Illalong Newsletter - 21 October 2022

Good Luck to our Year 12 Students!

To our Year 12 students - as you head into your final assessment period as school students, we wish you all the best.

In true A.B. Paterson College style we know you are well prepared and will leave no stone unturned with your examinations.

Remember in the hard moments, that this is what you have worked so hard for over the years - the countless hours spent in your classes learning, researching and studying - it will be worth it.

Your futures are only a few assessments away. It’s time to show the world what you’re really made of!

Year 12 Top Ten Exam Tips

With our Year 12 students all set to embark on their external exams, I thought the timing is appropriate to reflect on the advice (for both students and their parents) of one of Australia's leading Adolescent Psychologists, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg. He advised parents against habitual nagging and burdening their children with talk about their own Year 12 experience.

He advised parents instead to offer practical support, such as making short visits to their children's room with food or drink to help them face the pressures of their final school examinations. "All you do is make your children hate you," he said. "It's a temporary hate - but it's not much fun or helpful during this very stressful time." Recounting on his own experiences as a parent, he said the number one mistake parents make is saying to your child, "Don't think you can have a social life this year!"

"At no other time in your life is your desire to be with your friends stronger," he warned. "Human beings are not computers, and research shows that having balance in your life is important."

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg’s top ten tips to help students study smarter, thrive and survive external exams are:

Sleep at least 9.25 hours per night. This amount is necessary to consolidate long-term memory.
Eat breakfast daily. The sole source of energy for our brain is glucose, which is derived from carbohydrates. A University of Ulster study found a teenager's ability to memorise becomes equivalent to a 78-year-old when they skip breakfast.
Eat foods that help memory. Toast, eggs, yoghurt (which helps relieve stress), anchovies and sardines work best, followed by omega 3, fish oils, blueberries and pinto beans.
Drink water regularly. The brain is 80% water, and dehydration can cause headaches.
Exercise. Three 30-minute intervals per week helps prevent depression.
Chew gum (but not at school!). Brain performance can be increased by 35%. Chewing stimulates the production of insulin and raises the heartbeat, causing extra oxygen to be pumped into the brain.
Take a 15-minute break after every 50 minutes of study. The brain overloads if uninterrupted after 50 minutes.
Discover what works best to remember! Discuss work with your peers or listen to tapes repeatedly. Repetition helps your brain transfer information from your short-term to your long-term memory. Pathways to memory also work well through smell.
Keep to a study routine. Students who have a regular schedule and study in the same place at the same time score 33% more than students whose routines vary, according to an examination of 500 students.
Avoid late-night study. Research shows students who go to bed when they are tired retain 35% more than students who ignore sleep warnings.

On behalf of the College, I extend the very best of wishes to our Year 12 students, and their families over the coming weeks.

Tim Grosser | Director of Operations and Planning

Bronze Practice Duke of Edinburgh Camp

Last weekend 23 students took part in a practice Duke of Edinburgh International Award camp visiting a number of the Gold Coast’s top walking destinations.

On Saturday students hiked the hilly and challenging tracks up and around the Burleigh Head National Park. They climbed the scenic heights and from the lookouts at Tumgun and Jebbribillum were able to see far out to sea on a beautifully clear day. Despite the relative small size of Burleigh Park, it contains a rich variety of animal and birdlife, one of the highlights for the students was seeing a mother Koala and her baby joey.

On Sunday students were up early in preparation for another full day of walking and exploring the parks and conservation areas around the Gold Coast. The first walk took place at the Federation Walk Coastal Reserve. A narrow footpath, known as Federation Walk, runs parallel to the beach and ends at the small lighthouse at the Spit. Students firstly walked the route through the natural bus environment and returned via beach. In the afternoon students explored the surrounds of the Coombabah Lakelands Conservation Area, walking along various tracks such as Wallaby Way, Koala Track and the picturesque Melaleuca Broadwalk.

The students were accompanied by Head of Outdoor Education, Andrew Sole and teachers, Meghan Beckett and James King. Also special thanks to parents, Simone Calver and Tammy Game who accompanied our students at the weekend.

Andrew Sole | Head of Outdoor Education

2022 King’s Touch Football Tournament

On Wednesday 12 October, the Junior School held Touch Football trials to select a Junior Boys Team and a Junior Girls Team to compete in both the King’s Touch Football Tournament on 18 October and the Queensland Primary All Schools Touch Football Competition on the first weekend in November. All students from Year 5 and 6 were invited to trial, irrespective of whether they currently played Touch for the College as their chosen APS sport. It was fantastic to see so many students participate from both grades, especially those who trialled but had never played Touch Football prior. From these trials, the coaches selected two teams of 12 players to represent the College.

The first of the tournaments these teams were competing in was the King’s Touch Tournament held at the Gold Coast Touch Fields at Owen Park in Southport. The College’s aim of entering this tournament was to provide a positive and fun opportunity for the two teams to get quality game time against a higher level of opposition than what they would typically be exposed to in the local APS competition prior to the QLD Primary All Schools tournament.

Pleasingly, both teams achieved this goal, as not only did the students have a lot of fun, the amount of improvement from the first game to their last game was conspicuous. While the coaches were hopeful of this outcome, primarily due to the fact that these teams had never played together before, were made up of two year levels, and had players highly inexperienced in the sport of Touch Football, they were ecstatic with the level of commitment, dedication and improvement shown by all players across the five games on the day.

The Girls team managed to secure 3 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss throughout the tournament, and the only loss came in their first fixture against Kings Christian College, with the score being 4-2. The Boys Team finished with 3 wins and 2 losses from their 5 matches.

Hopefully, with a training session each week leading up to the All Schools Tournament, these teams can continue to build on some outstanding achievements, both individually and collectively, at the King’s Touch Tournament and perform to their potential at All Schools.

It is imperative that we thank Mr West, Chantelle Halloway-Samuels, Nikkita Halloway-Samuels, and Tait Rolfe for giving up their time to coach the two teams. We are very lucky to have such committed, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable coaches on board and very much appreciate their efforts.

The two teams selected to represent the College at the King’s Touch Tournament and the QLD Primary All Schools Touch Competition:

Boys Team
Jake Paige, Mac Mitchell. Ethan McIntyre, Harrison Glenn, Flynn Gibb, Bennett Longhurst, Liam Glover, Tristan Osborne, Levi Arnold, Oliver Watson, Ethan Asquith and Lewis Randal

Girls Team
Olive Davis, Catey Brookes, Avah Bond, Hannah Mason, Kiara Lowman, Eve Baker, Marlo Napier, Freya Bertsos, Imogen Ozoux, Kira Russell, Allana Oh and Shelby Edgar

Lachlan Webb | Director of Touch Football