Somerville House (The Brisbane High School for Girls) was founded in 1899.
The operation of the School was taken over by The Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association in 1919 and the school moved to its present location, overlooking the city of Brisbane, in 1920. The School occupies a site of approximately 3.6 hectares at South Brisbane.
This single sex girls’ school offers instruction from Preparatory (age 4 years) to Year 12 and currently has a total enrolment of 1,232 including 110 boarders. The Junior School has 356 students; the Middle School has 405 students; and the Senior School has 471 students.
The teaching staff comprises 91 persons. Supporting the Principal is a Management Team comprising the Head of Senior School, Head of Junior School, Head of Middle School, Dean of Students, Director of Development, Director of Activities, Head of Boarding and the Senior Chaplain. The Business Manager is a member of the Management Team and is responsible to the School Council and the Council of the PMSA through the Principal. The Business Manager is appointed by the School Council with input from the Principal.
In pastoral care, class teachers provide for student needs in the Junior School. Heads of Year lead the pastoral care system in the Middle School and Senior School.
All members of staff are subject to periodic appraisal through an agreed process.
The School is supported by a progressive Council, an active Parents and Friends’ Association, a long-established Old Girls’ Association and the Somerville House Foundation.
The Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association was formed to establish and carry on schools where pupils may obtain an education which is in accordance with sound educational principles and which is consistent with basic Christian doctrine.
The aims of Somerville House are based on the Christian faith applied in a day and boarding school environment, with the objective to have its students leave the School as well educated and well-adjusted people with a Godly purpose and goal in life and capable of taking their place as responsible members of society.
The School offers a comprehensive general education to all of its students within an holistic curriculum. The aims and objectives are the agreed goals of the teachers, parents, and School Council members and they serve as the guiding criteria for assessing school performance. The aims are presented in five broad groupings, all of which have identified performance standards. The groupings have the following headings:
The philosophy underlying the running of the School is the desire to encourage each student to develop as an individual by participating in as many activities as possible, keeping in balance the five broad groupings of school aims. Each student is cared for as an individual and is valued for her whole range of interests and abilities. It is the aim of the School that each student will be developed to her full academic and broader potential. By learning about themselves and by experiencing the concern of others for them, students will be able to show care and respect for others, and themselves become integrated and caring persons in the communities in which they live.
Somerville House is one of the nation’s leading schools in academic achievement. The pursuit of high levels of scholarship by students is encouraged.
The School follows a curriculum based on Key Learning Areas syllabuses developed by the Queensland Schools Curriculum Council, now the Queensland Studies Authority. The KLAs are English, Mathematics, Science, Study of Society and the Environment, Christian Education, Languages other than English, Technology, The Arts, and Health and Physical Education. The KLA approach is used from Preparatory class to Year 9, the end of the Middle Schooling.
In the Senior School, students follow subject syllabuses of the Queensland Studies Authority. In total, 24 subjects are offered, with the option to undertake other studies through distance education mode if needed.
A vocationally-oriented program, Somerlinks, is provided in Years 11 and 12 for students wishing to follow a different course structure. A maximum of 20 students per year level is set for this course option.
Applicants from interstate should be aware that Queensland follows a system of school-based assessment, with State-wide monitoring, when determining the results of students in Years 11 and 12. All students intending to gain entry to a tertiary institution complete the Core Skills Test of the QSA, held in September each year.
Somerville House is a school with many high achieving students. Several students undertake university level studies as part of their school programs, including work at each of Brisbane’s universities and the Conservatorium of Music.
The Somerville House site contains a blend of buildings ranging from ‘Cumbooquepa’, the original school building, now used as an administration centre and boarding house, the Chapel, and the former South Brisbane Town Hall, all listed by the National Trust, through to a very modern Sports Centre and a Performing Arts Complex, and a new Junior School and Boarding House.
Sports grounds are limited, with the School using community facilities extensively. The Murray Evans Sports and Aquatic Centre contains a full gymnasium, gymnastics area, and a fitness conditioning centre and a 50 metre pool. The School competes actively and successfully in a full range of sporting and cultural activities and is one of the few Australian schools to have included Chess in the formal curriculum in the Junior and Middle Schools. A Water Sports Centre on the Brisbane River, caters predominantly for rowing.
The Valmai Pidgeon Performing Arts Complex incorporates an auditorium seating 1100, two lecture theatres, a music level with band and string rehearsal rooms. Situated next to Southbank, the School is in close proximity to the City, the Qld Performing Arts Complex, Conservatorium and Qld College of Art.
Applicants must be sympathetic to the aims and ethos of independent schools and be prepared to give keen, active support to the School’s Christian principles and directions.
All staff members are appointed by the Principal and they are responsible to her for the overall performance of their duties. All staff undergo an initial 12 months’ probationary period.
Staff are expected to conform to the Code of Professional Conduct currently in place, and should be in sympathy with all aspects of the Role of a Teacher document which follows.
All staff at Somerville House must display levels of IT competency, as defined in the School's Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.
Please note that Somerville House is a non-smoking environment.
Terms and conditions of employment are governed by the Non-Government Schools Award and the School’s current Enterprise Bargaining Agreement, dated 26 November 2011.
Applications must include a full transcript of academic subjects and lists of achievements and past teaching and other employment history, together with the name and contact details of three referees, plus the official Application for Employment Form.
The teacher is required to:
