The cohort then celebrated the conclusion of the Exhibition with parents and senior staff on Thursday night. The Great Hall was certainly a frenzy of creativity, passion, enthusiasm and achievement. Our Year 10s undoubtedly excelled and were keen to share their accomplishments with those who joined them.
If you managed to walk through the hall and look at the exhibits last week, I am sure you would agree the standard of presentations was simply a credit to all involved. So many standouts, ranging from Danish Lighting, dress-making, model building, fabulous sculptures, photography and coffee table books, amazing creative artwork, including fine arts projects, music compositions, purpose designed and build cricket bats and tennis rackets, a short novel, heartfelt recipe books detailing family favourites, a rocket building and launching, renovated boats, cars and motorcycle, jewellery making including traditional Victorian necklaces, incredible videos focusing on topics ranging from self-image, cerebral palsy and a variety of sports, a Rubik’s cube designed image of Buddha, motorised push bikes, sport programs for elite athletes, service projects, a flight simulator; computer builds, handmade make-up and beauty products and sport uniform designs… the list is endless and represents the many varied interests and talents of our students.
To put this journey in perspective, the Personal Project is a requirement for students in the fifth year of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP). The project itself encourages students to practise and strengthen their skills, to consolidate prior and subject-specific learning, and to develop an area of personal interest. The Personal Project provided an excellent opportunity for our students to produce a truly personal and creative product or outcome, which demonstrated consolidation of their learning in the MYP. The personal nature of the Project is important, given we are asking Year 10 students to complete an assessment over a nine month period – the fact that it revolves around a challenge that motivates and interests the individual student is what makes the final outcome so impressive. So to all those students who were standing proud next to their products on Wednesday and Thursday evening, who worked diligently on their online blog and willingly shared their personal stories about their journey with others, we congratulate you. We recognise it is a mighty achievement that did at times seem daunting, yet you reached the end through determination, self-motivation and tenacity. All great skills to take you forward into Year 11!
Throughout the year we have explored the different fields of law, studied numerous relevant and important cases, and produced our own mock trials. So, the opportunity to observe court proceedings was not taken for granted.
Arriving at the Courts that morning, we noticed the atmosphere around us change; everyone was dressed formally, walking purposefully. Like bees to honey the class began to weave into the civil and criminal courts – listening to cases that involved charges such as armed robbery, drug possession, and the more serious charge of murder. Upon entering any courtroom, we respectfully bowed to the judge and took seats in the public gallery; the court etiquette itself was new and exciting. We listened attentively as prosecutors stated their case. We saw solicitors provide legal advice. We heard familiar terminology used. Ultimately though, it was the depth and importance of the trials and hearings that stood out most. The class was mindful however, that while we were enjoying the insight into the open trials, we were also witnessing real lives being changed and shaped by the law.
Some of the most memorable moments on Tuesday involved seeing jurors selected for duty, and watching as the opposition on a case debated in defence of their clients. Our first time in Court certainly went above and beyond our expectations.
The day honestly seemed to fly past us, as our minds became consumed in the cases we were seeing. Slowly, the chapters from our legal textbooks found greater meaning; theory had been put into practice. When departing at the end of the day, there was a consensus in the class, the highly complex inner-workings of the Supreme and District Courts are a marvel, one that is truly an integral and valuable part of our society and one that we are all grateful to have been able to appreciate in person.
There will also be performances by members of Wordsmiths as well as musical items.
The Exhibition begins 6.00pm Thursday 25 October in The Great Hall and runs until 9.00pm. Speeches and other presentations will take place between 7.00pm and 8.00pm, allowing time after this for guests to mingle and appreciate the artwork.
A feature of the evening will be the announcement of the Somerset Senior Art Prize, selected from work by Year 12 Visual Art students in their final year of study. There will also be gifts awarded to recognise the talents of students in the other elective classes. In addition, we welcome local painter, Seabastion Toast, to present awards and give an insight into the life of a career artist.
Every student studying Visual Art in Years 9 to 12 will have work displayed in the exhibition. There will also be a selection of works displayed by students in Years 7 and 8 Visual Arts, as well as a range of works from other Design Faculty subject areas. This is a great opportunity for members of the Somerset Community to view the creative work of our students from all years of the Senior School.
I look forward to seeing you on the night for what is sure to be an entertaining evening.
The championships is Australia’s second largest rowing competition, behind the national championships with around 800 competitors from all over Queensland competing in boys and girls events from Year 8 to Year 12 during the September school holidays.
Somerset crews also achieved three silver medals in the Open Boys Four, Open Boys Pair and the Year 11 Pair as well as bronze in the Boys Open Pair.
Other notable performances were fourth and fifth placings for Jade Mansell and Katherine Plume respectively in the Open Girls Single Scull. Fifth place for the Boys Year 8 Quad Scull, Girls Open Pair, sixth place for the Boys Year 9 Quad Scull and sixth place in Girls Year 11 pair and Boys Open Eight.
I would like to congratulate all of the students who competed at the championships and who represented Somerset College with pride. On a number of occasions, I was commended on how impressive our students are in the way they support each other, their manners and on their team spirit.
I would also like to thank the staff and parents who helped to make the event successful, especially Coaches Olivia Sina, Reuben Mansell and especially Mr Greg Juniper who travelled with the team and provided such great support.
Boys LTA Single Scull – Thomas Liu
Boys Year 11 Coxed Four – Julius Wright, Chester Whiting, Declan Thew, Joe Lanham, Austin Macrossan
Boys Year 11 Pair – Declan Thew, Joe Lanham
Boys Open Coxed Four – Blake Mills, Lachlan Munro, Marc Eksteen, Aidan McKeon, Austin Macrossan
Boys Open Pair – Blake Mills, Aidan McKeon
Boys open Pair – Lachlan Munro, Marc Eksteen
Heading into the weekend with seven games ahead of us was daunting, knowing our first game up was against St Margaret Mary's College who defeated us by one point to qualify for this year's QISSN Grand Final. Having confidence in our preparation and the hunger to not let history repeat, the team went on to win convincingly 51 to 42. With only an hour break between games it was back on court to play Fairholme, Bridgidine and Mackay Christian colleges, with another three great wins finishing top of our pool.
The quarter final against Mackay State High School was our biggest challenge Sunday morning. Winning the game would put us in the top four and better our position from 2017. We were off to a slow start, making a few uncharacteristic errors and we found we were chasing our tails. We struggled to reduce the margin by three quarter time. The final quarter arrived and we had a deficit of seven to pull back, putting our stress levels at an all time high. A change of game plan coupled with some great defensive team pressure gains and started pulling the score back goal by goal. With only minutes to go, opportunities arose to take the win home but we knew it was not going to be easy. The final buzzer sounded and the scores were locked at 36 all. Overtime! We were forced to play another 10 minute battle to find the winner. Thankfully, fitness, commitment, being smart and giving a lot of heart resulted in an overtime finish in grand style. We won the game 51 to 42. Whew! That was just too close to enjoy!
Without a lot of rest and having to play an additional 10 minutes we were back on court within the hour for the semi final against The Cathedral College. The girls were focused and ready to put the previous game behind them, doing just that with a 36 to 28 winning performance and qualifying for the Grand Final.
It was Helensvale who progressed to the Grand Final after beating last year's Cup winners, Matthew Flinders in the semis. We were in for a big game. Going into the final match, there was a relaxed calmness surrounding the team. Captain Kirsty presented each player with a hand written gift of kindness and then a fun game of knockout to ease the nerves. From the start of the game, we were on a mission to compete with the talented and experienced Helensvale side. Each player had a plan, and to be competitive they needed to stick to it – that’s exactly what they did – for the entire game. We led from start to finish with tight defence and the slickest attack of the tournament. Kasey Collins was on fire shooting in the 90s all tournament. No player could keep up with the speed and flare of Rylee Burns. Katisha Webb and Madizen Wilkins delivered some brilliant feeds to the goalers and our defensive end of Sara Dann, Kirsty Brodbeck, Erin Crough-Heaton and Natalie Blauberg were exceptional, keeping the opposition's state representatives from shining. In an amazing display of Netball, the girls completed an outstanding year by winning the game 38 to 36 and bringing home the State Title and Vicki Wilson Cup. Our first ever State title!
A massive congratulations and utmost respect to the girls!
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