From the Junior School

From our Head of Junior School

I hope you have all enjoyed a safe and happy holiday. We hold in our hearts and prayers all our loved ones who are struggling overseas due to COVID-19 and whom you are not able to travel to see. It’s been wonderful to welcome our girls back to Term 2 this week and to hear their stories of their holiday adventures. There is the most wonderful energy in the playground and classrooms now that the girls have enjoyed a break from routine and some much needed downtime.

We wish all our Muslim families ‘Eid Mubarak’ for the upcoming celebration of Eid on 2 May. I would like to give a special shout out to Amara, Amna, Rohab and Shareen who have worked with Mrs O’Connor during their lunchtimes this week and in the last week of Term 1 being of service to others. These girls have sewn felt hearts and written notes of gratitude which they have given to our Horticultural team, Mrs Inchbold and Dr Hadwen. I am so proud of their care and kindness to some of our College’s unsung heroes.  

Speaking of heroes, we have honoured our Anzacs this week. It’s important that we instill a strong sense of history in our children as they are the future and there is so much we can learn from those whose footsteps we walk in. Anzac Day is a time to reflect on the power of teamwork and determination and the strength that comes from a community that demonstrates care, compassion and friendship. Our girls certainly reflect the strength of caring friendship in their interactions.

Welcoming Mrs Sarkisian to our Junior School family and Year 3 team

This week we have welcomed Mrs Aleen Sarkisian to our Year 3 team on campus as we are farewelling Mrs Alice Murphy who begins her maternity leave this Friday. Whilst we will miss Mrs Murphy, we wish her and her husband, James, all the very best in their parenting adventures and look forward to meeting their baby in the near future. We are utterly delighted to welcome Mrs Sarkisian to our team on campus as she has been with our girls learning online throughout Term 1, so she is already known and loved by our girls and an integral part of our Year 3 team.

Wonderful wedding news!

We are delighted to share the wonderful news that two of our teachers celebrated their weddings over the Easter break and we now welcome back Mrs Emily Cole (Year 2 Compass teacher) who married Ollie and Mrs Shaira Musico (Year 1 Compass teacher) who married Adrian over the holidays.

Introducing our Be of Service mission – Mrs Kimberley Tyson, Deputy Head of Junior School – Students

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” – Desmond Tutu

At Pymble, we know that service to others goes much deeper than fundraising. We know that kindness to others is about using our strengths, gifts and talents to be of service to those around us and people in need. Our College values are Care, Courage, Integrity, Respect and Responsibility and this term we invite our girls to live out these values and sprinkle kindness everywhere.

We are excited to launch the Be of Service mission with our girls and the broader community this term. We want our girls to make meaningful contributions to their community and understand how they can be of service to those around them. Each girl will be given a Be of Service booklet with several suggested activities and ideas on how to be of service in the home and around their local community. These are to be done in their own time and completed throughout the term. Their level of participation is up to you as families to discuss and determine depending on what suits and fits within your schedules.

We ask that you read and discuss the booklet with your daughters and determine which activities they will be able to carry out throughout the term. We ask that the girls record their acts of service in their diaries as they will share these with their class Kindness Captains each Wednesday. There is also a Reflect on My Service section, which is a way of recording and reflecting on their experience and sharing the story of their service with their class and our Junior School community.

We hope that by giving the girls this opportunity, they will notice and enjoy the feeling of personal joy they have created by giving of themselves to others and see the opportunity for kindness in so many of our moments. Keep a look out for our booklet link in next week’s newsletter.

Mrs Kate Brown

Head of Junior School

Important Dates

From the JSPG

Communication with Parents

The Parent Contact Directory is available on MyPymble and has been developed for parents and carers to opt-in to share their contact details with other parents and carers in their daughter(s) year group to help build community connections.

To check your details, log in to MyPymble, click on Parent Contact Directory (under My Shortcuts) and then your Roll Class. There are some parents/carers with names, phone numbers and email addresses missing. To update your details, please click on your name in the top right corner, and select My Profile.