From the Boarding School

And so the end of term celebrations begin! Last night was a terrific way to herald the end of a great year, starting with a beautiful Chapel service, followed by Christmas feast and dancing. It was certainly a lovely way to return to Boarding following my travels overseas.

A real highlight was the musical performances with Edie Azar performing a spine-tingling version of Hallelujah and our Pymbellas entertaining us with a fabulous rendition of All I Want For Christmas. My congratulations go to Giaan Jackson, our Prefect for Sport, Art and Music who coordinated the ensemble, encouraging not only vocal excellence but also including many of our accomplished musicians including Lauren Whitfield Lowe on glockenspiel, Allegra Taubenschlag on guitar, Isabelle Burke on cello, Ella Mitchell on drums, and Airiana Chan on violin. It is truly delightful to see such a professional standard of musicianship emerging in our Boarding family.

None of this would have been possible without the hard work of our Boarding staff and I am particularly grateful to Katie White who so capably took the reins in my absence. My special thanks also go to Laurel Foley who worked tirelessly to be a wonderful support to all of us in Boarding.

It’s good to be home

I had a fantastic three weeks visiting schools in the United States and Canada and attending the Annual Conference of the American Boarding Schools’ Association. There was much to learn and many great connections to be made. I look forward to sharing and implementing my learnings in the months to come. For now I am sharing a few snaps of some of the schools I visited and feeling incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this incredible school.

Our Pink Ladies

Written by Head Boarders Aspen Moore and Skye Pockley

Pink Ladies are special people in the lives of our Boarders who go out of their way to make our time in Boarding easier, happier and much more connected.

This term we would like to recognise Mrs Enid O’Carroll who has been a fabulous friend to Boarding and key to preserving and celebrating the long and fine tradition of Boarding at Pymble. Marden House and Lang House are original buildings in the College, built in 1916. Goodlet House came not much later in 1926. As you can imagine, the Houses were filled with beautiful furniture and fabulous traditions. As our College Archivist, Mrs O’Carroll has ensured that these treasured objects have found their way home, allowing current and future generations of Boarders to enjoy them as their Boarding sisters did in the past. Just some examples of these treasures include the historical artworks that adorn our Houses, the Lang ‘love seat’ and the stunning Honour boards displayed in the Boarders’ Dining Room. Mrs O’Carroll has also shared with us traditions such as the Lang House Warming which dates back to 1917 and was happily celebrated by our latest Lang residents just last week. She has brought a renewed sense of tradition and great joy to our Boarding family and she will go down in our history books as a true friend.

Not only are the fabulous staff at the College a significant help to our Boarders, but of course, there are so many wonderful families in our Day school who so kindly help our Boarders with a place to stay, transport to and from sport, and if your lucky some yummy meals. This term we would like to recognise the Fisher family, Billie (Year 11) and Ellie (Year 8) for constantly helping our Boarding family through their constant taxiing to and from sport as well as being a genuine smiling face around the college.

The Margaret Brooke Award

The Margaret Brooke Award, also known as the ‘Brooksie’ is awarded in the final Chapel service at the end of each term to a Boarder who exemplifies the spirit of a tenacious, courageous, compassionate and giving woman. This term the decision was unanimous in bestowing this award on Year 12 Boarder Charlotte Leung. It was lovely to have Brooksie here with us to present ‘her’ award and I have no doubt that you will agree that Charlotte is an excellent choice.

Charlotte joined us at the start of 2022 from Hong Kong when she was in Year 10 and quickly became an integral member of our Boarding family. She is unfailingly kind, generous and sprinkles joy wherever she goes. She is a gentle, humble and gracious presence, much loved by her peers and staff. Charlotte is dedicated to her studies, hardworking and diligent and always finds time to assist peers when stuck on a homework question. She is famous as an amazing listener and is always ready for a cup of tea (and a chat!).

Charlotte is an incredible musician and has demonstrated great courage and leadership in sharing her musical talents with our Boarding family. Despite being a new student last year, and probably a bit nervous, she stepped up and performed in Boarders’ Chapel and at wider Boarding events. The flow on effect of this was that other Boarding students were inspired to put their hand up and ‘have a go’ and we now have a number of musicians who are sharing their talents more widely. I largely credit this shift to Charlotte’s positive influence. We are beyond delighted to have Charlotte as part of our Boarding Family.

View From My Window

Hi, my name is Allie Ritchie, I am 12 years old and I come from Bourke, in North West NSW.

I was born in Sydney and I live with my Mum (Prue), Dad (Ben) and my siblings Campbell and Georgie. I have 3 cats and 4 dogs and at the moment there are also 6 puppies.

My mum works in town at the early childhood centre. My dad also works in town at his business and he sells stuff like fencing gear, livestock handling, steel, building supplies and more. My brother is in Year 9 at Kings and my sister is in Year 5 at St Ignatius Bourke, she is coming to Pymble in 2025.

Bourke is famous for its Splashe cola, which is a like coke but better. We also have two great mountains, Mount Oxley and the other Mount Gundabooka. Bourke also has the famous Darling River.

When I look out my window, I see my siblings tackling each other and my dad starting a fire and my mum hanging out the washing. After my brother tackles my sister a bit too hard, Georgie comes back inside and makes lunch, Campbell goes and does something else.

I can see the chooks walking around outside and the dogs barking at them through the fence. Out my window, my dog is laying down with its puppies and resting.

The journey from home, Bourke to Pymble takes about 10 hours, (depending on which parent is driving!) and 13 if I catch the bus back.

Growing up in Bourke I was used to having as much space I wanted at a time. But, now I am happy to be here with my friends.

I am proud to be a kid from Bourke, but I am equally proud to be a Boarder at Pymble. When I look out my window at Pymble, I see my home away from home.