameless!

November QJ Rating List

The November Queensland Junior Ratings List saw many Somerset students improve their ratings. Top Somerset improvers: 

Upcoming Events

• Junior Masters (Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 November) – advanced
• One Day Challenge (Sunday 10 November) – beginner/ intermediate
• Gold Coast Blitz Championships and Gold Coast Transfer Championships (Sunday 24 November) – intermediate/ advanced
• Gold Coast Holiday Programme (16 to 18 December at Somerset, SSH 2.2) – all levels
• Gold Coast Summer Cup (19 December at Somerset, SSH 2.2) – all levels

Community gardens are a great way for residents without their own garden, or those who want to be part of a community gardening project, to get out and use their green thumb.

This Gardening group are dedicated to the goal of utilising their community garden for the general sharing of sustainable and environmentally friendly gardening ideas and knowledge. And, at the same time, providing an outlet to a healthy lifestyle and an overall better quality of life for the community as a whole.

Earlier in Term Four saw us again plant plants, this time for our Year 12s, again kindly donated by the Southern Beaches Community Garden. Somerset College has had a connection with this Community based organisation for four years now and we are very grateful for their generosity.

At our Year Level Meeting last week, we thanked this wonderful organisation for their donation. Year 7s presented Mr Chris Eddelbuttel (a representative of the SBCG) a basket of gardening gear to show our appreciation.

Recently, the Somerset Alumni Association began a partnership with UQ Racing; a student-led racing initiative at UQ, whereby students studying various degrees at the university collaborate to design and realise two working Formula SAE cars each year.

Like every other year, UQ Racing invites the team and other special guests to the launch of their two new cars. We were lucky enough to take part in this event and see first-hand the remarkable work that these students were able to produce. As an engineering student, I am constantly reminded of the importance of iterative design in developing a well-performing product. These cars are a testimony to that idea, with years of iteration and knowledge being implemented and improved upon to create a race-specific car that will outperform its predecessor.

Through chatting with students at the event and learning about the work these students have been able to produce, I feel inspired by their dedication to the project and passion for engineering. It is hard to imagine that a group of students would be able to build a car from the ground up, let alone two, but they did just that. By problem solving and experimenting with new ideas, designs were tested and continued to be tested until a solution was found. Ultimately, one electric vehicle (EV) and one internal combustion (IC) vehicle was unveiled at the event. We were able to walk up and inspect the workings of these impressive machines in which captivated my already invested interest in engineering. I am sure Mrs Leslie will testify it was hard to get Nick and me to leave, but I value the friendly discussions and new insight I gained from this experience.

I would like to thank Mrs Leslie and Mr O’Brien for allowing Nick and I to join them, and Kydra for inviting us to the event. The Alumni Association’s partnership of such a venture provided the opportunity for this truly incredible experience.

I wish the UQ Racing team good luck in their upcoming competition.

Abhilasha was invited to attend a celebration at Queensland’s Parliament House to perform her pieces.

Barbara Sisley was a creative and dynamic actor, director, producer, and teacher of Speech and Drama; a founding member of the Art of Speech Association (now the Communication, Speech and Performance Teachers Inc), and a co-founder of the Brisbane Repertory Theatre (now known as La Boîte Theatre Company - the oldest theatre company in Queensland). She had an enormous influence on the development of theatre, actor training and the Speech and Drama teaching profession in Queensland.