This week our Year 8s had the opportunity to spend three days on the Noosa North Shore participating in a series of outdoor adventures hosted by an external company, Total Adventures.

While the journey up to the Sunshine Coast and first night was wet, to say the least, the campers were met with clear skies the following morning and were able to participate in a full program of action-packed activities including campouts, abseiling, mountain biking, canoeing, rock climbing, hiking and even a late-night round of laser tag. I’m sure each student has more than one tale to tell from their experience.

The feedback from the camp was overwhelmingly positive with students from all levels creating new friends and fond memories. The students were split into groups that had differing levels of activity, with some groups remaining onsite for the majority of the camp and others venturing into the wilderness for a survival camp. The students remained in high spirits throughout and each member of staff was incredibly proud of their group for the perseverance, resilience, team building and leadership skills they demonstrated.

I would like to pass on a big congratulations to all Year 8s for their participation this week and special thanks to the staff who attended this camp for their contribution to this endeavour. Without their support these experiences would not be possible.

Michael Culverwell
Acting Head of House - Wright

This week, we presented the Academic Commendation Awards to students in Years 4 – 9. These students have demonstrated a significant commitment to their academic studies throughout the year, with these awards acknowledging student achievement in Terms 1 – 3.  As our Academic Excellence awards were presented at Speech Night, we now celebrate the students who were awarded with Academic Commendation. Congratulations to all students who have received an award. 

What is the mysterious special delivery that has arrived at A.B. Paterson College, and who is it for? Can you guess?

Please enjoy the epic 2021 A.B. Paterson College Christmas video!

A very happy festive season to all!

Instead of our annual Splendid Visions Art Exhibition, this year we introduced an exciting (but temporary) alternative - the College’s first ever virtual reality online exhibition. In 2022 we hope to have our community back on campus for the exhibition in person. If you would like to have a look at some of the incredible work our very talented students have produced throughout the year please follow the instructions and links below. 

Link to P-6 exhibition:
https://www.artsteps.com/view/6118f036a8aadda81128b9ee?currentUser

Link to 7-12 exhibition:
https://www.artsteps.com/view/617686fd1dfc696eb8416737?currentUser

Instructions:
Once you have clicked on the link please be aware that it may take a moment to load all of the beautiful artworks.

When you see the blue footprint icon on the screen, you will need to double click in the gallery window. The double click essentially “enters” the exhibition. Now you can navigate your way around the exhibition by using the arrows on your keyboard. If you are too close to the artwork, press the down arrow to “step back”. To “walk forward” press the up arrow and to “look around” use the left and right arrows.

I would like to thank all of the year level assistants in the Junior School for scanning in all of the artworks. A special mention must also go to Deb Selby and Brooke Lucy for their assistance in bringing all of this together.

We hope you enjoy the digital exhibition and we hope to see you in person in 2022 for our Annual Splendid Visions Exhibition.

Bernelle Sole - Head of Technology &
Jackie Olivier - Visual Art Teacher

In History this term, Year 1 students have been investigating family life in the past. We have been learning about the similarities and differences in family life by comparing the present with the past. We explored how some changes can occur over time whilst others remain the same.

In Week 3, we excitedly boarded the bus to Beenleigh Historical Village and Museum for our first excursion. The village took us back in time to the 1860s and onward. Within the twenty beautifully restored heritage buildings containing collections of early Australian life, we were guided through how families lived and worked in time gone by.

Miss Smiley became our teacher in the classroom and showed us how children learned over one hundred years ago. It was fascinating to see how students wrote on a slate rather than in scrapbooks and if you made a mistake the punishment was severe. 

The firefighter guided us around the fire engine and we were able to compare fire fighting from the past with fire fighting techniques in the present day. We even had the opportunity to use the high powered water hose.

As the blacksmith’s hammer rang out across the site, it became evident that making items by hand took a long time and was hard work.

It was an incredible day and we appreciated all the guides answering our endless questions about life in Australia over 100 years ago.

After being immersed in the 1800s, we were able to bring our experiences back into the classroom. Suddenly, we became the experts when we prepared our STAR time presentations at home and presented an historical artefact to our classmates. As historians, we were able to identify what our object was used for in the past and what the present version of our object is. We detailed the material our artefact was made from and how it has changed over time.

We discovered that we are influenced by history and can learn so much from the past. We wonder how the future will look? How will classrooms look in 100 years? Will driverless cars drop us off at school in the future? What will playgrounds look like when our grandchildren are playing in them?

What do you think?

Year 1 Teachers
Steve Farmer, Angie Hall, Jade Lucy and Natalie Pierron
     
Student quotes:

‘It is the first time I have ever been on a bus!’ - Marcus Johnson, 1H

‘I found out if you wanted to get some toys they would have been made out of metal, wood or clay.’ - Chelsea Reiser, 1F

‘I learnt that mums had to do chores every day but not on a Sunday. They had to wash clothes. They had to grab it with a stick, take it to another bucket and give it a good scrub. There was a special machine that had a handle and it squeezed all the water out. Today we have a washing machine with electronics. It is much easier.' - Alexis Macanovic, 1P

‘I liked when we had to guess the different objects from the past and what it was used for such as I learnt about tapes.’ - Gordon Chan, 1L

The ‘season of giving’ is well underway at A.B. Paterson College! This week, our Year 9 students proudly delivered donations of clothing, toiletries, blankets and toys to charity organisation ‘Mamas Helping Mamas’. This effort was part of the Year 9 Service-learning project. Students provided similar support to other local charity organisations including Hope in a Suitcase, Baby Give Back, Suited to Success and Share the Dignity.

Thank you to all families across the College who answered the call to donate items to assist these wonderful community organisations. 

Toni Kirton
Director of Positive Education and Leadership

This week, eight Year 8 students spent three wonderful days learning many different things. They examined the structure and designs of roller coasters and with the knowledge that the triangle was the strongest shape, they designed and created their own roller coaster! Imogen Game and Nina Bajic were the winners with their 'Snow Coaster'!

On Tuesday we travelled to Movie World to study film editing and everything that goes into creating a film and advertisement. From scripts to storyboards to animation, the students were given a detailed insight into creative productions. Through the use of VR technology they gained a bird's eye view of what the director sees during auditions and filming. A wonderful time was had by all!!

Belinda Pilgrim
Head of Faculty - Academic Academy

Year 7 Service-learning students have been modernising our College Library catalogue and helping to ensure our libraries are user-friendly and student-led.

Students have created a few #BookToks - or video book reviews - and their mission is to grow this and encourage other students to create #BookToks as well, by pioneering the concept.

This week the group has been working with some Junior School students to help them produce #BookToks as well.

If you'd like to use the videos, you can find them on our library catalogue through the portal and under #BookTok in the Research Guide section.

Chess is a game of skill … all skill and nothing but total logic. It is an opportunity for two minds to meet and clash in a land of pure reason that is devoid of chance (Chess Forum, 7 July 1972).

The pride of representation and reason was evident amongst the Junior Chess Club players at our recent Interschool Age Championship, where first-time and seasoned players to interschool competition kept their cool within the nerves and excitement of a full day of chess tournaments. First-time competition player, James Phegan remained steadfast and held his head high throughout the day. Seasoned player Emily Wong expended every shred of her problem-solving energy and was spread prone by the end of competition. Lucas Zhang was unstoppable, and the speed of his moves was a testament to his chess skill. He was the first-time player who could not wait for commencement … or the conclusion of play.

All A.B. Paterson College junior chess representatives did our College proud with their respect, superb chess manners and overall point score. 

Chess Supervisors - Susanne Ginnane and Lena White

It’s that time of year when we start to consider what uniforms our children need for the following year. The next time you come across any mismatched, holey, stretched, too big or too small socks when rummaging through your child’s wardrobe or set of drawers, we ask you to please put them aside and have your child bring them into school. They don’t have to be school socks, any socks will do. The only condition is that they must be clean socks, not straight off the foot socks.

Why do we want your socks?

There are approximately 1,500 students at A.B. Paterson College. If each child has five pairs of school socks, that is 7,500 pairs of socks, or 15,000 individual socks! What do you do with your socks when they are no longer wearable? They can’t be sent to a charity organisation, and therefore inevitably end up in the rubbish bin. Clothing and textiles being sent to landfill is a major environmental concern.

What are we going to do with your socks?

We will be sending them off to Upparel (https://upparel.com.au/), a recent start-up that re-use, upcycle or recycle textiles with 0% of them ending up in landfill.

Where can I find ‘Save Our Socks’ collection boxes?

Junior School students - There will be a collection box in your child’s classroom by Thursday 2nd December.
Senior School students – Please bring them into homeroom by Thursday 2nd December.
You can also drop them in the basket outside of the Uniform Shop between Wednesday 24th November and Wednesday 8th December.

Our goal is to save at least 1,000 socks from landfill! Your support and socks are most appreciated!

From the Year 7F SELF class and Mrs Baxter

With the year coming to a close, the A.B. Paterson College Foundation would like to invite you to sponsor of a seat within our Elderslie Theatre located in The Winton Centre. Sponsorship of a seat will give you the opportunity to leave your legacy at the College for generations to come. It will also mean that you are able to support the next generation of students, as your sponsorship will be deposited into the Scholarship Fund to provide an opportunity for students whose family may not have had the financial ability to attend the College in other circumstances. We are still raising funds to be able to provide this bursary, so each seat sponsorship helps us towards that goal, little by little.

Thank you to all of our families who have sponsored a seat this term, we appreciate your generosity greatly.

If you or your family are interested in leaving your legacy and supporting our Scholarship Fund, please contact Stephanie Bryan, Foundation Manager. All donations are tax deductible and are appreciated beyond measure.

Stephanie Bryan
Foundation Manager
sbryan@abpat.qld.edu.au

Congratulations to 2021 College Captain, Jodie Down, who won the '2021 Empowering Young Women's Award' at the Gold Coast Women in Business Awards this week. The award ceremony was held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Broadbeach and Jodie was supported by College Principal, Ms Sheehy, and representatives of our Senior Leadership Team, Mrs Brook, Ms Kirton, Ms Ward, Mrs Walduck and Ms Horner.

Congratulations also to Class of 2021 graduates, Angelina Inthavong - who was a finalist in the same category - as well as merit award recipients Hannah Grosser and Bita Mahani. These young women and 'new' Old Collegians continue to be wonderful role models for all A.B. Paterson College students to look up to.

The honours keep coming for 2021 College Captain, Jodie Down who has received a Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award, while Year 10 student, Charlotte Squire has earned her Bronze Award! 

These two fantastic achievements take the A.B. Paterson College tally of Duke of Edinburgh Awards for 2021 to a record breaking 21 awards in one year!

Well done to all students involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards this year.

Congratulations to students Amity Fielding (Year 10), Sam Brookes (Year 9), Harry Argent (Year 10), Sam Argent (Year 7) and Hunter O’Hara (Year 9) who participated in their RAAF Cadet Graduation Parade last weekend.

Congratulations to Year 9 student Beau Zhang for achieving the highest possible result on his recent Grade 8 piano exam. Beau was awarded High Distinction  A+!

The following students also achieved very high marks on their piano exams this year:

James Wang (Year 9) Grade 8 piano A Honours
Chloe Wang (Year 3) Grade 2 piano A Honours
Juliana Li (Year 9) Grade 8 piano B+
Molly Read (Year 8) Grade 3 piano  B+
Ken Woodall (Year 7) Grade 5 piano B+
Sei Woodall (Year 3) Grade 2 piano B+
Javier Segui (Year 4) Grade 1 piano B+

Well done, everyone. You have done your piano teacher, your parents and the College proud!

Inge Lass
Piano Tutor