From the Principal

A warm welcome to Term 2 at Pymble. It’s great to be back on campus again and see our students have returned both rested and energised, ready to make the most of the second half of Semester 1. Our mantra for Term 2 builds on the theme established at the start of the year, ‘Let’s get creative…Dream. Think. Make it happen,’ and we will be harnessing our creativity to plan for success. More on that in just a moment.

On Wednesday, we gathered in COVID-safe groups across the College for our annual Anzac Day Service, albeit one day late due to the public holiday.

While April 25 is a day of national remembrance to mark the anniversary of the first major military battle fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during World War I, Anzac Day goes beyond the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915. In remembering the Anzacs, we also remember all Australians who have served our nation in all wars and conflict, as well as those who have served, and continue to serve, on peacekeeping missions around the globe, helping to restore stability. We also turn our thoughts to those currently on the frontlines; to our army, air force and navy personnel on active service overseas, those supporting them and their families who are waiting for loved ones to return.

Planning for success, or strategy, is a critical component of any war. While the name Anzac is synonymous with Australia and New Zealand, it’s important to remember our Anzacs fought with a number of allied countries to ultimately win the war. Similarly, our girls have their own key support team, or allies, to help them plan for their success at Pymble. This includes family members, Compass teachers, coaches, as well as others who may not be so influential in planning for success but who reinforce their efforts in many different ways.

This term, I will be encouraging our girls to plan their individual strategies for success. Each student will receive a planner asking her to consider her ‘big’ school, family and personal commitments. The idea is to break down our Term 2 strategies into weekly chunks and plan how we can be the best versions of ourselves according to our commitments each week.

Here’s a sneak peak of the planner and a few of my plans for Week 1, which I have included to inspire the girls to do the same.

Of course, there is an incredible amount of planning for future success that goes on behind the scenes at Pymble, while we simultaneously work hard to ensure our current programs, processes and facilities deliver on all desired outcomes. One focus area in Term 2 is cybersecurity in relation to College operations.

Prior to the start of term, our Critical Incident Management Team undertook an incredibly insightful and – let’s be honest – at-times terrifying exercise in which we responded to a series of imagined cyberattacks. Assisted by two of Australia’s leading cybersecurity experts, we role played two different scenarios using our internal Critical Incident Response Procedures and Management Plans, documenting our learnings, amendments and immediate action points along the way. In the event of our systems being compromised, the College will activate our CIMT Procedures and Plans and communicate with families through an uncompromised channel.

Cybercrime is on the increase and this drill reinforced the importance of our whole-of-College approach to cybersecurity – from robust internal systems and policies, to our comprehensive K-12 digital learning continuum and the behaviour of individual users.

Today, I am asking all families to take the first step towards safeguarding our community by reviewing the hackability of all the passwords you use.  

Pymble staff recently undertook cybersecurity training with our Director of Innovative Learning Technologies, Mr Anthony England, who has kindly edited the hour-long recorded session into a five-minute video to help our community create unhackable passwords.

We also recommend checking the security of your passwords, and whether any have been compromised, via the following links:

https://www.security.org/how-secure-is-my-password/

https://haveibeenpwned.com/Passwords

Thank you in advance for prioritising your family’s password housekeeping on the weekend.

College communications in Term 2

Speaking of digital housekeeping – and, dare I say it, safeguarding your sanity – we are delighted to advise our MyPymble Portal is now up and running as the one-stop shop for parents and carers to receive and store College communications. This decision was based on your feedback which unanimously called for streamlined communications from one sender.

From Term 2, all communications sent to a year group, sub-school or the entire school will be posted on MyPymble. To help with this transition, you will receive an automatic email notification from Community Engagement when a new message has been posted. Email notifications will continue only until the end of Week 4, after which time all notifications will come via the MyPymble app. Communications posted on MyPymble will include academic, community, events, sport and co-curricular information, as well as important messages from me or the leadership team.

Please check your family is set up for success in Term 2 and beyond by ensuring you download the MyPymble app and have access to all the information relevant to your daughter’s learning.

Wishing you a wonderful, successful Term 2.

Dr Kate Hadwen 

Principal

COVID-19 Response Plans and Advice

During the break, the NSW Government announced changes to COVID-related community settings that affect schools.

Please note the following amendments to health and safety guidelines for Term 2 at Pymble.

Changes to advice for household/close contacts

If your daughter is a household or close contact of someone who tests positive for COVID-19, it is no longer mandatory for her to self-isolate for seven days unless she has symptoms and/or tests positive. She can choose to either stay at home and learn online (if practicable) or she can come to school, under the following provisions:

• She has no COVID-19 symptoms and is feeling well.
• She returns a negative Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) each day before she attends school (the College will supply students with multipacks of RATs).
• She wears a mask at all times while indoors or at large gatherings such as assemblies.
• Her School Office is notified and the College undertakes a risk assessment that approves your daughter attending school.

If your daughter chooses to self-isolate, please advise health@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au and your relevant School Office, who will respond with a link to the Online Learning Application form required for your daughter to learn online during the seven-day period.

See the NSW Health Household and Close Contact Guidelines for more detailed information.

Pack a mask (or two) each day

Mask-wearing is optional at school except in the following circumstances:

• Masks must be worn at large indoor gatherings (ie assembly and tomorrow’s Anzac Day Service, which will very likely be indoors, due to the weather).

• While using public transport or school transport.
• If it is deemed a requirement for your daughter attending school as a household or close contact (see above).

All students are encouraged to pack a mask in their bag for each school day, and School Offices will also have a back-up supply.

Residential programs

Students attending Vision Valley or an Outdoor Education program at another location will be required to undertake a RAT at school before they get onto the Pymble bus for departure.

Each program organiser will advise parents/carers of any further COVID-safety guidelines or requirements prior to departure.

A student who is a household or close contact at the time of a scheduled residential program is required to contact their Head or Deputy Head of School to discuss their specific case.

If your daughter is unwell in Term 2

If your daughter tests positive to COVID-19 and is well enough to attend online lessons while in isolation at home, as per the process in Term 1, please advise health@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au and your relevant School Office, who will respond with a link to the Online Learning Application form required for your daughter to learn online during her isolation period.

If your daughter is not well enough to attend campus for a day or two (unrelated to COVID-19), she needs to rest and follow the normal procedure for absence due to illness.

Students are not permitted to join their classes via Teams in place of on-campus learning, unless they have previously applied for exemption due to medical reasons or notified the school that they are self-isolating.

Medical exemptions for on-campus learning

Finally, if your daughter or a member of your family who lives in your household is immunocompromised or has an underlying medical condition that prevents her from attending campus, please complete our Online Learning Application form, if you haven’t already done so.

Thank you for your continued efforts to observe the health and safety measures we have in place to protect our Pymble family.

From the Director – Pymble Institute

Researching students? Students as researchers and students being researched

The inaugural Pymble student research conference will take place on Tuesday 17 May from 5.00pm to 7.30pm, with an optional pizza picnic networking event at the conclusion. Student organisers, Lucy and Charlotte (Year 11), invite research-interested students from all schools to join the conference either on campus at Pymble Ladies’ College or online via a Microsoft Teams live stream. The conference will be most suitable for Secondary students, but all are welcome.

The conference aims to encourage students to participate in research. Learn about how research works at university and the difference you can make, as well as meeting other students and sharing ideas. We are excited to announce the list of speakers, including:

• Opening keynote speaker: Associate Professor Willa Huston, Acting Head of School – Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, UTS. A/Professor Huston’s research area is molecular microbiology.
• Closing keynote speaker: Professor Amanda Keddie, Chair in Education, Faculty of Arts and Education, and leader of the Children, Young People and their Communities team within the Research for Educational Impact (REDI) Centre, Deakin University. Professor Keddie’s research area is social justice and schooling.
• Bachelor of Education (Honours) student: Ms Thomasina Buchner, student in the School of Education and Social Work, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney and Dance teacher at Pymble. Ms Buchner is conducting research into teaching Mathematics for young students (Year 1) through Dance.
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Candidate, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney: Ms Erica Bell. Ms Bell is conducting research into the feeling of irritability in mental health for adolescents.
• Pymble Institute Director, Pymble Ladies’ College: Dr Sarah Loch. Dr Loch is the Director of the Pymble Institute and leads research and professional learning at the College. Her research area is young people’s engagement in research, as well as futures and career directions for adolescent girls.

As part of our students’ ongoing passion to understand the student perspective of research, we hope to undertake research with the students attending the conference. The research question is ‘How can schools support and enable a research culture for students?’. This involves understanding what motivates students to involve themselves in academia. This will hopefully enable us to be more informed as to what inspires students to be interested in the world of academia.

Save the date – 17 May from 5.00pm to 8.00pm. Click here for registration.

Dr Sarah Loch

Director – Pymble Institute

From the Director of Student Learning (Years 7 to 10)

Years 7 and 9 NAPLAN – Term 2 Notification

Every year, the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is administered to students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The test window is set by NAPLAN and cannot be changed. Moreover, participation in NAPLAN is required for all students.

Please be aware that the test window for Years 7 and 9 NAPLAN is Wednesday 11 May through to Friday 20 May. More information regarding the test and the test organisation at Pymble will be sent early Term 2.

Years 7 to 10 Elective Subject Change Requests 

The deadline for Elective Subject Change Requests has now passed; any requests made moving forward for 2022 will require extraordinary or exceptional circumstances. Should you have any questions, contact curriculum@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au at your earliest convenience.

Illness Misadventure Application (IMA) – Reminder about Documentation

Thank you for your ongoing support of the College whilst we continue to navigate the impacts of COVID-19 on student learning. The Curriculum page (available via the Parent Portal and Pymble Knowledge) contains our Assessment Related Policies and Procedures booklet and the Illness Misadventure Application (IMA).

Please note that relevant documentation is required (i.e. a medical certificate) and will be requested by the Curriculum Office should an application be received without the documentation. Also, ensure that the description is sufficient to provide context about the issues arising as this helps determine which special consideration(s) may be appropriate.

Mr Jake Plaskett

Director of Student Learning (Years 7 to 10)

From our Chaplains

Welcome back to College this Term 2 2022

Blessings for Anzac Day which was on Monday. Term 2 always starts around this sacred celebration, which is closely linked to the Easter story. Our Anzac Assembly yesterday had our History captains, Eloise Kinchington and Tilly Morgan, acknowledging the fact that war is never to be glorified, whilst acknowledging and remembering those who have sacrificed their lives in the service of country and the global community.

I wanted to say a special thank you to our cadets. We are so proud of this amazing group of young people – all the hours and energy they put into their Cadet program. Thank you of course to our amazing Cadet team and leaders.

We start a new term with so many stories of celebrations and bereavements. Stories which feed and/or deplete us, which define who we are, what we value and what gives us meaning and purpose. We hope you have had some rest and are ready for a new term.

Blessings for all of us as we start our second term of 2022.

Reverend Lorenzo Rodriguez Torres

College Chaplain

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.

From the Middle School

From our Head of Middle School

Welcome back to Term 2 in the Middle School. We trust that you had a lovely Easter break with family and that the girls are refreshed and ready for another fun term.

Congratulations to Ruhani Surana (Year 8) who has been selected to be a representative on the eSafety Commissioner’s inaugural Online Safety Youth Advisory Council. This is a great honour and an important responsibility. The council was selected from applicants across Australia between the ages of 13 and 24. Ruhani will be on the Council for a minimum of a year. The purpose of the Council is for young people to help provide advice to the government about issues that young people experience online and explore ways of supporting them to have positive online experiences. It will also inform eSafety’s youth policies and programs.

I would also like to congratulate Emily Nguyen (Year 8) who, alongside her partners, recently competed at the NSW Acrobatics Gymnastics State Championships and was awarded the Silver Medal for 12/18 Women’s Trio. Emily has now been selected to represent NSW at the upcoming 2022 Australian Gymnastics Championships which will be held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, from 11 to 14 May. All the very best for this next opportunity.

Congratulations to Méa Shires, Lelia Rich and Addison Woods from the Middle School who represented the College and NSW at the Australian Age Diving Championships in Adelaide during the holidays. A special congratulations to Méa who competed in the 12/13 years age group. Méa achieved a gold medal in the 5m Platform and a silver medal in the 1m Springboard. Méa was also selected to represent NSW in a team of four divers in the State Challenge held at the start of the competition. Méa also achieved fourth place in Synchro and 3m Springboard. What an amazing achievement!

I would also like to acknowledge Matilda Harrison (Year 8) who competed in Melbourne during the break at the Australian Little Athletics National Championships. Tilly placed second in the 100m, fourth in the 200m and was awarded first place in the 4x100m relay. This is a fantastic result!

Year 7

It has been wonderful to welcome back Year 7 from the recent holidays. The girls are looking refreshed, beautifully dressed in their winter uniforms and ready to take on the challenges of Term 2. As advised at the end of last term, the timetable has had a few tweaks in terms of the naming of Periods 1 to 8 and the timing of the Mind Body Spirit belt to after lunch. Please remind your daughter of these changes as they plan for each school day.

In Directions this week we have enjoyed reconnecting with each other and have spent time working on ensuring that the girls are feeling organised and prepared for their learning and Co-curricular activities this term. As the girls settle into their second term of Secondary School, we will continue to encourage them towards increasing independence and to be proactive about accessing feedback and support when necessary. We look forward to another fun and productive term working with your daughters.

Year 8

Welcome back to Year 8 students, most have had a restful break and are ready for a term of nine weeks. Students are also looking forward to experiencing the change to the timetable, with an earlier lunch benefiting all. The Performing Arts Competition (PAC) is in Week 3 of this term. If your daughter is a keen performer, please encourage her to participate. The competition is run by the Performing Arts prefects.

In Directions this week students will be using the Responsibility Pie Chart which is “a psychological tool used to explain the role three factors (own actions, others’ actions, and unpredictable factors) have on the outcome of a situation. It is particularly useful in explaining negative situations, and in helping us to see that many parties have responsibility and to attribute responsibility beyond themselves.”  https://schools.au.reachout.com/respectful-relationships/me-others-and-external-factors

Students will be reading case studies to create Responsibility Pie Charts. The aim of the lesson is to understand that while taking responsibility is important, it’s also worth remembering that there are often factors outside of your control that can lead to an outcome.

Mrs Jenny O’Donnell

Head of Middle School

From the Upper School

From our Head of Upper School

A very warm welcome to an action-packed Term 2 in the Upper School! I do hope your girls have had a restful and enjoyable break, and that they returned renewed and invigorated for the myriad of exciting opportunities available this term. I too hope you and they managed to catch some of the beautiful sunshine that graced us over the holiday break.

It was lovely to see the large majority of Upper School girls wearing their winter uniform with pride this morning at our Anzac service. Please do remind your daughters about appropriate earrings, jewellery, and ribbons. We are keen to ensure they are well represented and showing off their Pymble pride as a symbol of our Upper School trademark behaviour of positivity.

For Year 9 this term we look forward to our author talk in Week 2 as part of our sharing stories week. We also have Lynda Hart, our local Police Liaison Officer, speaking with the students in Week 4 and Dr Andrew Browning, on behalf of the Barbara May Foundation, in Week 5. Additionally, students can look forward to the Athletics Carnival at Homebush in Week 5, the da Vinci Decathlon, NAPLAN, and of course attending the Stand Tall event at the Sydney Convention Centre in Week 7. We will also shortly be conducting interview discussions for those students who have expressed an interest in our Residential Program at Vision Valley in Term 3 and look forward to hearing their excitement for this pioneering experience.

For Year 10 this term we look forward to our careers interviews beginning in Week 2, having Unity Grammar visit us at Pymble as part of raising our intercultural awareness, attending the Athletics Carnival at Homebush, the da Vinci Decathlon, our ySafe Online Safety presentation in Week 9, and of course our Connections Day on the topic of consent led by Your Choicez. We will also shortly be providing more information to those families who have expressed an interest in our Overseas Exchange Program and/or Oxford Royale Academy Summer Program.

We look forward to sharing news and pictures from all of these experiences throughout the term.

Mr Tom Riley

Head of Upper School

Key Dates

From the Senior School

From our Head of Senior School

Welcome back to all Senior School families for Term 2. I trust that you all found some time for rest and family time over the Easter break. It was lovely to see the students returning to school yesterday – they were full of excitement and stories from their holidays. They certainly bring the buzz of energy into the KM building.

Over the break, we have had some new furniture delivered to assist the girls with their preparation and to brighten the KM building. The girls certainly responded very well to what many termed the ‘library vibe’ and the softer chairs were also welcomed. There are further changes to come later in the year!

Many thanks to the Cadets, Georgia, Tilly and Eloise for their leadership in our Anzac Day service this week. These students, alongside the girls singing in the Chorale, led the College in a very moving and touching ceremony which acknowledged this very special day in our calendar.

Uniform

For Term 2, all Senior students are expected in full winter uniform – including long-sleeved shirts and school ties. School jumpers and blazers are to be worn for warmth; no other hoodies or jumpers are permitted. Year 12 girls are allowed to wear their jerseys at school each Friday. Could you please review your daughter’s uniform, ensuring her skirt length is on her knee and arrange for any replacement items as required. Many thanks for your assistance with this.

Year 12 Social

We are all looking forward to the Year 12 Social on Friday night this week. This will be a lovely opportunity for the girls to let their hair down and enjoy some dancing and fun as we return to the routines of school for the term.

Other main events for Term 2 include:

• 3 May – Dame Joan Hammond Recital
• 10 May – Year 12 Trivia Night
• 26 May – Athletics Carnival
• Week 6 – Drama production
• 8 June – Jersey Day
• 9 June – Year 12 photographs
• 13 June – Queen’s Birthday long weekend
• 22 June – Ensemble concert
• 23 June – Senior School Knit In

Wrap with Love

This term we are going to be knitting squares for the charity Wrap with Love. The girls should be organising to buy their own knitting needles (no 8 / 4mms) and 100 per cent pure wool (a great chance to support our Australian farmers). More information can be found at https://www.wrapwithlove.org/knitting-patterns/.

Mrs Nikki Wyse

Head of Senior School

From the Heads of Year 11

Welcome to Term 2, Year 11. We were so excited to greet you back to campus on Wednesday and hope that you are looking forward to some exciting initiatives coming up in Term 2 including Wrapped with Love and Sony Camp interviews for those students interested in being involved.

At the end of Term 1, Leisel, Eliza, Georgie and Melody participated in a Year 11 leadership summit at MLC Burwood. They share their reflections below:

As we walked together to MLC, we were all very excited and nervous for the day ahead. Walking into the hall, we spoke to other girls coming from various schools in Sydney for the Leadership Summit. None of us really knew what to expect, but we were ready for what was to be an adventurous day. The leadership summit covered a wide spectrum of the qualities and characteristics leaders should have; including being open-minded, self-confident, approachable, and able to hold a deep conversation with someone they have never met before. 

Our shared favourite aspect of the summit was the unique presentation of the content given by BurnBright. Instead of being lectured and scribbling down notes on the characteristics we don’t have, we were immersed in a variety of hands-on activities, such as a small-talk hot seat ‘dating’ game, team building under time pressure game, and games to develop a close bond with someone new in a matter of minutes by a back-to-back drawing challenge. These games made us realise the qualities we already have, and those we could further improve on. This also developed a sense of self-confidence for us all, that anyone can be a leader as everyone has their own unique talent which can be used in the leadership community. 

“I didn’t realise how comfortable I was, presenting myself and holding conversations with strangers. I also noticed how open-minded I am, when presented with a variety of viewpoints. I am so thankful for being invited to this life-changing event, I learnt a lot about myself on my unique talents and areas where I could further improve on.” – Liesel

“I came out of the Leadership Summit, knowing things about myself that I didn’t originally know. I found out that I do in fact have the confidence, and that I should always back myself. This was a very informative and enjoyable experience that was very beneficial.” – Eliza

“Everyone we spoke to mentioned the same thing; how they learnt something about themselves that they didn’t know before which is highly desired but not always evident for leaders to have.” – Melody

We encourage all students to put their hand up for leadership and networking opportunities in the future.

From the Boarding School

From our Head of Boarding

It was lovely to welcome our Boarders back on Tuesday afternoon and especially nice to have some of our families join us for dinner in the evening. This was a great opportunity for families to enjoy our beautiful new Dining Room and also to sample the fare of the Chartwells catering team. If you are interested to know what is on the menu for Term 2, please click here.

This term promises to be a short but busy one and I am excited about the possibilities before us. Most significantly, I am delighted to announce the appointment of our two new Heads of Year. Mrs Holly Burke will be our Head of Year 11, taking over from our much-loved Sally Dickens from the end of May. Holly brings with her a wealth of experience and a great passion for working with young people as you will read below:

“Hello! My name is Holly, and I’m an architect turned youth pastor – and am now so excited to be joining the Pymble Boarding family. I am Chinese-Malaysian by descent, but was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia. I love all things fat and fluffy (sausage dogs and Oodies are prime examples) and have been married to Mitch for just over two and a half years (though he is neither fat nor fluffy). I am currently at Bible College, studying my second Master’s degree, and you will find me either exploring, crocheting or reading on the weekends. I am so thankful for this opportunity to join Pymble, and so excited to get to know everyone in the weeks to come.”

Our Head of Years 7 and 8 will be Mrs Mardi Cusack. Mardi needs no introduction – her outstanding reputation precedes her. I know you will agree, Mardi is the perfect fit for our youngest Boarders, helping them to navigate their Boarding journey with much care, compassion and great common sense. This along with her strong sense of team, deep understanding of young people and excellent sense of humour are just some of the reasons why we value Mardi so much. I am beyond excited to have these two amazing women as exemplary role models for your girls.

Love It – Mrs Katie White, Deputy Director of Boarding

Welcome to our first weekend of the Love It program for Term 2 and what a weekend it will be. On Friday, our Year 12 girls will be getting ready for their formal, the Years 10 and 11 Boarders will be heading off to the Ravenswood Social while our Year 7 to 9 girls are heading to the kitchen to Boarders Get Baking where Anzac biscuits are on the menu. Saturday afternoon will be spent with Mrs Myles creating some wonderful gifts for our mothers in preparation for Mother’s Day next weekend. There will be two options for Sunday.  The girls will have the opportunity to head to Bilpin with Mr and Mrs Burgess to go apple picking and then share a delicious lunch of woodfired pizzas at the McLaughlin’s place. The other big event on this Sunday will be the Balmoral Swim for Cancer. So far, our Boarders have raised more than $1,000 and they are looking forward to representing the College at this wonderful event.

Please click here to see the full Love It program for Term 2.

Mrs Carolyn Burgess

Director of Boarding

Save the Date

Please add the following dates to your Boarding calendar. If you missed out on a copy of our calendar, please let us know at boarding@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au and we will send one out to you.

Friday 13 May
Dubbo Boarding Expo and function at Press

Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May   
Community Weekend and Day Chapel Service – there will be no leave for Boarders between 5.00pm Saturday 14 May through to 5.00pm Sunday 15 May

Sunday 15 to Friday 20 May           
Boarders’ Week

Saturday 21 May                              
Banter, Bowling and Burgers   

Friday 3 and Saturday 4 June
Wagga Boarding Expo

Thursday 7 to Saturday 9 July
Mudgee Field Days

Sunday 14 August
Combined Chapel Service, all Boarders are required to attend

Tuesday 13 September
Boarders’ End of Term Chapel and Year 12 Farewell, all Boarders are required to attend

Friday 16 September
Boarding Family Event there will be no leave for Boarders between 5.00pm Friday 16 September and 3.00pm Saturday 17 September

Saturday 17 September
Garden Party

Tuesday 20 September
Year 12 Parents and Boarders Celebration

Tuesday 29 November
End of Term Chapel and Christmas Dinner

Co-curricular Administration

Performance Awards

Congratulations to students who have received an IGSA Touch Football Performance Award for Term 4 2021. Please click here to view the full list of students.

2022 Co-curricular Programs

Most Co-curricular programs started or continued this week, from Wednesday 27 April, unless previously advised that the program would not be starting until Week 2. Confirmations for all programs starting in Term 2 were sent on Friday 22 April. If you have not received confirmation of your daughter’s program or have any questions about your daughter’s registrations, please do not hesitate to contact Co-curricular Administration at ccsa@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au. If you would like to withdraw your daughter from a program, transfer between programs, or have missed registering her for a program, registration requests can be made by clicking here and completing the Co-curricular Registration Request form. Please note, we are receiving a high volume of emails, calls and registration requests at this time so we appreciate your patience as we get back to you – which may take a couple of days.

A reminder that our conditions of Co-curricular registration were updated for 2022 and can be found by clicking here.

Term 3 Saturday Sport Registrations

This is a reminder that registrations for Term 3 Saturday sports will remain open until Friday 13 May at 12.00pm. The options available to students are as follows:

• IPSHA AFL (Years 3 to 6)
• IPSHA Touch Football (Years 3 to 6)
• IGSA Hockey (Years 7 to 12)
• IGSA Netball (Years 7 to 12)

All registrations are made via the online registration system, which can be accessed from the Co-curricular at Pymble pages of MyPymble (click here, parent login required).

Mrs Monique Zahra

Head of Co-curricular Administration

Sports

Athletics

Olivia Inkster (Year 12) was selected in the Australian team to compete in the World Athletics Under 20 Years Championships in Cali, Columbia, in July. An amazing achievement Olivia!

Congratulations to Matilda Harrison (Year 8) who was selected in the NSW Little Athletics team to compete in the Under 13 Years 100m and 200m at the Australian Little Athletics Championships in Melbourne in April. Matilda ran exceptionally well and placed second and fourth in her finals. Congratulations to Sarah Lovell (Year 9) who was also selected in the NSW team and competed in the Under 15 Years Multi Event (Heptathlon) and placed fifth overall. Awesome work by both students!

Mrs Katie Edwards

head of sport Years 7-12

Artistic Gymnastics

state championships national levels 3 and 4 – saturday 9 April and Sunday 10 April

Congratulations to the following gymnasts for competing at the 2021 Artistic Gymnastics NSW National Levels 3 and 4 State Championships held on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April at the Sydney Gymnastics and Aquatic Centre:

National Level 4

Aimee Yap (Year 6)                Gold, 1^st Overall

Anna Wang (Year 4)               Gold

Amelie Rahme (Year 4)          Gold

Michelle Shi (Year 5)              Silver

Alice Liu (Year 4)                    Silver

Miranda Wu (Year 5)              Silver

Autumn Wang (Year 5)           Bronze

National Level 3

Hayley Nguyen (Year 4)         Gold, 1^st Overall

Blair Tang (Year 5)                 Silver

Charlotte Elliot (Year 3)          Silver

Olivia Dinnie (Year 4)             Silver

Amelia Browne (Year 4)         Bronze

Nouvelle Nicholson (Year 3) Bronze

Ms vanessa clyne

co-ordinator – Artistic Gymnastics

Diving

Australian Age Nationals Adelaide 20 to 24 April

A fantastic week of diving was had last week at the Australian Age Diving Championships in Adelaide.

There were 170 divers from across Australia competing with more than 28,339 dives over the four days of competition in front of family and friends.

For our young team it was an incredible experience motivating them to improve further, challenge their fears, refine techniques and make new and lasting friendships. It was an opportunity to showcase all the hard work of the last few years and enjoy all the highs and lows that sport and diving have to offer.

The field of divers was huge with the 14 to 15, 16 to 18 and 12 to 13 age groups taking many hours to complete one event. Our team learned about concentration, resilience and how to manage cold whist remaining focused and engaged.

Congratulations to the following students for their diving, teamwork and sportsmanship demonstrated throughout the week.

17 to 19 Age Group

Rylee McKinstry (Year 12) Team Captain, 3m

Congratulations Rylee on your outstanding leadership and support of the whole team, even from afar and through the Live streaming app.

Nikola Phul (Year 11) consistently displayed competent diving in multiple events in 17 to 19 1m, 3m, Platform and Mixed Synchro.

14 to 15 Age Group

Ilaria Crowley (Year 9) had a huge week competing in 1m, 3m, Platform and Synchronised diving with an outstanding display of dives in events which ran for nearly three hours.

12 to 13 Age Group

Mea Shires (Year 8) had a fabulous week starting the event with the State Team Challenge as the 12 to 13 NSW representative. This was an incredibly exciting competition with Mea’s dives contributing to an overall result of first prior to a NSW team disqualification due to a technical issue. Mea also competed in Synchronised diving and individual 1m, 3m and Platform events winning gold and silver medals and two incredibly close fourth places. Sensational event Mea.

Addison Woods (Year 7) and Leila Rich (Year 7) also competed alongside Mea in the 12 to 13 Synchronised 3m, 1m and 3m events. The competition for these girls in their first Age Nationals as Junior divers was amazing. Such consistent and graceful diving allowed the students to remain competitive within a huge field of competitors. Well done girls, it was great to see your enthusiastic approach to all aspect of these Nationals.

11 and Under Age Group

Anne Liu (Year 6) had the most incredible event for her first Nationals and major competition competing with much more experienced divers than herself.

Anne competed in Synchronised diving for the first time and chased third place until the final round of her 1m event. It was an outstanding performance and it will be very exciting to watch Anne’s development in diving in the coming season.

Thank you to Kim Thoo and our families for supporting the girls in this most memorable week of diving.

CIS diving Tuesday 3 may

We wish all the best to our Pymble divers representing IGSA at the CIS Championships on Tuesday 3 May.

Rylee McKinstry (Year 12)

Zara Tullipan (Year 12)

Nikola Puhl (Year 11)

Ilaria Crowley (Year 9)

Mea Shires (Year 8)

Abby Smith (Year 8)

Angela Xenofontos (Year 8)

Addison Woods (Year 7)

Mrs Chris Lang

Head Coach – Diving

Netball

Australian netball under 17 and under 19 years championships 2022

Grace Whyte and Eugenie Little competed in the Australian Netball Championships over the holidays. Both girls were selected in the NSW Under 17 Years team.

Grace Whyte (Year 11) – Winners and MVP of the tournament and MVP of the Grand Final

Eugenie Little (Year 11) – Winners

Ex-student Audrey Little (2021) was selected as Captain of the NSW Under 19 Years team. The Under 19 team also won the Championships and Audrey was awarded MVP of the Grand Final.

Well done girls.

Mrs Katie Edwards

Head of Sport – Years 7 to 12

Rugby Sevens

Ruby Nicholas (Year 12) has been selected in the Australian Youth 7s Preliminary Squad for 2022. Ruby will now attend a camp for identified Youth Girls 7s players who have displayed ability both on and off the field to potentially graduate to the Rugby AU7s National Program. The camp is also the first step in the selection process for the 2022 Australian Youth Girls (U18) team. Congratulations Ruby.

Mrs Katie Edwards

Head of Sport Years 7 to 12

Water Polo

Congratulations to the Pymble Water Polo players on a great Term 1 season. You should be proud of your improvement throughout the season, your teamwork and resilience, passion, and dedication. 

On Saturday 2 April, our Pymble 1 team won their Grand Final 9 to 5 against Brigidine College. It was a battle throughout the game with Pymble breaking away to lead in the last quarter and securing the win. Well done to all players, they were focused, driven and motivated throughout the game and deserved the result! 

Miss Brigette Moore

Head Coach – Water Polo

Performing Arts

Calling all Pymble Chorale Alumni!

All former members of Pymble Chorale from 1999 to 2021 are warmly invited to participate in ‘One last Sing with Mrs T’ before my retirement in July this year. We will be performing a very special work, Aurora, by Australian composer Luke Byrne, which was commissioned for the Centenary Celebrations of the College in 2016. There will be two rehearsals on Monday evenings in June and a soundcheck prior to the performance on Wednesday 22 June 2022. Please click here for more details and to complete an Expression of Interest form if you would like to be involved. I do so hope that many of my wonderful ex-Chorale girls can join me for one last sing together! What special memories and experiences we have shared together over the years! It’s going to be great fun!

Performing Arts Support Group (PASG) Meeting – Change of Date

The Term 2 PASG meeting will now be held in Week 3 on Wednesday 11 May in the Music Gallery at 7.00pm. All interested parents are welcome to attend. Please contact Group Leader Kim Johnson with any enquiries at Kimbo.johnson@gmail.com.

Mrs Sabina Turner

Director of Co-Curricular Performing Arts

Language Arts

To all students and parents in the Language Arts family, we hope you had a great break. We are looking forward to all that Term 2 will bring!

Zonta Young Women in Public Affairs Award 2022

Congratulations Meera!

Our Language Arts prefect, Meera Barani, has been successful in the Zonta Club of Hornsby Ku-ring-gai’s Young Women in Public Affairs Award 2022. She will now progress to Zonta District (NSW/ACT). We wish you success in this next round. Zonta is arranging an award ceremony this term to present Meera with the winner’s Certificate of Achievement and her cash prize. Stay tuned for photos!

Archdale Debating

Archdale debating starts in May. The draw will be released soon. Please ensure all registrations have been completed.

Social Debating

Social Debating commenced last term and due to the success of this offering, it is open again in Term 2.

All teams will debate again online, from Friday 6 May at Pymble. Please email Mrs Hubbard or Alyssa Yee ASAP if you would like to take up or extend this opportunity. Thank you to those who have registered their interest. Teams will be posted soon.

Debating Leadership Opportunity

If you are a Years 10,11 or 12 Archdale, ISDA debater or FED Senior who would like to coach or adjudicate Social debates on Fridays in Term 2, please email Mrs Hubbard to communicate your interest. This is a wonderful leadership opportunity. We start at 3.30pm and end at 6.30pm on Fridays.

FED Debating

Only Year 10 and Senior B are needed tomorrow for make-up rounds. CCSA has emailed details and coaches will be in touch. Teams who have made it through to finals will be notified at the conclusion of all make-up rounds, following Round 7 this week.

ISDA Debating

Again, only make-up rounds will be held this Friday at Pymble. Only ISDA Year 10 and Primary A and B are needed tomorrow. Girls involved will be notified by CCSA. Stay tuned to hear of teams who have made it to Finals Rounds.

PMUN – Pymble’s Model United Nations

It is back! PMUN will be held Monday lunchtime on a fortnightly basis in the Kate Mason building. Head to the Jobson Lecture Theatre! Our MUN captain, Isabella Cameron, led inspiring sessions last term and we look forward to more! Come along – you will learn lots. It is fun and informative. Keep abreast of what is happening in the world around you. Reserve the date. PMUN is held every fortnight in the Jobson Lecture Theatre. We hope to see you this term. Just try it!

UNSW MUN Conference

Interested? We can only take ten girls from Years 10 to 12. Register your interest ASAP with Mrs Hubbard. First in basis. The date is Wednesday 25 May.

PMUN Conference

Yes! We are excited to be hosting our own Saturday PMUN conference! Save the date girls – 18 June!

Mock Mediation

Congratulations to our Mock Mediation team who completed Round 1 and scored an excellent 79/100 for their first round. Mediation training is held Thursday mornings in the Kate Mason Room 15 from 7.00am to 8.00am. The team members are working on their next scenario. Best of luck for Round 2.

Mock Trial

We won our first Mock Trial for 2022 against the Roseville Mock Trial team. We look forward to the next event against Redfield College, Dural. Good luck to our team who is preparing with coach Annika Shankar. Round 2 will be held at Pymble and the May date is yet to be confirmed.

Bond Mooting

This competition will commence online in May, with finals being held at Bond University. Unfortunately, only one team can enter this year. Please ensure registrations are completed for all Mock Law teams.

Kirby Cup Mooting

Having won the cup twice and having also been runners up, it is with sadness that we have recently heard that Western Sydney University is now limiting entries for the Kirby Cup to Western Sydney Schools. We are hoping to find more Mooting opportunities for our keen and talented mooters.

UN Voice of Youth Nationals

Congratulations to Evelyn Zhu (Year 9) and Chelsea Shi (Year 10). Both girls were selected for the national level of the Model UN Voice of Youth Speaking competition which was held during the break. Their selection was an outstanding achievement. Well done! We are so proud of your dedication, commitment and accomplishments in Language Arts. Both girls came up with several innovative and well researched solutions to global problems. This was Evelyn’s second year at Nationals. She placed third and received an honourable mention. Last year Chelsea represented Pymble at the State level.

Look out for this competition again later in the year. All welcome. Please email Mrs. Hubbard at BHubbard@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au or Angie Wang if interested.

Mrs Bronwyn Hubbard

Head of Language Arts

Music

Week 2: Dame Joan Hammond Memorial Piano Recital

Please join the Music Department for the annual Dame Joan Hammond Memorial Piano Recital on Tuesday 3 May. The recital will be a breath-taking night of musical excellence, with students playing some very impressive works. Below is a list of the performers:

• Lara Albany (Year 12)
• Chloe Lam (Year 7)
• Ella Liu (Year 9)
• Zarina Nurlanov (Year 9)
• Joy Yin (Year 7)
• Cindy Zhao (Year 8).

In addition, the College Piano Trio, consisting of Ella Liu (Year 9), Aine Oo (Year 9) and Gabby Zhong (Year 11), will be performing the Brahms Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Cello, Op. 114, First Movement.

The concert will commence at 7.00pm in the Gillian Moore Centre for Performing Arts (GMCPA) theatre and will run for approximately 60 minutes. This is a free event. All audience members will be required to follow College COVID-19 protocols and wear a mask during the concert.

Week 3: The Lion King Jnr, the Musical is coming to Pymble

Year 8 Elective Music will present the Disney musical, The Lion King Jnr. Opening night will be on 12 May (Week 3). Tickets will be on sale through the GMCPA box office. Please come along with your family and enjoy some wonderful music, performed by some very talented young ladies. Tickets can be purchased through the GMCPA bookings. Please check on the LINK.

“The Lion King is the story of Young Simba and his adventures in the African Pride Lands before becoming King. His father Mufasa teaches him about the Circle of Life and how Simba must respect all the animals. Mufasa’s brother Scar is jealous that he is no longer in line for the throne and he endeavours to lure Simba into danger so that he may ascend.

Young Simba and Young Nala are adventurous cubs and wish to explore beyond their boundaries. Scar uses this sense of adventure and causes Young Simba to be situated in the valley when a herd of wildebeest come crashing through. Mufasa hears of this plight and comes to save Simba, only to be killed himself by his scheming brother. Scar blames Simba for Mufasa’s death and encourages Simba to leave the Pride Lands in shame.

 Simba continues on his journey, meeting up with Pumbaa and Timon – a warthog and a meerkat. These characters encourage Simba to have “no worries” (Hakuna Matata) and they all learn to get along in perfect harmony.

 Nala grows up, and whilst exploring the Pride Lands, wanders into Simba (now also grown) and his two new friends. She tells him of Scar and the hyenas taking over the Pride Lands and that they have eaten all the food. She urges Simba to return and take his rightful place as King of the Pride Lands. They confront Scar about murdering Mufasa and Scar is banished.

 All the while, the wise Rafiki is overseeing the plight of the young cub, and he can show him the way of his father through the stars – where his ancestors are providing guidance.

 Simba resumes the throne and his friends Timon and Pumbaa, along with Nala and the other animals, live in peace with the Circle of Life continuing.”

Term 1 Secondary School Ensemble Concert Photos

There are some wonderful photos of all the music groups from the Term 1 Ensemble Concert. These can be purchased through LightBox Photography. Please follow the details below.

1. Visit lightboxphotography.com.au
2. Select ‘View and Order Photos’ from the right-hand menu
3. User registration will be required to view your photos the first time
4. Enter your name, email and a user password. Note: This ‘password’ is not the access login but your own user password that you create. This prevents others accessing your photo order.
5. Select ‘Access Gallery’ (top right)

• Enter the following code into ‘Access Gallery’ Photo’s code: music2022

6. To view the photos on repeated occasions, only your email and ‘user password’ is required
7. In the ‘Prints & Products’ column select the product with associated size

• Selection of prints
• Block mount prints
• Canvas prints

8. To finalise your order, please select ‘Check Out’ and complete the payment and postal details
9. Options for sending your order can be via online or postage (Lightbox Photography, 24 Alder Avenue, Lane Cove, Sydney NSW 2066)

AMEB Results

Congratulations to the following students and their teachers on their excellent AMEB results. It is wonderful to see students achieving to such a high standard.

• Anna Ward (Year 10) – Honours, Grade 7 Saxophone
• Laura Makeham (Year 8) – High Distinction, Grade 1 Musicianship
• Ivy Liu (Year 4) – High Distinction, Grade 1 Musicianship

Mr Kurt Schweinberger

Head of Co-curricular Music

Student Voice

Last term, Year 12 student Tahmara Thomas led the Village Championship, which aimed at supporting Afghan refugee girls through raising funds, sharing Afghan culture and creating opportunities for friendships, ultimately promoting their settlement in Australia.

Tahmara hosted a wonderful day with music and food, Afghan stalls (including henna and kite making), inspirational speakers and finally – a football match to finish the day.

We interviewed Tahmara behind the scenes for more insight into her passion and inspiration behind her initiative.

What are you passionate about and why?
Personally, I am motivated by wanting to do my part to help others. I am especially passionate about promoting women, championing their issues, and providing them with the tools to become their own agents of change. 

Will this project be continued in the future or is it more of a once-off event? 
My team and I hope that this event is a transferable program. We hope we can continue it into the future and run it at other schools and organisations. We also hope to support other refugee groups in the future. 

Does your partnership with KPMG possibly allow for more resonance to the broader community?
The sponsorship from KPMG has truly been a blessing and allowed us to have an even wider reach. 

How can we further support this cause? 
Continue to open your heart to those who aren’t necessarily in your immediate circle. Continue to help, raise awareness and help with funds. Continue to read up on what’s happening around the world. Be present, be empathetic, be compassionate. Open your hearts and continue the friendships and conversations that start on the day. 

What inspired you to launch this initiative?
The main catalyst was sitting at the breakfast table and watching the morning news. Those heartbreaking scenes at Kabul airport of people grabbing onto airplanes and sending their babies over barbed wire really moved me. The more I read about the crisis in Afghanistan and especially how the women and girls were suffering, the more I wanted to do something about it. This was followed by a random conversation with our dentist who happened to be an Afghan refugee. Truly fate in a way.

Being at Pymble but also of a multicultural background, I am acutely aware of my privilege to go to such an amazing school. A privilege that not all girls my age have. I wanted to do something, to use the education that I’ve been blessed with to bring about change.

How do you aim to raise awareness? What message are you sending out to the school and broader community?
Through this day, my team and I hope to spread a greater awareness for the crisis in Afghanistan and more generally, the human rights issues people face across the world

I want to inspire other students to feel like if there is something they are truly passionate about, they can achieve it. You don’t have to wait to be an adult. And even though we are geographically removed from these hotspots in Afghanistan, we can still contribute in our small ways by taking action, raising awareness and empowering people who have been victims to various misfortunes. As those who are privileged, we have a duty to help.

My team and I want to enable women and girls to be agents of change to make the world a more equal and fairer place. We hope to give the Afghan girls involved in this program the tools and resources to not just survive in society, but truly thrive in it.

We want to create discourse and achieve intercultural understanding and enrichment through conversations and exposure. I am especially passionate about creating opportunities for Pymble students to extend past the ‘Pymble bubble’ and interact with people they may not have usually been able to meet. I hope that the friendships made through the three-day program will not only extend past the program but help the Afghan refugee girls to settle into Australia more easily.

When we watch news segments, it is easy to feel very distanced from the issues that we hear about. When given the opportunity to actually speak and meet the brave families who have endured the crisis in Afghanistan, the issue will become much more tangible. We hope this inspires our community to help and further support recent refugees in Australia.

Jasmine Zhi 

Communications Prefect

Pymble Tennis Academy Launch

The upcoming Pro-Am Tournament and launch of the Pymble Tennis Academy has been rescheduled (giving you plenty of time to fit in a few extra training sessions!).  

The event, which was scheduled to be held on Saturday 2 April, will now be held on Saturday 30 April. We are very much looking forward to celebrating this exciting milestone with our Pymble families and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.  

In exciting news, we would also like to share an update on some special guests who will be in attendance. The following key players will be joining us on our very own Mollie Dive Courts to participate in our Pro-Am Tennis Tournament with parents and carers, as well as Secondary students.  

Scott Draper – former Australian professional tennis player who reached the 4th round of all four Grand Slams and achieved a singles ranking of 42. Scott also won the 2005 Australian Open Mixed Doubles with Sam Stosur.  

John Alexander – former Australian professional tennis player and politician. John is the youngest player to have ever represented Australia at Davis Cup and achieved a singles ranking of 8. John is a two-time Grand Slam champion (Australian Open in 1975 and 1982) and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open on three occasions.  

Kerryn Pratt – former Australian professional tennis player and sports broadcaster. Kerryn won the Junior Australian Open Girls Doubles on two occasions and later went on to reach the Australian Open Doubles semi-final in 1979.  

Kerry Ballard – an ex-student of Pymble, Kerry reached the quarter finals of the Australian Open in doubles in 1970. She is regarded as the world’s top player over 70 and was named Australian Senior Tennis Player of the Year in 2020.  

What a line-up! We can’t wait to see you on campus on Saturday 30 April.  

Parent Contact Directory

We are excited to launch the new user-friendly Parent Contact Directory which you can access via MyPymble or the MyPymble app. The Parent Contact Directory has been developed for parents and carers to opt-in to sharing their contact details with other parents and carers in their daughters/s year group to help build community connections. Please note if you give permission for your details to be added to the directory this will enable all parents across your daughter’s year group to also view your details.

As per our Privacy Policy (which can be viewed on our website), these contact details are for personal use only and not to be shared with other parties. They should only be used to make appropriate, school-related contact between parents and carers and they must not be used for any other purpose.

If any details are not listed on the MyPymble Parent Contact Directory this is likely because a parent or carer has not opted in to having their information shown. Please note contact lists constantly change as parents and carers update or add their details and you should refer to the list available on MyPymble for the latest correct details. You can also change your sharing preferences via MyPymble.

To log in you will need to use your unique carer number and password. Please refer to the email you will have received with your carer number to log in. If you are unable to log in, we would request that you reset your password using this link, or alternatively, contact the IT Helpdesk on +61 2 9855 7771 for assistance.

Pymble Cyber Safety Hub

Your family, your school and cyber safety

Our school recognises that children today are growing up in an increasingly online world and that it’s important that we do more to support and guide them to navigate this digital landscape.

Successfully developing healthy and responsible digital citizens requires a holistic approach, and that’s why our school’s cyber safety ecosystem allows us to work collaboratively with you to support your children’s digital development and provide the advice and support you need.

Click here to access the Pymble Cyber Safety Hub.

Can you help?

Are you able to help us with our Sony Camp fundraising event? ​We will be holding a bake sale on Saturday 7 May at the Ku-ring-gai Netball Courts in Turramurra. All funds raised will go towards the Pymble-Shore Sony Camp. 

Donations can include items such as whole cakes, cupcakes, slices, biscuits, toffees, crackles or any other specialties you might have! 

Sony Camp 2022 will be the tenth annual Sony Foundation Children’s Holiday Camp hosted by Pymble and Shore Year 11 students, with the assistance of our community. Sony Camp provides much-needed respite for the parents and siblings of children with a disability by delivering a fun-filled four-day experience for the children. The Camp relies on the generous donations of our school community.

If you are able to assist, could you please complete this short google form https://tinyurl.com/KNABaking2022 to allow us to anticipate donations.

Many thanks for your support. Every donation will make a difference. 

The Sony Camp Committee

From the Director of Community Engagement and Advancement

Alumni Mentoring and Networking Event 

Networking is such an important part of growing a career and what better way to help our girls and young alumni by becoming part of a professional network of community members that support our graduates in achieving success in their careers post-Pymble. 

We have an exciting opportunity for parents and carers to help accelerate the careers of our Pymble alumni aged 18 to 35 years. On Thursday 26 May, we will be hosting the Pymble Ladies’ College Alumni Networking Event where you, a leader in your field or industry, can attend to offer career advice for our alumni and provide invaluable professional connections to help them achieve success in their careers.  

Held at KMPG in Barangaroo, please see the invite below for full details. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased here, by Tuesday 17 May. We encourage you to register as soon as possible to secure your space as there are limited mentor positions within each industry.

Upcoming events  

We have another jam-packed term ahead with plenty of events for you to enjoy with your daughter including the Mother’s Day Morning Tea, the JSPG Family Fun Picnic and the PPA Trivia Night. Please click here to view the Term 2 Events Calendar.   

Important: communications in Term 2

We are delighted to advise our MyPymble Portal is now up and running as the one-stop shop for parents and carers to receive and store College communications. This decision was based on your feedback which unanimously called for streamlined communications from one sender.

From Term 2, all communications sent to a year group, sub-school or the entire school will be posted on MyPymble.To help with this transition, you will receive an automatic email notification from Community Engagement when a new message has been posted. Email notifications will continue only until the end of Week 4, after which time all notifications will come via the MyPymble app. Communications posted on MyPymble will include academic, community, events, sport and co-curricular information, as well as important messages from Dr Hadwen.

Please check your family is set up for success in Term 2 and beyond by ensuring you download the MyPymble app and have access to all the information relevant to your daughter’s learning.

We ‘Throwback Thursday’ to Term 1 

What a term! From the introduction of our revolutionary Data Science Course to our electric Mamma Mia! musical, to putting our 2022-2072 Time Capsule to rest, Term 1 had it all. We enjoyed such a busy and fun-filled Term 1 on campus; take a look at what we achieved. 

Mrs Kelly Mancey

Director – Community Engagement & Advancement

Important: Communications at Pymble

Here at the College, we know that keeping on top of life admin can sometimes feel like a full-time job, so we’ve made it even easier to receive and access communications from the College in order to support your daughter’s schooling. 

All you need is the MyPymble Portal… 

The updated MyPymble parent information portal has been redesigned to streamline communication and information for families whilst keeping your daughter at the centre. From Term 2, any and all communication sent to a year group, sub-school or the entire school will only be shared on MyPymble and not via email. This will help reduce the number of communications you receive from us and hopefully make it easier for you by providing a one-stop shop for important information from the College. This will include Academic, Community, Events, Sport and Co-curricular information. 

Via MyPymble, you can view your daughter’s upcoming assessment tasks (Secondary School) and past academic reports, find College communications such as the Newsletter, inform the College of absence and also view the school calendar. 

You can access MyPymble in two ways: 

1. From the Pymble website homepage (click 🔒 icon on top right of page) or click here to view  
2. Download the new app from Google Play or the Apple app store, or scan the relevant QR Code below (please note, updates on the Pymble app are often available as we continue to add enhancements – and one has landed today – so please be sure to keep checking back for updates in Google Play or the app store):  

To log in you will need to use your unique carer number and password, which you should have all received via email. If you are unable to log in, please reset your password using this link, or alternatively, contact the IT Helpdesk on +61 2 9855 7771 for assistance.  

For further information on these tools please click here to view the MyPymble User Guide.  

The Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter Mother’s Day Morning Tea

Pymble in Dubbo

JSPG Family Fun Day and Movie Night

From the Pymble Parent Association

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.

Semester 1 Community Events Calendar

Pymble Business Directory

Pymble Business Directory – Now Live

The College is pleased to announce the Pymble Business Directory to current families. The Pymble Business Directory will allow Pymble families to advertise your business or service to our Pymble family. 

Businesses who have registered can now be found on the Pymble website here. 

To list your business, please complete the attached form.

With your support, we hope the Pymble Business Directory will grow to become a valuable resource to our Pymble families. 

PymConnect

PymConnect is our online mentoring platform, designed to link our Pymble alumni, parents and carers to facilitate mentoring opportunities that help create a culture of shared learning, and enhance personal and professional growth.  

Since the launch of PymConnect last year we have received an enthusiastic response from our community. We currently have 177 mentors and 159 mentees making connections and building a sense of belonging.

The past 18 months have been extraordinary with lockdowns and restrictions impacting the lives of everyone – including our current Year 12 students. As they prepare to complete their HSC studies and embark on their next life journey, this is a time where connections and support are important. In preparation for our newest graduates joining PymConnect, we would like to invite you to participate in this program as a mentor.  

A special thanks to those of you who have signed up to join the program following our last invitation. 

To express your interest or to ask us a question, please feel free to reach out to us at pymconnect@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au or phone +61 2 9855 7799.

From the College Uniform Shop

A reminder that girls need to be wearing the winter uniform in Terms 2 and 3. This includes the navy blazer, which is a compulsory garment to be worn to and from school.

Important Winter uniform notes

• Girls in Kindergarten to Year 8 wear the winter tunic with a plain white pointed collar blouse and tie.
• Kindergarten to Year 6 girls have the choice of knee-high black socks or 70 denier black opaque tights.
• All Secondary School girls wear 70 denier black opaque tights.
• Years 9 and 10 wear the winter skirt with a plain white pointed collar blouse and tie.
• Years 11 and 12 wear the skirt with the long sleeve tartan trim long sleeve blouse and tie.
• The navy blazer and winter navy hat must be worn to and from school each day.

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Parent Handbook 2022

Our Parent Handbook provides a quick and easy reference for families on all things Pymble. We encourage all our families to familiarise themselves with the handbook.

Should you have any questions or require further clarification on any of the information contained in the handbook, please contact communityengagement@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au.

Pymbulletin

The Ex-Students’ section of Pymbulletin reports on the achievements of Pymble alumni, news items and engagements, weddings, births and vale notices.

Illuminate

This journal shines the light on Pymble people as designers and innovators of education, and the creative, connected and engaged practice in our community of learners. 

The articles will take readers into classrooms from Kindergarten in the Preparatory School to Year 12 in the Senior School, from Drama to Science to the Library. We invite you to enjoy this insight into the depth and diversity of innovation in our learning environments and our commitment to sustainable capacity building.