Halfway through Term 3 already!

Year 10 students have been working hard on their preliminary year of Senior Schooling, and by now they have a good idea of the subjects they enjoy, and those they may need for their desired post-school pathway. They will be commencing their Year 11 studies in Term 4, so if there are any questions about subjects and pathways now is a great time to ask me or  Jeanette Maxwell!

Year 11 students are coming to the end of Unit 2 and will commence the units with assessment that contribute towards their final Year 12 grades, and their ATAR in Term 4. Every mark counts! It’s never too soon to start thinking about what next year will bring, so if you have any questions about IAs, EAs, QCE, ATAR, QCAA, AARA, and any of the other acronyms we throw at you from time to time, please get in touch with me and I will be more than happy to answer your questions.

Year 12 students have seen their final 100 day celebration come and go this week, and have just completed the last of their IA3s, meaning all that is left now is some serious studying to prepare for the Mock Exams at the end of this term, and the External Exams next term. They have also been meeting with me and Jeanette Maxwell, Head of Pathways, to discuss their post-Year 12 pathways, create a QTAC account and register for their ATAR. We wish them luck as we support them in achieving their best in the culmination of their Senior studies.

Kind regards

Rachel Horner | Dean of Studies

At this week's Years 7-9 Academic Awards Assembly, students were celebrated for their academic achievements. Congratulations to our brilliant and hardworking students! You are an inspiration to us all.

Director of Student Academic Performance, Belinda Pilgrim, reassured those students that did not receive an award, that we all have been blessed with different abilities and talents. She encouraged us to discover and develop our talents.

The A Capella Girls and Jonathan Albertini entertained us with a fun rendition of Footloose and the A Capella Boys performed a heartfelt version of Longest Time. These groups have definitely found their talent! Thank you for sharing it with us.

Congratulations to all students who received an Academic Award!

On Wednesday, the Year 12 students enjoyed some yummy cupcakes marking the countdown to 100 days remaining in their time at the College.

Principal, Mrs Joanne Sheehy asked the Year 12s to make the most of their time left at the College, but reminded them that she expects every student to make a big effort during these remaining 100 days to achieve the best that they can.

Thank you, Mrs Shannon Still-Wright for making this a memorable milestone for the Year 12s.

Year 4 have been learning about the First Fleet as part of our current Humanities and Social Sciences unit. To help students gain a stronger understanding of what experiences and challenges the convicts faced upon their arrival in Australia, at the end of Week 3 we headed off on an excursion to St Helena Island. The Island is located just 4 kilometres away from the Brisbane CBD, in Moreton Bay. The Island has a fascinating history. Its most significant period was when it functioned as a high-security colonial prison from 1867.

We travelled to and from the island on the Cat o’ Nine Tails Ferry, on which our guides informed us that we were all now prisoners! We then spent a fantastic day roaming the island and engaging with its rich history via role play.

We found out that each prisoner had a different job to do. Some were the bakers who baked bread, salted and smoked meat, and made hominy porridge. If you were a trusted prisoner, you could have what was described as the best job: a domestic servant for the warden. To become a trusted prisoner, however, we learned that you had to be on the island for a minimum of 14 years with a good record! If you misbehaved on the island, punishment was harsh, varying from being whipped with a cat-o-nine tails by your own cellmate, to being locked in solitary confinement for up to three days.

We had a fascinating day learning about the past.

Below are some quotes from our Year 4 students, commenting on this amazing experience:

• I loved learning about St Helena Islands prisoners and their life on the island. - Annie
• It was interesting to explore the graveyard and other different buildings on the island. Life would have been really hard back then. - Audrey
• I feel sorry for the prisoners. They weren’t treated very nicely, and they had such boring food! - Luke
• We learnt that St Helena Island did not meet all the rules for a good place for settlement: they had fresh water and the soil was good for growing but the access to the island was bad. - Rosabelle
• It was funny to be treated by prisoners for the day. We learned so much about being a convict. I would not have liked being in charge of the cell bucket. - Alfie
• My favourite part was when Arie went to visit her husband. She acted really well and knew it was all a joke. - Fletcher

Tim Collins, Tiffany Henry, Samantha Aplin and Zoe Truss-Michaelis | Year 4 Teachers

It was a hive of excitement at the pool on Monday morning as new Head Swimming Coach, Liam DuFeu, took to the pool deck for his first session with our swimmers. Despite the single figure temperatures, there were around 40 students at the pool to meet Liam and begin their new program.

Liam is an extremely talented coach with a fantastic reputation in the Swimming community, joining us from a GPS Sschool where he held positions as the Director of Swimming and Head of Junior Swimming. Liam will work closely with our Pool Manager, Peter Gee, to offer our students the best possible swimming experience.

We are excited to see the direction that Liam takes the programs. He is looking forward to working with everyone.

Welcome aboard Liam! 

In weeks 3 and 4 of this Term, the Junior and Senior APS Athletics Carnivals were held across three days at Somerset College. Despite many of the rainy days and inclement weather conditions, all three days of these carnivals produced fantastic conditions for all track and field events. For many of our younger competitors, this was the first time they had competed on a synthetic track and were very eager to do so and challenge themselves against the best athletes the APS Athletics Competition had to offer.

Many of our students, particularly those from the Junior School, had been training hard in the early mornings with our College Track & Field Coaching Staff, many of whom are new to the College and had never experienced an APS Carnival before; hence, the excitement on behalf of the coaches as well as students was palpable, and it was very pleasing the way that A.B. students performed at the carnivals, with some outstanding results being achieved.

Our Junior team finished 5^th overall and 5^th on percentage, which are some of the best results we have achieved in recent years. These placings were a credit to all our team members, but especially those who committed to training since the season began in early May.

CLICK HERE to view the list of 9-12 Years Top 3 Place Getters who deserve a special mention for achieving a podium finish in their respective events. 

From these students, five were rewarded with Age Champion Awards - a fantastic achievement at such a competitive carnival.

Our 9 Year Boys and 12 Year Boys also deserve commendation for achieving 3^rd place and 2^nd place respectively in the Age Division Results.

The APS Senior Team also did the College proud from their performances at the APS Senior School Athletics Carnival. Like the Junior Team, they, too, finished 5^th overall and 6^th on percentage, which was also very rewarding considering it was the highest finish in some time for an APS Senior Team.

CLICK HERE to view the list of 13-19 Years Top 3 Place Getters who achieved a podium finish in their respective events. 

The College would also like to make special mention of the following students who achieved an Age Champion Award at the Senior Carnival:

As the Individual Performance Sports at the College are all working hard at creating a genuine team environment. It was very pleasing to see the 14 Boys, 16 Boys, and Open Boys all finish 3^rd in their Age Division, which was a terrific collective accomplishment.

One individual athlete from our College stole the show in one of his events by breaking the APS Shot-Put record in the 14 Year Boys with each one of his three throws. Agapetos Lote-Felo deserves a huge congratulations for throwing 14.25m from his best attempt, thus breaking the record which has stood for quite some time. Well done, Agapetos!

Finally, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Teams’ coaches, who included Leana Joyce, Steve Jackson, Matt Stopel, Tennille Mitchell, Sona Preiszlerova, Emelia Surch, Noah Fielding, Darrell Menezes and Warwick Ford. The Activities Team consisting of. Nathan Burgess, Sara Eade, Emily O’Sullivan, and Julie Ashton-Lucy are also owed a massive thank you for all their hard work behind the scenes in ensuring the carnivals were a success for our College.

We very much hope to build on the impressive results achieved this year and set our sights even higher in future years.

Lachlan Webb | APS Squads Coordinator

Congratulations Emelia Surch!

The A.B. Community would like to congratulate Old Collegian and A.B. Athletics Coach, Emelia Surch, following her amazing performance at the Under 20 World Championships in Columbia!

Competing in both the Long Jump and Hurdles, Emelia did an outstanding job representing herself and our country. Her best performance of the meet came in the Long Jump, where she jumped 6.45m (25cm personal best) to finish fourth in the world.

This performance was the equal best place ever by an Australian in the event, and the longest distance ever jumped by an Australian at the World Under 20’s Championships!

We are so proud of you Emelia - please join us in celebrating her extraordinary results! 

Congratulations to our Open Girls Volleyball team who competed in the Year 12 Division 2 at the Queensland Volleyball Senior Schools Cup held at the Gold Coast Sport & Leisure Centre on the 5-7 August. This is the first time the A.B. Brumbies have competed at this carnival where our girls produced an outstanding result finishing in 4th place overall.

The girls came up against some strong competition in their pool matches but displayed great skill, unwavering determination, and true Brumbies spirit to finish top of Pool B with 4 wins while only dropping 2 sets. They took on every challenge before them during their semi-final match against Isis District High School, coming oh so close to Gold Medal playoff, going down 25-23 and 25-20. The girls rallied together for their Year 12 Division 2 Bronze Medal playoff against Kingston eventually going down 25-20, 25-14.

A big thank you to Ms Ursula Lindeberg who has vigorously coached the team throughout the APS season and beyond to prepare them for the tournament. Thank you also to all the parents, siblings and friends who came to support the girls.

Sara Eade | Assistant Director of Activities

*Finished Top of Pool B - Straight to Semi-Finals.

Congratulations Ava!

Our very own A.B. Brumby Swimming Captain, Ava Woodfield, has been named the Queensland Swimming Captain for the 13-19 years state team! 

Ava will represent Queensland next week at the Australian Swimming Championships held in Brisbane. 

Congratulations to Ava on her outstanding leadership - A.B. Paterson College is very proud.

The Chaines Dance Troupe have been lucky enough to work with guest choreographer, Joel Murphy. It has been a pleasure having Joel teach the troupe such a beautiful routine, and we look forward to sharing it with the A.B. community in the coming weeks.

To watch a video of the Chaines Dance Troupe rehearsing click here.

Emily Fletcher | Teacher of Performing Arts

The Performing Arts faculty is delighted to present an evening of instrumental music for our band and strings families next Friday night, 19 August. Many of our music families will have already saved the date but we would love to welcome all supporters of our students to the performances! 

The students in our concert band program have recently had the privilege of working with Australian Army Bandmaster, Grant Mason, whilst our Big Bands have workshopped with Dan Quigley, Head of School at the Jazz Music Institute.  These gentlemen have provided wonderful and detailed feedback for both our instrumentalists and directors, whilst reinforcing a passion for ensemble playing. We are so grateful for their input and look forward to putting everything into action at our concert, as well as at the upcoming Gold Coast Eisteddfod and Annual Giving Day events.

Next Friday, the Strings evening will take place from 5:00pm – 5:45pm in the Elderslie Theatre, and will feature our three string ensembles as well as selected soloists. A short walk will then lead you to the LPAC theatre where our Concert Bands, Big Bands and Rock Bands will entertain guests from 6:00pm. 

We look forward to filling our venues in support of our hard working and performance-deprived instrumental music students!

Sharyn Walker-Joyce | Head of The Arts

Isabelle Doo (Year 10) was recently awarded Highly Commended in the Year 9 and Year 10 - Short Story category in the 2022 IEU and ETAQ Literary Competition.

Congratulations Isabelle – we are very proud of you! 

Please enjoy reading Isabelle’s winning entry Behind the Glass.

Belinda Pilgrim | Director of Student Academic Performance

Ivy Perry (Year 4) has been very busy over the last couple of weeks, most recently performing at the Gold Coast Eisteddfod in a variety of dance styles. After only starting to perform solos this year, Ivy has already been very successful! 

Congratulations to Ivy for achieving 2nd place in her Classical Ballet section and 1st place in Demi Character/Classical Ballet. These are wonderful achievements and certainly a reflection of Ivy’s passion for dancing.

Well done Ivy – we are very proud of your results.

Congratulations to Lucas Wang (Year 5) who has achieved some wonderful results at the Gold Coast Eisteddfod! 

Lucas is a very talented pianist who was awarded 1st place in the section for Examination AMEB Level 6, as well as 1st place in the Piano - 10 and 11 years section. Lucas was also awarded 2nd place in the 10 and 11 years Contemporary (any instrument) section at the Quota Beenleigh Eisteddfod. 

Well done Lucas! We look forward to hearing more about your piano achievements in the future. 

Sharyn Walker-Joyce | Head of The Arts

What is Children’s Day?

Jingeri! (Greetings!)

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day is our national day dedicated to celebrating all First Nation children and it is recognised across the country each year on 4 August. Children’s Day is an opportunity for us to show our support for First Nation students by acknowledging the crucial impact that culture, family and community play in young people’s lives.

Our A.B. Paterson College community showed their support for Children’s Day by replacing the College Bells with the Didgeridoo. This initiative displayed support for our First Nations students by inclusively integrating Aboriginal culture within our community.

Students also participated in lunch time learning hubs to hear First Nation stories, play with clapsticks and learn to count in Yugambeh. Do you know how to count to five in Yugambeh?

Counting in Yugambeh
Yabru - One
Bula - Two
Bulayabru - Three
Bulabula - Four
Dunngunn - Five

Our First Nation staff and students also shared knowledge with students to complete a collaborative art project. Year 11 student, Caitlin Thornbury from the Kamilaroi mob, guided our younger students to yarn about what the Aboriginal flag represents. Then the students were guided to paint their hand and add this to a canvas. This artwork will be displayed in the College to acknowledge our First Nation community. We are very proud of our students for displaying a love of learning and for being supportive of their First Nation classmates.

Baugull Wanyi (Thank You)

Samantha Middleton | Junior School Curriculum Coordinator & Year 3 Teacher

After many months of maturing, our passionfruit vine has fruited. 

Amelia in Year 1 was the first to taste this sweet garden treat!

For more information, please email Daisy Ross 
dross@abpat.qld.edu.au.

Daisy Ross | Junior School Service-Learning Coordinator

We are thrilled to once again be able to invite prospective families to experience the A.B. difference at our Open Day on Wednesday 12 October. 

Open Day is a great opportunity to tour our magnificent learning precinct, The Winton Centre, visit the May Gibbs Prep Precinct and Lilly Pilly Learning Centre, and meet Principal, Ms Joanne Sheehy, members of the Senior Leadership Team and Head of Admissions, Mrs Karen Milburn.

Bookings are essential and further information, including the booking link, can be found on the College website here - Open Days and College Tours.

Please feel free to share this information with your friends and family. We look forward to welcoming them to our College!

Congratulations to our Week 5, Term 3 Bumper Sticker Winners!

sARAH nOWLAND AND vASILY lONG

Your vehicle must be registered in the competition to be eligible for our weekly bumper sticker draw. 

Get your 2022 bumper sticker from College Reception and enter here:

collegebumperstickercompetition@abpat.qld.edu.au

Our lucky winners each receive $100 off their school fee invoice for the following term! At the end of Term 3, all our weekly winners will be invited to an afternoon tea where one family will be drawn to receive FREE* tuition for their eldest child for Term 4 2022 (*tuition fee only).

CLICK HERE for more information regarding the 2022 Bumper Sticker competition.