From the Principal
“In this quiet moment
I give myself
permission to acknowledge my progress;
to focus less on the distance
I’ve still left to go,
and more on the mighty distance
I’ve come.”
Quiet Moment, by Beau Taplin
Look at these smiling faces! Well done to our Year 12 students who began their HSC Trials yesterday, starting with English examinations. Our Class of 2021 will go down in history as incredibly resilient young people who have risen above challenge and demonstrated grace under fire. Congratulations, we are so proud of you.
As we entered this week feeling, frankly, a little ‘duck like’ – you know, graceful on the surface but peddling like mad under the water – I felt compelled to share the lovely poem above, Quiet Moment, with our staff.
Let’s face it, we are a high-performing community built of hard-working staff, students and parents who all value an excellent education and the power it has to transform lives. We have come a great distance since the College penned its first COVID-19 letter to families back in January 2020. Staff have refined their online skills, parents have become supreme jugglers and, at times, supreme ‘shushers’ (it’s a word, okay!) as they manage their own commitments in amongst the frivolity and laughter that comes from learning online at Pymble, and our students have dedicated themselves to showing up as the best possible versions of themselves to engage in every opportunity offered.
I’m so proud of you all – please, let’s take just a moment to focus less on the distance we have to go, and more on the distance we have come.
It’s always risky to start a list of who to thank in this Newsletter, particularly in a school like Pymble. Some of us, by the nature of our roles, take centre stage, while others toil away, often unnoticed, doing what must be done for an outcome to be achieved. It’s been a big couple of weeks for Team Pymble as many, many staff members toiled into the nights and weekends to ensure everything was in place for our Year 12 Trial examinations to begin online yesterday. THANK YOU to those seen and unseen for making this happen. THANK YOU to our Year 12 students and families for your grace under fire. Thank you to our Director of Student Learning (11-12), Natasha Stanfield, and our Deputy Principal – Academics, Justin Raymond, for working day and night and over many weekends to support our students and staff.
To give you an insight into what our HSC Trials model looks like, we are working with an external company who are providing online, professional invigilators to supervise our Year 12 girls on a 1:10 ratio. The girls will have their screens on from the beginning to the end of each exam to enable this face-to-face supervision, in addition to filming themselves using a second device positioned behind where they are sitting to capture their screens and the process of handwriting their answers. Any potential infractions noticed by the invigilators will be logged and checked against this recording, just as they would be reported and investigated by an invigilator supervising exams held on campus. To be able to sit handwritten HSC Trials remotely is a blessing indeed and provides our students with the best possible preparation for the final handwritten HSC examinations.
Year 12, you have come so far in your Senior School journey, and I know you will look back and marvel at the unprecedented challenges you overcame to go on and change the world in your own, unique way. Best wishes as you complete your remaining exams over the next two weeks.
Tokyo games are over but our Pymlympics continue!
Community connections are critical during times when we remain distanced from one another. It was pure joy to drop into the filming of our Junior School Pymlympics Opening Ceremony which was held virtually yesterday morning – even Archie joined in on the festivities, leading the ‘parade’ with Mrs Brown!
Our whole school Pymlympics will now extend beyond the duration of the Tokyo Olympics into the second half of Term 3, with our next major event a Family Trivia Night on Friday 20 August at 5.00pm. Please click here to join us for the fun and games.
Long weekend – no Pymble Online on Friday 13 and Monday 16 August
In taking stock of all you have accomplished as a student, in your workplace and in your homes, please enjoy the upcoming Pymble long weekend – you’ve earnt it. Our Year 12 examination timetable will continue to run on Friday 13 and Monday 16 August but, other than staff who are working to support our students during this time, I have asked all staff to take the weekend off their technology, including emails. Thank you in advance for supporting this as we allow our team, girls and families an opportunity to rest and recover, ready for the second half of Term 3.
Stay safe, stay well, stay home – and take a quiet moment to celebrate the mighty distance you have come.
