From the Upper School
A message from Victoria Harrison, Head of Upper School
It has been great to welcome Year 10 back from their Outdoor Education Program (OEP) adventures. Next week, we will share student reflections about their experiences. Sending big groups of students across the state for epic outdoor education experiences takes an enormous amount of planning to ensure we offer our students safe and rewarding trips. We couldn’t do this without the collaborative effort of the Pymble OEP and Upper School team. Thank you!
We are also grateful for the wonderful team of people who accompanied the girls last week. We appreciate the time you committed away from home to allow the girls to learn and grow outside the classroom.
Thank you to Peter Fogale, Candice Cooper, Gabby Zolezzi, Jamie Batten, Julia Squires, Emma Fryar, Rebecca Brown, Taylor Zeeman, Ryan Stewart, Alan Rome, Rowell Morales, Jack Routledge, Faye Crouch, Jackson Brown, Chris Eckford, Fliss Burgess, Tyla Riley, Lily Hoang, Winnie Jian, Joyce Lim, Felicity Gray, Myvanwy Carr, Mariel Lombard and Nick Wilkesmann.
In their final full week in Upper School, we collaborated with the Futures department to design a busy few days for Year 10 to culminate their time in the Upper School and to get their mind thinking about what is to come.
A range of workshops were offered by senior staff and industry professionals to help the girls prepare for the opportunities and challenges that they may have in Senior School and to also give the girls insights into the working world. Workshops and keynotes included:
- Future of work – your skills are transferable
- Using your Strengths to help prepare for interviews
- Career conversations
- Balancing the Busyness
- Future opportunities – Sony Camp, Gap & Leadership
- Authentically You: Building Your Personal Brand
- Industry workshops
- Preparing for the Perfect Interview
- The Science of Wellbeing: Understanding Happiness
- Moving Up the Ladder: From Junior to Senior Roles
- Developing Your Portfolio: Work and Overseas Experiences
- Using AI effectively when promoting yourself in applications
Our first leadership workshop for our 2025 leaders was held this week for our Peer Support Leaders. These Year 9 students are key role models for our incoming Year 7 students and we hope that the peer support training facilitated by Burn Bright has helped to upskill them for this important role. The girls spent the morning playing games, sharing stories, learning activities they can use to break the ice, and considering what actions an approachable and caring peer support leader might embody. We look forward to seeing them develop fun and engaging sessions in the new school year.
Jacaranda Awards
The following Year 9 students received a Jacaranda Award for Term 4:
Jaya Chand – Bennett A
Amelia Carlan – Bennett B
Sophie Rigg – Goodlet A
Indianna Vale – Goodlet B
Isis Li – Hammond A
Sophia Kawane – Hammond B
Celine Chen – Ingleholme A
Naomi Liem – Ingleholme B
Joy Yin – Lang A
Jacquelyn Zhu – Lang B
Isabella Zhang – Marden A
Tara Sproules-Nath – Marden B
Olivia Norton – Thomas A
Camellia Zhou – Thomas B
Jessica Allman – Wylie A
Xiran Rong – Wylie B
Leadership Positions
All the leaders for 2025 were presented with their badges yesterday in Combined Assembly.
Year 9 Leadership Positions
| Position | First Name | Last Name |
| Upper School Leader | Akshara | Bhattacharya |
| Upper School Leader | Willa | Pearson |
| Upper School Leader | Emma | Wang |
| Upper School Leader | Leahara | Wijesuriya |
| House Leader – Bennett | Belle | Legge-Hughes |
| House Leader – Goodlet | Amalia | Bond |
| House Leader – Hammond | Siri | Taubenschlag |
| House Leader – Ingleholme | Sanduli | Bandara |
| House Leader – Lang | Mia | Micallef |
| House Leader – Marden | Feifei | Wang |
| House Leader – Thomas | Celine | Cai |
| House Leader – Wylie | Hargun | Dhaliwal |
| Intercultural Connections Leader | Elaine | Zhang |
| Wellbeing Leader | Zara | Sandham |
| Community Service Leader | Sarah | Quan |
| Environment Leader | Emma | Kooray |
| Student Communications Leader | Nicole | Fan |
| Chapel Leader | Isabella | Benjamin |
| Chapel Leader | Ava | Christofides |
| Position | First Name | Last Name |
| Upper School Leader | Sarah | Bai |
| Upper School Leader | Katerina | Economou |
| Upper School Leader | Hakone | Liceralde |
| Upper School Leader | Isabelle | Port |
| House Leader – Bennett | Skye | Macleod |
| House Leader – Goodlet | Phoebe | Pockley |
| House Leader – Hammond | Allegra | Taubenschlag |
| House Leader – Ingleholme | Varada | Vinay |
| House Leader – Lang | Isabella | Roach |
| House Leader – Marden | Eloise | Fisher |
| House Leader – Thomas | Kristen | Pang |
| House Leader – Wylie | Nina | Wang |
| Intercultural Connections Leader | Emily | Mah |
| Wellbeing Leader | Charlotte | Blaiklock |
| Community Service Leader | Milly | Xu |
| Environment Leader | Imogen | Kee |
| Student Communications Leader | Catherine | Li |
| Chapel Leader | Mia | Chan |
| Chapel Leader | Charlotte | King |
| Futures Leader | Yuyin | Luo |
| Outdoor Education Leader | Selina | Huang |
| Outdoor Education Leader | Kaylee | Ng |
| Outdoor Education Leader | Lena | O’Donnell |
Some of our current Year 10 students were also presented with their Subject Captain Leader badges for 2025.
| Isabella | Attard | Modern Languages Subject Captain |
| Swapna | Baggam | Legal Studies Subject Captain |
| Grace | Beck | Science Subject Captain |
| Caitlyn | Bilney | PDHPE Subject Captain |
| Amelia | Brandon | Design and Technology Subject Captain |
| Emelia | Caulfield | Library Subject Captain |
| Kiki | Chen | Classical Languages Subject Captain |
| Hayley (Hai Ying) | Cheung | Dance Subject Captain |
| Holly | Graham | Legal Studies Subject Captain |
| Joanne | Gu | Software Engineering Subject Captain |
| Adison | Hartog-Smith | Aboriginal Studies Subject Captain |
| Verity | Haslam | Drama Subject Captain |
| Ruixin (Kitty) | He | History Subject Captain |
| Annabelle | Jones | Agricultural Subject Captain |
| Sara | Khan | Food Technology Subject Captain |
| Bo Kyung (Rosa) | Kim | Maths Subject Captain |
| Anna (Mai An) | Le | Visual Arts Subject Captain |
| Amber | Li | Maths Subject Captain |
| Yuyin | Luo | Textiles and Design Subject Captain |
| Nichole | Ma | Modern Languages Subject Captain |
| Katherine | Pan | History Subject Captain |
| Madison | Pearce | Music Subject Captain |
| Summer | Phillips | PDHPE Subject Captain |
| Zoe | Polites | Business Studies Subject Captain |
| Charlotte | Ruscio | Hospitatlity Subject Captain |
| Addison | Seeto | Geography Subject Captain |
| Lily | Still | Library Subject Captain |
| Monique | Strong | Society and Culture and Religion and Ethics Subject Captain |
| Macy | Sun | Music Subject Captain |
| Mahika | Swamy | Theatre Subject Captain |
| Yichun (Helena) | Tang | English Subject Captain |
| Amber | Wang | Classical Languages Subject Captain |
| Carrie (Caroline) | Wilson | Visual Arts Subject Captain |
| Lucy | Xie | Science Subject Captain |
| Jenny | Xu | English Subject Captain |
| Jessica | Xu | Science Subject Captain |
| Chloe | Xue | STEM Subject Captain |
| Jocelyn (Jiaxuan) | Ying | Economics Subject Captain |
Academic Awards
The following students have been awarded an Outstanding Effort Award for Year 9. These certificates will be presented to the students at the start of next year.
| Chloe | Ayton |
| Sarah | Bai |
| Mia | Chan |
| Jaya | Chand |
| Emily | Chiang |
| Mia | Davies |
| Zoe | Davies |
| Veronica | Deng |
| Katerina | Economou |
| Jenny | He |
| Phoebe | Janowski |
| Erica (Chi Yuen) | Kok |
| Chloe (Lok Yi) | Lam |
| Yi Chen | Lee |
| Isis | Li |
| Hakone | Liceralde |
| Zoe | Manning |
| Fatima | Muhammad |
| Isabel | Neal |
| Saskia | Nicholson |
| Eden | Orena Barlin |
| Sophie | Rigg |
| Soumya | Shah |
| Averie | Sun |
| Angela | Tao |
| Charlotte | Thistlewood |
| Kyraa | Vig |
| Chloe | Wang |
| Ruby | Watson |
| Jingyan | Xu |
| Mia | Zhang |
| Isabella Ruohan | Zhang |
The following students will be awarded an Outstanding Effort Award for Year 10 in our final assembly on Friday:
Isabella Attard, Olivia Ayton, Grace Beck, Sasha Chan, Samantha Fahy, Ruixin He, Qian Chen He, Linshan Huang, Gyungwon Kim, Bo Kyung Kim, Caitlin Kim, Ann Kyle, Nichole Ma, Laura Makeham, Wanxin Mao, Annabel Morris, Zoe Polites, Johanna Ricketts, Charlotte Ruscio, Mahika Swamy, Yichun Tang, Jasmine Tran, Ching Jadyn Wong, Jessica Xu, Jenny Xu, Amy Xue, Chloe Xue, Maria Yang, Arini Yellamaraju and Runxuan Yu.
Marine and Aquaculture Technology
Year 9 Marine and Aquaculture Technology students have been learning about sustainable seafood this term. In conjunction with learning about the fragility of our marine ecosystems, our students are also more aware of the part they play as seafood consumers. We have also had a few opportunities to put those skills into action during some seafood practical lessons.
Our students were also lucky enough to have Tom Rolfe (from McKenzie’s Meats in Turramurra) share a few dozen of Narooma’s stunning oysters with our students, giving them all some insight into the industry, along with a taste if they were willing.
Important Dates
Term 4
Wednesday 27 to Friday 29 November – Year 10 Future You Festival on Pymble campus
Wednesday 4 December – 2024 Speech Day and Final Day of School Year
Victoria Harrison
Head of Upper School