Somerset College

For the college in England, see Somerset College of Arts and Technology.

College
Location
Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast , QLD Australia
Information
Type	Private/Independent
Motto	Latin: Deo confidimus ("In God we trust")
Denomination	Non-Denominational
Established	1983
Staff	180+
Enrolment	1400
Colour(s)	Navy Blue, Green & White
Slogan	Deo Confidimus
Website	[1]

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

History

Somerset College had its name based on the fact that it was located on Somerset Drive.

The School's traditional colours are green and blue. Its slogan is a Latin phrase "Deo Confidimus" which translates to "In God, we trust".

School Structure

Somerset College began as the inspired dream of Clifford Rodney (Rod) Wells and his wife, singer Roslyn (Dunbar) Wells when they sold their Sydney home and moved to the Gold Coast to start a small non-denominational independent school in 1980. Rustic hinterland farm land belonging to property developer John Jenkins was made available at $1.00 deposit, and for twelve 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 is divided into the Junior School (Pre Prep-Year 6) and the Senior School (Years 7-12). Both have their separate administration centres.

Students at Somerset College are separated into five competitive houses: Andrews, Franklin, Laver, Starkey, and Veivers . Each year, the school has three major inter-house sporting events: the Swimming Carnival, the Cross-Country Carnival and the Athletics Carnival. Various minor, non-compulsory competitions are also held annually. In the Senior School, each house is also divided into several groups containing one staff member and a couple of students from each year level. T Sports include:

• Athletics
• Basketball
• Chess
• Cross Country
• Cricket
• Cycling
• Golf
• Hockey
• Kayaking
• Kangaroo Racing
• Laser Skirmish
• Monopoly
• Netball
• Rock-climbing
• Rowing
• Rugby
• Sailing
• Scrabble
• Soccer
• Softball
• Surfing
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Touch Football
• Volleyball
• Water Polo

Within the school, the student body is led by a series of student leaders and school captains from year to year. Students may also be awarded with half colour, full colour or school honours for extracurricular or non-academic based achievement. These awards are presented at various evenings, such as the school's annual Scholar's Day, Sports Awards Night or the annual Cultural Collages evening. Positions of leadership are awarded to selected senior pupils at the beginning of their final year. The entry level leadership position is that of House Captain, a role characterised by sporting involvement and team spirit; a female and male senior pupil are selected from each of the five houses. One pair from grade 6 is chosen for the Junior School and a pair from grade 12 for the Senior School. The Captain of Committees and Senior Advising Pupil Welfare perform administrative and pastoral care functions respectively within the school. A female and male School Captain are selected each year and they serve as the school's representatives at formal events. Again, a pair is chosen from grade 6 and grade 12. Two Chapel Sacristans are also selected annually, they are entrusted with the spiritual development of the student body.

Sources - student at the school

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.

Event Highlights

Celebration Of Literature

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. Other schools also partake in the festival by enrolling their students for sessions conducted by various authors.

Other Event Highlights

In June 2006, Somerset College hosted the Asia-Pacific International Baccalaureate conference. Speakers included Nick Earls, and Peter Goldsworthy.

Drama and Musicals

Somerset College has an extensive dramatic arts program and participates in local drama and music festivals annually.

Camps and Student Exchanges

Camps

In year 11, the students are able to nominate which camp they would like most to go on. These camps include:

• Sailing
• Navigation (on a house boat)
• Canoeing
• Rock-climbing
• Cycling
• Hiking
• Rafting

There are also camps for years 5,6,7, 8, 9 and 10

Student Exchanges

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.

Ski Trip

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.

Active Student Committees

Technical Services Committee

More commonly known as the Sound and Lighting Crew, this 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.

Sports Appreciation Committee

Established in January 2009, the Sports Appreciation Committee has proven to become one of Somerset's most popular committee's.

Wordsmiths Committee, formerly Creative Writing Club

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.

Somerset Campanology Committee

This committee consists of a group of students in high school who program the bells of Somerset College to play a large variety of music.

Environmental Committee

For several years this committee has been monitoring Somerset College's environmental impact, and has been helping Somerset and the surrounding creek area to sustain stability by planting trees and reducing litter and pollution.

House Committees

These 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.

International Committee

This 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.

Inkspot Committee

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

Functions Committee

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.

Science Committee

This 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.

Somerset Mathematical Society

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, Soft Ball, Cricket, AFL (Australian Rules Football) and Touch Football.

Alumni

Entertainment

• Conrad Coleby
• Sophie Monk
• Ryan Johnson
• Margot Robbie, actress – Neighbours 2008–2011; Pan Am 2011–
• Ian Peres, Wolfmother bassist and keyboardist, 2009-)

Media

• Sara Groen, former Saturday Disney host and Seven News Sydney Weather presenter (2007–2011)
• Wendy Kingston, Nine News reporter and presenter (various programs 2005–)

Sports

• Sara Carrigan, Olympic gold medallist in Cycling, 2004)
• Bryce Lindores, Paralympic cyclist
• Joanna Fargus, Olympian and Commonwealth gold medallist in Swimming, 2002 and 2006