From the Principal
One of the many benefits of a Pymble education is that every student has the opportunity to ‘find their thing’.
I was reminded of the inestimable value of this gift last weekend when my sister, nieces and I had the good fortune to be sitting amongst 80,000+ spectators watching Taylor Swift do her ‘thing’. Seeing the singer/songwriter in her element was almost a greater joy than hearing her music. She knows she is an amazing performer, she works hard to achieve her greatness, and you can tell her life’s work is in absolute sync with who she is as a person. It was beautiful to behold. She reminded me of our Rowers heading out to Head of The River this weekend, our cast and crew preparing for the Addams Family Musical next week, our Tennis players who are about to compete in the prestigious Tildesley Tournament, and all our girls at Pymble who have found their ‘thing’ (or things). They are truly magnificent in full flow.
In assembly this week, I spoke to the students about the importance of finding the vision for their life in order to do their ‘thing’ with authenticity and purpose.
To make this vision come to life, there are three things to know:
- Your vision for your life is your own – not your friend’s, not what other people might want from you, but what you want for yourself.
- Your vision must be wrapped into something that is beneficial for others; ultimately, it should serve a purpose greater than your gain.
- You must be prepared for hard work and sacrifice, because realising a vision for your life takes deep, sustained commitment.
My vision is about elevating girls and women; delivering education and opportunities for our students that set them up for life. At the end of the day, I hope the greatest beneficiaries of my work and vision are our girls.
At Pymble, we are blessed to have an incredible team of staff who are always in full, magnificent flow as they work to support our students’ learning. This week I had the pleasure of asking several staff members from different areas of the College about their vision for their life and how this benefits our girls.
Ms Colby Grace
Secondary English Teacher
In addition to teaching English, Ms Grace works with Mrs Debbie Tarrant in our Centre of Excellence to support our High Performing Learners. She is currently completing a Master of Education (Gifted Education) at the University of NSW, where she won the Dean’s Award.
“The vision that prompted me to do my master’s degree was a Year 8 class I had in 2022, who are now of course in Year 10. They inspired me with their thinking and their capacity. Each lesson with that class made me question, ‘What more can I do to build your knowledge, help you learn all that you want to learn, and be the best English student you could possibly be?’. It struck me that perhaps it was my turn to do some more learning, and so I went back to university.
“There is so much thinking that goes into every single activity we do in the classroom, and each activity is designed to help each student learn at their access point. I’m so pleased that I can come into the classroom with even more ideas and then see how those ideas evolve as a result of what the students consequently bring to that lesson.”
Mrs Kate Giles
Head of Wellbeing K-6
Mrs Giles has been teaching for 14 years, 12 at Pymble. As for many of our multi-talented staff, teaching is her second career, following several years of working as a solicitor. Kate is also a Research Fellow of the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools Global Action Research Collaboration.
“For me, the impetus to change careers from Law to Education was driven by my purpose in life to make a difference to other people. Making money for large companies was not making the world a better place. My broad vision is two-fold: to role model and teach students how to leave the world in a better state than we found it; and to be a good human. As Head of Wellbeing in the Junior School, I aim to grow an understanding of student wellbeing and the importance of social and emotional skills for success in learning and for a more fulfilled life. I try to reflect each day on the purpose of my work and hope I have made a difference in our students’ lives.”
Mr Karl Schmidt
Head of Coaching and Performance
Mr Schmidt works with our Head Coaches to help facilitate and run all the sports programs our girls love. Recently, he took on the additional role of Acting Head Coach – Rowing, to support the Rowing Program, which he used to manage at Pymble several years ago.
“Why step back into the Rowing program in addition to my job? I wanted to see Pymble back on top as IGSA number one. I’m also a big believer in the benefits of Rowing for girls; it’s such an asset for them.”
Mr Lewis Gray
Sport Co-ordinator – Rowing
Mr Lewis Gray is the logistics man behind our Rowing program, dedicating countless hours to ensuring everything is in place for our girls to train and compete.
“For me, it’s about enabling what I enjoyed when I was rowing. I like facilitating that; it brings me a lot of joy when I see the girls enjoy what I enjoy and what attracted me to the sport, which is basically having fun with your mates, making a boat go fast.”
We are blessed to have incredibly diverse, experienced and inspiring staff who dedicate their time, gifts and talents to our students; thank you, Team Pymble! I’m signing off this week by encouraging each member of our Pymble family to spend a little time reflecting, even writing some notes, on the vision you have for your life and perhaps thinking about how you allocate the resource of you to achieve this. After all, the only one who knows, holds, and can achieve your vision, is you.
