Illalong Newsletter - 15 July 2022 | A.B. Paterson College

Welcome Back to Term 3

A warm and hearty welcome back to Term 3 which has got off to a wonderful start. We commenced Term 3 with our College Welcome Back assembly. Throughout this assembly we were able to celebrate student achievements in the Sport, Academic and Performing Arts areas.

On this first day back all Year 6 students ‘lugged’ their duffle bags, stretcher beds and sleeping bags to school in readiness for an early departure on Wednesday morning for the Winton Camp. Exciting times have been reported, including a pretty chilly first night in Charleville.

Wednesday and Friday featured Day 1 and 2 of our Year 7 – 12 Interhouse Athletics Carnival. We had a heavy track and some cool weather on Wednesday which then brightened up and continued to improve into Friday. Across both days we saw some outstanding results, excellent House spirit and Community engagement.

A very warm welcome back to A.B. for Term 3 from Principal, Joanne Sheehy!

Tuesday kick started with an outstanding Welcome Back Assembly:

Performances by our Rock Band and Chamber Choir;
We welcomed Elder, Aunty Candace Kruger Kombumerri- Ngugi Traditional Custodian: Yugambeh Gold Coast and Quandamooka Moreton Island to the stage for the Welcome to Country and she shared her valuable knowledge about NAIDOC;
We welcomed our two guests from the Gold Coast Suns; Lachie Weller, defender, debuted in 2015 and has played 127 AFL matches and Ellie Hampson, midfielder, a graduate of the SUNS Academy who shared with us the beautiful family culture that is the Gold Coast Suns and who so kindly invited all of our A.B. students to attend the game on Sunday, 31 July (free tickets will be distributed to students via their Junior School classrooms and Senior School Homeroom class - HUGE thank you to our wonderful Gold Coast Suns);
Our Vice House Captains took on another of Mr Burgess's House Challenges on stage;
We presented our State Champions and Athletics Champions their awards;
We presented our State Honours Ensemble Program (SHEP) award winners; and
We presented our extraordinary da Vinci Decathlon award winners.

What a fabulous start to our term!

We would also like to introduce you to all of our new teachers who have joined our amazing A.B. community this term and we look forward to you meeting them.

Simon Edgar
Acting Heading of Senior School

Welcome to our New Teaching Staff

We would like to introduce you to all of our new teachers who have joined our amazing A.B. community this term and we look forward to you meeting them.

Their profiles are listed below.

BENITA SIHVOLA - ENGLISH FACULTY

Benita is an experienced Senior English teacher, who encourages curiosity, creativity and collaboration in her classroom. She takes great pride in sharing her expert knowledge with students, helping them to understand and be understood in this increasingly complex world. Benita is a kind and caring teacher, whose enthusiasm for the English curriculum is contagious.

MEGHAN BECKETT - ENGLISH FACULTY

Many families may recognise Meghan’s face as she was a previous student (Class of 2014) at A.B. She has also had the privilege of working at the College under Peter Gee as a swimming teacher for the past few years (both in squads and Learn to Swim). This week, we welcome Meghan to the English Faculty.

JUNE DU PLESSIS - ENGLISH FACULTY

June (pronounced “You-neigh”) has had a previous career was in animation, working as a team animator on the popular children’s television show called Bluey. While she loves animation she also loves reading and that makes her a perfect fit for our English Faculty and to cover Ms Rush while she is on long service leave.

JUDY MILLER - HASS FACULTY

Judy will be bringing her expertise to the Business, History and Geography classrooms in Semester 2. She has taught Years P-12 over 18 years, has lived on the coast for thirty years but has travelled the world to many ancient monuments. She is a practitioner who makes learning interesting, engaging, and ensures lessons are inclusive and challenging. All the best for Semester 2 Judy!

ANNA WHANNELL - HASS FACULTY

Anna has been teaching Humanities for six years in secondary schools across Brisbane and the Gold Coast. She loves working with students to achieve their very best and is excited to bring enthusiasm, subject knowledge and good humour to the community at A.B. Paterson College. Anna is also currently studying a Master of Educational Leadership at Australian Catholic University.

JAMES KING - TECHNOLOGY FACULTY

Having moved from Melbourne at the start of this year, James is very excited to embrace the Gold Coast lifestyle. He is enthusiastic about developing strong relationships with all his students and is looking forward to being a part of the great community that is A.B. Paterson College. You may recognise his face as he did relief teaching at the College last semester.

AMY MEI - MATHEMATICS FACULTY

Amy has previously taught the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) at a bilingual senior secondary school in China. She has also taught in Australia. She likes to deliver exciting hands-on activities in the Maths classroom. Welcome Amy to A.B. Paterson College.

KATE JACOBS - MATHEMATICS FACULTY

Kate is an Alumni of the College (Class of 2015) so you may recognise her face. She has been involved in a wide range of co-curricular activities at the College and has expressed an eagerness to continue to give back to the College in the co-curricular area. Kate, we hope you can still find your way around the College even though you shared with us your joy at the College’s new learning spaces including the Winton Centre.

College production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

WHAT A MAGICAL PRODUCTION!

While the red curtain has closed on the final show of our A.B. Paterson College production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, we are completely in awe of the depth of talents demonstrated by our incredible musical performance students in Year 4-12.

We witnessed not just singers, dancers, musicians, backstage crew, side stage crew, lighting and communications crew during our production, but also the strength of their good character, their excellence, care and commitment for each other behind the scenes each and every day. We sincerely thank each and every one of you for your outstanding good character and high standards, which A.B. Paterson College is known for. Please enjoy these production photos as special keepsakes!

As is tradition at A.B. Paterson College, our production students took the time last night after our Finale performance of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to thank all of the extraordinary staff and volunteers who give their time and talents every year to ensure our students continue to receive the greatest opportunities.

Please join us on behalf of the entire College community, to convey our overwhelming gratitude to the following amazing A.B. Paterson College staff and team of brilliant volunteers of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang:

Ms Nadia Mackenzie – Musical Director - a remarkably talented musician in her own right – managed a feat to amalgamate some of the score to suit our performers, and of course produce the sublimely sounding orchestra supporting our student stage performers.

Ms Emily Fletcher – Director extraordinaire, whose interpretation of this screenplay has really shone through showcasing our talented students across every aspect of these performances, all while playing an integral part of their treasured memories for years to come.

Ms Sharyn Walker-Joyce – Producer and Head of Performing and Academic Arts here at A.B. Paterson College. Under her guidance and leadership students from across Prep to Year 12, develop as singers, dancers, musicians and performers – and clearly flourish when given the opportunity to perform.

The indominable Ms Rachel Newcombe who has been at our College for 20 years and whose passion for our Choral program and our College choirs is something we are all so grateful for.

Ms Jacki Olivier – an artist in her own right – has inspired our student artwork that is on display in our LPAC foyer, also on our online Auction and Merchandise links, and most amazingly forms all of the backdrops of our Chitty Chitty Bang Bang production.

These two sensational stalwarts (and ex-parents of A.B.) who have for decades been behind the scenes; sourcing, sewing, constructing and hemming away so our students would have costuming to compliment the choice of musical. Lisa Wise and Janet Burrage – whose vision, attention to detail and creativity know no bounds.

And… for those of you who had children in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang performances – you will have heard tales (we are sure) about the car… So without any elaboration, we would like to sincerely thank our back stage crew who have truly embodied the College motto of Excellence, Care and Commitment to the task of making sure our car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang did what it was supposed to do!

Thank you also, to our wonderful parents, who have supported their children during the hours of driving back and forth to rehearsals and working constantly around the clock to ensure their children achieve their dreams!

To everyone in our A.B. community, we thank you for giving us the A.B. Difference - to challenge the individual to achieve and to act with purpose and good character!

Sharyn Walker-Joyce
Head of The Arts

Year 6 Winton Tour - Days 1 to 3

Banjo Paterson (who our College is named after) penned the country’s unofficial national anthem, Waltzing Matilda, in the central-west Queensland town of Winton.

Our College continues to foster these ties with the town of Winton...

On Wednesday morning our Year 6 students embarked on their nine-day adventure journeying through outback Queensland to towns including Charleville, Barcaldine, Emerald and Longreach to Winton.

Where our Year 6 students will develop an appreciation for life in the outback and experience the values of resilience, hard work and character first-hand, while nurturing their own spirit of Australia!

Everyone enjoyed a nice stop at Dalby, then a lovely lunch in Miles, ate afternoon tea in Roma and they are a couple of hours out from Charleville, where they will set up camp for a couple of nights.

Day 1 - Wednesday 13 July

Some very happy and excited Year 6 students on their first day on Wednesday just after they left A.B. Paterson College on their Outback adventures.

There were smiles all round as everyone enjoyed a nice stop at Dalby, then a lovely lunch in Miles, ate afternoon tea in Roma and then set up camp in Charleville, where they enjoyed a warm dinner and are staying for a couple of nights - as there are plenty of amazing activities and places they visited, before travelling on to Barcaldine Longreach on Thursday!

Day 2 - Thursday 14 July

After a chilly night in Charleville, our Year 6 students experienced some very memorable visits on Thursday morning to the Royal Flying Doctors Museum, the World War II Museum and then to the Bilby and Tourism Centre. The souvenirs were an absolute hit and the beanie pin collection has begun.

After lunch, students and staff ventured down the main street of Charleville for the A.B. Paterson College Amazing Race, as they all enjoyed pitting their wits against each other to solve the mysteries of Charleville.

Thursday afternoon our Year 6 students workshopped putting up and taking down tents, in preparation for camping in Longreach.

Needless to say, there were definitely a lot of first times!

We are looking forward to sharing with you more of the exciting adventures that await our wonderful A.B. Year 6 students Friday!

Day 3 - Friday 15 July

Winton Camp 2022 greetings from this Friday's very early 4:15am pack up, a grab and go breakfast and very sleepy bus trip as they left Charleville and are on route to Barcaldine for lunch, then to Longreach to set up camp.

Stay tuned for more exciting and 'awake' photos, when we share later in the many more amazing adventures our Year 6 students are about embark on!

We will continue to update you with photos as they come in each day on the College Facebook page!

Senior School Interhouse Athletics Carnival

Term 2 Prep to Year 3 Makerspace Gets Creative

Last term’s Prep to Year 3 Makerspace After School Program allowed for seven weeks of discovery and creation. Being project-based, we developed our fine motor skills while exploring the concepts of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. We created seven different projects, each week of the Term 2 program.

The term started off by making structural towers with toothpicks and marshmallows. This helped us develop our engineering and mathematical S.T.E.A.M. skills – along with self-regulation. The trickiest part of the activity was getting the marshmallows on the end our toothpicks, instead of the tips of our tongues!

In our second week we focussed on the women in our lives – make dry goods cookie jars. Using food technology, mathematics and art we created perfectly measured dry ingredients to make a delicious batch of cookies for Mother’s Day. The children then decorated the Mason jars and included instructions on how to make the cookies, together as a family. They were beautiful to look at and reports came in from mums that the cookies were a hit too!

Our third week was a blend of art and science where we worked with crayon (oil) and water colours to learn what happens when oil and water mixed. Lots of learning happened and the end result is some beautiful batik inspired artwork.

In our fourth week, we enjoyed entering new realities in Prep to Year 3 Makerspace. Students got to have a go with Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Students used our iPads and the Quiver App to bring their artwork to life. We also worked on our gross motor skills, learning how to navigate the ‘Beat Saber’ App on the Oculus VR goggles. Our VR goggles are loved among our students and is becoming a session we ensure an opportunity for each term.

In our fifth session in Term 2, there was lots of conversation around the Federal Election – so we thought we would combine technology and art together to create our own form of ‘campaign buttons’. Students first created the artwork they wanted to showcase in their button pins and then worked with the ‘Green Jackets’ and the College’s very own button maker machine to create their own button pin. Students were quite taken with this form of ‘old fashion’ technology.

Slime is always a hit in Prep to Year 3 Makerspace sessions and this term we got gooey with the addition of glitter. While students cheer on Slime Day – the jury is still out whether the adults in the family are as thrilled to have a bag of homemade slime enter the family home upon pick up. The Makerspace Team is still convinced that the smiles – and learning – is worth it!

We always end our Makerspace program by making ice cream and discussing the science behind this. The delicious final project is created with basic ingredients, plastic bags and kid-power. As this is a definite outdoor activity and the temperatures had dropped by the end of Term 2, our students were tough and dealt with cold fingers as they made beautiful ice cream. They soon forgot about the cold as they were adding sauces and sweets to their creations. Sticky smiles everywhere!

Our Prep to Year 3 Makerspace program was another success this term, and one of the reasons for our ongoing success is our ‘Green Jackets’. The program has Senior School student volunteers, who help manage the program and work with our youngest Makerspace students to aide them and give advice with their projects and creations. They are extraordinary in their love and support of both our projects and our students.

Next week, we have a new group of Makerspace students beginning our Term 3 program. Our Year 2 and Year 3 Makerspace students meet on Wednesday afternoons in the Lilly Pilly Learning Centre and our Prep and Year 1 students meet on Thursday afternoons in the Lilly Pilly Learning Centre. While our program is full for Term 3, please consider registering your child for Term 4. Places are available first to students who have not been able to join earlier in the year and then by waitlist to our past Makerspacers.

Please use the link to register or contact Stephanne Siberry in our A.B. Paterson College Libraries for more details https://makerspace.abpat.qld.edu.au/

Stephanne Siberry
Head of Library Services