Last week, our College dancers and choristers participated in the final week of the Gold Coast eisteddfod. We are delighted to announce the results of this year’s highly competitive dance and choral sections!

We would like to thank all the students involved, the parents and friends who offered support and transport, and the staff who gave so much of their time in preparing, presenting and supervising the students. Special thanks to our choral team of Ms Newcombe, Mrs Mackenzie, Mrs Sharp and Mr Albertini, our wonderful accompanists Mrs Marquenie and Mrs Nicholson, our Dance teachers Mrs Walkely and Mrs Anderson and our wonderful faculty assistant Mrs Selby.

It certainly takes a village to ensure the success of events such as these, and the Arts faculty is delighted to have such wonderful support from the College community.

Congratulations to all our dancers and choristers!

Dance

Plie Dance: Jazz Very Highly Commended
Glissade Dance: Jazz Very Highly Commended and Lyrical Very Highly Commended
Jete Dance: Jazz Highly Commended and Lyrical Highly Commended
Chaines Dance: Jazz Highly Commended and 2nd Place Hip Hop

Choral

Prep T and Prep J: Silver Award and 3rd Place
Prep D and Prep L: Silver Award and 2nd Place
Prep D and Prep T: Platinum Award and 1st Place (Novelty)
Prep L and Prep J: Gold Award and 3rd Place (Novelty)
Years 1R and 1P: Gold Award and Highly Commended
Years 1M and B: Platinum Award and 2nd Place
Years 1B and R: Gold Award and 2nd Place (Novelty)
Years 1M and P: Gold Award and 3rd Place (Novelty)
Years 2H and 2S: Gold Award and 3rd Place
Years 2L and 2M: Platinum Award and 1st Place
Years 2L and 2H: Silver Award and 3rd Place (Novelty)
Years 2S and 2M: Gold Award and 2nd Place (Novelty)
Years 3L and 3Y: Gold Award and Very Highly Commended and Silver Award and Very Highly Commended (Novelty)
Years 3S and 3H: Gold Award and Highly Commended and Gold Award and 1st Place (Novelty)
Year 3/4 Choir: Platinum Award and 1st Place
Boys Chorus: Silver Award and Highly Commended
Year 5 Choir: Silver Award
Year 6 Choir: Gold Award and 1st Place
Year 7/8 Choir: Platinum Award and 2nd Place
A Cappella Girls: Silver Award
A Cappella Boys: Silver Award
Year 7-12 Musical Showcase: Silver Award and 3rd Place
Chamber Choir: Platinum Award and 2nd Place

Sharyn Walker-Joyce | Head of The Arts

Watch the 7NEWS Gold Coast video below.

On Sunday 20 August, the Gold Coast Debating Grand Finals were held at Bond University. With more than 180 teams this year, the competition was fierce! 

Year 9 students, Kaleb Beattie, Finlay Canavan, Mitchell Chen and Byron McNiven made it successfully through to the finals for the Intermediate A division. Unfortunately, they were beaten by a team of Year 10 students from Somerset College, but they fought hard around a tricky topic and presented one of their best debates of the season! 

Congratulations to Kaleb, Finlay, Mitchell and Byron!

Kelly Whiteway | Debating Coordinator

A thrilling event unfolded this week at A.B. Paterson College: The SUMO Robotics Scrimmage. 

Convening students from diverse schools across the Gold Coast, this competition showcased their inventive prowess through the utilisation of the LEGO Spike Prime robotic platform. With victory in their sights, these budding engineers meticulously crafted and programmed independent robots, plunging into an enthralling contest of intellect and tactics within a designated arena. 

Beyond the realm of robotics, the event fostered camaraderie, as students collaborated and exchanged good-natured banter, fortifying the principles of teamwork and mutual regard.

A.B. Paterson College warmly extends its congratulations to all participants as well as our student helpers, applauding their accomplishments and outstanding conduct that perfectly encapsulates the men and women of character here at the College.

Beth Claydon | Acting Deputy Director of Teaching & Learning (Years 7-9)

It has been a year of firsts for our Basketball program, mostly around our older students, however our young Brumbies have stolen the spotlight with their performance at the Champion Schools Basketball Queensland Primary Competition! Played in a 3-v-3 format, we entered teams for the very first time in this competition and they did not disappoint.

Our girls managed to win four games across the two days, showing improvement throughout the tournament to finish 10th overall in Division 2.

Our boys were amazing, finishing undefeated through the semi-finals before going down by a point in a nail-biting gold medal game.

Our primary boys came away with a silver in Division 2, marking the first medal the College has received in any CBSQ competition!

Congratulations to both the boys and girls teams on an amazing two days of Basketball.

Nathan Burgess | Director of Activities

The recent Trade Show featuring our Year 5 students' innovative prototypes was nothing short of remarkable! 

The event showcased the exceptional abilities and unwavering determination of our students, as they embraced the challenges of the Global Innovators Program with enthusiasm and creativity.

Our students took centre stage, exhibiting a level of initiative and ingenuity that left everyone in awe. Their prototypes not only addressed critical global goals but also demonstrated a deep understanding of the issues at hand.

The dedication our students poured into exploring the 17 Global Goals was evident in their projects. Notably, they harnessed the power of innovation to create solutions that not only raised awareness but also offered practical avenues for progress. Their relentless pursuit of change and improvement was a source of inspiration for attendees, leaving many adults deeply moved by the commitment and
creativity displayed.

Throughout the event, the exchange of ideas was dynamic and engaging. Visitors were drawn to the
energy and enthusiasm of our young innovators, sparking conversations that traversed a multitude of topics. The resonance of their work was evident as discussions about Gender Equality, Climate Action, and other pressing issues echoed throughout the venue.

The Trade Show was not merely a presentation of prototypes; it was a glimpse into the future these
exceptional students are determined to create. The seamless fusion of technology, compassion, and purpose in their projects spoke volumes about their potential to effect lasting change.

Emily Charter, Kate Lawrence, Sophie Wager and Sarah Burr | Year 5 Teachers

Scarlett Fisher in Year 6 has had an incredible 12 months in the world of film making. Her film, The Special Guest, has received accolades across the globe.

Listed below are Scarlett’s wonderful achievements. We are so very proud of you Scarlett- you are a very talented film maker!!

Festivals & Awards

1. SF3 – Sydney, Australia
2. Lantern & Light International Children’s Film Festival – Melbourne, Australia
3. KidsFilmFest – New York, USA
4. Singapore International Children’s Film Festival – Singapore – WINNER – BEST YOUNG FILMMAKER
5. Cleveland International Kids Film Festival – Cleveland, USA – WINNER – BEST FILM
6. Children’s Film Festival Seattle – Seattle, USA – WINNER – BEST FILM
7. BAM Kids Film Festival - New York, USA

Belinda Pilgrim | Head of Academic Academy

Well done to our young Speech and Drama performers in Years 1-3 who performed at the Somerset Young Performer's Festival last weekend.

Year 1 student, Miles Chen, truly savoured his performance saying, “I think this activity is very special. My ideal experience was to be brave and professional at speech and drama. And I really enjoyed it.” His poetry partner, Ashlyn Wang from Year 1, who was participating in her first festival also exhibited impressive skills and thoroughly relished the performance.

Brother and sister duo, Scarlett Fisher in Year 6 and Miles Fisher in Year 2, had a great time performing at the festival as well! Miles enjoyed learning and performing a monologue as Batman’s sidekick, Robin, for the first time. Scarlett loves performing and this year felt it was a tough competition with some fantastic performers.

What is wonderful is that everyone did their very best and Mrs Howell is delighted to share their results.

Thank you to all the parents who gave up their time so that your children could gain confidence and experience from this wonderful event and a huge congratulations to all students involved!

Grade 1 Humorous Poetry

Blue Ribbon: Miles Chen
Red Ribbon: Ashlyn Wang

Duo Poem

Red Ribbon: Miles Chen & Ashlyn Wang

Grade 2 Humorous Poetry

Blue Ribbon: Miles Fisher
Red Ribbon: Felix Ko, Alex Ko, Arya Bilgin, Yewon Song & Jayden Yang
Green Ribbon: Norah Pan & Eliana Gexu

Monologue

Blue Ribbon: Miles Fisher

Grade 3 Humorous Poetry

Blue Ribbon: Adam Wilkinson, Vanessa Ko, Samantha O'Donoghue & Akshay Pillai
Red Ribbon: Vanessa Li, Sarah Jolly, Charlise Slaski & Yewon Song
Green Ribbon: Kayla Rutherford & Alston Chen

Group Mime

Blue Ribbon: Adam Wilkinson, Sarah Jolly, Vanessa Ko, Samantha O'Donoghue, Arya Bilgin, Felix Ko, Eliana Gexu, Yewon Song & Jayden Yang
Red Ribbon: Miles Fisher, Norah Pan, Alex Ko, Vanessa Li, Alston Chen, Akshay Pillai & Harper Liang
Green Ribbon: Annika Khosla, Kayla Rutherford & Charlise Slaski

Solo Mime

Blue Ribbon: Scarlett Fisher

Monologue

Blue Ribbon: Scarlett Fisher

Humorous Poetry

Blue Ribbon: Scarlett Fisher

Sharyn Walker-Joyce | Head of The Arts

The College students below participated in the Somerset Young Performers Festival last weekend. 

Well done to everyone on your fabulous performances!

Saavi Gaikwad: Mime – Blue Ribbon, Monologue – Blue Ribbon and Poem – Red Ribbon

Isobelle Delacy: Poem – Highly Commended

Isobelle Delacy and Eilidh Robertson: Duo – Reb Ribbon

Jeffrey Ge: Poem – Green Ribbon

Jeffrey Ge and Lucas Sun: Duo – Red Ribbon

Fraser Allison: Mime – Blue Ribbon and Poem – Red Ribbon

Aidan McIntyre: Monologue – Green Ribbon

Caitlin Papworth and Lara El Hazek: Duo – Red Ribbon

Anushka Khosla, Annie Lo and Caitlin Papworth: Group Drama – Red Ribbon

Amber Oh, Piper Reneke and Wenxi Shang: Group Drama – Green Ribbon

Sharyn Walker-Joyce | Head of The Arts

Congratulations to the following piano students for their fabulous individual efforts. 

Toby Zhang from Year 7 recently competed in the Somerset festival where he was awarded a Blue Ribbon for his performance of Tarantella. 

Well done, Toby! 

Wilson McKinnon from Year 8 also achieved wonderful results in his recent piano examination in which he received an A (Honours). 

Well done Wilson on this excellent result.

Sharyn Walker-Joyce | Head of The Arts

Congratulations to Max Anderson (Year 8) on his recent success at the Australian Swimming Championships.

Max qualified to represent Queensland for the 50m Backstroke, along with the A Division Medley Relay and B Division Freestyle Relay.

We are pleased to let you all know that Max placed fifth in Australia for the 50m Backstroke and came away with a Bronze Medal for the Medley Relay.

Well done Max - the A.B. community is very proud of you!

Nathan Burgess | Director of Activities

Congratulations to Grace Wolff (Year 6) on her amazing achievements at the recent Australian Basketball Championships. 

Grace was selected into the Queensland team to compete in Western Australia against the best in the country, and was also named Vice Captain of the team!

The Queensland girls had an amazing tournament, narrowly losing the grand final to come away with a silver medal.

The whole Brumbies community is extremely proud of Grace’s achievement, well done Grace!

Nathan Burgess | Director of Activities

What a beary special lunchtime everyone had at the Interact Teddy Bears Picnic!

Our seniors paid a visit to the junior school last week with their teddy bear companions for a lunch of story-telling, dancing, and teddy-riffic memories.

Thank you to the Interact Club for organising this awesome event - students and their furry friends had a wonderful time!

Years 5 to 8 is a pivotal time for students to develop crucial social skills and explore their creativity. Our 'Dungeons and Dragons' program harnesses the power of tabletop role-playing games to achieve both of these goals.

In a fun and imaginative setting, students collaboratively create characters, solve problems, and embark on epic adventures. Through this program, students learn effective communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem-solving. By assuming different roles in a fantasy world, they gain insights into various perspectives and build empathy.

'Dungeons and Dragons' empowers our middle schoolers to think outside the box, strengthen friendships, and gain confidence in expressing themselves.

We want to thank our wonderful Senior School helper, Sienna Gostelow for running this with us!

Genevieve Whittington | Head of Learning Enhancement Faculty

Excitement is building! This time next week we'll be swaying to swing music at the Big Band Bash

A reminder that there will be performances by our Junior, Intermediate and Senior Big Bands, as well as a special appearance by Project Swing

Light refreshments and snacks will also be available to purchase!

Final ticket sales are happening over the next week.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

If your family is relocating at the end of this year, written notification of student departure should be provided to the College by the first day of Term 4, Tuesday 3 October, as agreed to in the Contract of Enrolment signed on acceptance of an enrolment place. Where this notice is not provided, the College may charge one term’s fees in lieu of notice, as budgets are prepared on student numbers.

Please email Head of Admissions, Karen Milburn at KMilburn@abpat.qld.edu.au if your family will not be at the College for the start of the 2024 school year.

It has become apparent that illegal parking and dropping students off and collecting them from school is taking place along Eastbourne Chase, Marble Arch Place and Calcetto Place. The College has had multiple complaints from residents.

As a reminder, there are parking restrictions and yellow lines marked. There are also ‘no standing’ signs in areas between 8:00am and 9:00am, and also from 2:30pm to 3:30pm on school days.

On regular occasions, the Gold Coast City Council does send out parking inspectors who issue warnings and fines for illegal parking. We are quite concerned that traffic flow is being restricted and visibility of children crossing the road is becoming an increasing issue. This matter will continue to be monitored and staff or parking inspectors will be visible.

The ongoing safety of all children is paramount, and I ask you to always keep this in the forefront of your mind.

Simon Edgar | Head of Junior School