Illalong Newsletter - 28 January 2022

A Warm Welcome from Principal Sheehy

Principal Joanne Sheehy extends a very warm welcome to new families joining our College community in 2022, and a hearty 'welcome back' to all A.B. families.

As we launched into two weeks of online learning, Ms Sheehy offered advice on how to stay connected.

2021 ATAR Results

A huge congratulations to the Class of 2021 for their external examination results and ATARs!

From those Alumni who opted to share their results, 33.33% of the Class of 2021 received an ATAR of 91.15 or above (which equates to an OP score of 5 and above) with eight students receiving ATARs equivalent to OP1 (>98.85).

This is a wonderful result and our students should be congratulated for, and very proud of, their efforts.

Our 2021 accelerated Dance, Literature and Mathematical Methods classes also completed their external examinations. These results were exceptional, with 11 out of 12 students receiving an A in Literature, with a median percentage score of 93, and 14 out of 18 students receiving an A in Mathematical Methods, with a median percentage score of 85.

Our 2021 subject results were incredibly strong, with 42.6% of general subject results being an A grade and 99.3% of all grades being within the A – C range, an outstanding achievement! Special mention must be made of Bita Shahidzadeh Mahani and Jodie Down who both received 100% in English and Literature Extension; Tara Lee who received 100% in Music; Thasindu Gunaratne who received 100% in Physics; and Xiaoya Xu who received 100% in Chinese (SEE). Congratulations!

A huge well done to all students for your hard work and dedication and to the staff and parents for the support and guidance you provided throughout this year.

Our highest ATAR achieved this year was 99.85
8.3% of our students received an ATAR of 99 or higher – placing them in the top 1% of the state
25% of our students received an ATAR of 95 or higher – placing them in the top 5% of the state
35% of our students received an ATAR of 90 or higher – placing them in the top 10% of the state
42.6% of all general subject grades were an A
99.3% of all general subject grades in the A-C range
Five students achieved 100% in one of their subjects, receiving a Subject Achievement Commendation
11 students achieved six A results
Two students achieved seven A results
28 students graduated with a Diploma of Business
42 students completed one or more VET qualifications
25 Year 11 students completed one or more subjects, a year ahead of their cohort, with 81.25% of their results being an A grade and 100% being A-B
100% of students achieved a QCE

Joanne Sheehy
Principal

Harvard Offer for Jodie

All Christmases came at once for 2021 A.B. Paterson College Captain, Jodie Down who received a ‘dream-come-true’ offer to study at the prestigious Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts!

Jodie will travel to the U.S. in August 2022 and spend the next four years living on campus, before graduating in May of 2026.

Even more remarkably, “I received the offer under their early decision cycle,” Jodie said.

In 2021, Harvard University received more than 57,000 applications in total, with a 3.4% acceptance rate (less than 2,000 offers). However, only around 600 people will typically receive an offer in the early decision cycle, as Jodie has, from 10,000 applicants. More offers will be made in April.

“As Harvard is my dream school, I have decided not to apply to any other U.S. universities under their regular decision cycles. I am thinking of majoring in either Economics or Government.”

Jodie had already received an early offer of a full scholarship ($165,000) from St. Andrews College at Sydney University to study Law, and a scholarship offer from University of Queensland to study Law and Humanities, but has decided to take up the Ivy League offer. (Harvard University only offers Law to post-graduate students).

The Harvard offer follows Jodie’s exceptional ATAR (external examination) results where she received 100% in English and Literature Extension. Jodie’s results contributed to an outstanding year for academic results at A.B. Paterson College. A full breakdown of ATAR results from the College can be found at A.B. Paterson College | ATAR Results (abpat.qld.edu.au)

“I could not be more grateful to everyone in our A.B. Paterson College community who has supported me to help this dream come true,” said Jodie. “I hope to do my College and Gold Coast community proud as I continue my academic journey at Harvard.”

Watch Jodie and Principal Joanne Sheehy on Nine Gold Coast News here!

Back to Campus Boogie Video

Show your A.B. Spirit!

A.B.@Home wants to start the new school year on a high – so grab a phone and pull on your dancing gear – we want to see your best moves! (that means you too, mums, dads, pets and teachers!)

Send in a short (20 sec) video clip of you, or your whole family, dancing to the beat of the song ‘Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Zox5O3jh4

You could take inspiration from the Just Dance moves on this clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHe_nZQpJRM or be as creative as you like. You don’t have to use the opening of the song, just pick your favourite part.

Make sure your clip is in before COB Monday 31 January for your chance to feature in the ‘Back to Campus Boogie – A.B. is Gonna Dance Now!’ to be launched on College social media on Sunday 6 February, just in time to get everyone energised for a return to campus.

Challenge your friends or House members to get involved – show your House colours, or throw on some zany dress-ups, whatever it takes to start the school year with a big smile!

You may also like to share other fun videos or photos with A.B.@Home during the second week of online learning – it’s a great way to stay connected.

If you would like to get involved, please email good quality images, or a link to larger video files, to our Manager of Marketing & Public Relations, Tamara Hamilton thamilton@abpat.qld.edu.au

Alternatively, you may find it easier to send the short clips or images via Facebook Messenger to our A.B. Paterson College page admin, Matilda Kangaroo.

Some points to remember:

Students must have parental approval to send images/videos
Only send images/videos that you are happy to share with the public on social media
Do not include personal information such as full names or show identifying locations such as home exteriors
Videos should be recorded in landscape (by holding your phone sideways, not upright or portrait)
Students do not need to wear school uniform but must appear neat and appropriately dressed
We may not be able to share all photos or videos

We can’t wait to see your creations!