As we bid farewell to the extraordinary Year 12 cohort on Friday, we wished them all the best for their future endeavors.
We know you are all confident, capable and courageous young people who are destined for great things.
We hope our College and its people will always hold a special place in your hearts, the same way that you hold one in ours.
This is not goodbye, only see you later.
The College's 32nd Annual Speech Night event was held on Wednesday 16 November in the Dunlop Multipurpose Centre.
The academic, sporting and cultural achievements of students were formally recognised in front of the Year 4-12 cohort, staff and parents. Alongside Principal and staff addresses, Charley Ellwood, 2022 College Captain, made a memorable and heartwarming speech to those in attendance.
It was wonderful to see so many successes achieved by numerous students.
Congratulations to all award winners and major prize recipients!
CLICK HERE to view the full Program of Awards
On Saturday 12 November, the College celebrated its first-ever Celebration of Sport Evening.
The event proved to be an incredible success, with more than 420 parents, staff and students in attendance at Sea World.
The night consisted of a delicious buffet dinner, carnival games, photo booth, unveiling of the new Brumbies logo, a guest speaker panel consisting of World Ironwoman Champion, Harriet Brown; Australian Swimmer, Lani Pallister; and Australian Olympic Gold Medallist, Sally Pearson, as well as a plethora of awards.
We can't wait to make this event an annual occurrence!
Nathan Burgess | Director of Activities
A kaleidoscope of colour and spirited chants spurred on our swimmers, as our Senior students relished the chance to come together and celebrate during the 2022 Senior School Inter-house Swimming Carnival!
Congratulations to Wright House who were the winning House on the day!
Final results from the carnival, including new records, will be posted in upcoming editions of Illalong newsletter.
Snap crackle pop! Mixing and measuring has been the focus for science this term. The students have enjoyed experimenting and morphing into master chefs, mad scientists and doctors when investigating how materials can be combined. They added cornflour to water to create slime. Lava lamps erupted from oil, food colouring and Alka seltzers. Copha was melted into cocoa and rice bubbles to create delicious crackles the students enjoyed. Our experiments generated scientific vocabulary with words like combined, dissolved, emulsion and separated.
The Grade 2 classrooms have come alive this term with walls filled with native flora fauna to reflect our State Floral Emblems. Queensland’s Cooktown Orchid can be found hanging proudly in any Year 2 room with the addition of some other natives.
In HaSS, we have studied figures of historical significance. Students got to choose to research someone that has made a positive impact on society. Steve Irwin was a crowd favourite.
The classrooms soon became technology hubs when the children learnt to use book creator to explore the history of software and hardware. Their digital literacy has improved with the use of 1:1 laptops and Mrs Beth Claydon’s (Head of Digital Literacy & STEAM) leadership in this field.
To top the year off with another exciting event, the classes visited Chef Aaron for a Food Technology lesson where they made Bao Buns. These were filled with fresh delicious ingredients that the kids ate without complaint. Thanks Chef Aaron!
Daisy Ross, Donna Symms, Ashlee Lord, Kylie Schumacher | Year 2 Teachers
Senior Business teacher, Jonathan Albertini, together with College Captain, Naia-Rae Fenton and Arts and Societies Captain, Lulu Mathers were invited by Sam O'Connor MP to attend the Parliamentary Friends of Queensland Music End of Year Showcase at Parliament House, Brisbane.
The event was attended by industry professionals and MPs from across Queensland. The guests were entertained with live music by Yb and The Dandys, and the students were able to meet Thelma Plum, popular Indigenous music artist. Lachlan Miller MP, Member for Gregory, was also present on the night representing the area of Winton. It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to make the connection with Mr Miller to consolidate the relationship between the College and the Winton area.
It’s great to see the future of the music industry is in good hands.
Sharyn Walker-Joyce | Head of The Arts
As expected, the College's annual Dance Night proved to be a wonderful success.
Performers across the College, took to the stage to showcase their talents for the many staff, students and families in attendance.
It was a night to a remember for all involved and the College is incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication shown by each of the student performers.
Sharyn Walker-Joyce | Head of The Arts
A flash of gold sparked my interest, as I looked across the room to see my fellow Languages faculty colleague, whom I have had the pleasure of working alongside for almost ten years now at the College, Mrs Ursula Lindeberg, beaming with pride.
I had heard stories of Mrs Lindeberg as an awesome volleyball coach and mentor to our volleyball students but not playing the game myself, I had never ventured down to the court to see her in action. On sitting down to chat, I discovered that she participated in the PAN Pacific Masters Games here on the Gold Coast, at Kurrawa, Broadbeach last week in the sport of beach volleyball. For those that don’t know, the Pan Pacific Masters Games is an event that celebrates many different types of sports for people over thirty years of age. Mrs Lindeberg participated in four different categories: mixed fours (40+ years), mixed pairs (45+ years), women’s fours (40+ years) and lastly, women’s pairs (45+ years).
Much to her surprise, Mrs Lindeberg walked away with not only a BRONZE medal in the women’s pairs, but if that wasn’t incredible enough, she also won GOLD alongside her teammates in the women’s fours. Mrs Lindeberg had the opportunity to play against people from all over Australia, with some participants stemming from abroad. Our Kiwi neighbours were present along with representatives from many other countries. In the mixed pairs there were teams from Townsville, WA, Adelaide, and of course the Gold Coast.
“In the women’s pairs we came first in our pool, which means that we beat every other team within our pool, so we went straight to the semi-finals where we lost by only three points in the very last set. This meant that we had to play for a BRONZE medal instead, which we got! It was a very tough game, playing against some ladies from Perth. Then, in the women’s fours we won against all of our opponents, even beating a team of lovely Japanese ladies from Perth. This semi-final win had us going straight to competing for GOLD, and we won it! It was a very, very intense match with the opposing team being a combination of ladies from Townsville and the Gold Coast. They were very good. Our team had never played together before, except for myself and one other lady, thus we just decided to play to our strengths, and we managed to beat the last team after a very, very intense game. We lost the first set, and after that we started to reset and decided to strategize a little bit, managing to win the second and the remaining set.”
On asking what character strengths were required to compete in such a prestigious tournament, Mrs Lindeberg had these wise words to share with our College community…
“First of all, you need to play really positively. If you make mistakes you need to let them go, because sometimes if you concentrate on only the mistakes that you have made you tend to make more mistakes. So, you just have to let go of your mistakes and cheer on your teammates. You need to be able to move on. You also need to make sure that the other team doesn’t psyche you out. Playing really happy and having high energy is what helps your team to victory. We noticed that in the last game in particular, the other team were a lot quieter than us. We were cheering each other on at every point, high fiving and low fiving, making sure that we were always high energy. It was also mentioned by a fellow teammate that I was the glue of the team. Being the setter, you basically make decisions surrounding who is going to spike and attack, so there is constant strategizing taking place.”
When quizzed on the personal growth opportunities experienced, Mrs Lindeberg had this to share…
“In the mix pairs games, I got a little bit upset about the mistakes that I had made, and I struggled to let them go, making more mistakes in the process. I soon learned however to let go. As soon as I was able to let go, take a break, and take deep breaths, I did much better. I was also reminded with the fact that one needs to play as a team, cheer everybody on and really listen to one another. It’s so important to just have fun! Win or lose. Give 100% and have fun doing what you are doing, no matter what it is. Don’t stop learning from those around you, as I did from the other teams around me.”'
I wanted to share Mrs Lindeberg’s recent achievements with our College community for a number of reasons. Although gained on the court, or should I say ‘the sand’, it might be wise to remind ourselves occasionally of the following: whether it be that we are studying for an exam, in the midst of completing an assignment, or even dealing with friends, playing to our strengths, finding the fun in no matter what we are doing, working as a team, listening to those around us, knowing ourselves, and lifting ourselves and others with praise, may just be the way to go. Overall, it can be safe to say that the skills that Mrs Lindeberg has learnt from competing in this competition will be readily transferable to our College students.
Michelle Barriga | Languages Teacher
As the Junior Interact Captain for 2023, I am delighted to be hosting and planning many events throughout the year for the Junior school students, and the fun has already started. Three amazing Junior School events took place this term, and many more are in the works.
The Prep students had a picnic with the Senior School students and their teddy bears. Teddy Bear Picnics have been going on for as long as I’ve been a student at the College; I wanted to capture the essence of what I enjoyed when I was in Junior School. The Prep students had a wonderful time, playing with the Senior students and having all kinds of fun with their fluffy friends.
Recently, in the May Gibbs playground, new playground markings were installed, and for the Years 1 and 2 event the Interact Club facilitated activities surrounding these new activities. The students were delighted by the presence of the Senior students and enjoyed playing their favourite games like snakes and ladders, ‘What’s the Time Mr Wolf?’, hopscotch and so much more.
In Years 3 to 6, nothing can be more fun than playing handball with your friends during lunch; hence, the Senior Interact members challenged the younger students to a handball tournament. The Years 3 to 6 students enjoyed mingling with the Senior students and getting to verse them in some of their favourite activities.
As the Junior Interact Captain for 2023, I hope to continue developing, and strengthening the Club’s presence in the Junior school, and the bond the Senior students have with their younger peers. I can’t wait to host more amazing, and ambitious events for the Junior school.
Charlotte Squire | Junior Interact Captain for 2023
Junior School students have shown an enormous amount of community spirit by putting together their Christmas Hampers for The Salvation Army. Students have supportively been contributing non-perishable items, long shelf-life consumables, toiletries, toys/gifts and Christmas decorations.
The generosity of our families continues to astound us and it's at times like these that we are reminded of the many reasons why we love our College community.
For those still wanting to donate, please reach out to Year 2 Teachers, Ashlee Lord or Daisy Ross.
We challenge our College community (students, teachers, staff and families) to create a short video highlighting their Hopes and Dreams for 2023. MAXIMUM 1 MIN IN LENGTH.
A selection of videos will be showcased in our first Welcome Back Assembly in 2023 and in a video compilation on our A.B. Paterson College library catalogue.
To share your video, save the file to your College OneDrive account or similar cloud storage facility (such as Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.), ensuring you allow access for viewing to all people within the link.
When you are ready to share the link, CLICK HERE to load your details and share your link.
All entries will go in a draw for a variety of fun prizes.
Due by Monday 21 November (Week 8)
Queries: librarystaff@abpat.qld.edu
Get creative and share a video with what you hope 2023 will bring for yourself and the A.B. Paterson College community!
Stephanne Siberry | Head of Library Services
Principal, Joanne Sheehy warmly invites our College community to Christmas Carols and Concert to be held on Friday 25 November, 5:00pm to 7:00pm on The Village Green.
There will be student performances, food trucks and tasty treats from Matilda's Cafe and a very special visit from Santa!
We thank our event sponsors:
Computer Alliance and The MBA Partnership
Shhh... Santa will be joining us and will be giving away the following gifts through a draw to families who registered their attendance before Thursday 24 November https://forms.office.com/r/Pt4njrLM5M:
We express our most sincere gratitude to our Prize Sponsors, who have donated these wonderful gifts!
To download the Christmas Carols Booklet of songs to be sung on the night CLICK HERE.
We look forward to seeing everyone there to celebrate and enjoy a fabulous evening of festivities and entertainment!
As per our previous correspondence, due to the commencement of renovations, the Uniform Shop is now closed. It will be reopening again on Monday, 16 January 2023.
If you require any urgent uniform items between now and the end of Term, please email us on skelly@abpat.qld.edu.au and we will arrange an online order for you. Once the order is complete and payment is made, the items will be delivered to Student Services for either parents or students to collect. If the incorrect size is ordered, we will be unable to do an exchange or refund of those items until the shop reopens on Monday, 16 January 2023.
If you wish to visit us in January before school starts back, you will need to make an appointment. Please call us on 55614 131 or email us to secure a time.
Thanking you all for your co-operation.
Susan Kelly | Uniform Shop Convenor
The 2022 Inspire Business Directory is available to read online! Please take the time to have a look through some of our community’s businesses, you might be pleasantly surprised with some special discount offers or the opportunity to find a new service provider from within our College community.
A big thank you to all of our family businesses who have supported our College Foundation and advertised in this year’s edition, we look forward in turn, to supporting you and your families.
Stephanie Bryan | Head of Foundation and Alumni
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