From the Middle School
Thank you to all of our Middle School families who joined us for the Knowing People, Knowing Pymble event on Tuesday evening. It was wonderful to see so many of you in attendance. We hope that you found the evening informative and that you were able to introduce yourself to your daughter’s Compass teacher and mingle with other parents from your daughter’s house and beyond.
For those who were unable to attend the Year 7 event, we have a recording of the presentation that we will be able to share with you shortly. The Year 8 PowerPoint slides are also available. Special events in our Middle School Calendar always call for special performances and so, we would like to thank our Pymble String Quartet for playing, and Esha Marwah (Year 7) who expertly performed songs on the Veena. Thank you Esha for sharing your extraordinary talent with us and our Year 7 families. We cannot wait to hear you play again.
We would also like to thank our Year 8 Middle School Leaders who supported the staff on the night. Thank you, Estelle Lee, Harriet Gregory, Aurora Zhang, Isabel Chook, Annie Chen, Emma Scott, Emma Sim, Akshara Bhattacharya and Summer Shen.
Gloucester Gatherings are now in full swing, with our four Year 8 Gloucester Gathering Liaison Leaders working hard to deliver a range of activities. This week saw beaded bracelet craft and friendship bracelet weaving and a friendly game of volleyball take place. Our Year 8 leaders run activities on Tuesday Lunchtimes each week.
Our Year 12 Middle School Liaison Leaders also run a range of Gloucester Gathering activities on Thursday lunchtime each week. Middle School students are encouraged to drop in with friends or to join in to build new connections. The term 1 schedule of activities can be found below. You might like to chat to your daughter about activities on offer and encourage her to join in.
There continues to be a huge range of lunchtime activities for the girls to join. Not only our Gloucester Gathering options on Tuesdays and Thursdays exclusively for Years 7 and 8 but also other options which are available to students 7-12. Please see schedules below:
Sleep trackers were distributed in Week 3 across the college and the girls have been enthusiastic about recording their sleep patterns. In Week 5 Compass groups will reflect on the patterns and trends of their sleep habits and how they may like to make improvements moving forward. We are grateful for parent support with this initiative.
Building on good habits for Middle School, students are continuing to use their diary effectively to navigate school demands and grow their independence. Please ask your daughter to share her diary with you so that you are aware of her workload.
Homework Help is open to all students on Monday (with a Maths focus) and Tuesday and Thursday (more general assistance across subjects) in CL2 in the Conde Library from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. Please encourage your daughters to attend if you feel this would be helpful.
Compass Captains for Term 1
Congratulations to the Year 7 and Year 8 Compass Captains for Term 1. Compass captains run a range of activities during MBS and provides a great leadership opportunity for the girls.
| Compass Group | Year 7 | Year 8 |
| Bennett A | Richielynne Xiong Zahra Ali | Ariana Azizmohammad Japmehar Kaur Bhatia |
| Bennett B | Charlotte Pang Georgia Halliday | Eloise Jenkins Charli Conn |
| Goodlet A | Isabel Parker Olivia Sheldrake | Emma Sim Nina Han |
| Goodlet B | Zoe Alphandary Lucy Woodbridge | Cleo McLaughlin Emma Yates |
| Hammond A | Sarah Swan Cole Hilary Eyers | Isabelle Quessy Holly Watson |
| Hammond B | Jessamy Facer Victoria Lai | Ashira Fonseka Claudia Wyatt |
| Ingleholme A | Olivia Chan Peyton Ashton | Rosie Rew Geena Cheng |
| Ingleholme B | Aliya Singh Amelia Quarmby | Ava Christofides Olivia Cui |
| Lang A | Molly Hardiman Giselle-Sophia Jones | Elaine Zhang Kathy Wang |
| Lang B | Sienna Clark Mikayla Sun | Jacinta Ngo Mia Micallef |
| Marden A | Neve Anderson Chloe Lenane | Sarah Wong Willa Pearson |
| Marden B | Eloise Lawry Camilla Metcalfe | Eliza Lawton Eleanor Rowe |
| Thomas A | Madison Aikman Summer Zhou | Rielle Mouton Aaliyah Chang |
| Thomas B | Annabel Makeham Elona Thorne | Leahara Wijesuriya Harriet Gregory |
| Wylie A | Cordelia Curtin Elyshia Leung | Claire Feng Dora Gao |
| Wylie B | Ishana Viswanathan Annabelle Rolph | Bella Yang Lera Dubrovina |
From the Middle School Parent Groups
Year 7
It was lovely catching up with people on Tuesday night at our Middle School Information Evening. If you were unable to attend, please look out for the slides in the MyPymble portal and in the newsletter.
We are really looking forward to one of biggest and best events of the year next Friday 1March! This is a fabulous event for new and existing parents and an exciting way to kick off the new school year!
Held on Gloucester Lawn under the stars, the Icebreaker is a Pymble tradition of 50 years. It is a cocktail function with dinner and drinks, and hosts all school years from Kindergarten to Year 12. This year’s theme is “Florals” if you would like to dress in theme (although not essential). However, if you would like, you could add a touch of floral (perhaps a flower, floral accessory etc).
We will be there to greet you and are looking forward to making our year group the biggest (and most fun!) at the Icebreaker! Please join us at the Year 7 balloon so we can all see each other. There will be cocktails, canapes and music and it really is a great night out. Please note that the College does offer babysitting through after school care until a certain time if you require this.
Please click here to book tickets as soon as possible (closing Friday 23 February).
In terms of upcoming events, we would love to organise a dinner and drinks night to welcome all mums and dads to Pymble this year. We find evening events suit most parents as many are working and it is a bit more relaxing. In past years we have had dinners at The Greengate Hotel where you can pay at the bar and it is cost-effective, so we will consider this option and others around the north shore area (we can discuss in our WhatsApp group).
In the past, we have organised separate mums and dads nights to avoid requiring a babysitter. It is also nice to build up friendships with other fellow mums and dads separately and they do tend to have more fun this way! We can also run a poll in the group to see what everyone prefers.
We also have the option of a coffee morning if people are keen.
We have very excited at the opportunity of a Mums and Daughters Day at Vision Valley in June. This is currently being confirmed and we will advise as soon as possible.
Social Media in Year 7
We run several social media groups in Year 7.
These groups are independent of the school and are restricted access groups. Being a member of these groups provides opportunities to ask questions and to connect with other parents. Please note that joining these groups is entirely optional.
We have a Year 7 Community group on WhatsApp to hopefully provide all the connections and answers that you need:
- Year 7 Parent Community – This group is only used communicate important messages, announcements and reminders. Only the administrators can post messages in this group. The WhatsApp group link is here
- Year 7 Pymble 2029 – Questions – This general chat used by parents to ask questions. The WhatsApp group link is here
Our Facebook group is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pymblelcparentsclassof2029
Our WeChat group is: PLC – Y7
Please reach out to us with any questions or if we can help.
Kind regards
Stephanie, Leigh and Briar
Year 8
PPA Icebreaker 2024
An annual College tradition for over 50 years, the PPA Icebreaker is a relaxed community event not to be missed. The event parents only event to kick off 2024 school year. The Icebreaker will be held on Friday 1st March between 6.45pm to 9pm on the Gloucester Lawn. Join Principal, Dr Kate Hadwen, new Chair of the Board, Mr Chris Fydler OAM, College Board members, parents, carers and staff as we welcome our new families, reconnect with old friends and toast a wonderful new year at Pymble. The Icebreaker is a cocktail function with dinner and drinks included. The theme for this year’s event is ‘Florals’.
Please book your tickets for this event by Thursday 22nd February by clicking here.
Year 8 Coffee Catch Up
A Year 8 coffee catch up with be held on Friday 8 March at Brick Lane Expresso, a favourite local West Pymble café. A table has been booked from 8.00am in the name of ‘PLC Year 8’. Pop in after ‘drop off’ before you head off for your day. The café is open early in case any parent whose daughter may have an earlier start to the day.
Social Media for Year 8 Parents
All parents from Year 8 are welcome to join the parent led chat groups.
WhatsApp is primarily used by our year group. It is a community WhatsApp group containing two private groups.
- PLC Year 8 Announcements and Important Messages – This group is only used communicate important messages, announcements and reminders. Only the administrators can post messages in this group.
- Yr 8 Parents Class of 2028. This general chat used by parents to ask questions.
Please join these groups by clicking here or please ask Cindy or I to add you to the group;
Dads@PLC All Years
Dads are welcome to join the Pymble Dads’ WhatsApp group. It is a community group for dads from Kindergarten to Year 12. Please click here to join the group or scan the QR code below.
There is also a Year 8 WeChat group PLC Year 8 2024. Please join this group by scanning the QR code below or please ask Cindy to add you to this group.
- PymbleLC Parents Class of 2028 is the FB group for our year. Selected messages from WhatsApp will be posted here.
- PymbleLC MSPG 2024. Messages about various activities will be posted here.
- Parents are also encouraged to join PymbleLC PPA and PymbleLC SSPG Facebook groups.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with either Cindy or myself if you have any questions or need help with anything.
Ms Cindy Tian 0400 980 181 and cindy.tian@gmail.com
Ms Kai Jones 0431 725 948 and kai_look@yahoo.com
Jenny O’Donnell
Head of Middle School