From the Upper School
A message from Mrs Victoria Harrison, Head of Upper School
Excitement is building in the Upper School as we prepare to move into our new offices and officially open the Upper School common room for students. We are immensely grateful for our beautiful new space and can’t wait to see the girls enjoying their time together.
Next Wednesday, Year 9 and 10 students will have the chance to thank the team responsible for creating these new spaces. They will also participate in a brief induction process focused on respecting the space. All students have a shared responsibility to keep the common room and kitchen clean and tidy, respect the privileges of the common room, and uphold the right of all girls to enjoy this shared environment.
Good luck to all the athletes competing in the igsa Athletics Championships this week and for another busy weekend of co-curricular activities for many of our Upper School students.
This week, we warmly welcomed five French students from Colmar to Pymble, while also bidding farewell to our visiting exchange students from Argentina, New Zealand, and the UK. It has been a pleasure getting to know these girls and witnessing the meaningful connections they have established with their Pymble exchange sisters.
Looking ahead, six Pymble students will depart this weekend for St. Phillips School in Argentina. I will accompany them to help ensure a smooth transition as they settle in next week. Afterward, I will return home with plans for school visits in the USA and Canada to explore additional exchange partnership opportunities. I am optimistic about the potential to expand our exchange program with new schools in 2025.
I-WISH Research Conference
Inspiring Women in Science and Health – My wish for the future is…
The future of women’s leadership and influence in health and science careers is looking bright with a group of Year 10 students representing Pymble at the I-WiSH research conference held at Matthew Flinders Anglican School, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, last week. I-WiSH stands for Inspiring Women in Science and Health and the goal of the event is to allow girls to hear directly from PhD students and academics of their current research. Students from St Catherines (Melbourne) also attended to make this a truly collaborative event. The Pymble Institute is very excited about running our own I-WiSH next year as a way of making research relevant for school students.
The girls learnt about cutting edge research in areas as diverse as dark matter, mapping kelp forests, women’s reproductive health, urban cooling, pharmacy information literacy and the neuroscience of pediatric pain. Students selected a topic to explore more deeply and worked with the researcher to create a change strategy relating to the topic. Congratulations to Tia and Wyntah who were part of the winning team which developed a series of infographics to communicate key conversation starters relating to medicine prescriptions with doctors and patients.
The academics also ‘gifted’ the students with their wishes for their future careers in science and health, including, ‘I wish you can find a space where you can create impact – whatever that space may be’, ‘Don’t stress – there are so many pathways to get to where you want to be,’ and ‘Once you graduate, give yourself a chance to learn and grow. There will always be plenty of time to undertake the research you love and are passionate about.’
Congratulations to the following students for being our pioneer group to experience I-WiSH: Isabella Attard, Tia Brown, Emelia Caulfield. Melody Chen, Adison Hartog-Smith, Lena O’Donnell, Karzan Ong, Wyntah Woodroffe-Mulholland, Lucy Xie and Cindi Yu.
Thank you to the staff who accompanied the group: Dr Bunny, Ms Kitto, Mrs Shaw and Dr Loch.
Student Achievements
Well done to Isla Rose Campbell (Year 9) for her success in several writing competitions. Isla is an exceptionally talented writer who has been successful in being shortlisted for in the The Whitlam Institute. Earlier in the year, Isla was highly commended (2nd) in the Nan Manefield Prize. Congratulations Isla! We look forward to seeing you continue to develop your writing talents.
Important Dates
Term 3
Thursday 22 August – Year 10 Pymble/Knox Social Cup (3 Thursday afternoons)
Thursday 22 August – igsa Track and Field Heats
Friday 23 August – IGSA Track and Field Championships at Homebush
Friday 23 August – Year 9 Residential Program – End of Program Celebration
Monday 26 August – Year 10 girls attending St Edmund’s AIM Initiative
Friday 30 August – Year 9 Subject Selection presentation and Launch of Leadership for 2025
Friday 30 August – Year 10 Pymble/Shore Focus group meeting
Victoria Harrison
Head of Upper School