From the Junior School

From the Head of Junior School

Little People Big Dreams

The book series Little People, Big Dreams is very popular within our Junior School library and as I recently read one to complete our Junior School Reading Challenge, I reflected on the determination and courage of our Pymble girls in the pursuit of their dreams. Last week Year 3 were lucky enough to learn alongside a marine biologist, Culum Brown, who is partnering with our school from CSIRO. Tabitha de Bilde (Year 3) reflects on what this learning opportunity meant to her.

Having a marine biologist, Culum, join our class was an amazing experience. I love animals and have always been fascinated by those that live in the ocean. Swimming is one of my favourite activities, and learning about the ocean makes it even more exciting. Meeting a real marine biologist was really COOL!

“One of the best parts was hearing from an expert. We don’t get that opportunity very often, and it was inspiring. Culum’s passion for marine life and his dedication to protecting the ocean made me want to become a marine biologist even more. He really cares about the ocean and its creatures, which not many people do.

Talking to Culum made me think about the future of our oceans. I hope we can reduce the amount of rubbish in our waterways so that animals don’t get sick. It’s important to protect the ocean for future generations and for all the animals that live there.

Meeting Culum was exciting because my dream is to be a marine biologist when I grow up. His visit made me feel hopeful and more determined to follow my passion for animals and the ocean.“

Many of our dancers achieved one of their dreams last weekend as they danced on the stage at the Opera House. I was lucky enough to watch each of the six Junior School groups who performed, and I was captivated by their skills, passion and sense of team; definitely a moment of significant Pymble pride. I want to give a special shout out to the group who faced technical difficulties with the playing of their music as they showed their courage in standing strong together as they waited for the organisers to fix the difficulty. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be fixed so that group will perform in our next Junior School assembly so they can showcase their performance and be given the respect they deserve.

Our Junior School girls continue to showcase their initiative and sense of responsibility through their enthusiasm in seeking to start, and lead, lunchtime clubs. We had so many applications from girls across the Junior School to run clubs and this term we have selected Anime Club led by Charlotte Liao and Dorothy Ban (Year 5) and Chess Club led by Olivia Chen and Chloe Yi (Year 6). Here’s what the opportunity to lead a club means to Charlotte:

“Both Dorothy and I squealed when we heard that Anime club was chosen in assembly. We are so excited that we get to lead a club for something we love doing and that our club was chosen. I love Anime so much and I am really excited to share this passion with other people. Last week the club was really fun and I hope more people come this week too.”

Wellbeing Weekly – Kate Giles, Head of Wellbeing K-6

New Assembly Awards – Kindergarten to Year 2

Last term I held a focus group with some passionate Year 1 and 2 girls to re-design our K-2 Assembly awards. These awards are values based and each week in Assembly students are awarded by their class teacher for demonstrating the value of the week.

The feedback from the girls was clear, the awards needed to:

Include Heidi the Hedgehog
Be rainbow coloured and bright
Show it was from Pymble

This brief was then given to some creative students from Years 3 to 6 who then dedicated a number of lunchtimes to create the awards. After reviews of the drafts by the Year 1 and 2 girls, it was proving difficult to reach to a consensus on which award was the one to use. The girls decided to present the awards in K-2 Assembly and hold a vote. The below awards were the chosen awards and will be used in K-2 Assemblies to celebrate girls upholding the college values each week.

Thank you to the following girls for their ideas, creativity and passion:

Year 1 – Chloe Browne, Bella Kerle, Iyla Jolapara and Georgie Dreverman

Year 2 – Chloe Huang, Neve Sadananda, Bella Welden-Iley, Anna Won, Grace Yu, Charlotte Cross and Margaret Ko

Year 3 – Abby Su

Year 4 – Jasmine Smith and Emma Ware

Year 5 – Kate Bi, Dorothy Ban and Katie Shen

Year 6 – Keira Xu, Amy Peng and Deanne Fernando

Parent Wellbeing Series

The next session of the Parent Wellbeing Series will be held on 22 August at 8.45am. The session will be focused on helping to support your daughter to build self-confidence and healthy body and self-image and I will be joined by Dr Danielle Ellis, one of our Junior School Psychologists. To register for this event, please click here.

A message from Lara Bird, Deputy Head of Junior School – Academics

OzKids in Print – Writing and Art Competition

If your daughter would like to enter a short story, poem or artwork into the OzKids in Print Competition, please contact Lara Bird, Deputy Head of Junior School – Academics at lbird@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au. Entries will be closed for submission on Friday 30 August (Week 6). Please include a title with any short story or poem submitted. For any artwork submitted, please include a title and a brief description of the artwork. For more information, please click here.

A message from Stephen Robinson, Deputy Head of Junior School – Operations

An important notice about OSHC Registration

Commencing in Term 4, it will be a requirement that all Junior School students be registered for OSHC (through the Kidsoft Website) in order to enrol in new or additional co-curricular offerings. This includes swimming and tennis.

I strongly encourage all families to register with OSHC now, in order to access both the Term 4 activities, but also 2025 offerings when they go live on 20 November 2025.

Lunch orders

We are excited to see changes to the Junior School lunchtime menu, with the launch of a Junior School-specific Flexischool site from Term 3. This new offering includes cold drinks and frozen treats available for all students in Kindergarten to Year 6 each Friday. We are also seeking the support of family members to support sorting lunch orders and serve cold food items throughout Term 3. If you are able to assist, please sign up by clicking here.

Morning arrivals, late arrivals, absences and early departures

The safety of all students is something we must all take seriously, and I thank you for your support in this matter.

A reminder that playground supervision commences at 7.45am each day. Students are not to enter the playground prior to this time unless they are with a parent or attending a co-curricular program.
Students need to sign in at Hedgehog House if they arrive after 8.15am. Parents now receive a text message at 9.00am if their daughter is absent at roll call and has not signed in.
Please notify the Junior School Office by email if your daughter is late, absent or needs to leave early from school. Please use MyPymble if your daughter is absent from school. A reminder for two days or more leave (other than sick leave) to please complete the Exemption from Attendance Application from (EFAA). Preferably please complete the EFAA two weeks in advance to your daughter’s leave date.

A message from Kurt Schweinberger – Head of Creative and Performing Arts K-6

Get your tickets for the Year 1 and 2 Showcase!

All members of the College community are warmly welcomed to attend the Year 1 and 2 musical, Porridge!

Porridge tells the story of when a crime wave hits Happy Valley and there is a caseload of mysteries to be solved! Who’s stolen Ma Hubbard’s recipe book? Who’s kidnapped Marigold the cow? And what dirty secret is Papa Bear hiding behind his Porridge empire? It’s down to Private Detective Jack Spratt to uncover the terrifying truth in this tale of mystery, mayhem and breakfast cereal!

Please visit the GMCPA Box Office to secure your tickets.

Performance Date: Friday 16 August (2.00pm and 5.00pm).

Ticket Price: $10.00

Winter Shoe and Sock Drive

We are very excited to announce that on Monday 19 August in Week 5 this term, Pymble will be running a Winter Shoe and Sock Drive, which will include all types of shoes (except for open toe shoes such as high heels and thongs/sandals). We are beyond grateful for all the Pymble families who participated in our last drive.

Pymble donated an incredible total of almost 600 pairs of shoes, which is the largest single donation the NFP charity “Shoes for Planet Earth” had ever received. Your generous donations made an enormous impact to the community. The winter footwear and socks we collect will be distributed across Australia and the globe, to homeless shelters, youth and female crisis centres, indigenous community sporting groups, orphanages, churches, and disaster-affected communities.

The importance of warm footwear during the winter months cannot be overstated. Our donations will reach those who are often forgotten or overlooked. If each Pymble family contributes one pair of shoes or socks, together we can make a tangible difference in the lives of those of in need. We ask that all donated shoes and socks are in good condition – no holes, with sturdy soles, and cleaned if necessary.

Please make sure all shoes are tied together in matching pairs. Please bring your donations to our collection points, where we will have clear signage to guide you. A reminder that this will take place on Monday 19 of August in Week 5. And for one individual there will be a very exciting prize of a special $50 gift voucher for Archie’s Café!

Thank you so much for your continued support.

Written by Anais Rodwell-Burnicle (Year 11)