Illalong Newsletter 18 September 2020

From the Principal's Desk

While walking around Springbrook, a few weekends ago, I came across a duck with three tiny baby ducklings, likely only a week or two old.

I know that everyone has seen ducks swimming in the water, gracefully gliding along the surface, leaving a small, almost unnoticeable ripple behind them as they swim. You can barely see any movement of the body above the water surface. You might say that swimming is easy for the ducks, that it comes naturally.

The effortless gliding on the water surface, however, can be deceiving. Under the surface, the duck's feet are moving furiously. Ducks developed webbed feet to help them swim efficiently. While swimming, they push both backward and downward with their legs and feet. This motion provides both the lift and thrust needed to propel them quickly and efficiently through the water. Indeed, the seemingly effortless movement is only made possible by the constant effort of the feet.

This is generally how teaching works. Things are not always as they seem. When you see people performing tasks effortlessly, it is almost always because they have devoted enormous effort to make it look so easy. To become effortless actually takes a lot of effort. There is really no shortcut to success, other than hard work, dedication and perseverance, even if you are gifted with natural talents.

In seeing how effortless this past term has seemed, it goes without saying that this effortless appearance can be attributed to our College staff.

Our staff have intentionally focussed on working to ensure a seamless curriculum in spite of disruptions this year, and that our extra-curricular activities have continued where possible (albeit creatively different than our same activities last year); our Vocal Festivals have gone ahead, spread across three days over two weekends; Junior School Musical rehearsals (continuing this weekend) have seen staff take smaller groups to rehearse with; our Health and Physical Education team has ensured students enjoy opportunities to pursue physical activities, including Cross Country; the Prep Party was a big hit, as our five day Gold Duke of Edinburgh Camp is sure to be, next week. These were only a few of the events, but each one needed to be re-thought, re-organised and re-worked to ensure our students had the opportunity to participate.

In addition, our Year 12 students and their teachers need a special mention. Our Year 12 students have just completed their mock exams this past week and have left for their holidays armed with a slew of information on what to do to refine their performances for their upcoming external exams. In addition to each student having individualised information, and beyond what is expected, our College teaching staff have volunteered to host holiday intensive programs (online and on campus) for our Year 12 students to check-in with their teachers to ensure they are optimising their learning.

This year has certainly been an eye-opener for so many reasons, however I continue to be humbled by the dedication our College staff show when it comes to privileging the success of our students.

I hope that you all enjoy the opportunity to have a lovely, well-deserved break and I am looking forward to welcoming you back to the College on Tuesday, 6 October, for Term 4.

Joanne Sheehy - Principal/Head of College

Winton 'On Campus' Experience

Last week, our Year 6 students were transported to the Outback, where they participated in a two-day event that celebrated a number of rich experiences that are part of the usual Winton Camp experience.

We were extremely fortunate to receive photos and videos from Ayrshire Downs, a sheep station in the Winton area, which gave students an appreciation for life in the Outback. Students were thrilled when they were able to talk to the Whitehead family, owners of Mentone Station, through a Zoom session. They enjoyed learning about the life of 12-year-old Ashley and hearing about her daily tasks and schooling in rural Queensland.

One of our first stops on Winton Camp would have been to the Cosmos Observatory in Charleville. After taking a virtual tour through the Centre, students were given a design challenge by NASA: to design and build a spacecraft that could ‘land’ safely without injuring their marshmallow astronauts or damaging the spacecraft when being dropped from their Year 6 balcony. In small groups, students excitedly got to work with their bag of materials to construct some impressive looking Astronaut Landers. The Winton Foyer transformed into a world of creativity and ingenuity as students discussed how they could create shock absorbers by folding paper to look like an accordion, or how the mini marshmallows could be used as landing-pad feet to stop the astronauts falling out. Each group was able to produce a unique design that they should be proud of. While only a few Astronaut Landers survived ‘The Drop’, the Winton qualities of teamwork and comradery were definitely on display throughout the activity.

Longreach is the home of the outstanding QANTAS Founders Museum. Celebrating the centenary of this ground-breaking institution, students learned about the history of QANTAS and links to outback communities. They enjoyed seeing how technology changed aviation throughout history and appreciated having a ‘tour’ of the aeroplanes and artefacts at the museum. Students also decorated their own flying machines and experimented with a number of models to determine which one would fly the farthest. Students thrived when given the opportunity to collaborate with their peers when working on their designs.

The students embarked on a virtual tour of the Age of Dinosaurs Museum where they discovered that, in 1999, while mustering sheep on his property Belmont near Winton, David Elliott discovered the fossilised bone of what was, at the time, Australia’s largest dinosaur. This bone was later identified as part of a giant femur from a Cretaceous sauropod (later nicknamed Banjo) that roamed the Winton area 95 million years ago. During the tour the students were guided through behind the scenes of the most productive Fossil Preparation Laboratory in the Southern Hemisphere. The keen dinosaur hunters then experienced dinosaurs first-hand using Augmented Reality where they posed for photos with the ferocious creatures in the land before time. After that, the students were challenged with designing a ‘Wanted’ poster for an Australian dinosaur and the best designs were awarded a prize. There are some enthusiastic future palaeontologists amongst the Year 6 cohort.

The students embarked on a trip to discover the tale of how Australia’s ‘second national anthem’ Waltzing Matilda was written by Banjo Paterson down by the Combo Waterhole. We learned Aussie words and phrases such as a swagman, tuckerbag and jumbuck before singing along to the song in a harmonious tune. The apprentice stockmen and women saddled up on their trusty ‘thoroughbred horses’ after learning about The Stockman’s Hall of Fame to muster their own unsuspecting ‘sheep’.

They used a makeshift lasso to capture a jumbuck and race away from the troopers in a horseback relay. With great determination, teamwork, encouragement and fits of laughter the students enjoyed their wild ride in this Winton Experience.

The Year 6 Winton Experience culminated in watching Red Dog, an Outback-inspired movie, indulging in a sausage sizzle, and either watching or taking part in the Talent Show. Numerous talented students (and staff!) dazzled the audience with their amazing acts and an enjoyable time was had by all. It was a pleasure to witness our Year 6s gain a greater appreciation about life in the Outback through this remarkable experience.

Reflections from Year 6 students below:

We had a sausage sizzle and I went up for four servings! We also had a talent show, it was very jubilant and the acts were hilarious. Surprisingly, we also got to watch a movie that had a cataclysmic story line and parts of it were quite intriguing. Lilium Salar

I really enjoyed watching Bob Smith teaching us about how he was a pilot for Qantas. I also enjoyed making space crafts to try to land it on the ground. I found the sausages were delicious and I was ready to watch the Talent Show. When Ben and Aran started the rap it was so funny and everyone liked it. Max Williamson

The hard work of the Year 6 teachers meant that we would experience our Winton trip, but in a different and safer way... The Winton Experience. Personally, my favourite activity was the Talent Show even though I didn't perform. I enjoyed the show because there were dancers, magicians and even ‘rappers’. The awesome acts were accompanied by flashing lights, giving off a festive and jubilant mood. We got sausage sizzles and cans of soft drinks before the show. It was really fun to eat, drink and play with your friends under the sunset. I am really grateful that we got to experience Outback Queensland because of the hard work of our teachers. Sophia Sher

My favourite part about my Winton Experience was the stockman activity because I was with new people and got to run around. I had so much fun doing it. Savannah and I thought our bilby poster was really unique as it had a lot of special features. I loved my Winton experience as I had so much fun with my group, Matilda. Alexia Palumbo

I especially enjoyed the sheep catching activity because it was fun to do in a team and felt really competitive with the other teams. The second activity I did was the ‘wanted’ dinosaur activity. I enjoyed doing this with one of my good friends, Nate and we found a lot of interesting things on Australian dinosaurs. Blake Sweeney

My favourite part of the Winton Experience was the activity we did with Mrs Truss-Michaelis which was the Cosmo Observatory experience and we got to make our own rocket ship. My team didn’t land the rocket standing upright but our marshmallows were safe! Holly Ferguson

Thank you to staff, students, parents and our friends in Winton for helping to create some fantastic memories for our Year 6 students, and thank you to 7NEWS Gold Coast for recognising the enormous effort that went in to the Winton On Campus Experience.

Watch the 7NEWS Gold Coast coverage:

https://www.facebook.com/7NEWSGoldCoast/videos/635215370466515/

Tim Collins, Dana Daniel, Kerrie Moore and Zoe Truss-Michaelis – Year 6 Teachers

UN Youth Evatt Queensland Grand Finals

A few weeks ago, we embarked on a journey through the world of diplomacy from the comfort of our dining table.

Evatt is a Model United Nations (MUN) competition facilitated by United Nations Youth Australia. UN Youth, commissioned by the United Nations Association of Australia, is an organisation that educates Australian youth about the impact and beliefs of the United Nations through the provision of engaging competitions and conferences. Evatt is the premier MUN competition for high school students in the nation and is convened entirely by young people for the development of the diplomatic skills of Australia’s youth.

Although learning how to use programs such as Discord, to pass notes to other delegates while debating Security Council resolutions on Zoom, proved challenging at first, it was interesting to experience how technology keeps the world spinning by talking online as opposed to in person like usual.

After progressing past the preliminary round – where we represented Indonesia and debated the questions of Surveillance and the Jordan Valley – we keenly awaited an email from the convenors to see if we had been selected for the next round. Fortunately, by the end of the next day we were delighted to learn that we had been identified as one of the 15 strongest teams in the state and were invited to participate in the State Grand Finals!

With only a week to prepare, and exam block fast approaching, we balanced studying for our subjects with researching our nation’s position on current world issues. We represented Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the smallest nation in history to hold a position in the Security Council. With one resolution being provided earlier and two unknown ones to be debated on the day as well, we had to research our nation’s views on anything and everything so that we could cover all bases.

The Grand Final was an astounding six and a half hours long, with five of these hours being filled with debates and negotiations. Our first MUN focused on the ‘seen’ resolution, which addressed the question of Forced Disappearances. For over an hour, we debated amendments and negotiated with delegates representing a host of other interesting nations, including Vietnam, Germany, Belgium, and all of the Veto nations (the US, the UK, China, Russia and France) in order to get our nation’s interests on the agenda. Whilst it was definitely a challenge representing the smallest nation in history to hold a seat in Security Council, we held firm and were able to pass impactful amendments throughout the competition.

After the first MUN, we adjourned for a brief lunch break before returning to debate two unseen resolutions. We had twenty minutes before the MUNs for each unseen resolution to prepare amendments and speeches. The first unseen resolution was on the question of Civilian Casualties and the second discussed the question of the Syrian Civil War. Having limited time to complete these challenges, we found it extremely beneficial that we had great teamwork.

Furthermore, to ensure we worked cohesively and effectively, we swapped roles for each resolution with one person assigned the task of diplomatically conversing with other delegations. This role also involved promoting our amendments by gathering co-signatures to ensure they would be prioritised on the agenda. The other teammate would constantly monitor the situation in the debate chamber by actively listening, asking points of information, voting, and providing speeches on our delegation’s stance on resolutions. One of the amendments we passed included the implementation of a permanent cross-border mechanism in Syria to increase aid delivered to the region, especially in response to COVID-19. Evatt gave us the opportunity to appreciate the power of diplomacy to improve as global citizens and further develop our diplomatic skills, which are essential tools in this evolving world.

After a jam-packed day of debating, we nervously awaited the results of the competition following a brief intermission. Having achieved ‘Runners Up’ for the State Grand Finals, we were absolutely ecstatic!

Next year, we hope to take part in Evatt again and hope that, next time, we’ll be able to compete in person. After this year’s success and having connected with other like-minded students from across Queensland, we would like to encourage other students to take part and hope that we can be of assistance in their preparation.

Stay safe! In solidarity,

Bita Mahani and Angelina Inthavong - Year 11 UN Youth Delegates

Banjo’s Science Club Crystal Making Competitions

Prep - Year 3 Cross Country

Our excited Prep runners gave every bit of energy they had to their first Cross Country carnival on Monday. Even when exhausted in the home stretch, they still managed big smiles and squeals of delight. Well done! A special mention also to Mrs Hall and Mr Nicholls who laced up the joggers to join their students on the course and thank you to Mr Cashman and our wonderful Year 7 Aussie Sport Leaders for your huge effort! Watch this video: https://www.facebook.com/abpatersoncollege/videos/325253992077422/

Years 1 & 2 students put on a great display of pace, commitment and spirit during this morning's Cross Country session. Well done everyone! A big thank you to our HPE team, Theatre Crew (for the motivational soundtrack) and our tireless Year 7 Aussie Sport Leaders, who offered enormous support to our young runners all day! Watch this video: https://www.facebook.com/abpatersoncollege/videos/1228885120804565/

Our Year 3 Cross Country runners - and Miss Clark - kept our Year 7 Aussie Sport Leaders on their toes as they raced around the Cross Country track this afternoon! Great effort Year 3! Watch this video: https://www.facebook.com/abpatersoncollege/videos/329985428111971/