Alumni Achievements

This past week I was thrilled to be in touch with 2020 graduate, Rianna Webster, who informed me that she had recently been awarded the Pekol Family Scholarship for Women in Engineering at the University of Queensland. This is an exceptional achievement and provides Rianna with membership to the Andrew N. Liveris Academy for Innovation and Leadership at UQ. This academy provides the environment and programs to deliver a pipeline of effective and creative leaders for the digital era with the capacity to contribute to a sustainable future. The Liveris Academy is designed to cultivate the next generation of leaders with the capacity to address grand challenges at a time of dramatic socio-economic, technological and environmental change.

‘The Liveris Academy will attract, support and develop many of the planet’s smartest young people and finest minds in engineering and science, enabling them to reach their full potential while addressing major challenges facing society today.'

- Founding Donor, Andrew N. Liveris AO

Graduates of the Liveris Academy will become part of an actively engaged global Alumni network. Liveris Academy Alumni will be involved in the selection of future generations of Liveris Scholars, will be regularly invited back to The University of Queensland to participate in Academy events, and will become mentors to those who follow in their footsteps. The Liveris Academy Alumni cohort will form a pipeline of top-talent for organisations globally.

Becoming a member of this academy and receiving a scholarship of such gravitas is an outstanding achievement and Rianna should feel incredibly proud of receiving this accolade.

Rianna is currently studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Master of Engineering at UQ and has chosen the following units this Semester:

• Professional Engineering (building an Unmanned Firefighting Vehicle) 
• Statics and Materials
• Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra
• Electromagnetism and Modern Physics

These units certainly aren’t for the faint hearted and require significant depth of understanding of the mathematics and physics involved. I know that this will inspire many young students at our College who continue to pursue their passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. We wish Rianna the very best of luck in the completion of her course and look forward to witnessing her technological, engineering and innovative contributions to a sustainable future both at UQ and beyond.  

Charlotte Brook
Head of Senior School

Whoever coined the expression, 'Get it right the first time' did not work in education. How many of us ever get it right the first time? I know I do not! When we work hard at something and fail, it is the genesis for all success achievement.

My favourite inventor of all time, Thomas Edison, failed nearly 10,000 times inventing the incandescent light bulb. Walt Disney nearly went bankrupt 12 times before he saw his dreams come true. Even Steve Smith had to fail as a spin bowler before he became a run-making machine. Students will inevitably experience setbacks in their educational journey. Learning to cope with this, to use these challenges to improve, is at the core of excellence and why we place such an importance on commitment. 

Adversity is the Catalyst for all Success

Misfortune leads to fortune. Setbacks lead to breakthroughs. And hardship leads to triumph. Struggle is part of a growth mindset and failure is a human-made illusion of a perfectly natural phenomenon. The human experience requires that we struggle for anything meaningful because it is the only way we can appreciate anything. Failure does not exist except when the fear of trying inhibits or outright prevents any attempt to achieve our potential. I have been and still am reminded of this everyday as I watch my own children try to perfect a gymnastics routine, master the art of attack and defence in their chosen sports. 

The Transformational Butterfly

The following is a story from Earl Nightingale’s book, The Essence of Success. It is an ancient fable that has been passed down through generations to illustrate one of the most important life lessons: why struggle is a critical component and necessary ingredient for achieving any kind of success in any type of situation.

The wise man of the village held a cocoon in the palm of his hand.

“What’s that?” the young boy asked.

“Why it’s a cocoon,” replied the wise man. “Inside is a caterpillar that spun this cocoon. He’s in the dark. But when he’s ready, he’ll break out and turn into a wondrous and beautiful butterfly.”

“Can I have it?” asked the young boy.

“Of course,” answered the wise man. “But first, you must promise that you won’t open the cocoon for the butterfly when he begins to break out.  The butterfly must do it all by himself.”

The young boy agreed and took the cocoon home with him.

The very next day, the cocoon began to tremble, and the butterfly fought hard to escape. The young boy couldn’t bear to watch the butterfly struggle; so he broke open the cocoon.

The butterfly was exquisite and so graceful. She soared into the air and suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, plummeted to the ground.

The boy returned to the wise man of the village, crying and cradling the butterfly in his hand.

“You helped the butterfly escape, didn’t you?” the wise man asked.

With tears in his eyes, the child admitted that he had opened the cocoon.

“The butterfly had to struggle,” the wise man said. “By struggling he was building strength in his wings. He was in the dark and so much wanted to get out of the cocoon. But to escape from the cocoon and to transform his life from a lowly caterpillar to a magnificent butterfly, he had to struggle; he had to build muscles in his wings to fly. By trying to make it easy for him, you made it harder to fly.”

What we all can Learn from this Story

When we are in the dark, experiencing job loss, relationship issues, health setbacks, failure of any kind, or any life challenge for that matter, we need to strengthen our muscles – our resolve – to transform our lives for the better. This requires that we work extra hard, endure adversity, challenge each other and not wish for someone to come along to make things easier – to open our cocoon. Being in the dark – not knowing how a failure, problem, or life challenge will successfully transform our lives is a necessary part of our existence. It is the only way we can become more and achieve more.

This links inextricably to the College Mission – To challenge the individual to achieve, and to act with purpose and character.

Simon Edgar
Head of Junior School

Having never attended the Queensland Youth Music Awards in Brisbane, this highly-regarded choral festival was a new and exciting adventure for A.B. Paterson College students and our Performing Arts team.

The decision to participate was based on giving our choirs – from Years 4/5 through to our Chamber Choir – an opportunity to receive detailed, constructive feedback.

“After missing our Eisteddfod experience due to COVID-19 last year, the Performing Arts team was looking for new opportunities for our students to perform, without the focus being on competition and placings,” Assistant Head of Performing Arts, Miss Rachel Newcombe said.

That being said, our Performing Arts team was blown away by the results, with our Years 4/5 and Years 7/8 Choirs receiving Gold awards, and our Year 6 and Chamber Choirs awarded Silver.
 
The experience was capped off, last night, with yet another trip up the motorway for  Miss Newcombe and Music/Arts Teacher, Mrs Nadia MacKenzie, accompanied by the Liu family (representing the Years 4/5 Choir)… and another accolade and impressive trophy for the College trophy cabinet! Our Years 4/5 Choir was presented with the Queensland Youth Music Awards Harley Mead Encouragement Award for Primary School Choirs!

While the results delighted Miss Newcombe, it was the growth mindset demonstrated by all students who attended that impressed her most and prompted this beautiful email to our Junior School teachers and staff.

‘What I perceive to be the real value in attending this event was the myriad of character strengths on display in our students - character strengths that you work to instil in them, and encourage them with, every day. 

My favourite moment of the whole experience was when I read the Year 4/5 Choir their adjudicator’s report. It was absolutely glowing, with not a negative comment on it. The children listened and instead of just patting themselves on the back proudly, straightaway responded that it was “lovely to hear….” but “she hasn’t told us what to work on next” so “how can we get better?” 

This growth mindset and love of learning that we have all been trying to develop in our students came flooding out at a moment when it would have been very easy to just sit back and feel proud. So, this email is really to say thank you to all of you for all the little things you do every day, though you may not see the result that it leads to down the track or in different situations. The students are a lovely reflection of your efforts to encourage and develop character.'
Excerpt from an email to Junior School teachers from Assistant Head of Performing Arts, Miss Rachel Newcombe

Head of Performing Arts, Mrs Walker-Joyce described the event as 'amazing nights of beautiful singing of exceptional quality and diversity, and a wonderful opportunity to hear new and interesting repertoire and meet choristers from other schools,’ from Brisbane, Gold and Sunshine Coasts and the Darling Downs.

Congratulations to our Performing Arts team and choristers on your outstanding performances, and thank you to our teachers, staff and families for supporting our students through late night bus arrivals and early morning rehearsals.

This week our Year 5 students participated in Future You 2 You, a virtual event hosted by the Australian Government’s Women in STEM Ambassador and Questacon – the National Science and Technology Centre.  A.B. Paterson College was one of eight school groups in Australia selected to attend the event and share a current challenge our students are solving with science, technology, engineering and maths. During the live Zoom session, a pre-recorded video showcased our Year 5 STEAM challenge. Our students were tasked with using their knowledge and understanding of the Solar System and their digital technology skills to create an interactive model or game. 

“We used Scratch and our coding skills and science knowledge to create an interactive game that would teach our peers about the Milky Way Galaxy.  This meant we had to design, create, evaluate, test then make changes to a Scratch game all by ourselves.” - Charlotte Beattie, 5S

After the school presentations our students met STEM professionals who solve similar problems in their everyday jobs. Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, Women in STEM Ambassador, hosted a live Q&A with the students and STEM professionals. Professor Harvey-Smith asked the STEM experts questions created by Year 5 students Peiwen Liang, Harry Whittington and Sigrid Perez. 

Q: How can I make my backyard more friendly to native wildlife?
- Harry Whittington's question to STEM expert, Kylie Soames - Conservation Biologist

Q. What is the most exciting new technology that you've used to help build smart cities?
- Peiwen Liang’s question to STEM expert, Pearl Li Ng - Digital Implementation Manager

Q. In Australia we have access to solar, wind and hydro. Which renewable energy do you think we will use the most in the future and why?
- Sigrid Perez’s question to STEM expert, Anna Bruce - Renewable Energies Researcher

The event concluded with Dr Cathy Foley, Australia’s Chief Scientist, announcing Heba Hussain (5W) as one of two national winners in the ‘Create Your Future You’ contest. This is a competition which received entries from students around Australia who imagined their future selves using STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) to change the world. Heba aspires to become an environmental scientist when she finishes school so she used her own ambitions to design and create Pathma, a Product Development Scientist who uses sustainable resources to develop and modify products like natural soaps and shampoos. During Heba’s interview with Dr Cathy Foley, she informed the live audience that she enjoys STEAM lessons because it is an opportunity to discover how the world works and work with her peers. Congratulations Heba!

Watch Heba’s character Pathma come to life at Future You - Microsite (womeninstem.org.au) 

Amanda von Kanel
Teacher 

Year 6 learning has been action packed this term! Students have been working on their inquiry tasks about the world’s natural disasters. They have worked to understand tsunamis, earthquakes, floods and landslides, volcanoes and cyclones. In Science, students started their inquiries by learning about the structure of the earth. In STEAM activities, students used Oreo cookies to re-create the different ways the tectonic plates move to form changes in the earth’s surface.

In further STEAM classes, the Year 6 students rotated through a variety of natural disaster simulations to help them understand the impact of each disaster and discuss the ways that science can be used to minimise the impact of disasters in the future. During these simulations, students had the opportunity to:

• Make buildings that wouldn’t fall apart during an earthquake. 
• Create models of cyclones to understand the impact of these disasters on people and the environment. 
• Force enough rain on a model of a community until it flooded and caused landslides in order to understand the importance of vegetation for preservation. 
• Students also created tsunami-like waves crashing onto a beach to better understand the destructive nature of this natural disaster.

“It was awesome making a simulated earthquake and trying to design a building that wouldn’t fall down!” - James Tsoukos

Also this term, the Year 6 students have been excited for the opportunity to participate in Food Technology. To align with their curriculum learning and upcoming Winton experience, the students were challenged to make a ‘fully Aussie burger’! The ingredients were traditionally Australian and included a kangaroo burger patty, lettuce, beetroot, tomato, bush tucker spices and a toasted bun. The students enjoyed practising their culinary skills as they grilled the burgers and buns in the oven and chopped their own salad ingredients. 

“Food tech is a great opportunity for us to learn how to cook for ourselves and learn skills before going to our senior years!” - Remy Villero

“It was really fun, and tasted great too!” - Cyra Abedian

Finally, the Year 6 students are preparing for their amazing camp to Winton next term where they will attend ‘Barty’s Outback Experience’. They are learning their songs, reciting poems, practising assembling their stretcher beds and dreaming about sheep stations. We look forward to telling you all about it when we get back.

“I just can’t wait to head out to Winton, we are so lucky that we can go this year!” - Olivia James

From the Year 6 Teachers
Miss Hannah Caspen, Mr Tim Collins, Mrs Kerrie Moore, Mrs Judy Russell and Mrs Cheryl Wheeler

Week 6 was action packed for the Junior School and Interact Club with the Year 4 - 6 Hand Ball Competition and the Year 1 - 3 colouring event at lunchtimes. Each year, the Interact Club endeavours to promote deeper connections between the Senior and Junior School through organising termly events.

This term, on Wednesday, many students from Years 4 - 6 took part in the first ever Interact Club Hand Ball Competition. The Interact Club was overwhelmed by the number of eager students who wanted to compete. Students competed in their year level across four knock out rounds. The winner of each round went on to play in the grand finals where the year level champion was crowned. The fierce competition and immense support for their peers, displayed by each student, was great to see. Congratulations to everyone who participated and the Year 4, 5 and 6 champions. 

The Year 1 - 3 colouring event took place the next day. Students and members of the Interact Club drew creative pictures and coloured in giant letters that spelled out the word ‘INTERACT’. By the end of lunch the letters were completely covered in flowers, houses, signatures and even the odd unicorn. 

Both events were a great success with students from both the Junior and Senior School having a blast, which would not have been possible without the planning and organising of dedicated members of the Interact Club.

Angelina Inthavong 
College Leader - Interact Club

congratulations matilda!

The Mathematics Faculty was delighted this week to receive the results for Year 8 student, Matilda Grant, for The University of Queensland’s QAMT 2021 competition. The competition was open to all Queensland secondary high school students and requires students to complete a two hour maths paper in three categories for junior, middle and senior students. The questions are designed to encourage ingenuity and thought.

Matilda performed at an extremely high level, competing against high-calibre Year 7 and 8 Mathematics students across Queensland to come in second place, receiving a $100 prize. This is an incredible result!

Matilda continues to be involved in the Australian Maths Trust’s Olympiad training program and is to be commended on her outstanding performance.

Rebecca Andrews
Assistant Head of Faculty: Mathematics

A Rising Star

On Thursday 3 June, College Leader for Sport, Kaleb Baines, was named in the Queensland State Under 17 squad to compete at the upcoming NAB AFL National U17 Championships which will be held on the Gold Coast from 5 – 9 July. This is an outstanding achievement, well done Kaleb!

In addition to Kaleb’s gruelling training schedule, he took part in two Academy Series games in the past week playing for the Gold Coast Suns v Brisbane Lions with a win going each way. On Wednesday evening, the game was played at Metricon Stadium and was a fantastic opportunity for the players to experience the atmosphere under the lights.

The squad of 31 players will be led by former Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast SUNS AFLW player and captain, Sam Virgo. A final team of 24 players will be announced later this month and we wish Kaleb the very best in his future selection. Congratulations Kaleb on this incredible achievement and we look forward to witnessing your successes as you continue to pursue your dream.

Charlotte Brook
Head of Senior School

Congratulations to our Week 4, Term 2 Bumper Sticker Winners!

Emma Dalziel

Julian Gauld

In order to be in the running to be a weekly winner, your vehicle must be registered in the competition. Enter here:

collegebumperstickercompetition@abpat.qld.edu.au

Include you car registration number, name, email and phone number.

Collect your 2021 bumper sticker from College Reception.

Our lucky winners each receive $100 off their school fee invoice for the following term! At the end of Term 3, all of our weekly winners will be invited to an afternoon tea where one family will be drawn to receive FREE* tuition for their eldest child for Term 4 2021 (*tuition fee only).

Refer to the flyer attached for more information regarding the 2021 Bumper Sticker competition.