From the Junior School
From our Head of Junior School
Last week there was a flurry of activity, much laughter and an abundance of fluffiness as our K-3 girls built their bears, bunnies and huskies with the assistance of our Junior School Parent Group (JSPG). It was lovely to watch and hear the girls’ joy as they made their fluffy friends, chose their names and attached a College value to their collars. Thank you to all these amazing parents who assisted on the day:
Janine Ahmed, Katrina Jones, Saba Ali, Camille Kong, Aimee Birch, Michelle Leclercq, Shweta Chauhan, Wenyan Lu, Kadie Cheng, Nomali Madugalle, Jing Cross, Joan Martel, Grace Deng, Nithya Sivasamy, Jingjing Du, Lalenya Waterhouse, Jing Gao, Yicheng Zang, Weili Gao, Hanna Zhang, Jingjing Guo and Colleen Zhang.
Jeans for Genes Day is tomorrow!
Please remember that we are supporting Jeans for Genes Day tomorrow, Friday 5 August and all girls from K-6 are invited to wear mufti tops and jeans to school and bring a gold coin donation to support this worthy cause.
Heading for the Goodooga Games
This week, Mrs Davey and I are off campus in Goodooga with some of our Year 5 girls who have been invited to participate in the Goodooga Games. This is a huge honour for our Junior School as it’s the first time we have been invited to participate in these games and partner with schools in Dubbo and Goodooga. We look forward to sharing our learnings with the Junior School next week. Later in the year more of our Year 5 girls will participate in a trip to Brewarrina. These opportunities to learn about country and build relationships with our First Nations People are being led by Mrs Nerissa Davey, Deputy Head of Junior School Operations.
Welcome to our new staff!
Whilst Mrs Medeiros is away on family leave, we welcome Ms Louise Florance and Ms Amanda Blackshaw to our Year 6 team. Both teachers bring a passion for leading learning in a nurturing environment, and we know they will guide and challenge our girls to be the drivers of their own learning by providing thoughtful and constructive feedback. We know the girls will be in good hands until Mrs Medeiros returns.
Congratulations!
Emma Fu (Year 4) won Highly Commended in the recent Sydney Eisteddfod 20th or 21st Century Piano (9 & 10 Years) and delighted in both her achievement and that of her classmate Vivian Zhang (Year 4) who won first place. What a phenomenal achievement by both girls and such exciting news as they are in the same class and have developed a friendship through their shared passion for the piano. We are so proud of them both.
We are also so proud of these girls who have been selected to compete in the State Interschools Snowsports from 22 August to 26 August in Perisher:
Michelle Zhang – KM
Kimberly Zhao – 2M
Christina Yang – 3N
Zoe Liang – 4D
Zara Younger – 4D
Amélie Rahme – 4R
Ashlee-Rose Saba – 4A
Hilary Eyers – 5T (absent from photo)
Eloise Gavagna – 5O
Bella Xu – 5O
Aurora Zhang – 6M
Congratulations to our Junior School dancers who placed second in the Sydney Eisteddfod in both the Primary School Lyrical and Primary School Jazz Section. This is an outstanding achievement with over 20 schools in each section. We are very proud of them and their teamwork.
Junior School K-2 School Concert
As the final stages of our rehearsals for the 2022 Junior School Concert, The Journey to Treasure Island, are undertaken, the excitement within the Junior School is very apparent.
The girls are looking forward to sharing this very special event with you and we are confident parents will be amazed by the talents of our youngest performers. The girls have been very involved in the shaping of this performance and have choreographed much of it themselves. The performance therefore reflects the girls and their learning. We are so proud of them.
This year we have provided a choice of matinee and evening performances for families and friends to attend. All girls are expected to be at each performance, and we ask that parents note these dates in their diaries. To purchase tickets please click this link.
Friday 12 August – 2.00pm and 5.00pm
All girls will remain at school between 2pm and the second performance which starts at 5pm. Please send in your daughter with her afternoon tea on that day. There will be no co-curricular activities for K-2 girls on Friday 12 August.
Book Week is coming in Week 6
In Week 6 we will celebrate the girls’ love of literature with our Book Week celebrations. This year’s theme is Dreaming with Eyes Wide Open and as a school we encourage all our girls to dream big, to wonder, question and set goals for the adventures they can have as they grow and learn.
As a Junior School we will be holding our book character parade on Thursday 25 August and our girls are invited to dress up as a favourite book character. We are encouraging our girls to try their hardest to create their own dress up outfits rather than buying as this aligns with our focus on kindness to the environment fact number 1 which is ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’.
Learning in our Junior School: A focus on Mathematics
With our continued focus on Mathematics this term, the girls will participate in a range of in-class learning opportunities including hands-on activities, learning through inquiry, as well as explicit instruction and mathematical investigations to acquire new knowledge and build upon existing understanding.
We want Mathematics to be seen as an opportunity for our girls to be creative, develop their understanding and apply this newly acquired knowledge to real world problems. Like reading, writing and skills found in gymnastics and diving, Mathematics requires opportunities for students to practice in order to consolidate and master their understanding, and to see that to take a risk or make a mistake is evidence of being an activity learner; being a mathematician.
Girls will participate in activities that involve problem-solving, collaborating, critical and creative thinking and open-ended questioning to develop a strong understanding of mathematical concepts. Girls are encouraged to “play” with data, look for patterns, observe and ask questions. We want the girls to be curious, build an ability in making choices, formulate and investigate problem situations and then communicate solutions. We also want our girls to make connections between concepts and how to represent these concepts in different ways. To apply their ideas by testing it or extending it, discussing it with a peer, and even to have the courage to discard it and start again. We want the girls to have a go and develop their love of mathematics.
Across the Junior School we will see participation in Maths Olympiad, completion of the Mathematics Association of NSW Investigating with Mathematics Competition, or participation in the Mathscraft Curriculum, an outreach initiative of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers, University of Adelaide to develop mathematical behaviours, as well as a variety of in-class explicit instruction, investigations and inquiry learning.
Lovy Chen – I love doubling numbers using a dice and playing the Greedy Pig dice game.
Tabitha de Bilde – I like using the big number line in Maths as it helps me when I am adding my numbers together.
Isabel Chang – My favourite thing to do in Maths is flipping over the coloured numbers when I skip count in 5’s on the hundreds board. I am really fast now!
Poppy Zhu – I like playing the Odd/Even number race game and yesterday I even beat my partner!
Rebecca Cooke – I love maths because it makes me think and it helps me learn as well. What I have learnt in Maths I can use in my daily life; I like to add up items when I am shopping to find the total amount. I also like to talk to my friends on how to understand it and I learn better working with my friends and new people from other classes because we bring in different ideas and also I can make new friends.
Emma Deere – I love learning new things. Today I learnt how to draw many different two-dimensional shapes using just a ruler and pencil and had to find the lines of symmetry. I discovered the parallelogram I drew didn’t have any lines of symmetry which was a surprise.
Orla Cottrell – I love Maths because we get to be very creative. What we do and what we think about are things that actually happen in the real world. Some of my favourite things to learn about were diversity in Asia, thinking about different populations of countries and thinking about all the different patterns that occur in nature.
Chloe Xiong – Sometimes people think that Maths is really dry, but what I love about maths is that it is really creative and interesting. We don’t just learn about strategies, but we also investigate where these are used in the real world. We to got build a whole range of 3D objects, then we thought about different buildings and landmarks that used these shapes. At the moment, we are researching length, by thinking about the different routes that the Queen’s Baton Relay took on the way to the Commonwealth Games.
Through your daughter’s curiosity of the world, she will see that Mathematics is all around her and that she is already applying her mathematical understanding in her daily life. To build a love of Mathematics, we must continue this important conversation and encourage questioning and curiosity.
Our Digital News
Enjoy the Junior School Digital News created by our ICT Captains this week!
Win an Unlimited Rides Pass!
Do you think you have what it takes to create the best poster for the Garden Party? If so, put on your creative cap, and if your poster comes first you will win an Unlimited Rides Pass for free rides all day at the Garden Party!
Entries are to be submitted to the Junior School by Tuesday 30 August 2022. All posters entered will be displayed in the Gillian Moore Centre for Performing Arts foyer at Garden Party 2022. Prizes and certificates will be presented at Assembly in the week before Garden Party. Multiple entries are welcome.
Click here to download the poster. Good luck!
From the Junior School Parent Group (JSPG)
We are so excited to be holding the Junior School Parent-Daughter Dances for Years K-5 over the next few weeks.
Years K-1 – This Saturday 6 August
The event will be held in the John Reid Hall from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.
The theme is ‘Parent-Daughter Masquerade’, which is a lovely chance for our littlest girls to choose whatever mask they like and their choice of party outfit. Our girls may even like to make a mask to wear! On the night, we will have a photographer, photo booth, DJ and a variety of food and drinks.
We are so excited for our Kindy and Year One girls to attend their very first dance!
Years 4-5 – Saturday 27 August
Click here to see the invitation. Book your tickets here.
The event will be held in the John Reid Hall from 6pm to 8:30pm.
The theme is “Sparkle and Shine” which is lovely for the girls and parents to dress up in a sparkly or shiny outfit or accessory. On the night, we will have a photographer, DJ and a variety of food and drinks. We are so excited for the Year 4 and 5 girls to attend their first dance in several years, and also the first dance for many of them! It will be a fabulous night!
Jeans for Genes Day Sausage Sizzle Fundraiser – This Friday 5 August
This Friday is Jeans for Genes Day and all students from Kindergarten to Year 6 are permitted to wear jeans to school and bring a gold coin donation.
The JSPG is holding a sausage sizzle in the Junior School at lunchtime for Year 3 to Year 6 students. Donations and all profit from the barbecue will be donated to the Children’s Medical Research Institute, which researches childhood genetic diseases.
A huge thank you to our parents who have signed up to run the sausage sizzle on the day, it should be a fantastic event for our girls!
Year 2/3 Parent-Daughter Dance – Last Saturday 30 July
The Year 2/3 Parent-Daughter Dance held on Saturday night was a fantastic success! The theme was “Disco” and the John Reid Hall was absolutely glowing with shiny and sparkly decorations and outfits! Our girls and their families boogied the night away to the music and dance moves provided by DJ KitKat and her assistant.
A big thank you to Mrs Brown and Mrs Davey for attending on the night and joining in the fun. The girls and their families loved seeing them.
A massive thank you to our organising committee: Liz Greene, Leisa Whitehead, Michelle Leclercq and Aimee Birch. Thank you also to all our families who attended; your support for this special occasion means so much to our year group.
Build-A-Pymble-Bear – Last Wednesday 27 July
Our Kindergarten to Year 3 girls had so much fun making their bears, bunnies and huskies, all while raising money for Bear Cottage. Thank you to all the parent volunteers who helped out on the day. The event could not have happened without your help!
Save the Date – Garden Party, 17 September
Pymble is so excited to be holding its annual Garden Party this year again for the first time since 2019! The JSPG runs many stalls which are so much fun for the girls and their families.
Please contact us or your Year Co-ordinator if you would like to be involved in participating in one of your year group stalls!
If you haven’t been to a Garden Party, there are numerous rides, hundreds of stalls, lots of food and drinks, and it is an amazing family day out. Please save the date and look forward to the highlight of the Pymble year!
If you have any questions or require further information, please email us the JSPG at: pymblelcjspg@gmail.com
Dates for your Diary
Term 3
5 August Jeans for Genes Day
6 August JSPG Kindergarten and Year 1 Parent Daughter Dance
8 – 10 August Kindergarten to Year 2 Concert Rehearsals
12 August Kindergarten to Year 2 Concert, 2.00pm and 5.00pm
15 – 18 August Life Education Kindergarten to Year 2
18 August Year 5 Author Visit
19 August STEM Festival
25 August Book Week Parade
26 August Author Visit Kindergarten to Year 6
27 August JSPG Years 4 and 5 Parent Daughter Dinner Dance
30 August URSTRONG Parent Workshop, Online
1 September Year 5 ‘Spring into Leadership’ Day
2 September Fathers’ Day Lunch
12-14 September. Year 5 Outdoor Education Camp – Group 1
14-16 September Year 5 Outdoor Education Camp – Group 2
19-20 September. Year 3 Outdoor Education Camp – Group 1
21-22 September Year 3 Outdoor Education Camp – Group 2
Term 4
17 October Year 2 Outdoor Education Program
19 October Year 1 Outdoor Education Program
20 October Kindergarten Outdoor Education Program
25 October Year 6 Musical Performance, 7.00pm
26 October Year 6 Musical Performance, 7.00pm
28 October Links Day
1 December Kindergarten Celebration of Learning, 9.00am
1 December Years 1 and 2 Celebration of Learning, 11.00am
2 December Years 3 to 6 Speech Day, 1.00pm
Mrs Kate Brown