From the Principal
Today happens to be our 108th birthday – happy birthday, dear Pymble. 🎶
Each year we celebrate the anniversary of our very first day of teaching and learning, Monday 8 February 1916, by welcoming former students back to Pymble to connect with our current students and share their experiences. It’s a day when we acknowledge our proud history, express gratitude for the exciting work we are doing now and look forward to our future achievements.
Among our ex-student guests at this week’s Foundation Day Service was Mrs Margaret Coleman OAM (1945), whose mother was one of the first 60 students who began her time with us on that first day back in 1916. Margaret is also a proud Pymble girl who has continued to be of service to our community throughout her life, having written several books on the history of Pymble and been actively involved in the College for decades, in addition to being awarded an OAM in 2006 for services to youth.
We also welcomed back Mrs Carolyn Hum (White, 1962), mother of our Alumni Relations manager Mrs Katrina Corcoran (Hum, 1987) and grandmother to recent ex-students Madison (2019) and Sophie Corcoran (2019). A fun fact, and one that shows the extent of her family’s ties to Pymble: Mrs Hum’s aunt and great aunt were also Pymble girls, and her great grandfather Alfred Graham designed and constructed the Marden Gates at the front of the College on Avon Road.
And our inspirational guest speaker this year was Felicity McVay (Carr, 1995), also accompanied by her wonderful mum, Suzanne Carr, who holds her own claim to Pymble fame, which will be revealed in just a moment.
Felicity was an enthusiastic and accomplished contributor to all aspects of Pymble life as a student and has since enjoyed an equally diverse and impressive career – as a lawyer, as Global Head of Content at Tik Tok, as a children’s book author and, more recently, as a film producer. She spoke to our girls about the importance of reframing ‘failures’ as growth experiences, and the role of our College value, Courage, in shaping who she is today.
“Pymble ranks among the top schools for rowing today…but I’m here to tell you it wasn’t always like that,” Felicity said.
She went on to explain that, aside from having no boat and no boat shed, the rowing team in her day was lucky to place second-last at races that nobody came to support. At one race on Penrith River, she recalled, the steering broke and their old, borrowed boat crashed into the riverbank, much to the amusement of those assembled for the next race.
“They laughed at us all the time and sometimes the boys would taunt us by saying, ‘Go back to your sewing’.
“It was embarrassing and there were plenty of moments where we cried and got mad and felt like giving up. But we didn’t give up. We hung in there, we kept training, we got fitter, we worked on our technique, and through the fundraising efforts of my mum and other parents we were able to purchase our first boat.”
The team started to enjoy a few wins, made it to Nationals (which they didn’t win) and formed a strong friendship that still stands today.
“Where we did win was in having the courage to try something new and to push against the tradition of rowing being primarily a sport for boys. We kept showing up even when it was hard, and now rowing is part of the school culture and part of the fabric of life here at Pymble and also in girls’ schools more broadly.”
Last weekend, our Pymble Rowers had a spectacular two days of competition on Penrith River and brought home a swag of medals. Foundation Day is a wonderful reminder that our community stands on the shoulders of the students, staff and families who come before us; people who have worked tirelessly to ensure, that for generations to follow, the reputation of Pymble Ladies’ College will hold our students in good stead as they make their way through school and on to change the world.
Happy birthday, Pymble!
Construction of GHP is about to begin!
This week marked another milestone for the College, with today’s ceremonial turning of the soil to mark the start of construction of our highly anticipated Grey House Precinct (GHP) – the first major project in our Master Plan schedule. Upon completion in 2025, GHP will become home to our Junior School girls in Years 5 and 6, our dancers, our Junior School STEM and Robotics champions, our Health Care team and Psychologists, families who access our Out of School Hours Care and, as if that’s not impressive enough, it will also be home to our new Early Years School for 0-5s.
As with each of our Master Plan projects, this new precinct is about our girls and for our girls. Your daughters are the sole reason we are committed to improving facilities at the College. Our mission is to deliver strategic projects that amplify each student’s ability to grow into her greatness and help us to attract and retain the best staff who want to work at Pymble with our amazing girls in our world-class facilities. Naturally, we will take every opportunity to utilise each project, including the GHP, as a real-life opportunity for students to learn about engineering and construction, much as we did with the new Junior School Administration building completed last year.
A huge thank you to our students, staff and parents who shared today’s soil turning ceremony with us, along with members of our Pymble Foundation, the group newly formed to oversee fundraising for our building projects, and some of our generous donors who have contributed to the GHP project. It was very special to share this significant moment in College history with some of the students who will benefit from this enhancement to our campus as well as the wonderfully generous members of our Pymble family who are helping to make it happen. I couldn’t be more Pymble Proud of our student representatives, Emily Rothery (Year 11), Arin Sadananda (Year 4) and Violet Li (Year 3), who spoke so beautifully about what the GHP will mean for our girls. ❤️ 💙
As our Master Plan program continues to progress, and to ensure each project comes to life in a timely fashion, we are relying on the assistance of financial support from our community. To that extent, we are currently recruiting for an experienced Director of Philanthropy who is as passionate and committed about realising our vision for the future of Pymble as we are.
If you or someone you know would be interested in finding out more about this newly created role to lead philanthropy within our community, please click here to review the position description and to connect directly with the recruitment company. We love it when friends and family members Think Pymble when it comes to rewarding career opportunities, so if this sounds like your next career move, please don’t be shy, we’d love to hear from you.
Welcome to Windows into Learning
Last year, it was my great pleasure to dedicate a section of this weekly column to showcase our incredible Heads of Learning Areas. This year, I am excited to share this space with some of our amazing teachers across all year groups and subjects at the College to celebrate the wonderful work they do with your daughters. Please enjoy these Windows into Learning at Pymble.
Year 1 Mathematics
“For little learners, the key to developing effective numeracy starts with creative, interesting, engaging tasks that use all their senses as channels for learning before they begin to calculate. In Year 1, our students rotate through various maths stations focused on adding numbers using different tools like tens frames, dice, hundred charts, and base ten blocks. At the base ten blocks station, girls stack and rearrange blocks, experimenting with different combinations to represent two-digit numbers and adding them together to find the total. With each manipulation, they gain a tactile understanding of place value and regrouping, solidifying their grasp of addition. It’s such a joy to see their faces light up as they confidently solve challenging addition problems using the various tools provided.”
Mrs Hilary Alo-Emile
Junior School Year 1 Compass Teacher
Year 9 Science
“Our challenge was to create an earthquake-proof building with a set of parameters and paper straws, cardboard, string, glue, paper clips, and copper wire. In groups, we had to find different ways of creating the most stable buildings, while overcoming many road bumps along the way. Once our buildings were completed, we tested whether each storey could hold small weights. But the biggest challenge was seeing if the building would still stand after the trolley it was on was shaken to imitate an earthquake. This task helped us to understand the possible impacts of earthquakes on buildings, and which types of infrastructure could best withstand them. We gained teamwork skills from collaborating with others and problem-solving skills from resolving the issues in our buildings – and we had a lot of fun.”
Laranya Nanthakumaran (Year 9 Science student) with Science Teacher, Ms Jessica Budden
Have a wonderful week – and remember to secure your tickets to another much-loved Pymble tradition, our Icebreaker social event at the College on Friday 1 March. This is a wonderful opportunity for our new and returning families to connect with other parents, carers, staff and members of our College Board. I look forward to seeing you there.
