It is hard to believe we are already into May and most of our Year 12 students are now working on their final internal assessments, their IA3. Some IA3s will be submitted by the end of Term 2 and others early Term 3, at which point our focus changes to Mock and External Exams. As we move through these well traversed waters, our senior teachers and students certainly have their eye on achieving their best outcomes, and we are positively looking forward to seeing what they can achieve and where they will go.
Supporting our Year 12s on this final leg of their journey, is undoubtedly one of the highlights of our year. At this time, I cannot help but to reflect over the last five years, where we have celebrated many outstanding results from our different cohorts. You may recall, in 2025, we had 3 ATARS of 99.95, 14% ATAR 99+, 46% 95+, 65% 90+ and 91% 80+. These are outstanding results and worthy of honouring, but underlying these results is a far more important story.
Our senior results are an important indicator of student success, but what they really represent is years of careful teaching, strong relationships, and a focus on deep understanding. From foundational skills and disciplinary knowledge in the middle years to sophisticated analytical thinking in the senior years, students are well prepared to meet challenges with confidence. When students reach Year 12, they are not just exam-ready – they are confident thinkers, tackling their study with a tenacity that reflects a culmination of years of support, encouragement and a commitment to our students that we never give up on what is possible for every one of them. We will not accept for any student a predetermined ATAR or end goal.
What is perhaps less known in our community, but something we are deeply proud of is our ability to ‘lift’ all students’ results by the end of Year 12. This is not about those high 99+ ATARs, but around students who work consistently alongside their teachers, fine tuning years of learning, forging a greater resolve, determination, and focus. In 2025, for example, 25% of Year 12 moved an ATAR based on Year 11 results, between 15 to 30 marks. While I cannot share details and background to these individual stories, the outcome for these students is immense, leading them into dream courses and pathways that will enable them the possibilities of an enriched future and professional career of their choice.
But these results do not just happen. Just as there is no such thing as overnight success outside the College gates, the same is true inside Somerset where academic achievement takes time.
These results reflect a significant portion of the Year 12 cohort choosing to study complex subjects. Led by passionate experts and a knowledge rich curriculum leading into Year 11 and 12, it is obvious our students have formed a deep love of the Sciences and Mathematics. They enter these subjects with a depth of foundational knowledge that provides the springboard for the level of thinking critically which is required for senior years. With six classes of Math Methods, 3 classes of Specialist Math, 4 classes of Chemistry and 4 classes of Physics, our outstanding State results for all students demonstrates a remarkable achievement and reflects student intellectual curiosity, discipline, and commitment to deep understanding. Our students love of their STEM subjects, like Engineering, Chemistry and Physics, enable them to develop evidence-based reasoning, quantitative literacy, and respect for truth grounded in observation and testing. These skills enable students to evaluate information critically on their external exams, but even more importantly, allow then to engage respectfully with differing perspectives, and act with ethical responsibility – essential qualities for leadership and service in a global context.
We turn to the Arts/Humanities where our senior subjects such as Literature, English, Philosophy and Economics further grow this capacity to engage with complex concepts and to think analytically under pressure. We focus on supporting our students to approach challenges with humility and persistence. This speaks not only to academic ability, but to the habits of thinking and learning that are developed over time. This exemplifies the qualities Somerset seeks to foster in all students, preparing them to engage thoughtfully within an increasingly complex and polarised world.
Enhancing the delivery of our curriculum, our students can engage in free tuition every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics. This tutoring is open to all students Years 10 to 12 and is well attended. Individually, students are supported to grasp and deal with challenges, building a confidence and resilience that is required for personal success in Year 12.
This individual care is not limited to after school tuition. Intentionally built into our timetable, every Thursday Week B, students can elect two tutorials in subjects of their choice, enabling them to further refine their subject knowledge. Students regulate their own learning journey identifying areas they require additional support. It is this inner drive for genuine understanding that also motivates those impressive individual results.
Our teachers also work with students through their breaks, unpacking drafts or reteaching complex strategies or concepts. Their generosity in supporting their students is a hallmark of a Somerset education and demonstrates their own determination to ensure students have every opportunity to achieve their best result. I know, come the September holidays our Year 12 teachers will hold well attended subject workshops further supporting students to take on their external exams with a confidence and focus.
Our Year 12 students also have the option of attending our Thursday evening Study Dinners. Held in the Year 12 Common Room, over three hours, students work side by side, (teachers on hand ready to explain concepts, assessments, or practice exam questions,) collaborating and supporting each other, working through the complex, and building strategies, skills and enhanced understandings. We have built a culture of ‘stronger together.’ This year we have had over 50 students and staff attend each dinner and next term we look forward to inviting our Year 11 students to join us. This is simply another spoke in the wheel of a strong scholarly community that is at the heart of the College.
Of course, student success requires more than an academic focus. Our students are nurtured through a holistic, layered approach to pastoral care, where the warmth and care of each student, the uniting of the cohort and a strong sense of belonging and community give our students a strength of character and confidence to challenge and grow their understandings and the resilience to succeed from failure.
As we close in on mid-year, and our Year 12 move closer toward their final assessments, we will continue to weave a rich tapestry reflecting the interconnected fabric of our scholarly pursuits, empowering all students the opportunity for intellectual and personal growth. While we are not at the end yet, I can assure you, what we look forward to the most, is the ‘individual lift,’ for there is no greater reward than seeing our students succeed.
What is character? What are some examples of good character? How can we demonstrate good character in our day-to-day lives? In a world with an abundance of information at our fingertips and every influencer, artist and politician giving their opinion on the way things should be, it can be tricky to navigate and drown out the noise to understand what truly good character looks like.
Is there anyone you can think of in your life that shows good character? Someone who shows good character may not be the person who you may immediately think of as being heroic, charismatic and likeable. In fact, sometimes, to have good character, we must make decisions that may not be liked by others, or anyone. But having good character doesn’t mean following the crowd, as the majority isn’t always right. On some level, everyone knows what’s right and what’s wrong, and anyone can make a judgement whether an action is moral or immoral, but a person with a good character will act accordingly.
Therefore, to have good character, it means consistently making the right choice, even when it may be the less pleasant one. Of course, people don’t need to be perfect all the time, having flaws and slip-ups make us human, but so does having an awareness of what constitutes as moral behaviour. So, because we all know that we can, let’s choose to make the right choices.
Even when no one is watching. Do it for yourself and for your own peace of mind. Being a good person and having good character is never for the benefit of others, but for yourself so that you can be confident in your own moral capacity – your own ‘goodness’.
The second part our new focus is conscience. It is all well and good to act with the character that Somerset College expects from every one of its students. The challenge, however, is acting with genuine self-awareness rather than performance, and ensuring that your character reflects a true commitment to your growth as a member of our community.
Take, for example, our recent Anzac ceremony. A person with character would remain silent and pay their respects as required and make the right choice, yet a person with conscience would go further, using those moments of silence to reflect upon the sacrifice of our soldiers and the reason why we commemorate such an event. This is especially pertinent for our future leaders, because leadership isn't a mask worn for a day, but a daily commitment to being someone others can genuinely trust and rely on, both within and beyond our College.
So, character and conscience are not two distinct things. They are two co-dependent parts of an image that Somerset College wants us to embody. It is who you are today, in both character and conscience, that determines who you will be as a leader of this College, and leader in the wider Australian or even international community.
As we approach ANZAC Day and reflect on the current global challenges around us, it’s often easy to forget the human side of conflict. My own Grandfather, Charles Ivey served in WW2 around Milne Bay, in Papua New Guinea. In May 1942, he was involved in an attack on the Japanese forces. His commanding officer was wounded and so Charles was given responsibility for the company. His efforts saw him receive a Distinguished Service Order with the following citation.
During an advance against an enemy position, the company commander was wounded during the first few minutes of the attack. Captain Ivey immediately took control and pushed forward with such vigour and determination that he advanced approximately four miles into enemy occupied territory, enabling the remainder of the battalion to follow through and consolidate the objective before nightfall. During the advance, Captain Ivey cleared three definite areas of enemy resistance and gained his objective with a brilliant bayonet charge through most difficult country comprising heavy jungle and swamp, necessitating constant fighting over the whole distance in 12 inches of mud while the company was subjected to sniping from enemy in the trees.
My grandfather was from a small country town south of Hobart. He was an apple farmer, an ordinary man who on this day, like so many others who have and continue to serve, did something extraordinary. It is important to stop, reflect and remember. However, days like this should also prompt us. When we feel like we are also ordinary, to be challenged to not always sit in our comfort zone, but rather when situations arise, to step up and do something extra-ordinary. In this context, something extra-ordinary was for the service and for the good of others. Those who serve and have served their country always sought to step out and look out for those around them. That’s what the ANZAC legend is all about. So, whilst we honour and remember, I wanted to encourage our students to find ways in which they can step out and do something that gives back to others, that supports others, and builds others up.
As a Nation, we talk a lot about the ANZAC spirit, but I think each of us could be encouraged to embody aspects of this in our very safe and secure lives here on the Gold Coast. My hope is we take ANZAC Day not just to reflect on those who serve and have served, but on our own lives and how we, in some small way, can make a positive difference for others in our community.
Lest We Forget.
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