From the Middle School
This week the campus is awash with pink as we celebrate Boarders’ Week across the College! Thank you to those who helped make bunting out of the donated denim, especially Rachel Tyson for her artistic eye for detail. The creations are adorning the colonnade and look fantastic. Our Boarders are such an integral part of the Middle School community and bring with them experiences from near and far. Our Years 7 and 8 Boarders hail from: Mudgee, Bohena Creek, Moree, Alice Springs, Gladesville, Walcha, Parramatta, Narromine, Lightning Ridge, Tambar Springs, Pymble, Young, Quambone, Wyee, Somersby, Tullamore, Pyrmont, Narrabri, Dubbo, Gledswood Hills, Roseville, Vaucluse, Rylstone, Port Moresby, Walgett and Avalon. Each one of the girls is precious to the Middle School.
Outdoor Education Experiences
Last week our Year 8 girls enjoyed a week away from their routines as they took up the associated challenges on offer at either the Somerset or Southbound sites. I would like to thank all of those who worked so hard to ensure the experience was rich and rewarding for the girls, especially Mrs Stephanie Sibug, Ms Hannah McNelly, Mrs Sarah Budd, Mr Adam Levin and the Pymble Outdoor Education team: Nick Wilkesmann and Georgie Cain.
Year 8 camp at the South Coast in Kiama was an amazing experience, we all met so many new people and developed positive relationships with them. We were introduced to new skills such as cooking dinner on a trangia and using tents, we also learnt about Indigenous culture and bush regeneration practices. Everyone was pushed out of their comfort zones and took risks to grow and develop their confidence in activities like stand up paddle boarding and surfing. We all loved nighttime around the cooking circle and talking to each other about the day we had. After this experience, I am really looking forward to camp next year! Tully O’Regan
The best part about camp was definitely the campfire. At the end of a long, tiring day, we would all sit around the campfire to warm up, play games and talk. We had great food and there was always lots of singing and music. Over a few days, we had all bonded. In-jokes were born, and the camaraderie formed was like a lovely family. I will definitely miss the campfires and I will never forget the spirit of friendliness around the fire. I also enjoyed the hiking trip. Being out there in the wilderness was very peaceful and the view was amazing! I think it gave us all time to appreciate the beauty of nature and reflect on our experiences. The actual hiking was very fun and despite some challenges, I loved it! I learned a lot about independence. The Colo River camp was different from other camps, in that we had so much more freedom to make our own decisions, especially regarding the activities. We had complete control over whether or not we wanted to participate, and so we got to choose how far we wanted to push ourselves, how much would we challenge ourselves and how far out of our comfort zone would we go. There was something very liberating about making our own choices and accepting responsibility for what we chose. From this, I think all of us learned we were capable of more than what we thought, and all it took was the guts to push ourselves out of our comfort zone. Evelyn Zhu
My time at the Year 8 outdoor education camp was a great experience because it allowed me to go outside my comfort zone and participate in activities that I wouldn’t usually do. I had a go at stand up paddle boarding, surfing and canoeing. My favourite activity during camp was surfing because even though I hadn’t done it before, I was able to stand up on many of the waves. Camp was also a good opportunity to interact with people I usually wouldn’t. Camp was a very hands-on experience, and I had a lot of fun. Isabelle Johnston
Year 7 is looking forward to their Outdoor Education Experience across Weeks 6 or 7. We are excited to be able to welcome parents to Vision Valley for the Rites of Passage event on the final evening. We are delighted that both Dr Kate Hadwen and Dr Arne Rubinstein will be joining us as facilitators during this time. Thank you to those who have confirmed their attendance and sent their letter to their daughter.
Year 7 Assembly
Earlier this week, Year 7 had the opportunity to hear from our Year 12 Captains of Wellbeing on the topic of vaping. The Captains discussed the health concerns associated with vapes as well as school expectations and consequences. They reminded the girls that it is actually illegal for young people under the age of 18 to buy e-cigarettes. Whilst the Captains emphasised to the girls that only a small minority at this age may be aware of vaping, they stressed that knowledge is power and being informed allows us to make better decisions. More information for young people can be found here: http://darta.net.au/wordpress-content/uploads/2020/02/E-CIGARETTES-AND-VAPING-FINAL-2020.pdf
Cross Country
Congratulations to our Middle School Cross Country participants who represented the College last Friday at IGSA and achieved impressive results. Pymble won the competition for the first time since 2017 and would not have been able to do that without the talent of our Years 7 and 8 athletes. The 12 Years age group came sixth, 13 Years came third and 14 Years came first. Well done girls!
Year 7 Team: Audrey An, Abby Smith, Imogen Wu, Matilda Harrison, Maggie Morgan, Alia Curren, Laura Makeham, Mea Shires, Grace Beck, Elizabeth Yates, Elizabeth Bailey, Katherine Hart, Winter Shirvington and Charlotte Tideman.
Year 8 Team: Pheobe Paleologos, Grace Townsend, Sarah Baker, Sophia Slater, Mia Sams, Tessa Newitt, Tully Black, Arabella Cox and Aimi Jenkins.
Da Vinci Decathlon
Congratulations to our Middle School da Vinci Decathlon teams, who achieved outstanding results last weekend. Our Year 7 Team: Kiki Chen, Alissa Xue, Katherine Pan, Grace Beck, Alice Mao, Ruhani Surana, Amber Li, Isabelle Attard, Rosa Kim and Amber Wang took out first place overall out of 75 teams, followed by our Year 8 girls: Sophia Chang, Maya Garg, Lauren Korenblyum, Ayana Sapra, Teresa Sun, Nityasree Viswanathan, Allison Wang, Evelyn Zhu, Christiana Soo and Amy Zhang who placed second overall.
Some of the many highlights in the ten disciplines include:
Year 7 – 1st in Cartography, Science, and English
Year 7 – 2nd in Mathematics, Ideation and Code breaking.
Year 8 – 2nd in Creative Producers and Science
Good luck to the Year 7 team who will be competing at the Nationals on 20 to 21 June at Knox Grammar School.
Debating
We are nearing the end of our Debating season and I wanted to congratulate all the teams who have participated with passion and conviction. This Friday evening, we have the ISDA Year 7 Quarter Finals at Shore – they are still undefeated! Also, Year 7A FED and 8B FED are in face-to-face semi-finals which Pymble will be hosting. Good luck girls!
Robotics
Well done 20731H Wooden Horse for competing in the early morning in VEX Worlds. They earned their best scores all season; a perfect end to this year’s competition. Well done Amy Zhang, Ang-Ya Koo and Sophia Chang for their teamwork and persistence over the past year. Final awards and results will be released at the end of the week.
Directions Week 5
In Directions this week, Year 7 students will have the opportunity to discuss concerns and scenarios about camp in Weeks 6 and 7. The aim of the lesson is for students to be able to approach camp with more knowledge and strategies to problem solve common challenges they may face. Through brainstorming solutions to specific scenarios collaboratively, students will be developing their capacity for resilience. Our students will also affirm what they can look forward to on camp and consider the advantages this experiential learning experience offers them.
After a week away on our Year 8 Outdoor Education Experience, our intention with this shared Directions/English approach is to explore the value of challenges associated with camp. Students are positioned to see the ‘real world’ learning as a valuable way to develop awareness of self and others and to also understand that new experiences can be enriching and empowering; this essentially mirrors the ‘Apprenticeship’ stage of the ‘bildungsroman’ genre. A core component of Year 8 Wellbeing this term has centred on developing students’ awareness, resilience and adaptability and this aligns beautifully with the characters’ experiences in a variety of texts currently being explored within our English unit. Year 8 students will reflect on their camp experience in Directions and then use this reflection to build their own bildungsroman text in English in lessons during Week 6.
Mrs Jenny O’Donnell
Head of Middle School
Da Vinci Decathlon
Grace Ho and Georgia Bicego (Year 9), Hanna Cheung and Claudia Chan (Year 10)
Da Vinci Decathlon is a highly competitive national competition where a team of eight students from each school completes papers from ten different disciplines that reflect Leonardo da Vinci’s areas of expertise. There are three sessions, with ten subjects distributed throughout the full-day event. This year’s theme revolved around the concept of ‘Chance’. The Decathlon was held across two days with the teams from Years 7 to 8 competing on 4 May, and the teams from Years 8 to 11 the following day.
The NSW State round began with a flurry, as students worked their way through the Science, English, Ideation and Cartography papers for Session 1. In the last couple of years, this involved settling around a table in a massive hall, joined by dozens of students from other schools. But this year the competition looked a bit different…
Pre-COVID-19, the Da Vinci Decathlon was held at Knox. However, this year, the Decathlon was run via Zoom. As soon as the session started, the papers were released and had to be downloaded, printed, completed and uploaded! Despite the obvious logistical challenges, students enjoyed the variety of mediums they could choose to work with, including iPads and laptops. A chaotic harmony resulted with students using digital devices and traditional materials to complete the papers. The smooth-running of the online experience was largely due to the attentive support from Knox and our own IT staff, who sat with us for the duration of the Decathlon.
The papers contained their usual intellectual stimulation, such as the last question of the Science paper, which addressed the ethics and morality of the discipline. Recess was a welcome relief (special thanks to Mrs Tarrant for supplying chocolates and lollies to keep us going), although we couldn’t resist the urge to continue discussing the cartography paper-with a question reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet from Year 9!
Session 2 consisted of Code-Breaking, Engineering, Art and Poetry and Mathematics. Each team worked collaboratively, with experts on each team assigned to a specific discipline. The Art and Poetry paper introduced the theme of maximalism, an artistic concept that emphasises the aesthetic of excess. The artwork and poem we produced in under an hour reflected upon this idea, using bright colours that mimicked the style of the stimulus (see below).
Legacy was a new discipline this year, which replaced General Knowledge. Students did extensive research in preparation for the new task. Unexpectedly, questions were delivered verbally and students had a small window to discuss their answers, which were in the form of ‘true’ or ‘false’, multiple choice and open answer questions. There were some challenges with sound, which we rectified for the next day of the competition.
We would like to thank Mrs Tarrant, the Library and IT team for a wonderful Decathlon this year! We are delighted with our results, including the success of our Year 7 team, which came first in NSW! These students now go on to the Nationals to be held (in person) at Knox on 20th-21st June. Congratulations to the Year 7 team and reserves – Isabelle Attard, Grace Beck, Kiki Chen, Rosa Kim, Amber Li, Alice Mao, Katherine Pan, Ruhani Surana, Amber Wang and Alissa Xue!
Our Year 8 team was also outstanding, placing 2nd in NSW out of 78 teams. Wonderful results also were achieved by our Year 10 and 11 teams, placing 5th and 7th in NSW.
To see the incredible results of our students across the various disciplines, please click here.
