Illalong Newsletter 22 October 2021

Good Luck Grade 12!

This week has marked the final few lessons for the Year 12s before they embark upon their final examinations as students at the College. The external examinations have already commenced with the Senior External Examination of Russian taking place on Tuesday. The remaining 35 examinations across 28 subjects will continue on Friday 22 October. I know that our entire College community is behind our Year 12 cohort, wishing them all the best of luck.

On Tuesday 19 October the Year 12s celebrated together at the Good Luck Lunch. This lunch was coordinated by a group of Year 12 parents who generously volunteered to organise this event. As the students entered the Maths Courtyard they were greeted by a vision of colourful balloons, of course in A.B. colours, and quickly embraced the opportunity to make some memories and take pictures of their remaining few days at the College.

Ms Sheehy addressed the cohort providing words of guidance that had been imparted to her from 2012 graduate, Andrew Vann on how his years at A.B. Paterson College had provided him with the confidence, skills and attributes that paved the way for him to succeed. The students spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying each other’s company before they undertook the final sprint towards the end of Grade 12 and graduation.

This event would not have been possible without the contribution of the Friends of A.B. Paterson College and the incredible parents who worked tirelessly to plan the event and prepare the beautiful event space. Thank you to the staff who contributed to the 'Good Luck' video, and to our Manager of Marketing and Public Relations, Tamara Hamilton for the filming and production.

I hope that the events and well wishes the Year 12s have received over the last week have conveyed just how much the College community is behind them and in support of them as they head into the next few weeks. It will pass in the blink of an eye and we will soon be welcoming them back for their final few days at the College. In the meantime, Year 12s, use your time wisely. This is what you have all been working so hard for and we all know that you will do your absolute best to make yourselves and your College community very proud.

Charlotte Brook
Head of Senior School

I hope that the events and well wishes the Year 12s have received over the last week have conveyed just how much the College community is behind them and in support of them as they head into the next few weeks. It will pass in the blink of an eye and we will soon be welcoming them back for their final few days at the College. In the meantime, Year 12s, use your time wisely. This is what you have all been working so hard for and we all know that you will do your absolute best to make yourselves and your College community very proud.

Charlotte Brook
Head of Senior School

Congratulations 2022 College Leaders!

It is with great excitement that we announce the A.B. Paterson College Captain for 2022 is Charley Ellwood, and Vice-Captain, Charles Morris!

Congratulations to our College Leaders – Alexander Roberts (Spirit and Community), Alex Cannen & Jessica Brown (Sport), Chloe Britton (Arts & Societies), Anika Khawaja (Interact), William Piddington (Interact Vice-Captain), Piper Stock (Prep to Year 3), Lucinda Harrison (Year 4 to Year 6) and Lachlan Middendorf (Year 7 to Year 9)!

Congratulations to our House Captains – Madison Game (Dennis), Jasper Fitzgerald (Wright), Zack Jennings (Lawson) and Thirunanthanan Thirumurugan (Mackellar) – and our House Vice Captains – Holly Radisavlyevic (Dennis), Soraya Comely (Wright), Liam O'Riordan (Lawson) and Sally Gordon (Mackellar)!

We are also very pleased to reveal the successful candidates for the positions of 2022 Co-Curricular Captains.

Congratulations to, Radha Patel (Academic Mentoring), Izabella Gonzalez (Drama), Hayley Springer (Art), Hyojoo Park (Girls Choir), Charles Morris (Boys Choir), Chloe Britton (Dance), Alex Roberts (Instrumental Music-Band), Charley Ellwood (Public Speaking), Madison Game (Debating), and James Hickey (Duke of Edinburgh).

Well done to Jasper Fitzgerald (Netball), Kaden Arnold (Rugby), Kiana Prasertsakoun (Girls Volleyball), Hayden Robb (Boys Volleyball), Soraya Comely (Girls Hockey), Brooke Sutherland (Girls Football), Lachlan Middendorf (Boys Football), Riley Tattle (Cricket), Lily Lahood (Softball), Emma Farley (Girls Basketball), Alex Vadeikis (Boys Basketball), Jade Mikael (Girls Touch Football), Kaden Arnold (Boys Touch Football), Adam Reimer (Boys Water Polo), Holly Radisavlyevic (Girls AFL), Hyojoo Park (Girls Hockey), Jason O'Brien (Boys Tennis), Ava Woodfield (Girls Swimming), Adam Reimer (Boys Swimming), Jasper Fitzgerald (Girls Cross Country), Alex Vadeikis (Boys Cross Country), Sophie Burtenshaw (Girls Athletics), and Alex Cannen (Boys Athletics).

We are so proud of you all. 2022 will be an exceptional year under your leadership!

Raising Girls

Following my Week 1 article this term on parenting boys it is only fair to do an article on raising girls. With two girls of my own who are almost 11 and 16 respectively, I feel I am in the midst of the parenting mind field, treading carefully, doing my best, making mistakes… Girls have a head start on boys in the academic stakes but life these days is not all smooth sailing for girls. They are often harder on themselves than boys, more likely to be perfectionists; and have more fears. Girls, like boys, benefit enormously from having parents who are attentive to their needs.

Here are seven BIG tips for raising girls which I have gleaned from a variety of professional readings and a couple from my own experiences:

1. Help girls face up to their fears. Research shows that girls have more fears than boys. These include both developmental fears (e.g. fear of separation from parents as a toddler) and learned fears (e.g. fear of dogs, birds…). Some experts believe that this increase in fearfulness is related to overprotective parenting. Help girls confront their fears, rather than avoid them.

2. Get girls outside from a young age. Girls really benefit from spending time in natural environments including through organised groups such as Guiding; camping in the bush with the family or just free play in the backyard. It increases their confidence levels and their sense of autonomy. This is where the idea of Nature Play comes from, which is an organisation which does wonderful outdoor activities for both girls and boys (https://natureplayqld.org.au/). Their mission is to increase the time Queensland kids spend in unstructured play outdoors and in nature.

3. Praise girls for what they do, NOT how they look. Direct your praise to effort and improvement rather than focusing on how they look. Body image issues are still a problem for girls. It helps if you can link their self-worth to what they do, rather than how they look. This can be tough for some girls, so persistence is important (see point 6 for an exception to this).

4. Help girls work out what’s worth worrying about and what’s not. Girls take criticism and rejection personally and can pay too much attention to what people say. Help them work through what is worth worrying about and what is not.

5. Assist girls to navigate ‘girl world’ safely. Girls, although more skilled with relationships, can also be very hard on each other in late primary school and through the secondary school years. A number of researchers recommend that mums should talk with girls about the differences between a clique and a friendship, and help them work out how good friends act.

6. Get dad involved from a young age. The presence of an attentive male helps girls feel secure, and a father’s approval helps girls feel comfortable in their own skins. Teenage girls can benefit from positive comments from their dads about how they dress and carry themselves in public. “That dress looks perfect on you. I love it!” can be just the tonic a girl needs when she is feeling self-conscious and fragile about how she looks.

7. Expose teenage girls to the wisdom of older women. Mothers, aunts and family friends need to step forward in adolescence to mentor girls in navigating relationships; how they conduct themselves around others. Teenage girls spend a lot of time in each other’s company, and can benefit from the nurturance and nourishments that older women can provide.

Girls can be a mystery to some parents, particularly when they reach the tween and teen years. I do hope some of the BIG tips above help you better understand, empower and parent the girls in your life.

Simon Edgar
Head of Junior School

Our Friend Clancy

In Prep we love to go on adventures with Clancy the Brumby. Throughout the year, each child gets to take Clancy home for the weekend and share their adventures with the rest of the class. Clancy has travelled the world, eaten a variety of cuisines, ridden bikes, been in fire trucks, swum in many different pools and camped out in many different camp sites. We like to believe that the drovers and the brumbies of the Australian Outback get to experience lots of these things too.

The poems written by Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson, ‘Clancy of the Overflow’ and ‘The Man from Snowy River’, feature brumbies and therefore we have adopted this as our College mascot. Banjo Paterson’s love of the outback inspired him to write a letter to a man named ‘Clancy’ at a sheep station (ranch) named ‘Overflow.’

The name ‘Clancy’ was chosen as a namesake dedicated to this famous character. Clancy the Brumby enjoys leaving the hustle and bustle of the Prep classrooms each week to a more ‘Banjo’ inspired life to graze in homes all over the Gold Coast. His goal to maybe one day escape the busy city life and become the carefree Clancy droving in the Queensland Outback. So children, be sure to squeeze him tight when you take him home!

The College is proud to display the statue of The Man from Snowy River at the front of the school where a brumby is being ridden. You can also often see the Senior School students roaming the grounds of the College with the brumby mascot during special occasions. He is an important part of our A.B. Paterson College family.

Here is what some of the Prep children have to say about our friend Clancy:

Prep M - I like to take Clancy home because he is my friend.

Prep M - I like to take Clancy home because I like to cuddle him.

Prep D – I like to take Clancy home so he can meet my family.

Prep D – I like to take Clancy home so he can have fun with me.

Prep B – I like when Clancy comes to my house and we take him to the park and the café.

Prep B – I liked when Clancy came to the beach and had ice cream.

Prep L - I like to take Clancy home because I like to feed him.

Prep L - I like to take Clancy home because I like to play with him.

Prep Teachers
Rebecca Barraclough, Kristina Diaz, Jacinta Lauder and Jo Muirhead

Queensland All Schools Athletics Competition

Over the weekend of 15 - 17 October, Emelia Surch (Year 12) and Jasper Fitzgerald (Year 11) represented the College at the Queensland All Schools Athletics Competition in Brisbane. Unfortunately due to COVID, the Schools Athletics season was cancelled, so this event was a great opportunity for students to compete against the best athletes in the state at a Queensland Athletics meet.

Well done to Emelia and Jasper for maintaining their training and commitment throughout the lockdown last term and without the usual schools' competitions to work towards.

The meet signified the last opportunity for Emelia to represent the College and she proudly wore her school singlet one last time. Emelia has had an exceptional year of athletics despite the challenges of COVID and we wish her all the best for her ongoing development following her graduation later this term.

Congratulations to both Emelia and Jasper on their excellent results at the competition.

Queensland All Schools Athletics Competition

Athlete	Event	Result
Emelia Surch	100m Hurdles	1st
	High Jump	1st
	Long Jump	1st
	100m Sprint	2nd
	Shot Put	3rd
	Javelin	3rd
Jasper Fitzgerald	400m	7th
	800m	6th
	1500m	9th

Junior Filmmakers in Running for National Award

A group of Year 8 students at A.B. Paterson College are in the running for a national award for their moving short films.

Students Matilda Grant, Lily Preskey and Midori Lance collaborated to make a video discussing the environmental impacts of fast fashion, and Finlay Proverbs worked by himself to convey the impacts of stress on young minds. They are among a handful of groups shortlisted as Junior Finalists for the Videos for Change competition.

Videos for Change, developed and run by High Resolves, asks Australian high school students to create a one-minute video to raise awareness and inspire change on a social issue they are passionate about.

Matilda Grant spoke on behalf of her group and said the teenagers were thrilled to have been recognised for their video 'The Harsh Reality of Fast Fashion'.

“We chose fast fashion because there are so many impacts of the industry that nobody knows about,” said Matilda. “It is only when you look closely that you realise just how harmful clothes waste and production can be for the environment.”

Finlay Proverbs was just as delighted to have his short film 'Stress the Silent Killer' picked for the finals.

“I’m glad to know that I can easily raise awareness and promote solutions to problems that I care about. High Resolves is providing children internationally with a golden opportunity," remarked Finlay on his project.

The students learned about the competition in their Social Emotional Learning Fundamentals (SELF) class and hope their videos will inspire change and encourage other young people to join the conversation.

They are now in the running for both the Junior Award and the People’s Choice Award. The recipient of the Junior Award is decided by a panel of distinguished judges, and the People’s Choice award is decided through votes from the public.

“Every vote leads to more awareness for the issue, so please share the videos and help us make a change for the better," said Matilda.

To watch both videos and cast a vote for the People’s Choice Award, visit bit.ly/VFCFastFashion and bit.ly/VFCStressTheSilentKiller.

Voting closes Monday 25 October and the winners will be announced at the Videos for Change Film Festival on Thursday 19 November. Good luck Matilda, Lily, Midori and Finlay!