I have been asked a number of times over the past few weeks, how and if parents can help or assist back on campus, and my answer for the moment is… not just yet.

In times of COVID-19, parents being involved in classes, or at the College, are a distant memory. However, engagement with our College can be achieved, and has been – just differently. 

We all know that parent engagement has a marked impact on a child’s success at school. There are countless articles written about the notion of parent engagement and the associated importance of the concept of working together. At A.B. Paterson College the aim of working together with you as parents, is to create a stimulating and supportive environment for learning and development that can be transferred from the College, to your home. This ensures our students, teachers, parents, and in many cases extended family, are all on the same page and delivering the same messages. Underpinning the notion of It takes a Village to raise and educate our child/ren, we all actually contribute to growing a child and we do that best, when we do it together.

As a teacher, we know that parents understand the rhythms and subtleties of their child/ren; their boundaries, their fears and, the social and emotional factors.

Teachers quickly get to know their students on a different level – their aspirations, how they manage themselves socially and emotionally – when they are out of the sanctity of their home. The relationship between our teaching staff and our families is pivotal and the stronger the relationship and partnership between school and home, the better the outcomes for our students.   

For the moment, until health officials notify us differently, parents are not able to be as physically involved in our College as they normally would. However, you can still maintain positive and effective engagement with our College – be conscious of the aims of our programs for learning and development, school decisions and policies, and help articulate this understanding at home. With the online Junior School Parent/Teacher Interviews occurring Tuesday, 15 September, and Wednesday, 16 September, this is an important opportunity to discuss strategies to further improve your child/ren’s learning goals – at school and at home – as they move forward into Term 4.

Another powerful form of engagement is talking about what is being learnt at school. Not just, “How was school today?” Create a deep discussion of specific subjects in the curriculum, using open ended questions starting with, “Tell me about…” and you will get an answer longer than one word. For the upcoming online Junior School Parent/Teacher Interviews, I encourage you to go in with questions about how you can help your child with their forward planning, as well as reflecting on their results. 

As we are coming to the end of Term 3, with the finish line firmly in our sights, our message to you is simple – continue your positive engagement in reinforcing these key messages at home and the better the outcomes for our students.

Joanne Sheehy - Principal/Head of College

Recently, I had the honour of meeting with Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate at his Mayoral Chambers. As the Youth Member for Warrego in the Queensland Youth Parliament, I wanted to learn more about politics at a local level and gain insight from one of the Gold Coast’s major community leaders.

On a personal note, I was most surprised at how kind and friendly the Mayor was. Having grown up seeing him on the News and knowing his status as a very important individual to our wider Gold Coast community, I had almost forgotten about the aspect of humanity in him. I had not expected him to be genuinely interested in learning more about myself and my passions and was surprised he was so welcoming and encouraging. His Assistant told me Mr Tate gave me more time than he would typically give a community leader, which was extremely humbling and reiterated how much of an honour the experience was.  

I was most eager to learn about Mr Tate’s personal views on his role – the many challenges and joys that accompany being Mayor of “the greatest city in the world”. Mr Tate detailed to me how he adores being unashamedly pro-Gold Coast in all discussions, as he wants our city to continue to flourish and have a place not just on the national stage but receive the international praise it deserves. Through his admission that advocating for our diverse local communities can have its difficulties, I was able to gain some valuable lessons on the importance of determination and effort in absolutely everything we do. I hadn’t realised how much community consultation occurs within the Council, and how much mediation and compromise dictates in Gold Coast City Council decision-making.  

We also heavily discussed our city’s road to recovery at both present and in a future post-COVID-19 era. I learnt a lot about Mr Tate’s and the Council’s existing aspirations to expand a variety of industries on the Gold Coast, from health to education, media, IT and sports, and their increased commitment to seeing these aspirations to fruition considering COVID-19 had revealed the weaknesses of a tourism-centred economy. Hearing of his plans for these various sectors allowed me to see what tremendous opportunities expansion of industry will provide for students of my age and of the next generation. Mr Tate gave me many words of wisdom and advice for students that I share in our student newspaper The Brumby Bulletin, but my favourite of them all was when he said, “Do not be scared of your dreams. Trust yourself, it is all reachable”.  

Throughout Mr Tate’s chambers, there is a variety of memorabilia – piles of shovels from the start of building projects, plaques, ceremonial gifts and many more – that stand to remind him of his commitment to the structural development of our city and the fostering of partnerships that benefit Gold Coasters. His reception area is definitely one of the most exciting I have ever been to! When I asked the Mayor where his favourite part of the Gold Coast is, in a heart-warming manner, he said it is wherever his wife is. It looks like we need to get Mrs Ruth Tate on our College campus so that A.B. Paterson College is his favourite place!

After meeting with Mr Tate, I had the opportunity to speak to Jaz Lee, the Mayor’s policy advisor. Jaz has an extensive history working with Federal, State and Local politicians, and it was fantastic to gain his perspective on political life at each of the levels. Mr Lee educated me on the more nitty-gritty aspects of council leadership and the variety of factors and circumstances that have contributed to the development of our city into what it is today. It was great to also learn about the behind the scenes aspects of the Mayoral office, and the work Mr Tate and his colleagues do to guide and support the Mayor’s vision for the Gold Coast. 

I left the Mayoral Chambers much more knowledgeable about our city’s future, but also extremely excited for its development and proud to be a Gold Coaster. It felt a bit strange having to be socially distanced in the boardroom and for the photo, but it was a great experience nonetheless!  

Jodie Down – Year 11 Student Youth Member for Warrego

In Humanities and Social Science this term, Year 3 students have been learning about our neighbouring countries. The students have thoroughly enjoyed researching countries such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Timor-Leste. They have investigated different countries’ locations, climates, natural features and flora and fauna. 

One of the students’ favourite countries to learn about was New Zealand. They were so interested to hear about the Maori culture and biculturalism. We discovered that in New Zealand they say Kia Ora to say hello and Maori and English are both taught in schools. “Miss Clark taught us how to say a few words in Maori!”  

I found it interesting that all the countries we have learnt about are surrounded by the Ring of Fire. Anni Lu 

I loved learning about Indonesia because my mum comes from there. I didn’t know how big it is - the population is around 273 million, which is so much bigger than Australia for such a small country. Clarisa Leute 

An interesting fact about Papua New Guinea is that it is only 4km away from Australia (Boigu Island, Queensland). Javier Segui 

I enjoyed teaching my friends about my mum’s culture. I taught them how to say ‘Bula’, which means ‘hello’. I also taught them how to count to 20 in Fijian.  Mitchell Bultitude 

Ruth Bradley, Leanne Clark, Donna Symms and Steve Farmer - Year 3 Teachers

It was an action-packed day from one end of our campus to the other as students got into the spirit of National HPE Day on Wednesday, 2 September!

With plenty of fun, energetic activities to get involved in, everyone enjoyed the day!

In June 2019, as an Australian first, in an effort to change the perceptions of young people towards driving, Chief Executive Officer, Mr Brian Grimes – with generous financial support from three sponsors, The Advanced Group, Eaton Services Group and Morse Building Consultancy – purchased three of the most advanced Driver Training Simulators, featuring a real driver’s seat, seat belt, handbrake and three LED high tech screens, to provide students with an unparalleled virtual driving experience.

A.B. Paterson College is about to welcome a new intake of driver trainees, from Year 9. Each student will complete a minimum of three driving sessions before the end of this year, with each session to be supervised by one, or more, of our Driver Safety Ambassadors.

As we wish our Year 9 trainees 'safe travels', let's flashback to the 2019 launch. https://www.facebook.com/abpatersoncollege/videos/630242891021110/