Our students performed incredibly well at this year’s Regional Round, of The World Scholar’s Cup taking out a long list of awards including Overall Champion Team in the Senior Division!

This year in our Honours and Academic Growth Program, students have been exploring the central theme of ‘A World Renewed’ across the disciplines of Science and Technology, History, Social Studies, Art and Music, Literature and Media, and a Special Area (which focuses on a multi-disciplinary approach). For instance, students explored the topic of mistakes in the judicial system and the consequential effect this would have on an individual or group of people. Each student is encouraged to share their thoughts and opinions and listen to alternative viewpoints with care and empathy. What would be your response if you were asked the following question: “Should Judges who make more mistakes than others be given simpler cases?” In this Regional Round, each team was required to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the various topics through constructing and delivering a debate, writing a fictional or persuasive piece in response to stimulus, sitting an excruciatingly difficult multiple-choice exam, and – like a nightly contestant award show – working with their teammates to respond to multimedia and analytic questions in the Scholar’s Bowl. 

In the Scholar’s Challenge, Bronte Knopke, Tara Lee, and Maria Nadezhdina achieved silver awards while Dylan Selby, Rihana Jamal, and Natalie Mohajer-Iravani were awarded third place, and Simho Lee, Dorothy Hou, and Angelina Inthavong achieved second place overall.  

In the Team Debate Challenge, silver medals were presented to the following students for their team’s overall position: Marija Bajic, Lucinda Harrison, Mariam Joy, Bronte Knopke, Tara Lee, Maria Nadezhdina, Simho Lee, Dorothy Hou, and Angelina Inthavong. Silver awards were given to Marija Bajic, James Harder, and Dean Blumson for their individual performances throughout the debates, and gold individual awards were presented to Simho Lee (7^th Place), Rihana Jamal (6^th Place), Riley Collier (3^rd Place), and Tara Lee (2^nd Place). Alexander Davies, Riley Collier, and James Harder were awarded a gold medal for achieving second place overall in the Team Debate.  

In the Team Bowl, Bronte, Tara, and Maria along with Rihana, Natalie, and Dylan were awarded silver awards for their teams positioning in the Scholar’s Bowl. First place overall was awarded to Simho, Angelina, and Dorothy. In the Collaborating Writing Challenge, silver awards were presented to Simho Lee, Milos Jovancevic, Ellis Williams, and Maria Nadezhdina for their individual accomplishments. Thasindu Gunaratne, Jameel Baba, and Milos Jovancevic, as well as Alexander Davis, James Harder, and Riley Collier were awarded silver medals for their team’s overall position. Gold awards were presented to the following students: Riley Collier (7^th Place), Angelina Inthavong (4^th Place), Bronte Knopke (3^rd Place), Dorothy Hou (2^nd Place), and Rihana Jamal (1^st Place).  

Some notable individual awards were presented to Dorothy Hou for achieving first place in the Special Area discipline, Aiden Bottrill for winning the da Vinci Award based on his consistent performance across all of the challenges and topics, and Rihana Jamal receiving Top Scholar Award for her cumulative achievements in representing A.B. Paterson College. For students who excelled overall across each discipline and each challenge, individual Champion awards were presented to Dorothy Hou (5^th Place), Simho Lee (3^rd Place), and Rihana Jamal (2^nd Place). The overall Champion Teams consisted of the following students: Marija, Lucinda, Mariam (10^th Place), Alexander, Riley, James (7^th Place), Rihana, Dylan, and Natalie (6^th Place), Bronte, Tara, and Maria (5^th Place), and Simho, Dorothy, and Angelina (1^st Place).   

Congratulations to all of our students who participated in this Regional Round of The World Scholar’s Cup. Through participating in this program, each student has uncovered something new about the importance of change and adaptability in our immediate or distant surroundings. As there have been so many interruptions to The World Scholar’s Cup program, it is incredibly likely that this theme will continue into the following year. At the Tournament of Champions last year in November, the organisers themselves commented that the curriculum presented serves as a broad foundation. Going beyond this – through research and reading – will enhance the breadth and depth of knowledge that could be applied to the challenges. After all, we do live in a world that is unpredictable. Who knows what question that will ask of us next time!  

Bonn Hatton - Head of Academic Excellence, Growth & Development  

Members of our College community may be aware of recent news regarding the posthumous awarding of the Victoria Cross to war hero, Edward “Teddy” Sheean, for his extraordinary efforts in the Timor Sea in 1942.

But few people would be aware of the efforts of an A.B. Paterson College student in the final months of the campaign to have this bravery recognised.

The fight for recognition of Teddy’s bravery – when he sacrificed his life to save his shipmates during the sinking of HMAS Armidale – has spanned four decades.

Several years ago, A.B. Paterson College student and history buff, Finlay Proverbs, learned of Teddy’s heroics and a previous decision by the Federal Government to deny this war hero his Victoria Cross (VC).

Finlay joined the fight, penning this touching tribute to Teddy, which has since been recognised by local MPs and shared with members of the RSL.

Well done Finlay on your efforts to ensure this true Australian hero is not forgotten.

My name is Finlay Proverbs, I’m 12 years old and I love history. 

During research for a Scout badge that I’d been trying to earn a few years ago, I came across a man named Edward “Teddy” Sheean (1923-1942). I later learned of the great sacrifice he had made for Australia and decided to conduct further research into him. As I learned more and more of Teddy’s story, I became passionate that he was worthy of a VC (Victoria Cross). I later approached Mr Guy Barnett MP (Minister for Veteran’s Affairs), who shared the thoughts I had for Teddy. He met with me and presented me with a book named “Our Heroes” (pictured below). This book was written by Minister Barnett and tells the tales of Tasmanian war veterans who had either earned, or should be awarded, a VC. Although he was just an ordinary seaman, Teddy Sheean was brave and loyal to his country. I believe this young man should get the VC because of his heroic, heartbreaking story.   

It was during World War 2 and Australia was on the brink of a Japanese invasion. On 24th November 1942, Commodore Cuthbert Pope organised an operation utilising HMAS ships Kuru, Castlemaine and Armidale. Castlemaine and Armidale were sent to the Japanese-occupied Timor Sea, located just north of Darwin, while Kuru picked up some Portuguese civilians from an island in the sea. On 1st December, the two vessels Castlemaine and Armidale met up with Kuru, which had already picked up the civilians. The civilians were then transferred to Castlemaine which then travelled to Darwin. Kuru and Armidale took separate routes, so Armidale was left alone, in the middle of the Timor Sea.

At 13:58, on 1^st December 1942, HMAS Armidale was attacked by nine bombers and four fighters over the Arafura Sea, located north-east of the Timor Sea. Armidale took evasive action, manoeuvring frantically to avoid damage from the many bombs threatening to destroy it. At 15:15, the vessel was struck, and the order to abandon ship was given. People leapt into the water to escape from the sinking ship, but they were attacked by the bombers hanging above them. Enter Edward “Teddy” Sheean, an ordinary seaman who was onboard the Armidale at the time of its demise. He was assisting to free a life raft at the time he was shot with two bullets (one in the chest and back) by the Japanese. It was at that point that he decided to disobey the commander’s orders to abandon ship, instead strapping himself to the nearest Oerlikon gun and firing at the overhead bombers. Because of this, the Japanese aircraft were unable to shoot those in the water without losing themselves to Teddy’s shots. With the Armidale rapidly sinking, Teddy kept firing and managed to shoot down a bomber. He damaged a further two aircraft before Armidale’s stern was completely engulfed by the sea. Despite this, Teddy maintained fire as the water rose above his feet and didn’t stop even when he disappeared beneath the waves. He had died to save his crewmembers. 

He may have been wounded, but had he abandoned the ship he still could have swum to shore. Many years later, numerous people owe their lives to Teddy’s sacrifice and he is still being recognised across Australia for the brave act he performed to serve his country. He was the first non-officer to have a submarine named after him (known as the HMAS Sheean), and has had his story depicted in Lee Kernaghan’s song, “Forever 18.” “He kept on firing as he was dragged under. So noble, for someone so young,” are just some of the words featured in the lyrics of this song. The government has recently denied the request for Teddy’s VC, but I, as well as so many others, will not give up in our quest. Just know, Teddy, that we will never give up on you. You are a true hero of Australia. 

Finlay Proverbs - Year 7 Student 

One sure fire way to bring some cheer to the year – Christmas in July for some lucky staff members, hosted by Year 11 Hospitality students as part of their assessment, under the guidance of their teacher, Mrs Olivier.

Mrs Olivier said, “We decided to try to make a more Australian homestead-style gingerbread house by turning the kit on the side, and we used Australian toy animals to decorate.”

“Prior to the function, we had a discussion about what Christmas traditions each family had, and we tried to incorporate these into our function and share them with staff,” she said.

“Jorja Klerck made two of her mother’s salad recipes and her mother’s apple crumble. Indya Donoghue made her first ever traditional honey glazed ham and has vowed to continue making it each Christmas to ‘show up her dad’. Aidan McElroy and Taylah Simpson spent hours decorating their Australian inspired gingerbread houses.” 

In Term 3, Year 5 students have embraced new learning and topics with great enthusiasm.

In Science, students are studying animal adaptations and investigating the effects humans are having on the ocean environment. They are seeing how land and marine animals need to adapt their behaviour and physicality to survive in challenging environments. Each class is constructing a sculpture from plastic waste, brought in from home, to be displayed in the Year 5 area. Students are contributing to whole class discussions about how our behaviour affects the plants and animals in their environment, the amazing adaptations animals make to survive and what action can be taken to reduce our effect on the planet.

During Mathematics, we are comparing, adding and subtracting fractions as we work towards using our fraction knowledge in real world worded problems. The importance of multiplication and division accuracy learnt, from Term 1, has resulted in greater accuracy with fractions learning.

In English, we continue to complete ‘Big Writes’ about science topics and Australian Gold Rush themes.

This term in HaSS, there is a heavy focus on the Gold Rush with students learning about life on the gold fields, people and migration, mining and mining equipment, laws and licenses and the problems that were encountered.

In Literacy, students are busy reading, researching and writing about Gold Rush topics as they work towards making a Virtual Museum to present their knowledge. They are writing information texts, where they focus on the structure of the genre and how to develop sentence and paragraph structures as they change their notetaking into well-worded and structured paragraphs.

Watercolour painting is a focus in art, as students learn a variety of techniques as they paint native Australian plants.

Tracey French, Judy Russell, Caitlin Sterry & Genevieve Whittington - Year 5 Teachers