This week, we celebrated 31 exceptional years of A.B. Paterson College at our annual Founders’ Day Assembly taking place in the Dunlop Multi-Purpose Centre. We were fortunate to be able to gather together as a community for this event; all students from Prep to Year 12 and staff from all areas of the College joined together to celebrate. It was a joy to witness the Year 4 and 5 Choir, Chamber Choir, Senior Big Band, Wind Symphony and Intermediate Concert Band delight us with their ensembles. The Prep – Year 3 students particularly enjoyed the musical items, happily dancing away in their chairs adding to the celebratory atmosphere of the event.

During the Principal/Head of College’s address, Ms Sheehy shared with us the story of an alumna who graduated in 2015 and how each of the opportunities she embraced at the College served to enhance her journey. They provided her with the skills and attributes required for a role that she may not have been aware of whilst at the College, however, she was prepared and ready not only because of her life experiences, but because of the opportunities she had embraced whilst attending A.B. Paterson College. Ms Sheehy encouraged the student body to take advantage of all we have on offer at our College as the experiences that you gain here will shape you well after you walk out of the school gates for the very last time.

College Captain, Jodie Down, spoke of the vision of the four Founders of the College and how they dreamed of a College that would be traditional in values, but progressive in educational approach. A College that would be more than just classrooms and uniforms, but a home for its students to explore their passions and thrive. A College that would develop young men and women of character – leaders now and for the future. Jodie encouraged each and every member of our community to embrace the College Motto, Excellence, Care and Commitment, and described how we embody these values across the College.

Another wonderful aspect of Founders’ Day is celebrating the outstanding service of our staff with awards presented to staff members who have been at the College for 10, 15 and 20 years. These are truly exceptional achievements and we are so grateful for their service and for the many thousands of lives they have touched throughout their time at the College.

10 Year Service Awards
Paul De Rome
Sharon Flack
Angela Hall
Sharon Hunter
Elizabeth Manson
Andrew Montfroy
Caitlin Sterry
Leigh Stinton
Donna Symms
Richard Worsey

15 Year Service Awards
Ruth Bradley
Tanya Jeynes
Jasmine Lange

20 Year Service Award
Carol Biberstein
Georgina Burrows
Lindsay Valentine

Congratulations to these staff members, and to echo Jodie’s words from Monday, Happy Birthday A.B. Paterson College, may your 31st year be your best yet! 

Charlotte Brook
Head of Senior School

Martin Seligman’s investigations into social and emotional wellbeing established a new focus that concentrated on embracing positivity in our lives as opposed to the traditional investigations into conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Seligman’s PERMA model states that Positivity comes from being Engaged in an activity that allows us to formulate Relationships which then provide us with Meaning and purpose to Achieve. The A.B. Paterson College Wellbeing Framework stems from and is based upon the work of Seligman – the PERMA model; and the VIA Institute on Character Strengths.

I see the most important aspects are the establishment of positive Relationships which provide the opportunity for Engagement in an activity. Once engaged in an activity the student will discover Meaning and purpose to what they are doing, try their best and then Achieve. By being Engaged, trying their best and then Achieving, they feel good about themselves and experience Positivity.

A recent article in The Irish Times highlighted a study performed in Irish Schools which discovered that the loss of informal play had led to a sharp deterioration of physical and fine motor skills in children, compared to those studied a decade previously. Of concern was the fact that skills generally mastered by six year olds were now out of reach of many thirteen-year-olds. Only 11% of 13-year-old students had mastered skipping, 45% had mastered the overhand throw and less than half could hit a ball consistently.

The article proposes two reasons for this decline in physical and fine motor skills. The first is the loss of informal play which saw children kicking balls, hopping, climbing trees and skipping. The hours spent doing this are now spent “screening”. Children are engrossed for hours on smartphones, iPads and game consoles rather than experiencing the engagement of free play. The second reason posed in the article was the notion that whilst children are still engaged in sporting activities, much of it is structured around the mastery of skills which pertain to that particular sport. Skills like catch-pass, scrummaging and tackling are all vital proficiencies of the modern rugby player but there are no opportunities to develop the balance and motor coordination of skipping.

As a College we are well aware of screen time and ensure that when students do use devices it is the best medium for teaching and learning purposes. There are a number of opportunities for students to continue their academic work, including homework and study. The Winton Centre is available prior to school and also after school until 4.00pm for Years 4 – 6 students and until 5.00pm for Senior School students. There are also some tutorials available for Senior School students.

One of the many wonderful aspects of attending our College is the breadth of opportunities provided to all our students in a wide variety of disciplines. In fact, the Australian Sports Medicine Council suggests that 'athletes who maintain a broader sporting base till after the age of twelve, then specialise, are more likely to be ‘successful’ in their chosen sport.'  Coincidently, the fun aspect is the initial reason so many participants actually play sport.  To see our students in Years 4 - 12, attend their chosen team sport trainings in preparation for their weekly fixture, as well as attend musical rehearsals, debating, instrument lessons, choir - to name a few - is testament to the importance placed on all round development, a holistic education and the growing of great humans.

This aligns wholeheartedly with the College vision … ‘Developing young men and women of character – leaders now and for the future’.

Simon Edgar
Head of Junior School

Mission Control to A.B. 'Space Cadet', come in Mrs Siberry... can you hear us?! Oh no, our dynamic Library duo - Mrs Parkinson & Mrs Siberry - are lost in space!

Did they successfully land on Planet A.B. in time for Wednesday 19 May's 21st Australian Library and Information Association National Simultaneous Storytime, read from the International Space Station by real-life astronaut Shannon Walker?!

Watch the video below to find out!

To investigate the life cycle of plants, Year 4 students have been enjoying the experience of planting and watching the beginning stages of the plant life-cycle and noting, and becoming more aware of, the changes that occur. Native Australian flowers, beans, tomatoes and watermelon seeds have set the scene for the Year 4 gardening enthusiasts. With dedication and commitment, they have planted, watered and nurtured their seeds and excitedly observed with expectancy and anticipation as they became seedlings. Now with great hope, they are observing their precious plants grow into healthy and in their words – ‘big plants’!

The students are carefully studying the changes, growth and development of the separate plant types and noticing how much variation there is in the differing growth rates of the four types of plants. The students exhilaration could be heard on a Monday morning as they noticed the remarkable growth of the plants over a weekend period with the beans proving at this stage to be the fastest growing seedlings!

Some thoughts from our students on this plant growing experience so far:

"I think the plants are really interesting. I was surprised at how fast they grew because on Friday there was nothing to see and when we came back on Monday, the plants were sprouting. The plants are amazing."
Clarissa Leute 4T

"I was surprised at how quickly they have been growing. It is interesting to see them go through all their stages of their life cycle."
Olive Hart 4T

"What I have learnt is how quickly plants can grow! It has been a very fun experience watching them go out in the sun and watching them come inside. It has been lots of fun to see them growing."
Freya Bertsos 4B

"I really noticed how quickly the plants grow. At first, there were just seeds inside soil and then three days later they were just about 8cm!!!"
Rakhel Feldblyum 4B

"The plants have grown so fast! I am hoping the watermelon plant will grow the best!!"
Austin Sanday 4H

"The plants all started from a seed and now they are already all grown up to the top of the container. I find it amazing to watch them grow!"
Kimmy Yuan 4H

"I think they have grown very quickly which is amazing and they now look like a big plant!"
Caelum McCleery 4R

"Our tomatoes, watermelon, beans and native flowers have grown a lot. Three or five days ago, they hadn’t grown very much but then only three days later, they were huge!!"
Flynn Giemzo 4R

Year 4 Teachers
Kathleen Richardson, Liam Burke, Tiffany Henry and Zoe Truss-Michaelis

Over the past 4 weeks, Year 1 classes have visited the Food Technology Kitchen to make ‘Traffic Light Sandwiches’. This ties in with learning to write about Procedures in English.

All the children had a fantastic time, learnt about rules to follow in the kitchen and even learnt to speak some French with Mrs Ellis!

Please enjoy our gallery of photos below.

Year 1 Teachers
Jana Kubaska, Angie Hall, Steven Farmer and Jade Lucy

This term in Social, Emotional Learning Fundamentals (SELF), Year 11 students are completing their leadership unit of work. For some students this unit will be a segue into applying for upcoming leadership positions whilst for others the unit will challenge them to unpack the concept of leadership and what this may mean to them.

Topics covered in the unit of work include:

- What is leadership?

- What kind of leader am I?

- Working with others

- Leading change

- Public speaking

At the start of each lesson students are asked to take part in an icebreaker activity or team building challenge. Judging by some of the pictures below, I think it is safe to say that the students are enjoying this part of the unit of work.

On 18 May, I had the opportunity to speak with the Year 11 students about the process of applying to be a College leader. Students were surprised to hear that the roles, generally reserved for Year 12, will come into effect from Term 4 this year! 

I, along with the rest of the staff and Senior Leaders, look forward to hearing what our budding leaders have to say during their application speeches scheduled for Weeks 8 and 9 of this term – stay tuned, more to come in the coming weeks.

Toni Kirton
Director of Positive Education and Leadership

On Wednesday 19 May 2021, seven students from A.B. Paterson College travelled to The Southport School to take part in the Queensland Interschool Chess Championships – Gold Coast Division.

With over 200 students from a large number of schools competing it was an exciting day. Mitchell Chen and Alexander Feldblyum kept everybody on their toes as they made their way successfully through each round. The nail-biting finish was worth it with Mitchell Chen placing Second overall in the competition and Alexander placing Third Overall.

Nolan Brezovsky, Timothy Yau, Beau Zhang, Ruvindu Siriwardana and Zach Wang all played some hard fought rounds, winning a number of games and contributing to their teams overall scores.

At the end of the day A.B. Paterson College had a wonderful result with Team 1 placing First in A Grade Chess – a gold medal for Mitchell, Nolan, Alexander and Timothy. 

It was a wonderful day and the boys should be very proud of their results!

Nolan Brezovszky
Mitchell Chen
Alexander Feldblyum
Ruvindu Siriwardana
Beau Zhang
Timothy Yau
Zach Wang

Belinda Pilgrim
Head of Faculty - Academic Academy

As we get closer to the Interhouse Athletics Carnival and APS competition, a comprehensive training schedule is offered each week day and is open to all students to attend. Training in every discipline is offered several times each week, including lunch time, before and after school.  

• Sprints

• Middle Distance Training

• Shotput and Discus

• Javelin

• Hurdles

• Running Club

• Long and Triple Jump

• High Jump

The full schedule is available here: 2021 Training Timetable Athletics

See you at training!

Matt Stopel
Assistant Head of HPE Faculty

In Term 1, Year 6 students met their Prep buddies for the first time. They were so cute and really happy to meet us. A group of us enjoyed this buddy time so much that we thought it would be great if we could come up with an initiative that can help us further develop these friendships. We brainstormed and exchanged ideas. I had seen the success of the Mingling Mondays initiative so it occurred to me that as Year 6 students we could take on a leadership role and start a similar initiative with Prep students. We ran this idea by our teachers and Ms Bakanay, Deputy Head of Junior School: Pastoral and we swiftly received the stamp of approval. Hence, Frivolous Fridays, a close relative of Mingling Mondays, was born. We enjoy this special time as we chat to Prep students, help them tie their shoe laces, open muesli bar wrappers and play in the playground. As Year 6 students we hope that we have started a new tradition for years to come.

James Walduck
Mackellar House Captain

We have unfortunately had some ongoing complaints from our neighbouring community, in particular with reference to Eastbourne Chase. You are not able to park and drop off your child here as it is a No Standing area and Council inspectors and police often patrol this area and issue warnings or fines. Please be considerate and do not park on verges, in driveways or on surrounding streets. 

Please find attached the latest careers news from Head of Pathways, Jeanette Maxwell:

From The Careers Desk - 21 May 2021

Year 5 student, Peiwen Liang was recently featured in the AMEB (Australian Music Examination Board) online magazine where she was recognised as an outstanding pianist following her recent Grade 6 Piano exam.

Please enjoy this feature article on Peiwen's achievements from AMEB Qld Noteworthy Newsletter, Edition 1 2021:

Peiwen, Performer Prodigy (vision6.com.au)

Congratulations to Summer Weiner from 3M for winning a silver medal in the recent Queensland State Championships for Brazilian Jiujitsu. Fantastic result!

A.B. Paterson College is now the home to a brand new singing group called Cornerstone Chorus for young men between the ages of 18 - 30 years old. The chorus is led by Jonathan Albertini who is an A.B. teacher and the conductor of the A.B. Paterson College Senior a Cappella Choirs and award-winning men's chorus, The Blenders. Jonathan holds a Master's degree in Vocal Pedagogy from the Queensland Conservatorium and imparts all of the latest vocal techniques to his singers. Jonathan will be holding auditions on Thursday 27 May between 7pm - 9pm in the Elderslie Theatre, The Winton Centre. Any past A.B. Paterson College students are invited to audition. Please meet at the entry to The Winton Centre on the night.

Cornerstone Chorus is a high-level auditioned chorus that will require singers to follow a two-stage audition process. No prior experience is necessary however the ability to sing well and in tune whilst holding a harmony part is required. Many of the technical attributes of singing will be developed as an ensemble during the weekly chorus rehearsals. The chorus will sing in the style of 4-part a cappella and barbershop music and will compete in annual barbershop competitions held in various locations across Australia. The chorus aspires to win the Australian national contest and then compete in the United States in the international chorus competition. 

The first night will include the following:
- A performance by the Cornerstone Chorus and our music leadership quartet Sunday’s Best.
- Stage 1 of the audition process (no songs will need to be prepared for this).
- A discussion of the details for the 2nd stage of your audition process, which will take place four weeks later.
- An explanation of membership requirements.
- Reveal of some chosen chorus repertoire.

If you are interested in being a part of this wonderful opportunity please email your expression of interest to Jonathan Albertini at jalbertini@abpat.qld.edu.au. 

The June/July School Holiday Program is out now!

In the attached Vacation Care Enrolment Pack, you'll find information on:

- Program and activity list

- Booking and permission form

- Incursion information

Vacation Care Program June July 2021

We are very pleased to share with you that this month, the A.B. Paterson College Foundation is launching a Webinar Series. These webinars are designed to bring relevant and informative professionals to deliver specific sessions to our College community. We are bringing these sessions to you via a webinar as a convenience to you and the busy family lives that you lead.

We are pleased to announce that the Foundation’s first webinar to launch the series is on the very important topic of Paediatric Nutrition. My Nutrition Clinic have kindly agreed to come on board as a complimentary service to our Foundation. Their team are all tertiary qualified and each have specialisations in this profession.

About the webinar:

Nutrition often seems so simple, yet knowing what to feed our active children can be a constant battle with an abundance of conflicting nutrition information at the end of our finger tips. Dietitian and Sports Dietitian Matt Hart will step you through some of the essential nutrition considerations regarding fuelling active children, and key nutrients that play a fundamental role to promote safe and healthy growth and development.

About Matt Hart, the presenter:

Matt has a Master of Dietetics from Bond University and recently moved back to the Gold Coast after spending time working in the tropics of far North Queensland. He is an easy going, friendly, Tasmanian-bred Queenslander. Matt strives to empower individuals to take control of their own health through collectively developing tailored nutrition support. Outside of work, Matt is constantly on the go, living an active lifestyle - surfing, playing sport and exploring the wilderness via foot or mountain bike.

“I enjoy helping people to develop a more balanced and healthy relationship with food. I take a non-judgemental and gentle approach so that people can progress at their own pace. I avoid using a ‘one size fits all approach’ and like to tailor my plans completely to the individual.” - Matt Hart

Webinar Details:
Date: Wednesday 26 May 2021
Time: 11:30am
Presentation Duration: 11:30am – 12noon Q & A session: 12noon – 12:15pm

In order to receive the link to the live event, please register here - https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/foundation-webinar-series-paediatric-nutrition-tickets-154339033203. On Tuesday 25 May - one day before the event - I will send the link for the live event to all registrants.

Should you have any queries about the Webinar Series or this particular session, please feel free to contact me at the College on 55 947 947 or via email sbryan@abpat.qld.edu.au.

Stephanie Bryan
Foundation Manager

Congratulations to our Week 4, Term 2 Bumper Sticker Winners!

Shelley Sweeney

Arna Coward

Get your 2021 bumper sticker from College Reception and enter here:

collegebumperstickercompetition@abpat.qld.edu.au

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

Our lucky winners each receive $100 off their school fee invoice for the following term! At the end of Term 3, all of 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 2021 (*tuition fee only).

Refer to the flyer attached for more information regarding the 2021 Bumper Sticker competition.