From the Senior School

From the Head of Senior School

This is such a big week in the Senior School. Recently we have announced the new student leadership body, as all Year 11 students begin the process of assuming leadership as Year 12s next term. Congratulations to all and I am confident that every Year 11 student is ready for this huge step and will continue the fine tradition of student leadership at Pymble.

These final two weeks have been filled with many exciting stories of dreams for the future and heartfelt thanks and farewells. On Monday this week, the Year 12 girls enjoyed a picnic lunch at Clontarf, as part of their final week of farewells and celebrations. Although the sun struggled to shine all day, the smiles and warmth more than made up for the weather. We have also enjoyed some very special time at the Honouring Ceremony, Gratitude Assembly and of course, the Countdown. On behalf of all the staff at Pymble, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Year 12 students and wish them all the very best as they leave – they have been final role models for compassion, good sense, friendship and good humour. I am looking forward to the events on Friday to say our final congratulations to this wonderful group.

Best wishes to all the Senior School girls and their families for a safe and restful break. My thoughts will be with Year 12, as they prepare for their final HSC examinations – the girls should be continuing with their preparation over the break, remembering that much progress can still be made.

From the Heads of Year 12

Well, it is finally here, the last week of high school for our amazing Year 12s! it has certainly been a big one, with so much to acknowledge and celebrate!

The Garden Party on Saturday was a lovely way to start our graduation week, we loved seeing the Year 12 girls volunteering their time on the day, or prior to sell their raffle tickets in support of the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Women’s shelter. We are yet to find out our total but from the looks on the day, we are sure we smashed our goal of $1500.

Our picnic day on Monday at Clontarf was a wonderful time to get off campus and give the girls an opportunity to let their hair down and connect. Many embraced the teddy bear picnic theme, though not as many braved the chilly temps in the water.

As we head towards the holidays we want to wish Year 12 a safe and restful break, while we know there will be a lot of study happening across these few weeks in the lead up to their HSC examinations, we hope there is time to connect with friends and family and reflect on everything they have achieved up to this point. As always there is always support if the Year 12s need it, and we will share some resources with them for the holiday break should they need to connect.

From the Heads of Year 11

For our final newsletter of Year 11, we asked our Senior School Leaders to reflect on the event or activity that has shaped them in 2022.

Jessie chose to write about International Women’s Day –

Whilst the Senior School Leaders helped with a variety of activities this year, one main event that stood out to me was International Women’s’ Day. International Women’s Day remains to be the first major event that the Senior School Leaders hosted and organised. Throughout this time, we met up with our co-ordinators, the Senior School Liaisons, and other leaders to organise the different activities.

All of us understood the importance of International Women’s Day in recognising, celebrating, and understanding gender equality, hence, motivating the student leader team to work together in order to create the best time for everyone. In the weeks leading up to to International Women’s Day, many students collaborated together to prepare a variety of musical performances, bookmarks, decorations across the school, movies dedicated to celebrating gender equality, a photo booth located within the KM and selling purple ribbons as a method of fundraising for the Hornsby Women’s Shelter. From the feedback that we received throughout the week, International Women’s Day was a successful plethora of fundraising, celebrating, and raising awareness on gender equity.

Overall, this event allowed me to grasp the roles that I needed to fulfil as a Senior School Leader and helped me improve on my communication skills through the organisation of these activities. These skills were vital to my work in the future, both within and outside of the leadership sphere. Moreso, International Women’s Day connected students from across the Senior School with each other, consequently, allowing each of us to understand the collective power of women in encouraging and establishing a world of equality.

Alyssa chose to write about the Ensemble Concert to farewell Mrs Sabina Turner –

This year has been such an amazing celebration of our Pymble community, and I really value the opportunities and experiences we have had to learn and grow as a cohort and as part of the Senior School community. Reflecting on the special moments we have shared, one particular highlight was the Ensemble Concert to farewell Mrs Turner and the Music Class of 2022.

It was such a warm evening that served as both a celebration of the students and Mrs Turner, but there was also a tinge of sadness as we said auf wiedersehen. This sadness was because goodbyes are hard when we care for people in our lives. There was a strong acknowledgement of that gratitude and love, and whilst a few tears were shed, it was a really beautiful evening where we could celebrate and cherish the memories made.

Although it was a farewell, the concert was such a positive evening and reminded me to frame our final years at Pymble as a celebration of what we have. Whilst I’m going to be sad to say goodbye in the next year, I want to focus on the joy of what we have together, cherishing past memories and making special new ones.

Eleanor chose to write about the Colour Run –

For me, I’ve loved everything about year 11 but a standout event for me would be the recent colour run. It was such a great event for R U OK DAY which I really think brought so many people together from every year group. A couple of years ago, I remember Pymble did a colour run in year 8, but since COVID we couldn’t take part in whole school activities like that. Finally, big school events have come back post-pandemic and I feel it has made such a positive impact on our wellbeing as students.

Aside from the colour run, I think year 11 has been such a great year for our year group to bond together and for everyone to become quite close as we enter our final years of schooling. It’s been amazing to see our whole year group come together, as we have created such a positive and warm environment for each other. Seeing girls merge their groups or just laughing around the KM has been such a highlight for me and having such a strong community around you really makes a difference. Bring on 2023!

Pymble 2022 [EX]plore Conference

You know those days when you get to do the parts of your job that spark joy? Well, Monday was that day for me when I got to watch six of our Year 12 students present at the Science Extension [EX]plore Conference at Macquarie University.

Congratulations to Olivia Harvey, Sophie Coughlan, Lauren Solness, Elisa Yang and Joy Wang on their presentations, and to Macquarie University on the fabulous job they did bringing this opportunity to life.

They created an event where school student research was celebrated and students were able to complete their research journey by communicating their findings to their peers. What is more authentic in science research than that?

The students rose to the challenge and then some with their talks and posters being both informative and entertaining; many a career researcher could enhance their own communication styles by watching these students present.

Joy said she enjoyed seeing the different ways people tackled their projects.

“It was interesting to see the different approaches other people took in their Science Extension projects,” she said.

Sophie, on the other hand, particularly enjoyed the tours of the facilities, saying “they inspired me and gave me much more of an insight into what my journey at uni could look like.”

NSW Chief Scientist Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte did a wonderful job in his keynote speech painting a picture of what a future in science in Australia might look like.

Kerry Sheehan (from NESA) and Professor Sham Nair (from the Department of Education) were like proud dads, watching their Science Extension baby step beyond the school gates and showcase the exceptional worth of this amazing HSC subject.

Students also got to go on tours of science laboratories around the university, giving them deeper insights into life as a research scientist.

We look forward to seeing next year’s Year 12 Science Extension students present at the [EX]plore Conference, and hopefully some aspiring Year 10 and 11 students can enjoy this event, too.

Save the date – 11 September 2023 (TBC) – for next year’s conference and get your projects ready for a day that could be the step that takes you right into the science research pipeline.

Pymble Parent Support Groups and the Pymble Parent Association Expressions of Interest

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.