From the Junior School

From our Head of Junior School

Our Kindergarten girls were thrilled to discover their outdoor kitchen this week and have enjoyed lots of collaborative and creative play baking sand cakes and pies to share, modelling kindness in the way they include one another in their play.

We are all growing and learning together and celebrating our diversity is a key value within our community. We have loved celebrating Lunar New Year as a Junior School family over the last week. Seeing and hearing the dancing dragon was an exhilarating experience. Our girls danced enthusiastically to the sound of the drums as the dragon weaved its way through our courtyards.

We are extremely proud of Amber Chen (Year 5) whose Lunar New Year artwork was acknowledged by Clover Moore and will now appear in bus stops around Sydney throughout this year. What a wonderful accolade for her creativity and passion for art.

“I put lanterns up in my home and ate dumplings for dinner. I watched a movie about dancing dragons and ate ice cream.” – Katherine Wang (KD)

“I had dinner with my grandma and grandpas.” – Cindy Lin (KT)

Korean New Year

“This year we celebrated with a special meal of dumplings and noodles. If I am in Korea we go to my Grandma’s and we all help to make the food. In Korea I would also wear an outfit called hanbok which is traditional Korean clothing.” – Isabelle La (3N)

Vietnamese New Year

“My mum is Vietnamese, so we visited her parents, my grandparents. We spoke Vietnamese and received red pocket gifts from my family. The pockets have money inside them.” – Emily Long (3T)

“We celebrated the new year by eating traditional foods. We had soup, fish and delicious lobster. We also sang traditional new year songs.” – Angela Chiang (4M)

“I have been learning lots about the Lunar New Year. I have been able to celebrate and share with my friends and learn what they do with their family.” – Amari Wilson (4M)

“We had a huge family dinner at a restaurant and invited some of our close friends to join us. It was really special as we were able to finally see some family and friends that we haven’t been able to see for a long time.” – Jocelyn Chow (5R)

“To celebrate we have a big dinner and we give family and friends red pockets with money inside. We also take time to relax and have a break from work. At the weekend I was reading a book and my mum was playing video games!” – Olivia Liu (6L)

Integrity – our College value focus for this week

This week our girls have been building their understanding of integrity. We want to empower our girls to stay true to themselves and their personal moral code in all situations and to know the strength of their own voice. As a community of kindness, we want our girls to be kind by being honest with everyone, including themselves.  

We also want our girls to be true to themselves in their learning by asking questions, thinking of their own ideas when completing learning activities and to be honest with themselves by speaking out if they don’t understand a concept which they are learning in their lesson. By doing this, the girls are then able to feel a sense of accomplishment as they speak up about what they don’t understand and in doing so are supported to finish the lesson with a stronger understanding.

Integrity means:

“I do the right thing when no one is looking.” – Neve Sadananda (KM)

“I put other people’s rubbish in the bin.” – Charlotte Cross (KC)

“Helping my friends when they are learning, encourage them to keep trying and not give up.” – Sarayah Wijesuriya (Year 1)

“Helping my friends to try new things and make good choices in the classroom.” – Li-Ya Koo (Year 1)

“Respecting the teacher by sitting and listening when she is talking.” – Jasmine Smith (Year 2)

“Not talking to my friends when the teacher is talking.” – Doris Pei (Year 2)

“Telling the truth even if it will get you in trouble. Looking after our environment by picking up rubbish that isn’t yours. Respecting school rules. Owning your own actions. Not copying – having your own thoughts.”  – Maya Sharadan, Isabella Wang and Julie Kang (Year 3)

“When I need help, I ask my teacher for help. It is really important to ask for help so I know what I need in the future.” – Betty Su (Year 4)

“I ask questions in the classroom so I learn new things that I didn’t already know. If I don’t ask questions then there will be gaps in my knowledge.” – Anika Verma (Year 5)

“It is important to ask questions as so you can better understand what you’re doing. I often find I ask questions in Maths when I am confused, so it can be explained again and I understand.” – Imogen Jones (Year 6)

URSTRONG

As we build the girls’ understanding of being a good and honest friend, we begin our URSTRONG sessions this week.

Through the URSTRONG workshops our girls will investigate what’s normal in a friendship, the importance of trust and respect, and explore how to assess healthy versus unhealthy friendships. The girls will reflect on how to extinguish disagreements within friendships (known as ‘Friendship Fires’) and how to put a voice to their feelings with respect and integrity.

Year 6 Leaders’ Induction Service

This week we inducted our Year 6 into their roles as leaders within our Junior School in a special Chapel Service. As we think about how we can be creative this year, I invited our Year 6 girls to imagine they are artists painting a rainbow of colours throughout our Junior School using colours to symbolise the qualities of an effective leader. Starting with red, I challenged the girls to be courageous as leaders, standing up for what they believe in and encouraging the younger girls to have heart and be brave in all their learning. I also encouraged our Year 6 girls to use their orange paint to lead a harmonious Junior School family, where each of us celebrate who we are and feel empowered to share and celebrate our unique story. Each colour of the rainbow represents a different leadership trait I look forward to seeing our Year 6 girls showcase throughout the year.

A special thank you to Abigail Martin, Emma Wang, Eesha Adusumilli, Valerie Zhao, Rosanna Rew, Yuna Shin, Ella Gungor, Isabella Eum, Pia Vandeleur, Annabella Bayfield, Heidi Ferreira, Indigo Meldrum, Sasha McGarrick, Emily Woods-McConville Estelle Lee, Leahara Wijesuriya, Lily Xing, Kathy Wang Allison Wang, Charli Conn and Callista Eskenazi.

Learning around our Junior School this week – our week in pictures

Notices

Year 1 Incursion tomorrow, Friday 11 February

The girls are exploring the College campus tomorrow as part of their Outdoor Education program. Please send your Year 1 daughter in her PE uniform for the whole day.

OSHC

New service for 2022! The Pymble Ladies’ College Out of Hours School Care (OSHC) is now offering Pre-Co-curricular Care (PCC) for Years 3 to 6. The cost is $13 and includes afternoon tea. This exclusive price is only for the time directly after school.  

• This is exclusively for Years 3 to 6 girls booked in for Co-curricular activities that commence before 4.15pm.
• Your daughter can come directly to the OSHC entre after school, enjoy a yummy afternoon tea, relax with friends, and then head off to her Co-curricular lesson.
• If your daughter’s Co-curricular lesson starts at 3.30pm or 3.45pm she can be cared for in the Junior School Library without the necessity for OSHC.

To utilise the service you will be required to enrol in the OSHC Centre and complete a Kidsoft enrolment. Please see the College website for further information or email oshcadmin@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au.

Changes to travel arrangements

Parents are reminded to email the Junior School at juniorschool@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au if you need to arrange another parent to pick up your daughter at the end of the school day. All changed travel requests should be communicated to the office before 2.00pm to ensure messages can be conveyed to girls and staff.

Medications

On occasions your daughter may require medications to be administered during the day. If your daughter requires any medications during the school day, including prescribed antibiotics, they need to be delivered to the School Office, clearly labelled and in original packaging. Clear instructions from parents need to be included with the medication. We cannot administer medication in the form of syrups or tablets if they are not in their original packaging as we have no knowledge of what they are.

Please send to the School Office any medication eg Ventolin, Epipen, eczema cream etc. if your daughter has specific medical conditions which warrant their use. The Action Plan for its use should be included in the pack.

Nut allergies

Please ensure that your daughter’s food does not contain any nuts as some of our students have severe allergies to food containing nuts and nut products. This includes spreads such as peanut butter and Nutella.

Arrival: daily routines

Please be aware that girls arriving before 7.45am must attend Out of School Hours Care. 

From 7.45am, staff will be in attendance at car line and in the playgrounds. Kindergarten to Year 2 students may enter grade spaces to put their belongings in their lockers.

Departure: daily routines

Kindergarten to Year 2 parents will need to complete the after-school travel arrangements if you have not done so as yet. Any changes to these routines must be sent in writing to the Junior School Office at juniorschool@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au.

Please note that it is important that any changes to travel arrangements are received prior to 2.00pm.

Girls with older sisters

Girls wait at the Junior School Library until their sister collects them by 3.30pm. 

Girls travelling on College buses

Girls wait in the Kindergarten to Year 2 School Office and are supervised until 3.00pm when they are walked to Sunshine Square to join the Years 3 to 6 girls. All Junior School girls are then walked to the Kelso bus area by a teacher.

Car Line

Please remain in your car displaying your daughter’s name as you approach the collection area. Parents are asked not to exit their vehicles as staff will assist students to vehicles if necessary. Please note that this is a single lane and drivers must wait for the car in front to depart rather than exiting the car line lane. Parents may be asked to go around if their daughter is delayed.

Please follow directions from College staff at all times.

Parents are reminded that parking along the lower road is not permitted at any time. Please do not arrive before 2.30pm in the afternoon. Girls are escorted to car line after the conclusion of the school day at 2.45pm. The College looks to facilitate ease of drop off and pick up of your daughter but does require parents to be mindful of designated times to ensure a smooth and safe car line process. 

Parents are reminded to remain in their car for the safety of both girls and adults and to assist with traffic flow. If you are delayed in collecting your daughter, please be reassured that she will be taken to Out of School Hours Care until your arrival. 

We wish to thank parents for their patience with car line.

Dates to note

During Term 1 our assemblies will be held online. We will send links to parents and carers for Kindergarten to Year 2 assemblies in the coming weeks when the girls are ready to share their learning.

COVID-19: Important update and reminder for families

Please click here for:

• what to do if another member of your household tests positive while you are already in isolation;
• a reminder to inform the school if your daughter has to isolate at home and temporarily switch to learning via Pymble Online; and
• upcoming booster shots for eligible students.

Mrs Kate Brown

Head of Junior School