Somerville House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Somerville House | |
 |
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| "Honour before Honours" | |
| Established | 1899 |
| School type | Independent |
| Principal/ Headmaster |
Dr Ness Goodwin (2004-present) |
| Location | Brisbane, QLD, Australia |
| Campus | Urban (South Brisbane) |
| Enrollment | Approximately 1200 |
| School colours | Navy Blue and Bottle Green |
| Homepage | http://www.somerville.qld.edu.au |
Somerville House is an independent, boarding and day school for girls and is located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The School was named after the British scientific writer, Mary Somerville (1780 – 1872).
The school provides classes from Preparatory to Year 12, within three sub-schools — Junior (Years Prep to 6), Middle (Years 7 to 9), and Senior (Years 10 to 12).
Somerville House is owned by the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association (PMSA) and is a member of the Queensland Girls' Secondary Schools Sports Association Inc (QGSSSA).
Contents |
[edit] History
Somerville House opened in 1899 as the Brisbane High School for Girls.
[edit] Principals
- Miss Eliza A Fewings (1899 - 1909)
- Miss Constance E Harker (1910 - 1931)
- Miss Marjorie K Jarrett (1910 - 1940)
- Miss E Frances Craig (1941 - Aug 1953)
- Miss Ellen Christensen (Aug 1953 - May 1956)
- Miss Isobel Taylor (1957 - May 1969)
- Mr Rod Wells (1970 - March 1973)
- The Reverend Sam Seymour (1974 - 1987)
- Dr Murray J Evans (1988 - 2003)
- Dr Agnes E (Ness) Goodwin (2004 - present)
[edit] School Badge
The colours of the School badge are blue, green and white. Blue is associated with Loyalty, green with Growth and white with Purity.
The central figure represents Wisdom, standing upon or emerging from, the open book, representing Knowledge. In her hand is the lamp, representing Truth. The close association of the three symbolises that Knowledge alone is but a barren thing unless studied by the light of the lamp of Understanding; that these two, combined with the experience which life brings, enable people to acquire a wisdom to be placed at the service of others.
[edit] School Motto
The School's Motto, "Honour before Honours", presents a challenge, in a competitive and materialistic society, to maintain the highest personal standards of integrity, and to remember the ideals of behaviour and achievement which always remain more worthwhile and important than the plaudits of the crowd.
[edit] House System
Somerville House has six houses, each named after a famous Australian woman that was a pioneer in her field. The houses are:
- CHISHOLM (yellow) - named after Caroline Chisholm
- DURACK (black) - named after Mary Durack (nee Costello)
- FRANKLIN (red) - named after Jane Franklin
- GILMORE (pink) - named after Mary Gilmore
- MACARTHUR (blue) - named after Elizabeth MacArthur
- OSBURN (green) - named after Lucy Osburn
There are inter-house competitions held throughout the year. These competitions include:
- Inter-house Swimming Carnival
- Inter-house Athletics Carnival
- Inter-house Charity Trot
- Inter-house Chess Competition
- Inter-house Bin-Filling Competition
- Senior School Choral Festival (Years 10-12)
- Middle School Arts Festival (Years 7-9)
- Junior School Choral Festival
[edit] Academics
Somerville House upholds an excellent academic record[citation needed] and is regarded as being one of the best girls' schools in Australia[citation needed].
[edit] Curriculum
Subjects offered: Years 7 – 9
- Art
- Chinese
- Drama
- English
- Food Technology
- French
- German
- Information Technology
- Japanese
- Mathematics
- Music
- Physical Education
- Religious Education
- Science
- Studies of the Society and the Environment
Subjects offered: Year 10
Compulsory Subjects
- English
- Mathematics A OR
- Mathematics B
- Religious Education
- Core Physical Education
Elective Subjects
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- History
- Geography
- Business Education
- Economics and Law
- Health and Physical Education
- Information Communication Technologies
- Art
- Drama
- Music
- Chinese
- French
- German
- Japanese
Subjects offered: Years 11 – 12 QSA subjects
Compulsory Subjects
- English
- Physical Education
- Religious Education
Somerlinks
- Workplace Practices - Cert 2
- Social and Community Studies
- Hospitality
- Tourism - Cert 2
Elective Subjects
- Mathematics A
- Mathematics B
- Mathematics C
- Biological Science
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Information Processing and Technology
- Art
- Music
- Drama
- Legal Studies
- Chinese
- French
- German
- Japanese
- Ancient History
- Modern History
- Geography
- Economics
- Accounting
- Business Communication and Technologies
- Health and Physical Education
[edit] Faith Education
As a member of the historic Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association, and with direct links to the Presbyterian and Uniting Churches, Somerville House deeply values its Christian heritage as it seeks to encourage its staff and students in their own spiritual formation, understanding and honouring the Lordship of Christ in all of life.
[edit] Technology
Somerville House has always striven to provide additional learning tools to its students. The Senior management of the School has identified the need to provide a consistent mobile computing platform to students because of:
- The growth of educational content available on the Internet and through other web-based content providers;
- The increase in tools to assist in the delivery of learning materials via computing and web based technologies;
- The growth in utilisation of computing devices by the students as tools during their learning journey; and
- A desire to deliver learning materials to the student body regardless of location or time of day.
The project to deploy laptop computers to the staff and students of Somerville House began in 2001 and continued to the pilot laptop deployment to Year 6 students during Semester 2, 2003. Laptops are currently used by all Year 6, 7, 8 and 9 students.
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Jackie French - Author
- Lisbeth Lenton - Swimmer and Olympian
- Betty Churcher - Artist and former Director of the Australian National Gallery
- Lisa Curry Kenny - Olympic Swimmer
- Margaret Olley - Artist
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Presbyterian and Methodist Schools' Association Colleges, Queensland, Australia |
| Brisbane Boys' College | Clayfield College | Moreton Bay Boys' College | Somerville House | Sunshine Coast Grammar School |
