From the Junior School
From our Head of Junior School
Celebrating our Community
The Garden Party was a glorious day and our sense of community shined even more brightly than the spring sunshine. Even the showers of rain couldn’t dampen the positive spirit and sense of fun there was around the campus as we came together for the day. An enormous thank you to all of you who helped plan, resource and run the many Junior School stalls we had in action throughout the day. The girls were clearly having the best time at all the stalls and celebrating their school with one another. I am so proud of the girls and their performances as musicians and dancers throughout the day.
I wish you all a safe and restful holiday with your families. The girls have put heart and soul into their learning adventures this term, so I hope they enjoy lots of relaxation time over this break.
Celebrating our VEX IQ Robotics teams
Our Year 5 and 6 robotics girls showcased their Pymble spirit as they missed out on the Garden Party and instead had an action-packed day of fun and competition at the VEX IQ Robotics Regionals competition at Barker. A huge thank you to Mr Brown and Miss Baker who supported these teams throughout the day.
I was lucky enough to be there in the afternoon to see and feel the excitement as each team showcased their skills as designers, and coders with their individual robots. Each team is impressive in terms of skills, commitment and determination so whilst one of our teams (Jessica Persson, Celine Soo and Leahara Wijesuriya) has achieved the outstanding success in progressing to Nationals later this year all our teams deserve to feel extremely proud of their achievements.
I therefore interviewed Mr Dan Brown about the teams to celebrate each one and his responses are:
Jessica Persson, Celine Soo and Leahara Wijesuriya: This team showed amazing persistence and built an excellent robot which is now progressing to Nationals. Congratulations girls!
Nicole Fan, Elaine Zhang, Chloe Shao and Valerie Zhao: They were creative and experimented with many unique designs throughout the process building a robot that could perform well in all aspects
Lily Xing and Scarlett Wong: They built an extremely sound robot which looked simple but was deceptively simple as it was highly effective with many different highly technical elements.
Annabella Bayfield and Sophie Kidd: This team was highly creative and enthusiastic with big ideas and lots of passion.
Kathy Wang, Lulu Li and Yuecheng Xu: This team collaborated to build a technical robot that showed great potential. Excellent teamwork!
Audrey Wyldhill and Sophia Wong: This team was brilliantly creative. They loved experimenting with different aspects of their design.
Cabrini Lee and Sophie Harris: They built a structurally sound robot which showed impressive engineering skills. This is a great partnership who showed consistent commitment to their robot and the process.
Kiara Excell and Oriana Fenton: This partnership showed great tenacity and dedication throughout the design and build process. They learnt new skills quickly and applied them to their robot.
Isabella Eum, Heidi Ferreira and Aurora Zhang: This team built a very technical robot and showed amazing resilience, rebuilding it after a last minute accident when the robot broke!
Ashley Du and Rebecca Zhou: This team aimed for a highly technical robot which was impressive for a first time build. They reworked their design and embraced the challenge of the process.
Anika Verma and Phoebe Scott : This partnership designed and built a simple but highly effective robot; an amazing first time effort for this team!
Hayley Zhang, Selina Jiang and Arianna Ng: This new team demonstrated a capacity to learn quickly and work brilliantly as a team.
Angela Mao, Jing Yuan Liu, Jennifer Xu and Sophia Felizzi: An amazing first time effort! This team learnt many different engineering principles and worked hard to develop highly effective team communication.
Waging our war against plastic waste!
Our Kindness Captains have worked hard to lead a social experiment where we have collected all the plastic waste we generate within our Junior School over one week. The results are in! As a Junior School, we collected 4.7 kilograms of plastic waste during just one day! The Kindness Captains are determined we can do better than this and reduce our plastic waste. Next term, the girls will launch ‘Nude Food November’ where we will encourage one another to bring less plastic into our school.
As we come to the end of our focus on kindness to the environment, I want to share this amazing video which our Sustainability Captains have created with Mrs Jill King. Mrs King continues to inspire our girls and staff to focus on ways we can be kinder to our precious environment and she is working hard to empower our girls to advocate for change.
“Do a little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” Desmond Tutu
We are so proud of the efforts all our girls have made with their acts of kindness to the environment and these examples reflect the outstanding 3,777 acts of kindness we have completed as a Junior School over these last ten weeks!
Rachel Zhang – “Being kind and of service to the environment made me feel calm, glad and proud.”
Mia Bai – “I took a shorter shower, turned the lights off when I wasn’t using them, didn’t litter and donated old toys.”
Cadence Wong – “Being of service made me feel excellent because I’m reducing plastic, so our marine animals won’t suffer because of us.”
Charlotte Woo – “I started to play with toys I haven’t played with in a long time.”
Rosie Rew – “It made me feel like little things can make a huge difference to our world. I try to walk to school in the mornings when I don’t have an activity on. This doesn’t use fossil fuels which looks after the environment.”
Eesha Adusumilli – “ I felt helpful as I made a small difference which may turn out to be bigger over time.”
Kindness Shoutouts
This week I want to honour acts of kindness by a couple of girls. I am constantly amazed by the lengths all our girls will go to in their willingness to show kindness to others and whilst it’s impossible to give a shout out to each girl, in our newsletter, these acts of kindness reflect the many authentic acts of kindness we see from our girls each day:
Zoey Fernandes (Kindergarten) brought in her most special teddy for the recent Kindergarten Teddy Bears’ picnic. Her friend did not bring in a teddy on that day, so Zoey very kindly offered to share her teddy bear with her friend.
Molly Liu (Year 5) The teachers all noted how kind Molly was towards them at Vision Valley during their Outdoor Education Program, offering them snacks and frequently checking if they were ok.
Save the dates – an important note for our Year 6 families!
As we come towards the end of their Junior School journey for our Year 6 girls and their families, I want to ensure you all have these dates on your calendar. More information on each event will follow:
Tuesday 22 November 2022, 8.45am – 11.00am: Year 6 final Chapel (for Year 6 families and girls only), honouring ceremony and showcase of learning.
This event will be a celebration of our Year 6 girls and their journey from Kindergarten (wherever they started their schooling) to Year 6. We will start with the Chapel service and then each Compass Class will have an honouring circle where each student is ‘honoured’ by her Compass Teacher. The girls will also have the chance to thank their teacher and families so come ready for a special, and potentially emotional moment with your daughter! Then the girls will invite you to share their learning this year and their personal growth as a learner and young person over the last seven years in Junior School.
Thursday 24 November 2022: 6.00 – 8.00pm: Year 6 girls’ disco on campus and cocktail evening for Year 6 parents organised by our JSPG.
Friday 2 December 2022: 1.00pm – 3pm: Celebration of Learning Years 3-6
Year 1 History Incursion
What was family life like in the past?
On Monday September 19th, Year 1 delved deeply into this fascinating question with a full day of engaging and practical activities designed to explore what life was like for children living in the past.
Our History Incursion Day began with an informative session with our Pymble Ladies’ College archivist, Mrs Enid O’Carroll. She arrived in Year 1 equipped with books, uniforms, bags and even a desk which have all featured in the lives of Pymble girls in the more than 100 years since our school opened in 1916. After looking at lots of wonderful black and white photos, the girls had a wonderful time dressing up in aprons, Tam o’ shanters, white gloves, sun hats and parasols.
Next, Year 1 delighted in making their very own Victorian peg dolls and even had a go at writing with a quill pen and ink! For the remainder of the day, the girls enjoyed playing fun games like Quoits, Fly, Pick Up Sticks, and Elastics as they continued to deepen their understanding of what life was like for children in the past.
“The girls didn’t wear the same uniform as we wear today. I even got to try on the old Pymble summer and winter hats.” Selena Rezaei
“I have learnt that some people could not afford to buy dolls, so they had to make dolls. To make a peg doll you get a peg, you glue on threads to make hair, you can make a dress out of patty cakes or fabric, and you can make arms from a pipe cleaner.” Li-Ya Koo
“I was always curious about games in the past and today I got to learn about them and play them.” Hillary Yip
“I have learnt that children played pick up sticks, elastics, quoits and fly in the past for fun.” Chloe Chen
“I leant that in the past there was a library under our Chapel and that things were very different to the way they are now.” Saoirse McCabe
“In the olden days when you were a student at Pymble, you had to sign your name in a special book called a register.” Isabel Chang
From Mrs Lara Bird – Deputy Head of Junior School – Academic
Throughout the term our girls have borrowed 8,426 library books across a range of genres. They have collectively completed (as a conservative estimate) 110,880 hours combined of Mathematics and English during the school day.
They have also participated in the K-2 concert, author visits, Italian Day, book parades, excursions, incursions, undertaken scientific investigations, presented speeches, written persuasively, informatively or imaginatively, carried out mathematical investigations, created artworks, performed in music and drama activities, learnt to swim, played basketball and have explored the cultures and languages of Itaty and France. They have also engaged in STEM activities as well as various academic competitions.
What a busy term! I hope the girls have a restful holiday, enjoying time with family, spending time outdoors and finding moments to relax and rest, ready for a busy Term 4.
Congratulations to Phoebe Scott who was awarded 1st place in the Mathematics Association of New South Wales (MANSW) Investigating Mathematics Competition for her individual entry in the Year 5 category. Her entry has now been entered into the National Competition.
Congratulations to Madeleine Martin, Mia Bai, Kimberly Zhao, Sophia Wu, Vivienne Guo who were also awarded 1st Place in the Mathematics Association of New South Wales (MANSW) Investigating Mathematics Competition Year 2 Small Group Category. Their entry has been entered into the National Competition.
Digital Safety with Kindy – led by our Digital Learning Leaders: Mrs Christine Cassidy, Mrs Siobhan Rooney, Mr Dan Brown and Mr Jake Turnbull
What is a stranger?
What is the internet?
What is a password?
Over the past three weeks, Kindergarten have been investigating digital safety with their Compass Teachers and the Digital Learning Leaders. We began our investigation by exploring what information is and is not safe to be shared in the real world. We talked about how when we go online it is like opening a door to the world and how important it is to keep our personal information safe.
With the aid of a ball of string, we made the internet. The girls delighted in creating a network and sharing messages with each other. Lastly, we brainstormed where and when we use passwords, created our own passwords and role played using our passwords to open our lockers.
We had lots of fun learning about digital safety through this play-based approach.
Academic Competition – National History Challenge
Well done to Yuna Shin, who participated in the National History Challenge. This year’s theme was “Causes and Consequences” which invited students to explore various topics in History. Yuna shares her experience entering this academic competition.
What inspired you to enter the History Challenge?
What inspired me to enter the History Challenge was that my brother was entering the challenge before me this year for the first time. My curiosity accelerated when I heard about the topic and the different stories my brother learned when he was researching for it.
What is your entry about?
My entry for the history challenge is about World War I, the main cause of it and also the consequence of it. I chose to write about World War I because I wanted to learn more about it, especially about the mistakes we could have avoided.
Can you explain the writing process?
The writing process was to focus on researching the beginning and end of World War One. I looked at many different websites, secondary sources and primary sources. I learned what each of them are, which is, a secondary source is a website or is written through collecting information, while a primary source is a source which was written by someone who was there, such as a diary. Other than reading and collecting information for websites, I also looked at a few books, including The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne and Horrible Histories: Frightful First World War written by Terry Deary and illustrated by Martin Brown.
What challenges did you face throughout the process?
The challenges I faced throughout the process was finding the primary sources and the websites because often, I would ponder if the website was stating the truth or if it contained a few things that weren’t true.
What did you take away from this experience?
What I took away from the experience was that it is important to do a lot of research on the subject and the things that you might not have imagined may be related. Before I commenced my research, I never knew that WWII and WWI were related to each other. I learned that WWII started because of the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles that were placed on Germany, who was assumed to take all the blame even though other countries were the ones that started WW1.
From Mrs Nerissa Davey – Deputy Head of Junior School – Operations
SRC Wrap up – a busy term of making change!
This term has been filled with exciting adventures across the Junior School. Our SRC has been very active and the girls are to be commended for always turning up to meetings, bringing along their class suggestions and sharing back information from meetings. This term we have made bird feeders for our native feathered friends in the playground, we have voted to give our bathrooms a lift with some decals, the girls will be participating in Buddy Reading from K-6 on the last day of school and scrunchable plastics bins will be placed around the Junior School. These are all very worthwhile initiatives which the girls have taken from suggestions in their classrooms. Such a wonderful display of student voice! Well done girls!
Connecting Communities
After the huge success of our first Dubbo/Goodooga trip for Year 5 we are very excited to share that Mrs Brown, Mr Tyson and I will be embarking on our next adventure to forge further relations with our First Nations People. This time we will be heading to Brewarrina, Bourke and Dubbo. We will camp at Dubbo Zoo, tour the Aboriginal Museum in Brewarrina, head to the Central School and tour the Aboriginal fish traps to build our understanding of our First Nations People. Year 5 have once again put themselves out there, embraced risks and new challenges, and shown their courage and leadership qualities in a chat with Mrs Brown and me! We are thrilled to announce that the following girls will be joining us in Week 2 of Term 4 on our trip to Brewarrina:
Ellie Cao
Zeta James –Taylor
Eloise Gavagna
Avika Kapoor
Annabel Makeham
Polly Hargraves
Blair Tang
Gloria Yang
Estelle Macolino
Adele Cassidy
Lily Dao
Aaliyah Khanche
Grace Jacobs
Richielynne Xiong
Chloé Shires
Molly Hardiman
Sophia Guo
Mia Zhu
We are also delighted to share that as a Junior School we will be attending our first Indigenous Games day in Sydney. This will take place on 23 November 2022 and ten Year 5 girls will represent Pymble on this day. This is a wonderful way for us to further connections and interactions with students of many different backgrounds and for more of our Year 5 girls to represent our College and Junior School as leaders of community and cultural understanding. Keep an eye out for a write up next term!
Year 3 and 5 Outdoor Education Program – Camp
Over the last 2 weeks our Year 3 and 5 girls have enjoyed the facilities and activities at Vision Valley. The sun shone and the girls’ smiles shone even more brightly! They embraced orienteering, canoeing, team building activities, high ropes challenges and whizzing down the giant slide. We are so proud of their courage as they tried new activities, slept away from their families and forged new friendships. Add photos of OEP
Junior School Digital News
From the Junior School Parent Group
We wanted to send out a big thank you to our amazing Junior School parent community who have provided overwhelming support both attending and helping with our events during a very busy Term Three. We are incredibly grateful for your support and we hope you have a very restful and safe holiday break. Our final JSPG meeting for the year is being held on Friday 21 October (Week 2) at 8:45am in the Junior School Library. An agenda will be issued by the start of Term Four. We look forward to seeing you there.
Co-curricular Term 4 2022
As per the portal notice from CCSA, registrations for the following programs opened on Wednesday 7 September:
- Term 4 programs
- Intakes for some yearly programs
- Term 1 2023 Saturday sports
Program information for all programs is available on the Co-curricular at Pymble pages of the Pymble website. This page can be accessed by clicking here; a parent login is required.
K-2 families please email juniorschool@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au for any updates to your daughters travel arrangements for Term 4 2022. A reminder for all girls registered for Tennis, your daughter needs to be re-enrolled for Term 4 should you wish to continue this activity.
Reminders from the Administration Office
AFTERNOON TRAVEL CHANGES
Please email juniorschool@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au to advise any changes to afternoon travel arrangements. Late changes should be made prior to 2.00pm to ensure messages are received by staff and students prior to the girls end of formal day routines.
LOST PROPERTY
All items of uniform should be named including summer hat, play hat, uniforms, shoes, sneakers, socks, lunch box and drink bottle. Lost items can be readily returned if it they are labelled.
Winter should have your daughter’s name written in white pen inside the crown of the hat. If there is a circular label inside the hat, don’t use this as it is inclined to come loose.
Please be aware that unnamed items will only be held at each Junior School Administration Office for two weeks.
Final meetings and Annual General Meetings
In Week 2 of Term 4, the final meetings, and annual general meetings (AGM) for the Pymble Parent Support Groups (PSGs) and the Pymble Parent Association (PPA) begin. At these meetings we get the opportunity to thank the 2022 volunteer committees and hear about the events and activities they have assisted with during the year. We will also hear from key Pymble staff and discuss plans for 2023.
These meetings also include inductions for our 2023 committees. There is most often no voting at the AGMs as positions are decided beforehand so that these meetings are more a chance to welcome in our new volunteers.
The PPA and PSGs are a vital part of our school, and many events and activities could not be run without the support of these volunteers. There are considerable advantages to being part of these parent groups. Being involved gives parents and carers a voice, allows for greater connection within our community and of course provides them the opportunity to spend time with their girls in the school environment.
We are currently calling for expressions of Interest for positions within these groups. All positions can be found on the MyPymble App or by clicking here (you will need to be logged into MyPymble to view) . If you are interested in getting involved, we would love to hear from you and would be happy to talk you through the various positions and what is involved. Please call us to discuss on 9855 7717 or email our Community Events Manager (events@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au) before Wednesday 12 October.
Meeting dates:
- PPA and Secondary School Parent Support Group meeting: Monday 17 October, 6.00pm to 7.00pm
- Junior School Parent Support Group meeting: Thursday 3 November, 8.45am to 9.45am.
More details to follow regarding the agenda and location of these meetings.
Dates for your Diary
Term 3
23 September Last Day of Term 3
Term 4
11 October First Day of Term 4
13 October Year 3 and 5 Author Visit
17 October Year 2 Outdoor Education Program
17 October Year 1 Science Incursion
19 October Year 1 Outdoor Education Program
20 October Kindergarten Outdoor Education Program
20 October Year 2 Ranger Jamie Excursion
25 October Year 6 Musical Performance, 7.00pm
26 October Year 6 Musical Performance, 7.00pm
28 October Links Day
17 November Swimming Carnival
22 November Year 6 final Chapel and celebration of learning 8.45am – 11.00am
24 November Year 6 Disco
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