Somerset College (Australia)

Somerset College is a private, non-denominational Christian school located in Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast, Australia.

History

The name Somerset College is based on the fact it was located on Somerset Drive, on a location formerly used for dairy farming .

Somerset College began when Clifford Rodney (Rod) Wells and his wife, singer Roslyn (Dunbar) Wells, sold their Sydney home and moved to the Gold Coast to start a small non-denominational independent school in 1980. Farm land belonging to property developer John Jenkins was made available at $1 deposit, and for 12 months Rod Wells conducted feasibility studies, had interviews with the Queensland Education Department and held public meetings to establish the financial, educational and community support that may be forthcoming. In 1981, a small group was formed as the first steering committee The first buildings opened on 27 January 1983 with 158 students in classes from Year 1 to Year 8. Staff, parents and students helped with the landscaping and plantings and laying of turf, and the college was officially opened on 16 October 1983 by the then Premier (later Sir) Joe Bjelke-Petersen. Rod Wells was the founding principal.

The school's slogan is the Latin phrase "Deo Confidimus" which translates to "In God, we trust".

Structure

The school is divided into the Junior School (Pre Prep-Year 6) and the Senior School (Years 7-12). Both have their separate administration centres.

International Baccalaureate

Somerset College is one of three International Baccalaureate World Schools on the Gold Coast accredited to offer the IB Diploma Programme. It also offers the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) and the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), for which it received accreditation in 2006. In June 2006, the college hosted the Asia-Pacific International Baccalaureate conference.

Events

Each year in mid-March, Somerset College hosts their annual Celebration of Literature. The festival, which lasts for 3 days, features notable authors and poets from around Australia. Past authors include: Douglas Adams, Paul Jennings, Geoffrey McSkimming, Kate Forsyth, Andy Griffiths, Andrew Daddo, Gretel Killeen and Terry Denton.

Programs

Somerset College's outdoor education curriculum includes camps for students in grades six to eleven .

Students in the Senior School from year 9 and upwards are encouraged to take part in the student exchange programs. Students studying German are able to visit Germany every 2 years (on the odd years students host German students). Students studying Japanese are also given the chance to visit Japan every 2 years.

The Italian trip is available to year 11 students undertaking ab initio Italian and takes place in the summer holidays before beginning year 12. It takes most of the cohort studying Italian and the group travels all around Italy visiting many historic sites and stays with a host family and goes to their billet's school for the first couple of weeks.

There is also an annual ski trip where any student from the Senior School is able to visit Perisher Blue Resort in New South Wales for 1 week. This trip is typically held in early September.

Student committees

More commonly known as the Sound and Lighting Crew, the Technical Services Committee is responsible for the management of sound and lighting during all important events at Somerset College. Their duties include providing technical services for plays, musicals and during the Celebration of Literature. The students in this committee regularly maintain the technical systems of the Performing Arts Centre. The Sports Appreciation Committee was established in January 2009.

The Wordsmiths Committee's purpose is to assist with organization of Wordsmiths workshops and the Celebration of Literature. The main highlight of the Wordsmiths calendar is the annual Wordsmiths Retreat, where the group travels up to Mt Tambourine for a weekend of writing sessions with teachers from the English department, and performing of written pieces.

The Somerset Campanology Committee consists of a group of students in high school who program the bells of Somerset College to play a large variety of music. For several years the Environmental Committee has been monitoring Somerset College's environmental impact.

House committees represent each house and organise decorations and support for competitors in sporting events such as the inter-house swimming, x-country, and athletics carnivals. They also organise special events held by each house: the Andrews Air-Guitar competition, the Franklin House 'Purple Faces' competition, the Laver House Jeans for Genes day fundraiser, the Starkey Fashion Parade and the Veivers House Milkshake stalls.

The International Committee is run by both International and Australian-born students. It aims to develop an international awareness amongst the school community. The committee is also responsible for special occasions such as Wish for Peace Day, Harmony Day, etc. The Functions Committee consists of a group of students, who waiter in special annual events. Events include dinners such as 11/12 dinner, Cultural Collage, Sports Dinner, Valedictory Dinner and others.

The Science Committee is run by students, a teacher, a committee leader and a secretary. The committee helps run science related events, such as science week. Along with this the committee continually assist the younger year levels of the school in science-related experiments from the field of chemistry right through to physics and geometry. The Somerset Mathematical Society was founded in 2014 with the motto 'Encourage, Enlighten, Entertain'. The Society gave its first lecture on March 14, 2014 on the irrational number 'Pi'.

Sporting Traditions

Somerset College participates in the APS season in both summer and winter, allowing its students to experience a variety of sports. The sports include rugby union, netball, soccer and hockey in winter, and European handball, softball, cricket, Australian Rules Football, and touch football.

The School's traditional colours are green and blue.

Newspaper

Inkspot is Somerset College's newspaper. It is published once a term and written completely by those students involved with the committee.

Notable Alumni

Entertainment

• Conrad Coleby
• Sophie Monk singer and actress
• Ryan Johnson
• Margot Robbie, actress and producer
• Ian Peres, Wolfmother band member

Media

• Sara Groen, former Saturday Disney host and Seven News Sydney Weather presenter
• Wendy Kingston, Nine News reporter and presenter
• Kate Morton, author

Sports

• Sara Carrigan, Olympic gold medallist in Cycling, 2004)
• Bryce Lindores, Paralympic cyclist^[1]
• Joanna Fargus, Olympian and Commonwealth gold medallist in Swimming, 2002 and 2006
• Ben Hudson, former professional Australian rules footballer and coach

References

Coordinates: 28°05′33″S 153°22′28″E / 28.09250°S 153.37444°E / -28.09250; 153.37444