From the Middle School
From our Head of Middle School
This week we have wholeheartedly embraced the spirit of celebration in Middle School, with our Year 7 Christmas Service on Tuesday – thank you to the many families who joined us for afternoon tea to mark the end of their daughter’s first year of secondary school. Middle School Assembly on Wednesday focused on acknowledging and farewelling our enthusiastic Year 8 cohort. It is hard to believe that Year 8 students will be leaving us for the Upper School very shortly. The girls enjoyed their Year 9 Transition Day last Friday which provided an insight into what lies ahead. On Wednesday of this week each girl from Year 8 received a token of appreciation – a Christmas cupcake – for their contribution to the Middle School community across the last two years. We wish the girls every success as they navigate their futures and thank them for all they have done to build connections and a sense of family here in Middle School.
We are currently interviewing for Year 8 Leadership positions for 2023 and I am delighted to be able to share with you how impressive we have been with the candidates so far. The poise and confidence demonstrated at interview, bodes well for our future Middle School Leadership team. The enthusiastic discussions around initiatives which will consolidate our sense of family are so welcome. Well done to all those students who have put themselves forward.
A big congratulations to Méa Shires (Year 8) who attended the Metropolitan Championships at Sydney Olympic Park last weekend for diving. Over the two-day championship, Méa took home 4 Gold medals across 4 events. She competed in the 14/15 girls on the 1m, 3m and platform (5m & 7.5m). She also competed on the 14 & over in the 3m synchro with her partner Ilaria Crowley. What a fabulous achievement!
Year 7
The past week has been yet another busy one. Last Friday our Year 7 buddies Celine, Eloise, Amelia, Isabelle, Phoebe and Sarah welcomed some of our incoming 2023 Year 8 students Willow, Alessia, Allegra, Tala, Megan and Fatima to our Transition Day where they toured the College, attended some classes and lunched together with Year 7. It was a very successful day.
On Tuesday Year 7 celebrated with a Christmas Chapel Service. Everything about it was wonderful – music, readings, Wombat Divine story and actions. Our Christmas bunting, the making of which was contributed by our Year 7 volunteers, stole the show as it reflected our Australian Christmas theme. Many thanks to the parents who were able to come along and share in the spirit of Christmas, it was wonderful to see so many parents here.
Directions this week will focus on our Five Ways to Wellbeing, notably being active and enjoying time to play together. The fine weather has been a great motivator to get out and be active.
Year 8
It was wonderful to meet some of our incoming Year 9 2023 new students last Friday for our Transition Day. A special shout out to Livia who travelled from the Northern Territory to be with us on the day. We look forward to welcoming these students, and others, properly on Orientation Day next year.
Last Friday, our Year 8 students were treated to a welcome to Upper School afternoon with a barbeque and guest speaker. Our Year 8 Communications Leader, Emily Kim, has kindly provided her insights into the day:
As recess came to an end, we all gathered together at the Jobson Lecture Theatre to start our Upper School Transition Event. Our wonderful guest speaker Dannielle Miller welcomed us all really warmly and brightened up the mood after a sweaty recess with her unique personality and sparkly pink jazz pants. However, she started off her story addressing the story about her burn that she had gotten when she was two years old and had hot oil spilt on her.
She told us that she had never really noticed her burn until her first kindergarten crush had broken that. From then on, she always wore long sleeves, even in the hottest of summers to hide her burn scar. Through this story, Dannielle portrayed the significance of resilience and how to ignore small insecurities like those burn marks. From talking about the love of her life she had met while picking up straws at McDonalds to becoming an amazing author of multiple books and even featuring on radio broadcasts, not only did we learn about Dannielle’s eventful life story, we also learnt the importance of gratitude and to never let an individual’s judgement get in the way so that we don’t live to please others but to please ourselves.
After the inspiring talk from Dannielle, we headed out to be met with a delicious waft of grilled sausages which motivated the whole crowd to move faster or even run to be the first to get their hot dogs. To finish the day off, Mr Riley gave us a brief outline about the expectations needed to be met in Upper School and the influence behind ‘practical wisdom’. The Upper School Transition Day was a wonderful event which allowed us all to find a smoother path into Upper School.
From the Middle School Parent Group
We would like to invite you to our final coffee for the year:
Year 7 and 8 Coffee Morning for Parents
Date: Friday 25 November
Time: 8.00am
Location: Bricklane Espresso, Shop/21 Philip Mall, West Pymble
We hope to see many of you there!
Malini (Year 8), Sunny (Year 8), Shiva (Year 7) and Carol (Year 7)
