It’s been an interesting term, and I don’t mean for our College, I refer to how quickly things have changed in the world from the new year to where we are today!
Who would have predicted the conversations we are having today about the geo-political landscape, war, the rise of new political powers, the rising cost of fuel. In times of uncertainty and challenge, it is not unreasonable to stop and ask, what on earth is going on, this is just a little crazy. Others far wiser than me have written about this recently and looked back through history, when the world has found itself struggling to find a way forward and in this need to find certainty, have followed an often charismatic but extreme ideological leader! Without being too political, there are moments over the recent past where some of these undercurrents have arisen.
As we look forward to the Easter break, for many this is an extended long weekend with chocolate and hot cross buns. For Christians, we reflect on the Easter story as explained to us in the Bible. There is plenty of evidence to support that the man Jesus existed, and there are many who saw the person of Jesus as someone who would swoop in and save the Jewish people from the Roman oppression they were enduring. Jesus was going to be a worldly hero, restoring law and order to a civilisation that had endured so much over hundreds of years. If Jesus was around today, the assumption would be that he would sort out the problems of the government or the ruling power and let us get on with life!
But the story of Easter flipped all these assumptions on their head and is so much more than this. As we shared in our Chapel this week, it is about both hope and forgiveness. Yes, Jesus taught about forgiveness, about turning the other cheek, about loving your neighbour, about leadership by serving others and elevated the importance of women and children. This teaching has influenced so much of what we believe today about what it means to live in a civilised society. However, there was so much more.
We live in a world that is broken and we see it all around us. So, Jesus also spoke of a new world, where things would be made right and this is the hope that Christians have. But to achieve this, something big had to happen. Jesus, who was both a human and also the son of God had to come into the world and repair our broken relationship with God. The price for this was dying on a cross. Yes, this is a tough concept to reconcile, but for me, as a Christian, Easter is that reminder that there is a God whose love for us is so incredible, that this is what had to happen.
I appreciate we all have different world views, but as I approach the next few days, I am so thankful for the opportunity to once again spend time remembering what has been done for us through Jesus and the cross. In an often crazy world, there is certain hope that is available for all.
I wish all our families a wonderful time to rest and reflect.
Over the past few days, we’ve seen the campus transformed ready for Storyfest. Our Somerset Community sees this large event staged every year, sometimes I wonder if we may forget its purpose and more importantly it’s impact. When we become very familiar with something it’s often harder to see with fresh insight, in fact we may be reminded of the familiar quote, “don’t take it for granted”. Somerset lives and breathes Storyfest (Gold Coast ) every year and it is marked by a feeling of a carnival including food trucks and marquees, yet if we stop for a moment and cast our minds right back to the very beginning when the Somerset Celebration of Literature was first held, over 30 years ago, it’s express purpose was to bring authors and students together to inspire and encourage a love of reading. As we know from an abundance of research, developing a love of reading at an early age is a huge factor in ongoing success in learning. How much more important is that message today in a world dominated by screens and short attention spans? So, when we bring authors into the mix to share their passions, to encourage young readers and to celebrate the importance of literature, we are embarking on something truly important and remarkable.
I do appreciate with the advent of social media and online streaming, it is more challenging to capture the hearts and minds of students. As a father of four young adult children, raised in a reading household, some of whom now rarely read books in paper form, I cannot stress how important it is to get the foundations set when children are young. This is why events like Storyfest are more important than ever, particularly as the programme now reaches out far beyond the Gold Coast.
So, as the tents go up, the bookstalls are unloaded, the infamous Dipping Dots arrive, and we prepare ourselves to welcome so many onto our campus, I am hoping to encourage you all to stop and take a moment to be incredibly humbled by what our College does in hosting Storyfest Gold Coast and sponsoring Storyfest’s work more broadly. I believe we are helping impact the lives of not only our own students, but all those who come to these events and this is something we shouldn’t take for granted; we should enthusiastically embrace and celebrate it!
My thanks and best wishes go out to Andrea and her team, and also to the many student and parent volunteers who give so much, in a myriad of ways, to support this event.
Enjoy the festival and happy reading.
Like many organisations we are people-centred, and our staff are our greatest asset! This means that our largest cost base is also our staff. As part of our next Strategic Plan, we established a priority around the professional growth, coaching and development of our staff as crucial to Somerset’s continued success. I thought it might be helpful for our community to be aware that as a College we invest in our staff in many ways, with the express purpose of ensuring this impacts what is happening in our classrooms and in our co-curricular activities.
In our Junior School, parents will be aware we have employed a Numeracy Coach, Ms Jaki Kontoleon, and she is working hard to review numeracy in the the classrooms. Using a raft of different data measures, we are looking to support our Junior School teachers in upskilling them in different aspects of teaching numeracy and ensuring we have consistency across Year Levels. At the same time, we have a renewed focus on the implementation of Initial Lit, an evidence-based whole-class Literacy programme providing all children with the essential core knowledge and strong foundations to become successful readers and writers. With a renewed focus on our teaching and learning in the Early Years, these programmes not only help develop the capabilities of our staff, but ensure we provide our students with the strongest of foundations for ongoing success.
In the Senior School, we are investing in several different research projects in Years 7 to 9, with a focus on reading in Year 8, Mathematics in Years 7 and 9 and Critical Thinking in Year 9. At the same time, I am keen to see our staff engage with other institutions across the country who may be leaders in a particular field and to understand ‘what is best practice in that area’ and how that can inform what we do here at Somerset.
As parents will be aware, the implementation of an AI framework is a key focus of the College in the coming months. For me, this is not so much about how we use AI, but more importantly, what impact it has on the way students are going to learn. We can use AI as a portal for gaining information, but if the aim is to fully embrace the potential, we need to explore how students will co-author, how they will use those human skills to understand and discern what they can gain from AI. This is an exciting journey that we intend to commence next term.
Our staff are committed to ongoing learning and development and for me, this is such an important part of a school which values their staff, ultimately benefitting all our students and the wider College community.
Sustainability at Somerset College continues to grow through curiosity, collaboration, and student voice.
In this conversation, students sit down with our Chief Operating Officer, David Thornton, to explore how the College is thinking about energy use, environmental responsibility, and the role students can play in shaping a more sustainable future.
From the impact of the College’s solar panels to the importance of initiatives such as Earth Hour, the discussion highlights how practical actions and everyday choices can contribute to meaningful change. It also reflects a shared commitment across the Somerset community to think carefully about how resources are used and how innovation can help reduce our environmental footprint.
Importantly, the conversation emphasises that sustainability is not only about infrastructure or technology, it is also about awareness, engagement, and the momentum created when students take an active role in the conversation.
By encouraging questions, ideas, and participation, Somerset continues to foster a culture where students feel empowered to contribute to initiatives that benefit both the College and the wider community.
The points below explain why these subjects are essential.
Dear Somerset Community
I’m not sure about you, but there are times when we look around and wonder, where is the world headed! We see trouble and disorder around us and wonder how do we respond? In somewhat of a simplistic by optimistic approach, I respond with, one day at a time. As the Stoic Philosopher, Seneca reminds us; Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labour does the body.
There are so many examples of incredible difficulties that have seen people get up and challenge for change and we need to be encouraged by this, to see the incredible good that people can do. As we celebrate International Women’s Day, I am reminded of the countless women across the globe who well over a 150 years ago began to fight for equity and equality is so many areas of life.
Whilst we can confidently say that in many ways so much progress has been made, we also know that there is still much to be achieved. This years’ theme of Balance the Scales is a promise that every woman and girl – regardless of background or identity – should be safe, heard, and free to shape their own lives. Yet in 2026, we know we still hear about gender-based violence and structural barriers block too many from seeking or receiving justice.
Equality is not about advantage for some; it's about dignity, safety, and fairness for all. But it requires all of us, collectively to ensure we stand up for what is right. We are talking a lot with our students about Character and Conscience and in putting that into practice, being an upstander, standing up for what is right and speaking out when there are words or actions that are in any way discriminatory.
Those women who decided to stand up for access to education, to the right to vote and other important issues in the early days of the suffragette movement were ridiculed and faced what would have seemed insurmountable odds. However, they kept going because they knew what was right and what had to change.
As we stand together, we need to continue to encourage the same passion and commitment from our students. To stand up for what is right and to present a vision of justice in a world that needs to hear this more and more each day.
Across today’s global education landscape, the International Baccalaureate (IB) continues to stand out for its focus on developing agile, ethical, and reflective learners ready to navigate an increasingly complex world. The Middle Years Programme (MYP), designed for students aged 11–16, is a cornerstone of this vision. It cultivates the transferable skills, conceptual understanding, and learning behaviours that research identifies as critical for lifelong learning.
At Somerset College, the MYP aligns seamlessly with our aspirations for young people. The programme echoes the College’s emphasis on purpose, curiosity, character, courage, and integrity - seen daily in how students learn, collaborate, and respond to challenge. These habits form the foundation of human flourishing, central to our educational philosophy.
We share how Somerset’s refreshed expectations are creating a unified approach across the College. Grounded in Safety, Learning, and Respect, and supported by restorative and proactive practices, this framework helps students develop the social, emotional, and academic skills needed for lifelong success. Learn how our Fortnightly Focus connects school and home through a shared language of growth.
Camp is more than time away from the classroom. It’s a powerful and purposeful part of the Somerset journey, designed to support the holistic development of each student. Through challenge, connection, and reflection, students build confidence, resilience, and a stronger sense of self.
The Headmaster reflects on the strong start to the year and the Somerset value to Belong with Purpose. From alumni returning to campus to students demonstrating House spirit and commitment across College life, belonging at Somerset is about more than participation — it’s about purpose, character, and contribution.
One of our signature events at Somerset is the Investiture of Student Leaders and the Commissioning of the Senior Class. On Thursday this week, the Class of 2026, 45 who began their journey as the foundation Pre-Prep cohort in 2013, who were then joined by 9 new Prep friends in 2014, will formally begin their final year of school along with another 95 friends who joined along the way. A tradition treasured by our community, is our Prep friends, the Class of 2038, will present Senior badges to each member of the Senior Class.
For so many of our students who spend up to 14 years at Somerset, it is safe to say that they ‘know’
many people; their peers, their teachers and the staff who are committed to their success.
What does it actually mean to know someone? We can know about them, we can know of them, but do we know
them? Knowing someone has 4 key elements:
All our staff are now back as we welcomed our teachers and teacher aides earlier this week and we are all excited by what we are going to achieve together in 2026.
On Wednesday, we had Kurt Fearnley AO present to our entire staff. Kurt is a three-time Paralympic gold medalist and two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist. He has won over 40 marathons, including New York, Chicago and London in a career spanning more than 20 years. In 2009 Kurt crawled the Kokoda track, in Papua New Guinea, to raise awareness of men’s health. Kurt was also a member of the winning Sydney to Hobart yacht crew, Investec Loyal, in 2012. He was the New South Wales Australian of the Year for 2019.
His message to our staff was around leaning into hard situations, about acknowledging that strength is not so much about muscle, but about resilience and mindset. His message was powerful, extremely humbling but challenging and reminded us all that there are times when we will have to overcome challenges, but we do so with the support of others and knowing we learn so much through the journey. This is also an important message for our students and I hope to bring Kurt back later in the year to share with students in the senior school.
It’s been great to see our Year 7s and new students on campus this week and we can’t wait to have everyone return next Tuesday! I am excited by all that 2026 is going to bring. As Somerset begins to implement our new strategic plan, we do so under our updated mission; Empowering students to cultivate character and conscience through purpose and human connection, prepared to thrive in a changing world.
Throughout the year, I want to unpack what I think this means, but as I shared with staff earlier this week, the most powerful part of this how we focus on Character and Conscience. For me conscience and character go hand-in-hand. Character is the sum of a person's moral and ethical qualities, reflecting their inner values and how they typically behave, even when others aren’t looking, while conscience is the inner voice or sense that judges the moral rightness or wrongness of one's own actions, intentions, and character, prompting feelings of guilt or obligation.
Essentially, character is who you are, built on virtues, and conscience is the internal guide that assesses if your character is acting rightly. Our focus this year is on how we provide the opportunities, the experiences and the time, to develop, talk about and build character and conscience, both within and outside the classroom. In other words, how are we building a backpack of skills to enable our students to thrive beyond the safety and support of our College.
It’s an exciting journey and thanks for being part of it in 2026.
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