From the Principal

Pymble, are you ready for 2024? We certainly are!

One of the most significant decisions a parent can make is where to send your child to school. Thank you for choosing us for this journey; this is a responsibility we don’t take lightly. Whether you have been with us for three days or three years, or whether you’re in your 13th and final year at the College, each person is a valued member of our Pymble family. We see you; we hear you; and we’re glad you’ve chosen to be part of our wonderfully diverse and inclusive community in 2024. Please know you belong at Pymble, just as you are. We are going to have a great year together.

So, on that note, a very warm welcome to our new students, parents and carers, as well as all the familiar faces returning to campus for the year. A few fun facts: this year we are delighted to be joined by 177 new students in the Junior School: 73 in Kindy; eight in Year 1; seven in Year 2; 27 in Year 3; eight in Year 4; 39 in Year 5; and 15 in Year 6. Another interesting fun fact: of our 806 girls in the Junior School, 602 were born in Australia.

In the Secondary School, we welcome 187 incoming students, 29 of which are also new members of our beautiful Boarding family. In numbers, this breaks down as 124 in Year 7; 12 in Year 8; 18 in Year 9; 22 in Year 10; and 11 in Year 11.

2024 is the year of Pymble Pulse

You may have seen our Pymble Pulse flags all around campus and, hopefully, your daughters have told you a bit about the launch of Pymble Pulse at our Combined Assembly for Years 1 to 12 on Tuesday, our first day together for all of K-12. (Kindy families, our fabulous Junior School will brief your delightful little learners about Pymble Pulse in a smaller context that will be much more comfortable and memorable for them. They are super-excited about receiving their Pymble Pulse bandanas – see below – just like all the “big girls”!)

So, what does Pymble Pulse mean?

Pymble Pulse is our overall College theme for the year, and the umbrella for a range of initiatives led by staff and/or students to enhance our wellbeing and learning in 2024.

It is based on the notion that every action you take stimulates a reaction in the people around you, much like the way every beat of your heart stimulates blood to pulse through your body. When you do the things that bring you energy and joy, others in your orbit feel that energy and joy too, and vice versa. Actively supporting your friends and peers in doing what they love to do makes everyone feel connected as a community and helps us to carry each other through. As our new Chaplain Rev Cass so beautifully phrased, “When you thrive, I thrive and when I thrive, you thrive”.

Pymble Pulse represents the heartbeat of the College and acknowledges the impact we have on each other as a community. It’s about helping each other to achieve our goals and to thrive.

The first Pymble Pulse initiative for 2024 comes from our Year 12 Community Prefect, Charlotte Wykes and Sports Prefect, Holly Craig, who spoke to students about their aim to increase encouragement and acknowledgement of Pymble girls competing in co-curricular sports and activities throughout the year. This support can range from enlisting groups of friends to attend sporting events as supporters (wearing their Pymble Pulse bandanas and temporary tattoos we have created specifically for this purpose), to celebrating students participating in Performing Arts festivals, exhibitions and performances.

“Win, lose or draw, Pymble girls have each other’s backs at every different event across our school. The hard work that everyone puts into co-curricular at Pymble deserves to be appreciated and noted,” Charlotte and Holly said.

What a spirited way to start the year. Thank you to our fabulous Year 12 students for learning our powerful new Pymble Pulse war cry to demonstrate to the school. Thank you to Charlotte, Holly and our Year 12 students, along with Dance Captain, Emily Rothery, and the Secondary School dancers who volunteered to show up early on Tuesday to greet our girls at all the main entry points with cheering and dancing.

Finally, thank you to all the students who showed up this week – nerves and all – as their best selves, ready to engage fully in this brand-new year of opportunities at Pymble. I’ll leave you with a clip of this wonderful parable that I shared with the girls to articulate my wish for them all: that Pymble Pulse will encourage and support our students in living their life with heart and with purpose.

Here’s to a wonderful year in which our hearts beat as one and every voice at Pymble is of equal value; from the biggest to the smallest, we all matter.