From the Middle School
From the Head of Middle School
Welcome to Week 4 in the Middle School. This week marks the first of our Outdoor Education programs this term, with Year 8 split between two locations at either the Colo River Expedition on the Upper Colo or the South Coast Adventure at Killalea State Park. There was plenty of excitement and a bit of nervous anticipation as students headed off early on Monday morning!
For our Year 7 students, this week has also seen the start of their NAPLAN tests with the writing test taking place yesterday and the reading test on tomorrow. The final two skills will be assessed over the next two weeks and catch-up plans have been made for any student who is absent on one or more of the test days. Year 7 girls are to be commended on the way in which they have approached the lead up to NAPLAN with a sense of calm and composure.
Congratulations to our Years 7 and 8 debaters who are through to the finals. Year 7 ISDA are currently undefeated this season! We look forward to following their progress as they look towards a Grand Final on 4 June.
This week in Directions lessons, Year 7 has been exploring the practice of gratitude and its associated health benefits. Studies show that practising gratitude can be used to improve our mental and physical health by developing our ability to empathise with others, boost our self-esteem, reduce anger and appreciate what we have. Students embraced the opportunity for some quiet reflection as they wrote letters to loved ones and took time to consider what brings them joy and happiness in their lives. A beautiful collage of post-it notes has been created on the Colonnade as a visual reflection of the gratitude felt among Year 7 students.
We wish all the best to our Years 7 and 8 athletes as they head down to Frensham tomorrow to compete in the IGSA Cross Country. We are looking forward to seeing the Pymble pride continue into next Monday with the Athletics Carnival which will take place on our Main Oval. Next week we will also be celebrating Boarders’ Week, which is an important celebration of our Boarding community and the richness our Boarders bring to the College. A reminder that if you have any old denim around the house, we would love to use these as a part of a sustainable decoration which will be displayed throughout Boarders’ Week on the Colonnade.
Year 8 Camp Updates
A reminder that the plan is for students to arrive back to Kelso Oval on the College campus on Friday afternoon from both camp locations in line with regular afternoon dismissal at 3.20pm. In the event that there are any unforeseeable adjustments to times, an SMS alert will be sent to update families. Thank you for keeping the Kelso carpark/driveway clear for bus returns. Any student who handed in a mobile phone will be given this back on their return to the College (please note these were retained at Pymble).
Colo River Expedition on the Upper Colo
We arrived safely at the Somerset campsite mid-Monday morning and the girls haven’t stopped since then! The weather has been so beautiful with two days of sunshine so far. Over the first evening, the girls experienced the sound of rain on their tents with the bonus of staying warm and dry inside. The diverse activities on offer have seen each group step up to various challenges such as Initiative Games – building simple rockets and competing to see whose rocket travels the furthest, the Wombat Hole which demands individuals wriggle through tight spaces to navigate their way out, abseiling down sandstone cliffs through the native foliage, canoeing to their next campsite along the meandering Colo River, just to name a few. By all reports the girls are taking responsibility for the cooking of some of their meals and eating well. Whether spending time around the campfire telling stories or playing Trivial Pursuit in the dining hall, the girls are certainly enjoying each other’s company. They will have plenty of stories to share on their return.
South Coast Adventure at Killalea State Park
The Year 8 Outdoor Education program on the South Coast has started very well and we have been lucky to have some dry and bright weather to start the week. The girls have been involved in a range of exciting activities already, including mountain biking, canoeing, surfing, bush regeneration and listening to speakers from National Parks and Wildlife Services talk about Indigenous history and culture in the area. They enjoyed their first night of cooking on Trangia stoves and camping in tents and are now busily preparing their menus for a Masterchef competition for their second evening. On Tuesday, half of the group completed the beautiful walk from Werri Beach to Kiama along the coast, with the rest of the group doing this on Thursday. It has been fantastic to see all girls make new connections within their groups and showing support for each other on the camp so far. We are looking forward to a great rest of the week with many fun activities planned. We hope the lovely weather continues!
Congratulations
A hearty congratulations to our very talented Alison Wang (Year 8), who contributed illustrations to a published book. The book is titled Reasoning Talk with Children by Helen Hu. It is published in simplified Chinese. It can be found here at this Amazon link.
It will be available in the Library for a short time for students to see Alison’s impressive illustrations.
Anzac Day Reflection
I was delighted to hear about the following student reflection from Anzac Day:
“Due to COVID-19 restrictions on Anzac Day, my family decided to organise a Light the Dawn ceremony outside our house for our neighbours and community. I offered to play The Last Post at sunrise, and I practised with my trumpet teacher for the weeks leading up to Anzac Day.
We decided that I should play my trumpet like a bugle, and not use my fingers. It was very challenging to do this as well as being a hard piece to play.
At 6.00am on Anzac Day morning, 16 of my neighbours joined us with candles. My Dad read out The Ode and then I played The Last Post (waking a lot of birds too!) We had a minute’s silence and then I finished with The Reveille.
My neighbours were very thankful and quite emotional. Even my 90-year-old neighbour told me afterwards that she opened her bedroom window to listen to it being played. I would like to continue playing The Last Post each year in memory of the veterans past and present.”
– Josie Green (Year 8)
