Our Future Strategic Plan

FROM THE CHAIR OF THE COLLEGE BOARD Here it is, the Somerset College Strategic Plan 2018-2022, it is not a document, it is Our Future . Many months have been spent in intensive collaboration with key stakeholders, parents, teachers, College Leadership Team, Board members and the most important stakeholders – the students. The goal was to clarify and agree on the way forward to provide the very best personal outcomes and personal success for our students. The Strategic Plan is now a call to arms. The talk is over and I assure you, the action is already beginning. I invite you to be part of the Strategic Plan, embrace it and its goals and be part of Our Future in delivering personal success and a real world global outlook.

FROM THE HEADMASTER

In the College’s 35th year, we renew the commitment to our students, staf f, parents and alumni by shaping Our Future . It is a conscious decision to not let the winds of change blow adversely for us. Our Future is one that we can determine through the choices we make. Our students will enter a world of uncertainty but they will do so with the skills to have personal success and the attitude to have a global outlook, the 21st Century skills have replaced the 3Rs. Our students will shape their future by learning to critique, collaborate, create and communicate. Our Future is a verdant one.

Tony Hickey, Chairman

Craig Bassingthwaighte, Headmaster

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Photo by Christopher Frederick Jones

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Somerset provides an environment where everyone is encouraged and indeed expected to pursue excellence and achieve the goals we set for ourselves.

- A student from the Class of 2017 -

Confidence as a public speaker

Successful app design

APS team selection

Solving a chemical equation

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The service learning programmes have enabled me to look outward into our local community as well as internationally.

- A student from the Class of 2017 -

Studying texts from other cultures

Hosting international groups

IMPACT Committee

Meals that make a difference programme

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S T R A T E G I C G O A L S

I have learnt so much both inside and outside the classroom. The teachers at Somerset promote a climate where I am encouraged to widen my horizons.

- A student from the Class of 2017 -

• Enhance Learning Analytics so decisions about student learning are data-informed. • Expand Entrepreneurship to embed enterprise skills within the curriculum. • Develop more opportunities for Project-based and interdisciplinary approaches to curriculum design. • Expand Learning Enhancement to ensure every student at Somerset has the opportunity to reach their potential. • Expand the extra-curricular programme by of fering more curriculum-based activities. • Integrate core tenets of Positive Education within Pre-Prep to Year 12 learning programmes to explicitly link wellbeing and learning.

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S T R A T E G I C G O A L S

The relationships I have formed with my teachers will stay with me for the rest of my life. I have become closer to my teachers because I feel encouraged to learn when they are eager to teach. My teachers want me to succeed.

- A student from the Class of 2017 -

• Implement programmes and strategies to further develop the leadership capabilities of staf f, including best practice succession planning to ensure organisational sustainability. • Formalise Instructional Coach pathway for outstanding practitioners to remain in the classroom and support their colleagues to develop their pedagogy and skills. • Develop an innovative Technology Curriculum Pre-Prep to Year 12. • Broaden the Col lege’s Par tnership Coaching Programme for al l staf f, including non-teaching, to use goal setting and peer observation to suppor t ref lection and professional conversations about improving practice. • Increase opportunities for inter-departmental professional learning activities, including the Instructional Rounds Programme, peer- observation and action learning research.

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S T R A T E G I C G O A L S

I strongly believe in the hidden benefits of the vertically integrated pastoral care programme.

- A student from the Class of 2017 -

• Establish Somerset as a leading Positive Education school. • Develop a Peer-Mentoring Programme to grow leadership opportunities and support the needs of fellow students. • Strengthen personalised student support structures within the classroom, Pastoral Care groups and family partnerships. • Expand social justice programmes to enhance service learning, leadership and advocacy to deepen engagement with local and international communities. • Appoint a Head of Wellbeing to lead Positive Education Programme. • Explicitly promote a Wellbeing Programme to enable staff to enrich the lives of others while engaging their own strengths, values and virtues. • Partner with tertiary institutions to research the design and shape the delivery of learning and wellbeing programmes.

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S T R A T E G I C G O A L S

Seeing the College make increasing use of solar power is a positive step. My goal is to see philanthropy grow within the College.

- A student from the Class of 2017 -

• Continue best practice in governance training, compliance, reporting and risk-management practices. • Continue the innovative redesign of learning spaces. • Increase opportunities for Alumni engagement, including mentoring programmes, extra-curricular coaching and academic support roles at the College and networking opportunities. • Establish a Communications Team to strategically facilitate the marketing, media profile and promotion of the College. • Further develop The Foundation to enhance the culture of philanthropy. • Continue to develop, implement and communicate sustainable environmental policies and practices.

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Per forming Arts Centre

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MAJOR

1

Design Centre

2 3 4 5 6

Performing Arts Centre

Alumni Centre

Well-Being Centre

Multi-Purpose Centre with Chapel

Per forming Arts Foyer

Child Care Centre

MINOR

7 8 9 10

The Great Hall Refurbishment

Improved Parking

Junior School Playgrounds

Junior School Change Rooms

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Design Centre

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

To prepare for education of students in the new millennium, Somerset College offered the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma with the first cohort graduating in 2001.

The three International Baccalaureate programmes are now embedded in the College’s Teaching and Learning framework. From Pre-Pre to Year 5, the Primary Years Programme (PYP) provides the essential building blocks of literacy and numeracy using the child’s natural sense of inquiry combined with explicit teaching of skills. The five essential elements of the Programme – knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action – are at the heart of all learning. In Years 6 to 10, the Middle Years Programme (MYP) emphasises the diversity of education across a wide range of learning areas. Our youngsters are introduced to a world of service before the culminating experience of the Personal Project. In Years 11 and 12, our students can opt for the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) pathway, or continue the International Baccalaureate journey in the Diploma Programme. In both programmes, the essential tenets of service and academic rigour, with a global outlook, shape our students for their boundless future.

Design Centre Upper Level

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