The APS Swimming carnivals were held at Somerset College on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 February. The APS Carnivals are the pinnacle of the season and provide pathways for students to the schools regional, state and national championships during the year. Our students competed exceptionally well and produced outstanding results across the two days.
The Senior Team competed on the Wednesday and produced outstanding individual results, as well as great team results. Congratulations to the 14-year girls who were awarded champions in their age group for outstanding results across their individual swims and relays. A special mention to Ava Woodfield who broke the 15-year girls 100m freestyle record and was awarded 1st age champion. The Senior Team placed 6th in the percentage and 5th overall which is a great effort considering the high standard of competition they were up against. The Junior Team competed on the Thursday and demonstrated outstanding depth to achieve 3rd place overall and 5th on the percentage. The Junior Team demonstrated outstanding team spirit and supported their team mates at every opportunity. Congratulations to Samuel Longhurst and Savannah Maddison for their great swimming across the day, earning them 3rd Age Champion accolades in their respective age groups.
Please see a summary of students who placed in the Top 3 in their swims, after combining all divisional races on the day.

Following the APS Carnival, the following students were selected to represent the College and Hinterland District at the Regional Carnival on Monday 2 March. A total of 19 students have been invited to attend in a total of 59 events. We wish them all the best at the Regional Carnival on Monday.
Girls: Georgia Coward, Chloe Hignett, Sarah Reimer, Aveline Rounsley, Chelsea Vine, Rianna Webster and Ava Woodfield
Boys: Charley Chapman, Mitchell Chen, Caydn Dilkes, Hudson Dilkes, Joshua Hibberd, Alistair Hughes, Jonas Longhurst, Samuel Longhurst, Jake Maddison, Charlie Morris, Adam Reimer and Campbell Rounsley
Thank you to our Head Swim Coach, Peter Gee and to Rachel Harcombe for their hard work with our students on a year-round basis. All the best to our students at the Regional Carnival.
Matt Stopel – Assistant Head of HPE

‘Develop and implement a future focused pedagogy that promotes genuine understanding.’ This is one of the pillars of the College’s strategic intentions.
How do we lift this to become embedded in our culture as opposed to remaining words on a page?
Perhaps if we begin by looking towards the future – to quote Ian Jukes, a former teacher who is now working with schools around the world as a consultant, convincing educators of the need to restructure so that they are relevant to the current and future needs of our children:
‘We face a world on the move. We face a world that has not only fundamentally changed, but continues to change in incomprehensible, accelerating ways. As a result of these dramatic changes, we are dealing with a very different kind of student – a student whose experiences, expectations, and assumptions about the world they live in are compelling the older generations to completely rethink teaching, learning, and assessment.’
How true this is. With rows of desks mirroring classrooms first used by the Ancient Greeks, education today needs a major rethink.
So, let us delve into the recent past.
The College opened the Collaborative Learning Centre and it became a major resource in our endeavour to develop contemporary or 21st skills and keep pace with the rapidly changing world.
Thankfully, seven years later – with explicit, programmed teaching – developing these skills is now the norm and rather than us needing a dedicated space, they are delivered in every classroom – as they should be!
But, what of the rows of desks? The rolling program of classroom refurbishment takes into account the need for agile space – zoned areas for different types of learning to occur within each classroom, technology to deepen and accelerate learning, the best environments for learning including optimum light levels, screens not projectors, writable surfaces, staggered seating – designed for collaboration and Makerspaces for prototyping! To name but a few of our design criteria!
What about a culture of learning? A conversation I had many years ago with a senior colleague (in a different school and in a different country I might add) springs to mind. I asked him how a recently attended conference on teaching and learning had gone – the response came back ‘not sure that I brought many ideas back with me, but it was a fantastic lunch’. Luckily, this attitude is now consigned to history. For anyone at A.B. Paterson College attending training or professional development, it is the norm to share ideas, resources, strategies and enthusiasm with colleagues. To quote from the Strategic Intent of the College ‘Facilitate a community of learners creating opportunity for each of their futures’. If this is our undertaking for College students then it has to be a part of our culture as a staff – after all, we are all members of the same community. This is the culture which will continue to keep us at the cutting edge of education as we continually evaluate and adapt our pedagogical approach to be one that meets the needs of 21st Century Learners. As I have stated many times at College assemblies and meetings – collaboration is key!
But, what to do in the classrooms I described above? Our Teaching for Understanding Framework provides guidance and – as it says on the tin – means, we deliver understanding. By its very nature this is transferrable to life beyond the College. A key architect of this framework, Professor David Perkins from Harvard University, writes:
‘Understanding shows its face when people think and act flexibly around what they know. In contrast, when a learner cannot go beyond rote and routine thought and action, this signals a lack of understanding.’
To achieve this, teachers must set intellectual challenges, differentiate learning to an individualistic level, and be responsive to student needs – particularly in terms of self-regulated education and in our design of the curriculum.
Ultimately, we want students who are curious, sceptical, open-minded, strategic, metacognitive, reflective, truth seekers, inquisitive, responsible, independent, listeners, adventurous, inventive, original, creative, flexible, questioning, risk-takers, mindful, considerate, full of wonder, compassionate, balanced… and this list is not exhaustive!
An excerpt from an article by Ron Ritchhart, also from the Harvard Graduate School of Education:
‘The culture of the classroom teaches. It not only sets a tone for learning, but also determines what gets learned. The messages sent through the culture of the classroom communicates to students what it means to think and learn well. These messages are a curriculum in themselves – teaching students how to learn and ways of thinking.’
Thus, our teachers will communicate what counts in effective learning and what is required to be a good student.
Learning is a consequence of thinking. Students must think with the content. They must be given time to, and expend energy, interacting with the content. Learning occurs at the point of challenge, thus at A.B. Paterson College we must continue to ensure that there is challenge for all students! We must also carry on making certain that thinking is valued, is actively promoted and regularly facilitated in the classroom. We must create that culture!
This points us in the right direction to develop that community of learners.
Philosopher Plutarch, born in Greece in 2046 AD, was famous not only for his work but also for his quotations and sayings. One I remember talking about in an assembly a few years ago has always resonated with me, and provides a signpost for our pedagogical approach:
‘The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.’
Richard Worsey - Director of Teaching and Learning

A.B. Paterson College would like to heartily congratulate past parent, Peter Gash – Custodian of Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort – on receiving a Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division, for service to eco-tourism and aviation.
When contacted about his recognition, a very humble Peter immediately shifted the focus to the tireless efforts of his family – wife Julie, and daughters Amy and Chloe, both A.B. Paterson College Alumni – and his dedicated team.
“None of what I have achieved could have happened without the fantastic support (of my family),” Peter states, “not to forget our remarkable team members and behind the scenes people who really believe in our mission to leave the beautiful Lady Elliot Island and the Great Barrier Reef better than we found it.”
Lady Elliot is a coral cay island located 80 kms north-east of Bundaberg, on the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef.
“The award came as a great surprise and I feel very humbled by the fact that people have gone to the effort of nominating myself for the Order of Australia Medal.”
“I am very proud to be awarded this accolade in the two areas of ‘eco-tourism’ and ‘aviation’. I feel this speaks volumes for the fact that these areas can be mutually supportive and beneficial for the advancement of education and environmental stewardship without detracting from each other. This indicates a remarkable approach by the Australia Day Awards Committee to the challenges the planet faces in the future.”
You can read about the extraordinary work of Peter’s family and team at Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort in an upcoming issue of Vision Splendid, or hear Peter speak at A.B. Paterson College Foundation Chairman’s Lunch on Friday 27 March at Parkwood Village. Tickets are available at:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/chairmans-lunch-ab-paterson-college-foundation-tickets-91724461333?fbclid=IwAR1LL9X3D5VbSCcU0X4a5aFd4oC9Bv1EAam2dr7kzZqLEU6LR6zyCRcqEK8

Over the weekend of Thursday 20 to Saturday 22 February, the Queensland School Sport Triathlon Championships were held in Hervey Bay.
Jonas Longhurst (Year 8) and Riley Grimmer (Year 7) were selected to represent the South Coast region following their performance at the Regional Carnival.
In the Junior 13-14 years division, Jonas placed 22nd and Riley placed 41st, out of 82 boys – exceptional results given they were competing as younger competitors in the combined age group. The boys completed a 300m swim, 10km bike ride and 2km run.
Huxley Bertsos (Year 5) was also selected to compete in the Aquathon but was unfortunately unable to compete due to injury.
Well done to Jonas and Riley and we wish them all the best for their future training.
Matt Stopel – Assistant Head of HPE

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” Dr. Seuss
There is a magical time for children between the ages of 4 and 7 when they move beyond verbal communication and start to develop their written language skills. It is an amazing transformation and something that I personally love witnessing, when teaching and working with our youngest learners in the College. The first step for learners is to understand phonics – this is when young students can identify letters and sound them out. Eventually, they learn to identify common words and then start to read and write these words independently. This phonemic awareness is only one part of the reading process though. The most important and lasting way a teacher or parent can positively impact a child's overall success, is by instilling in them a love and passion for reading. Learning how to read and write opens up limitless opportunities for young students. It gives them an entirely new way to communicate, to expand their imagination and to learn new information.
At the beginning of last year, I wrote to all families about the importance of reading and home talk. As we commence the school year for 2020, I would like to revisit some of these concepts. In the Junior School, we encourage a love of reading in our students in many ways. All students have the opportunity to participate in streamed reading groups each week. In the lower Junior School, we utilise a Shared Reading program with our Prep and Year 1 students. Shared Reading is a strategy that supports the teaching of reading elements to students including oral language, early experiences with print, phonological awareness, vocabulary and fluency and comprehension.
Shared Reading is an effective way that teachers can demonstrate to students reading strategies and behaviours with a continuous text. With the assistance of our wonderful parent helpers and learning assistants, Prep and Year 1 students have been engaging with the Shared Reading program during their weekly reading lessons. Initially, the focus is on meaning and enjoyment when reading. Once the early understanding of the text is established, the adult rereads the text to explicitly demonstrate reading strategies and provide the opportunity for the student to engage in problem solving using meaning, structure and visual information.
Here at the College, we are fortunate to have decodable readers. Our decodable readers have been a common shared reading text type over the last few years, as the text is age appropriate and illustrations enlarged for student viewing. The purpose of using these decodable readers, is so that students can follow the words as the adult reads. Initially, the adult may do much of the reading. However, as students become more familiar with the text, they will assume more control, particularly at repetitive sections or when rhyme and rhythm are present. Shared Reading will continue throughout 2020 as part of our daily reading lessons, as it provides so many opportunities for our students to:

• expand vocabulary;
• read fluently, with expression and confidence;
• read with pleasure and enjoyment;
• enhance and consolidate decoding and comprehension strategies; and demonstrate concepts of print such as left to right, return sweep, top to bottom, left page before right page.

Additionally, in Prep, all students have been engaging in the Jolly Phonics program, which is a comprehensive program that focusses on teaching letter sounds as opposed to the alphabet. Through engaging with this program, our Prep students are learning to read and write using synthetic phonics; which is widely recognised as the most effective way to teach children to read and write. Through the use of this program, when reading a word, a child can recognise the letters and blend together the respective sounds. When writing a word, the Jolly Phonics program assists the children to identify the sounds heard and write down the corresponding letters. These skills are called blending and segmenting which are two important skills that all children need to learn in order to master phonics. Our focus for the remainder of Term 1 in Prep is continuing to learn the letter sounds in the Jolly Phonics order. As such, take home readers will not commence in Prep until the start of Term 2. This change has been implemented to best support our youngest learners with the development of their reading and writing abilities.
Overall, it is wonderful to see so many of our students excited to read and working towards achieving their personal reading goals that have been set in class. Well done boys and girls and happy reading! 
Trent Davis - Year 1 Teacher

Last weekend, nine Year 11 students took part in a qualifying Silver Duke of Edinburgh Camp. Unlike previous expedition orientated camps which have been based in the tropical rainforests surrounding the Gold Coast, this year’s Silver camp took place on the Gold Coast as part of an Urban Exploration.
Students explored the city environment working upon personal projects on urban related topics. These included disability access around the city, cycle provision for commuters, comparison of graffiti and public murals and whether this is art, the impact of modern buildings on traditional architecture in the suburbs and homelessness.
All nine students had a great time and the group dynamics, team spirit and enthusiastic approach to the weekends activities was excellent. The weather was mostly sunny apart from a few brief showers. Students stayed at the Tallebudgera Creek Tourist Park where they cooked their evening meals and prepared their breakfasts and pack lunches. Lunch times were often spent in the beautiful parks and gardens within the Gold Coast. 
A number of suburbs were explored as part of historical and cultural visits, whereby students took notes and recorded what they saw with video and still photographic images to create a comprehensive journal documenting their chosen topic.
Notable highpoints for the students were a 5 am sunrise walk along the beach at Tallebudgera Creek, a stroll around Burleigh Headlands, a visit to War Memorials at Cascade Gardens, a tour of the Convention Centre and a morning spent exploring China Town.
Andrew Sole - Head of Outdoor Education