Talk:Somerville House
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[edit] Alumni
Please note that alumni refers to past students. Teachers are not alumni. Blarneytherinosaur 07:33, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
LOL... they (the students) did that because they thought he was an awesome teacher (and he was/is/whatever). A legacy, so to speak, but they could've just made a separate section. ==" ShumbodhiPhamus 10:07, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
On the contrary, they could not have created a new section. Non notable teachers do not qualify for inclusion in an encyclopedia article, see Wikipedia:Notability. Blarneytherinosaur talk 23:59, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
Is that so? Ah, I didn't know that. Well, Uzcinski (or however you spell his name, I forget) was 'notable' in that he transferred from BGS to SH, then back again. Kind of. ShumbodhiPhamus 09:01, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
Being a teacher at two schools is not a grounds for notability. I suggest you take a look at Wikipedia:Notability. Blarneytherinosaur talk 02:02, 30 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Bias
A little bit of bias in the academic heading. if claims can be sourced then fair enough but its more a POV than an article sub-heading. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Half Colours (talk • contribs) 23:46, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
It's not really Bias, i go to the school and it is one of the best girls schools, and is well known to be so. We have a very good OP rate and excellent sporting achevments, and have been rated one out of the top two girls schools in Brisbane.82.205.217.144 09:56, 24 January 2007 (UTC)Jane K
Actually... it is Biased. I *used* to go to the school, and if it ranks as one of the best girls' schools (in Brisbane, mind you), it's only because everything else in the area sucks. SH's OP rate is equal to or worse than Brisbane State High school, and other State School alternatives include Mansfield High - in fact, if you want 'very good' OP rate to be an applicable description of Somerville, why don't you beat the other Private schools while you're at it? SH is not 'very good', it is only 'standard'. Not only that, but they get routinely beaten in sporting events.
What is certainly not standard about SH is it's incredible inflation rate - school fees have more than doubled in the last ten years, while other schools are moving at a more sedate pace. On top of that, does the Wiki even mention how many uniforms students must purchase? Let's see... Summer uniform, Winter uniform, sports uniform, sports tracksuit, swimming suit (including authorised swimming cap), ribbon/scrunchie for hair (you can't just wear a bottle green elastic band)... and if you do co-curricular activities, there are: Middle school band uniform, senior school band uniform, middle school choir uniform, senior school choir uniform, et al. The list is endless.
High prices, mediocre academic achievement (and 'Jane K', why don't you apply those amazing academic skills to your argument?!), poor sporting achievement...
Not to mention the fact that the laptop program is flawed. None of the students were taught anything about computer security (firewalls, anti-virus, etc.), and while the junior students were 'allowed' to use MSN Messenger and play games on their laptops, older, more mature students were forbidden such frivolous activities. Sure, let the children have their childhood, but would teaching them some limits be a problem?! They're going to have to get used to it now, since the school has gone to the 'You are not permitted to have games on your laptop' stance (and routinely performs fresh 'image restorations' on students' laptops)...
And the teachers... all of them have been teaching at Somerville so long they have become complacent. You couldn't get an appointment with them for Parent-Teacher night. What does the teacher say? "Oh, I'm sorry, but that's just too bad." If you try and get them to call your parents, they say they're too busy. What's a five minute phone call?! Sure, they've improved a little after Dr Goodwin came in (they were worse in the final years of Dr Evan's time as headmaster), but not all that much.
What is *good* to say about the school? All classrooms are air-conditioned. It has a decent performing arts center. It has a decent computer system (the IT staff are somewhat technologically capable, they just can't seem to find a way to pass that on to the users...). Um... it has a decent library.
Somerville House is hardly the best girls' school in Brisbane (look at all those limits...). It only ranks so high because everything else sucks too. All in all, the high price of the school means only the rich can afford it... and there are plenty of rich bimbos whose parents are going to be sending them to Somerville House because, apparently, it's a school for ladies (yeah right). It isn't going to attract many 'outsiders' - SH only offers ONE full scholarship for year 8 entry, and everyone else has to squabble over part scholarships. In fact, only outsiders can receive the full scholarship, since the school knows all those graduating from the primary school section should be able to afford the fees. Unfortunately, the fees for the uniforms AND the books total up so much my parents could've sent me to All Hallows *twice* with all the money they spent on my uniforms and books (and I tried my best to get 2nd hand).
SH has very little to offer that other schools do not provide. Very, very, *very* little. ShumbodhiPhamus 10:05, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
I agree, its overpriced. The books and uniforms are really expensive.
To quote you "Somerville House is hardly the best girls' school in Brisbane (look at all those limits...). It only ranks so high because everything else sucks too. " So I say that SH is best girls school in Bris is correct - i will not say it is the best in Aus, but it is def. one of the better schools in bris (well, when i went there it was...i hear its going downhill). Other than girls grammar, it is probably hard to find another girls school with similar %o of high OPs.
Overpriced? definitely. IT/tech is good? - *cough* i disagree. Laptop prog for junior years? a waste of money from parents if you sk me. But air-con, library, teachers are good. there needs to be more subject selection if you ask me though (esp in senior years)
-random past SH alumni
I dunno, Saint Margarets isn't too bad at OPs 'cept they're the most expensive girl's school in Brisbane haha. Anyway, Somerville has royally screwed the QCS these last few years, and it has been reflected in students that - despite achieving VHAs in at least 5 subjects - have received OPs that do not reflect their academic achievement. I did say that their *IT STAFF* were technologically capable... vaguely... but none of the students were. Yeah, laptop program would have been more effective in later years, and if they actually taught the students in IT about viruses, firewalls and stuff like that.
I dunno about the teachers, they have a tendency to be remarkably unprofessional when compared with staff internationally - but I am a little biased, having been exposed to education overseas before attending Somerville.
Well, the problem in regards to subject selection is that the campus is small and they can't exactly fit more subjects into the curriculum since there's no room to put them. Even schools that are geographically almost three times the size of Somerville House are building second campuses. ShumbodhiPhamus 23:40, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
This is not the place to discuss your opinions on Somerville House, rather it is a talk page for the sole purpose of discussing improvements to the article. Please see the page header. Loopla 00:12, 31 August 2007 (UTC)
I just thought I would pop in and say that Somerville achieved a score of 18.5% of Year 12 students achieving an OP1-2, compared to Brisbane Girls Grammar School achieving 17%. I don't think Somerville is going down hill at all. It is a tremendous school, with a huge amount of potential for all students. While I agree sporting areas could be more emphasised, it is adequate, consistently winning Head of the River and QGSSSA Swimming. The laptop program is a new idea so there will definitely be problems but let me tell you that students are most definitely not able to play games or msn messenger in any year. There are many systems in place to stop this. Textbooks and uniforms can be easily bought second hand - there are a systems for this. While there are many uniforms, this is currently in review and the white uniform and other music uniforms are being abolished. It is not mandatory to wear a school swimming cap at all, although most years they provide you with them for QG swimming. I think you will find that all private girls schools must wear ribbons in their hair. Finally, the fact that you may have been able to go to All Hallows for much less money does not replace the excellent OP records and life skills you receive at Somerville, which you are less likely to get elsewhere. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Salt and vineger (talk • contribs) 10:40, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
[edit] WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 14:05, 10 November 2007 (UTC)
