The Jubilee Sculpture was commissioned by the College of Education in 2003 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the College. The work depicts a father and son reading a book, and is fittingly sited within the Education Library in the Henry Field Memorial Building. The life size figures in the sculpture are deliberately crafted by Paterson as a means to ‘create lasting links with a shared heritage by inviting the viewer to be with the subject in his or her earlier world here and now.’
The College of Education traces its beginnings to the development of the training department in Christchurch Normal School, which was established in 1877. A normal school was essentially a primary school organised to train apprentice pupil-teachers. Students were also able to attend lectures in the nearby Canterbury (University) College, establishing an early connection between the two institutions. When the University moved from its town site to Ilam, the College followed suit, and began building on the Dovedale site in 1968. The connections between the two were consolidated in 2007 when the College of Education merged with the University.
