Illalong Newsletter - 1 September 2022

Resilience and Leadership in our Students

Building resilience and leadership capacity in our students has long been qualities the College seeks to support the growth of in our students. All students have the capacity to develop these skills ongoing, then circumstances both at school and at home, allow our students to put them on display. I have been fortunate to spend time with students of all ages, right across the College this year and have witnessed these qualities in action in a variety of settings and displayed in a variety of ways.

At the moment, our Year 5 students and staff are busy preparing for their first school camp at the Bornhoffen Leadership and Development Centre. This is a great opportunity for students to build on programs at school, including our SELF classes as well as the many ideas we embed into our day to day interactions. Judith Locke (Author of The Bonsai Child and The Bonsai Student) highlights some of the essential skills a child needs. These include resilience, self-regulation, resourcefulness, respect and responsibility.

We expect our students to face challenges, and in particular be faced with moments of stress and uncertainty while on their camp. We also know that these moments will give them opportunities to further develop and enhance their resilience and leadership capacity. As staff gently guide them through 3 days of team building as well as physically and mentally challenging activities – the staff will also be looking at opportunities to step back, and allow the students to step up and flourish, problem solve and put their skills into action.

To pinch a quote from Judith Locke: “Allow them to grow. Really have confidence in your child and become a little less involved, over time, so they can do that. If you continue to hover around them or trim their daily experience to a point where they’re only getting the good things of life then you’re not truly letting them develop into being independent, mature individuals.”

This camp is also a fantastic open to any individual’s leadership aspirations, as the Year 5 students are busy preparing applications and set goals for the next 12 plus months!

We also acknowledge that leadership doesn’t always come with a badge or a label but can be displayed at any time.

I’m looking forward to seeing the photos and hearing all the wonderful stories in the days and weeks to come!

You can find more information about Judith Locke and the Bornhoffen experience below:

Liam Burke | Acting Deputy Head of Junior School: Pastoral

Gold Coast Eisteddfod - Ensembles

And that’s a wrap for the ensembles section of the Gold Coast Eisteddfod for 2022! We are so grateful to the organising committee for all of their amazing work across multiple venues and we thank them sincerely for their efforts in making this wonderful performance opportunity possible.

Since our last update on Wednesday, we had an additional 13 competitors in last Thursday’s final day of choral competition, followed by multiple performances for our four dance troupes across the long weekend!

It has been a fabulous few weeks of nerves, excitement and new friendships and the students have been exceptional ambassadors for the College. Thank you to the whole College community for your continued support and lovely well wishes, and a special shout out to the combined Year 5/6 Choir for their attainment of the elusive Platinum Award!!! Every single student should be extremely proud of their performances and demonstration of school spirit across the eisteddfod season.

Prep Choir Boys – Silver Award
Prep Choir Girls – Silver Award
Year 1 Choir Boys – Silver Award
Year 1 Choir Boys – Silver Award
Year 2S and 2D Singers – Gold Award and 2nd Place
Year 2R and 2L Singers – Gold Award and 2nd Place
Year 3M and 3H Singers – Gold Award and 1st place
Year 3B and 3C Singers – Gold Award and 1st place
Boys’ Chorus – Gold Award and 3rd Place
A Cappella Girls’ – Silver Award
A Cappella Boys’ – Bronze Award
Senior School Showcase Ensemble – Gold Award and 3rd Place
Junior School Showcase Ensemble – PLATINUM AWARD and 1st Place
Junior Jete Dance Troupe – Highly Commended

Huge congratulations also to the amazing Plie Dancers, Senior Jete Dancers and Chaines Dancers who competed magnificently across many categories on the long weekend. The Gold Coast Eisteddfod dance categories are always hotly contested, with awards categorised very differently to the Choral and Band sections. You should all be wonderfully proud of your routines and your dedication to the Dance program here at the College.

Ole! Our students at the Gold Coast Eisteddfod showing our strong A.B. spirit. If this battle cry is anything to go by, they are going to delight the audience with their performance. What a gorgeous, joyful, showcase ensemble! Click here to view the video.

Sharyn Walker-Joyce | Head of The Arts

Year 8 Higher Ground Camp - Day 1 to 4

Our A.B. Paterson College Year 8 campers are having a wonderful time at Kenilworth, where students have been canoeing, raft building, crate stacking and orienteering and mountain bike riding.

On Tuesday our groups rotated - those at base camp went camping and the campers went back to base camp for activities.

Our A.B. Paterson College Year 8 campers have smiles a plenty at change-over day, as they continue to enjoy the many adventurous activities together!

More exciting photos from our A.B. Paterson College Year 8 campers, as they continue their adventures at Kenilworth. As you can see, they are enjoying every moment!

'Something's Changing' in Year 5 Science

Earlier this term, Year 5 students attended an Ocean Stars Marine Education incursion as part of our Term 3 Science unit titled Something’s Changing. As this science unit focuses on the study of marine creatures, their structural, physiological and behavioural features and how they have adapted over time to survive in their changing habitats, the Ocean Stars incursion provided a wonderful hands-on learning opportunity. Students investigated the specific adaptations of micro-organisms that inhabit our local waterways and discussed the importance of protecting these inhabitants through maintaining healthy water courses.

Further building on this learning, Year 5 explored specific marine life adaptations and how these are vital for sustaining the life of marine organisms, allowing for their continual survival in the heavily polluted aquatic environments of the future. Students proposed adaptations that will assist a chosen marine creature to survive and reproduce in the wild, including consideration of how they will eat, breathe, move and protect themselves. This meticulous research and scientific investigation, further lent itself to the students writing an engaging information report within English classes, detailing the necessary adaptations of the chosen marine creature of the future.

Georgina Burrows, Caitlin Sterry, Kate Lawrence and Dean West | Year 5 Teachers

Junior Interschool Chess Competition

On Thursday 25 August, a small group of students from our Junior School Chess Team, participated in the Term 3 Interschool Chess Competition at Coomera Springs State School. Twelve very eager and excited club members gathered at the Tucker-bag, before heading to the bus to participate in the day’s competition. On the way to Coomera Springs, the students very excited; discussed strategies, different moves, and the most effective ways to achieve a checkmate! Upon arrival, we checked in and students enjoyed a friendly round of chess before the competition started. Once the competition was underway, the entire hall went silent and our club members went into 'game mode'. Our A.B. Paterson College Chess Club students displayed determination, perseverance and grit as they competed in seven rounds of chess throughout the day, competing against ten various schools from the Gold Coast community.

Round one was off to a flying start with Harper, Aidan M, Toby, Alana, Ethan, Hamza and Rachel all scoring first place in their respective divisions. The next few rounds saw Aidan M, Ethan, Hamza, Emily, Toby and Jason continue with their winning streak! During round 6, we cheered as Taysin won his game and then we ventured to watch Alana’s game as she wisely made strategic moves in a high stakes round, which captivated the audience as we watched in awe! Throughout the day, Maxim, Harper and Aidan T, displayed kindness and positively and supported their peers throughout each round with a positive mindset and words of encouragement.

A very special congratulations to Hamza Orakzai for participating in his very first chess interschool competition, who remained calm and displayed tactical strategies throughout the day. Junior Chess Club would like to congratulate Ethan McIntyre who won every single round throughout the day; well done, Ethan!

Mr Trent Davis and Mrs Lena White were very impressed with how all our students utilised their thinking skills, displayed logic and playing ability throughout the day. They represented the A.B. Paterson College very well and they should all be very proud of themselves.

Well done to all chess players and keep up the fantastic work! Junior Chess Club runs every Monday afternoon from 3:30pm – 4:30pm in the Winton Centre. Please keep an eye out in Parent Lounge for details about our up-coming and final interschool event which will be held towards the end of Term 4 – more details to come!

Trent Davis and Lena White | Chess Club Co-ordinators