With Somerset@Home coming to an end, we are just a few days away from welcoming all students back to the College on Monday 25 May. We are so excited to be seeing all children return to school.
After touring the classrooms upstairs of the Aitkenhead Building, we now inspect the specialist rooms on the ground level. This is particularly exciting as all Junior School students will have the benefit of learning in these spaces.
As we transitioned to Somerset@Home, Schoolbox moved to become the classroom “space” and its use cases were expanded across all areas of College life. The amazing statistics below tell the story of maintaining relationships, connection and academic rigour during shutdown.
Behind each of these numbers and these activities has been our teachers and students, hard at work sharing, caring, learning, giving feedback and communicating. Our platform has supported the student-teacher relationships at this time and allowed us to keep connected and engaged.
During Somerset@Home, we’ve had:
• Blog Posts - 2,961
• Social Stream Posts - 39,208
• Due Work Submitted - 25,098
• Quiz Attempts - 3,692
• Zoom Sessions - 6,743
• Clickview Video Views - 26,420
We have seen teachers confidently zooming, screen-casting, creating videos, blogging and reverse engineering their teaching to adapt to the new environment - so much agility in an uncertain time. They’ve been supported by amazing teacher-assistant and the IT team.
We have seen students respond to new ways of working and learning, communicate with their teachers over Zoom, collaborate with peers online, take responsibility for organisation and time management, share insights into their lives over Zoom and continue to build relationships. They’ve learnt and exhibited so many fantastic 21st century skills during this time.
And to wrap up, for the statistic lovers amongst us, those 6743 meetings have equated to 2,914,08 minutes of Zoom or 5.5 years of meetings with 159,945 participants. That is a lot of face time, a lot of hellos and a lot of goodbyes.
At 10.00pm (AEST) Friday 15 May or 2.00pm on Thursday 14 May (GMT-6), Year 11 IB students Lilliana Swainson and Helena Hagan attended the first virtual IB choir via Zoom, organised by CAS co-ordinator Mr Molina from Yorkín School from Costa Rica. This was such an amazing opportunity to connect with IB students from all around the globe.
The goal is for students to make their own recordings of the song We Are The World which will be edited to make a video which showcases international connectedness by IB students. The song has been modified by composer Mr Izmael Pacheco for this CAS project to be more inclusive of all people from around the world.
During this session, we listened to the backing track, spoke of the particulars of our recordings and final goal as well as listened to Mr Pacheco play the song live. A total of 160 IB students and CAS co-ordinators participated in this session. After practising and discussing the project, we were assigned break out rooms on Zoom to meet with other IB students. Helena and I met with IB students from India, Singapore and Mexico, just to name a few. Students were from their first and second years of IB and reflected with us on their experience with the programme. We discussed our favourite subjects at school, how the current worldwide pandemic has affected learning at school and also the kinds of topics that we study at school. We all laughed about how we spoke the ‘IB language’ with acronyms such as EE, IA and CAS. We also found that we were all studying Chronical of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez in our Language A classes with some of us studying the book in its original language. We shared our contact details in the hope that we can again connect throughout this CAS project.
When returning to the original group, the other teachers from different countries reflected on this amazing opportunity for IB schools worldwide to connect and how many opportunities this could lead to with further interconnectedness. Helena and I got a special mention as being the furthest away in the world and I had the opportunity to thank with Mr Molina for organising this opportunity and of how amazing it is to meet like-minded students from across the globe.
I look forward to sharing with the school the final video in the hope that it demonstrates the IB mission – ‘developing inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect’ especially through these uncertain times.
Thank you Mr McLaughlin for sharing this amazing opportunity with us.
My name is Amaani Bhasin and for my Personal Project, I decided to write a half an hour comedic, fictitious play. My play follows the story of the end of the world, as seen in Norse mythology, with a twist.
My love of writing combined with my love of acting, inspired me to write a play. I decided to make a fusion of Greek and Norse mythology because I am fascinated by mythology and I read Percy Jackson a lot as a child. I also read this play called the Greek Mythology Olympianza by Don Zoldis which is what gave me the idea to write a play.
I had strayed a little bit behind my schedule in the writing of my play, as I struggled to find inspiration and motivation to start. However, I then mentally forced myself back on track and now have an edited draft of a half hour play. I wasn’t aware of how hard it truly is to come up with an efficient storyline and write a script following that storyline, until I started my research and my writing. I didn’t have the freedom that television writer and book authors have with their stories. I am limited to a few sets and actors, and I need to keep the story moving using realistic dialogue. It is certainly a lot to keep track of. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed writing the play.
My name is Ella Punch, and for my MYP Personal Project I have completed a street art like mural from spray paint. After travelling and collecting inspiration from artists in Australia and around the world, I have chosen to design and paint the piece in my room.
I have always been a huge fan of designing art and finding new styles to use. One of my goals in this project is to discover new techniques and learn how to paint on large scale. I have recently travelled to different places, such as; Melbourne, New Zealand and China. These destinations have all inspired me to take a risk with art styles and helped me find my love for street art.
In a previous year level, I completed an art assessment that introduced me to one-line drawing. One-line drawing is a technique where there is a single line being used to create simple and complex designs. I have continued this love for this style, I have now incorporated this into my MYP product.
Before I completed my final product, I practiced using spray paint. As I have never used spray paint to create art before, I wanted to make sure I had some of the basic skills and learnt new patterns.
During the holidays, I spent five days, designing, preparing and completing my mural. Even though this was a challenging process, I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in the art. This has affirmed my passion for art and will continue to further my skill set and my confidence when being creative. I am hoping to help inspire young artists to take the risk of branching out and trying new forms of art.
Overall, I am extremely proud of my end product. When I first decided to take on this challenge, my product now, is not what I envisioned but even better. I am very thankful that my parents allowed me to spray paint on my wall.
Swish swash: the noise of the angry river. Clip clop: the animals who were fleeing. Drip drop: the noise of the river’s last drops.
The monkey was gone: the protector of the plants and creatures and the leader of the five clans. The great river was now a valley since the animals of men were not there to guard it and its surroundings. The deer was also gone. The deer who looks after the ground that was now rotting. The otter was gone. The one who looked after the river that was no longer rushing. The eagle and the beetle were the guardians of the falling ground and sky. All were gone.
I was only a few days old when this happened. Amber was four and Felice was six. My parents were part of the civilisation that the humans were trying to build, the one that the river did not like. I remember the screams of the people being drowned by the ferocious, crashing river. I remember… I remember running away from my parents with Felice, never seeing them again. I'm 15 now, looking almost identical to Amber. She's the brave one in our group with big green eyes and golden blonde hair. She is small with freckles dotted on her face. The scar on her face from a dog was a charm of bravery and determination. Felice is a huge man with muscles like boulders. He looks after us. When I was younger, I used to cuddle up in his shaggy brown hair as it reminded me of Ma.
The grey sky caused a blanket of fear to wash over him. The trees leaned in, watching them. The blazing, vivid stars floated above him. Glooming over their wooden hut like an eagle, they stared. That murderous whisper was back, “come…please…help.” This voice had haunted Bucky since he left his parents. That voice turned into mumbling though, so Bucky had no clue what it was. No clue at all. Then the vast landscapes gave a thunderous howl. Amber and Felice rode up the hill on some wild horses. “Come on Bucky,” requested Amber. “Yeah,” Felice agreed, “you're missing all the fun.”
“OK,” Bucky blurted out. They were looking for the valley, the Great Valley of Men. No one had seen it before. They wanted to be the first. They didn't make it to the Valley, but they did get to experience a most beautiful, breathtaking view of the mountains. Suddenly, something very unexpected happened. “Run!” Felice yelled. Amber and Bucky didn't ask. They just ran. And ran. And ran. It was a Neanderthal, chasing them. This Neanderthal was bigger and stronger than any human could ever be. It was short and it had a big nose for hunting. Its cheekbones sloped backwards and it had a very heavy brow ridge. They didn't have that much time to examine this monstrous creature though, as it was chasing them. It was hungry.
When they had lost the Neanderthal, Amber asked the others to stop. “I've been thinking she explained...well... I think that I'm old and mature enough to build my own home and find my own food and...” “So?” Felice asked.“Well... I want to leave.” Felice was shocked by this news. He swore to keep Amber and Bucky safe, but he also swore to support her, so he decided to let her go. It would be sad seeing her go, but they could now go fishing since she never liked it.
They rode back up to their hut and packed up all of her stuff. They waved at her as she left. Bucky was sad, but he knew it was her time. “So, what do you want to do now?” Felice asked Bucky. “I don’t know. Let’s go explore.” A sudden thought then crossed Bucky’s mind. Since it's winter, Amber can't collect berries or shear the myotraguses. We didn’t give her any of our supplies. Bucky then followed Felice into the clearing to tell him that all Amber’s supplies were still there. He found Felice talking to an otter. This voice sounded familiar. This was the otter that had been whispering to him. This was the Great Valley of Men. The otter, named Horris, ran to the Valley, so Bucky followed. This had to be a nightmare or a dream… maybe both. Felice turned away and when he turned around again Bucky was gone. He had failed to look after the children. The only thing anyone had trusted him with.
Bucky plummeted down into the Valley with Horris like a diving whale. Felice watched Bucky fall into the dark depths. The gods will take care of him now, thought Felice. He then turned around and saw Amber’s colourful eyes. The sight of her, returning to save Bucky, made him so happy. Her myotragus fur boots and her warm smile. This filled Felices's eyes with tears, happy ones of course. She threw down a rope made of jute from her backpack for Bucky to climb. He held onto a small rock speckled with harmless miniscule plants. At this moment, Horris had realised something. He hadn't been able to make the river flow all these years because he wasn't happy. After seeing these people fight for each other, Horris’s heart filled with joy. He ran down to the bottom of the steep valley and touched the hot ground. It prickled his webbed paws and then made a loud grumble. What was happening? Everyone was confused. What had Horris done? Horris looked up and smiled. As he was so happy, the valley was no longer a valley, but a beautiful, rushing river. Horris jumped in and splashed around. He never thought he would feel the wet loveliness of water ever again.
“Turns out that we still need each other. You also need supplies to survive and we were worried about you”, Felice smiled to Amber. “Together we are strong,” Amber replied. This act of kindness had cheered Horris up so much that the river started to flow and the plants, they had started to grow. Horris was happy, but this reminded him of his friends, the protectors of this land. He was lonely. “I can't do this on my own”, he thought. So then Horris did something crazy. “I'm going to change my life. I don't like living in this empty river”, he said. Horris decided to go on a journey and look for his friends. The animals of the forest needed to be there so that the river could have a spark of love along with its new forms of life. As he walked into the forest he turned and smiled at his new friends. The River splashed up and tapped him on the back. “Go,” it whispered. Horris had his whole new life planned out. Now all he needed was his friends. “So children, that is how your Pa made the river flow. That is how our civilization begin. Do you want to know anything else?”
On Monday the whole College will be reunited. The gap in activity, excited conversation and laughter between the Year 1s and Year 11s will at last be filled.
What a day that is going to be, a first step in moving back to a normal society. There are some things to think about to make sure it is the homecoming it deserves to be.
What do I need to savour? For the students there are things you have missed about being on campus. Maybe it’s eating with friends and playing on the ovals, sandpits and climbing toys. Maybe it’s having lots of people say hello and goodbye, or it’s the smile and “hi” from the one or two people – best friends, teachers, Bird and Bush staff – who are special to you. For the parents it may just be the six hours of peace that will descend on the house again at 8-ish! Enjoy them.
What do I need to change? Being in exile is a great time to reassess and learn, the Jewish people did that three times in their history. What knowledge has this period of social isolation brought you? It could be a recognition that things that used to irritate you are not really that important, in fact you have missed them. Or, perhaps, that your resistance to the structure of school – uniforms, rules, timetables – was misplaced and now you need to appreciate it. This is a good time to make those changes.
Who do I really want to see? There are the obvious ones like friends and favourite teachers (let’s be honest everyone has them) but what about others who don’t come so quickly to mind. Ones you probably haven’t contacted during “the exile”. Those from your cohort who are not particularly your friends but are great to have around. The College staff who are not your teachers but who bring a smile to your face and make you feel welcomed and secure. Make sure you share a “hi” and a smile with those people.
Who could I lift? It is easy to just think of yourself, that’s why most humans do it so well. What is harder, and far more rewarding, is to think of others. When we are all together again on Monday there will be some who are overwhelmed or anxious, there will be some who are sad because they’ve got to come to school again, and there will be some who are confused because they don’t understand what they’re feeling, or why. A best thing any of us can do is to keep an eye out for those people and share something uplifting and light. A kind word “hey, it’s good to see you”, or a small affirmation “you did that really well”, or an act of kindness “I’ll put that in the bin for you” or, and I know I repeat myself but it is so important, the sharing of a caring smile.
By the way, these things are not just for Monday, they are for every day.
Due to COVID-19, Somerset Football was forced to suspend programmes for a total of five school weeks. This mean we missed out the last three weeks of Term One and the first two weeks from Term Two.
With the updated COVID-19 restrictions, we started this term providing 1 on 1 football training.
After not being on the field for a total of two months, I was happy to be back on the pitch. By providing 1 on 1 training we could work very specific with each player. We could also analyse the strength and weaknesses from each student and provide players with feedback to improve his or her weaknesses.
In the past two weeks we have provided a total of 40 private sessions. We have done two sessions in the morning, and two sessions in the afternoon. We have completed sessions with students from Year 1 until Year 12.
Student Serenity Thake trained every Wednesday from 6.30am to 7.15am when we worked on shooting skills and especially the free kick (see pictures).
As soon as football was suspended, we were worried about the players' development. It is very important the players continue developing their skills. With thanks to Coach Cooper and Coach Kydra, the players were able to practice each week new Football skills. All Somerset students had the opportunity to improve through the Somerset Football Homework videos, shown here.
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