From the Junior School

From the Head of Junior School

Can you believe it’s the end of term? Wow! It’s been a busy term and a term full of wonder, curiosity, questioning, creativity and hard work by our girls. I am very proud of them all. A special shout out to our amazing Kindergarten girls who have given their first term of schooling their absolute all -they are justifiably exhausted and very ready for a break over these holidays. I hope they are as proud of themselves as we all are of them!

I want to give a shout out to our Year 6 girls who have worked so hard to lean into leadership this term. Whilst it’s not always easy being a leader, these girls have done an amazing job of modelling our College values and looking for opportunities to make a positive difference in our school and wider community. Last week two Year 6 girls; Ellie Lau and Daisy Scarborough showed immense courage and Pymble pride as they presented their learning to our College Board, and this week Polly Hargraves, Arabella Hoang and Annabel Makeham will show their courage and leadership when they present to our K-12 College staff on Thursday about their learning experiences.

Thank you to all of you who take the time to say a thank you to our amazing Junior School staff; our Admin team and our teaching team. I feel so honoured to work alongside these dedicated professionals and know how much your gratitude means so much to them. In return, I would like to thank you all for your ongoing trust in us and for your support. Thank you to all of you who have given your time to help with events and to support your daughter at her Windows into Learning this term. For those of you whose work commitments mean you can’t attend during the school day (which I totally relate to as I was very rarely able to be at school events for my own daughters), thank you for your support which is evident through you reading these newsletters, reading our Portal notices and in the way in which you support and empower your daughter to give her best in her learning.

For those of you who are heading off on travels around Australia and overseas; please travel safely and enjoy your family adventures. I know many of our girls are going to enjoy time with grandparents whom they haven’t seen for a couple of years, so I wish you much joy with these special reunions. We look forward to hearing all about your experiences from the girls when we come back together next term.

Pedalling our own Smoothies!

Our Junior School Hall was a whir of wheels last week when our girls from Years 2 to 6 pedalled their hearts out to blend their own smoothies and to raise money for charity at the same time. Thank you for supporting this JSPG initiative. A huge thank you to the large group of volunteers who gifted their time on the day (and in the lead up to this huge event) to bring it to life for our girls. The event ran so smoothly and many girls told me this was a highlight of their Junior School year.

We love worms! – building a more sustainable school

A shout out to our Term 1 Sustainability Captains and to our phenomenal Semester 1 Sustainability Leaders; Georgia Friedel and Charlotte Pang, who have led a focus on composting our fruit and vegetable scraps in our Junior School worm farms.  Thank you to our Head of Horticulture, Mrs Sarah Shields, who met with these girls to teach them about caring for worms. As an avid gardener, I am proud of these girls and the way they are striving to encourage us all to be mindful of how we use our food waste.

Around the Grounds – Mrs Kate Giles, Lead Coordinator (K-3)

One of the most exciting times of the year for the K-2 girls comes at Easter time with the Easter hat parade. The girls spend time during the weeks leading up to the parade crafting their hats from a variety of recycled and other materials. A huge thank you to our fabulous hosts, Sarayah Wijesuriya, Georgia Farthing and Marisa Nayak for their egg-straordinary entertainment and to Annabelle Moore, Tabitha de Bilde and Violet Li for sharing the K-2 STEM learning this term so beautifully. T

I loved making the Easter hats so much- especially using oil pastels on the eggs because my hands got colourful too. – Mila Li

I love the Easter hat parade as I like singing with my class. – Serena Au

I loved decorating the cookies. My cookies looked like a sprinkle party. – Charlotte Cross

I had so much fun at the Easter hat parade and I am so proud of my hat. – Allison Lu

This term also brings to a close our Kindergarten girls’ first term at Pymble. It has been a busy term of making new friends, learning the routines of school and learning. Some highlights for the term include the exploration of the College campus (including the farm), watching the ducklings hatch and grow, participating in an Easter hat parade, plus many firsts – Assemblies, Chapels, STEM play and more.

My favourite part of Kindy has been meeting my amazing teacher. – Bronte Boulos

This term I loved painting my water colour sunset. I loved the sunset and rainbow in the book we read. – Bella Kearle

The highlight of this term for me has been watching the girls observe the ducklings hatch and their joy when holding them and interacting with them as they grew. – Mrs Carré

My favourite part of Kindy has been playing with my new friends. – Mia Sun

This term I really loved playing maths games with my friends. We do lots of counting and playing together and it is so fun. – Elina Nahid

The highlight of this term for me as been seeing the independence and resilience of the kindergarten girls grow over the course of the term. – Ms Casey

My favourite part of Kindy has been learning how to read and write. – Sophie Yeoh

The highlight of this term for me has been watching the girls make connections, form friendships and seeing the joy and laughter as they interact. – Mrs Clark

This term I loved the ducklings. I was a little scared to hold them and then I did and they were so soft and fluffy. – Annabel Cheung

My favourite part of Kindy has been doing something new every day. – Naomi Fang

The highlight of this term for me has been being a part of the lightbulb moment as the girls learn new things and acquire new skills. – Mrs Aikman

My favourite thing about Kindy is English- I love stretching out words. – Laveda Piao

On Tuesday our Year 6 House leaders led a wonderful House spirit session and picnic lunch with Kindergarten to Year 6 girls. The girls were so excited to be together in House groups to work on their first whole school service activity for the Welcoming Refugee Project. They channelled their creativity to create postcards to welcome refugees around the world, working together to support each other, with our youngest and oldest girls working together. The Bezos family Foundation will donate $5 to refugee aid organisations for every postcard created so collectively our Junior School have raised over $4000 through this event!

Uniform and Appearance

All students are expected to wear their uniform correctly and with pride. Uniforms cannot be mixed with each season.  Junior School has a strict ‘no hat no play policy’, please ensure your daughter has her bucket play hat at school every day. Please make sure that your daughter’s uniform is named.

Please be aware that next term the girls will need to be in their Winter uniform.

Absent, Late Arrivals/Early Departures, Vacation

A reminder if you daughter is absent from school please enter your daughter’s absence through the MyPymble App or email Junior School Administration Office juniorschool@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au . For any changes to your daughter’s travel, late/early arrivals please email the Administration Office.

Exemption from Attendance Application form can be found on the Portal, please ensure if your daughters is away for two days or more to complete the application form two weeks in advance from the start of your daughter’s absence.

Lost Property

Please ensure your daughters full name is clearly labelled on all items of clothing including socks, hats and lunch items so it can be quickly returned to your daughter if it is found.

Around the Grounds

Windows Into Learning

From the Junior School Parent Group (JSPG)

Last Wednesday 29 March, the JSPG held the Pedal Your Smoothie event. A big thank you to Year 5 parents Monika Surana, Stephanie Yu, Edwina Burns and Leah Deutscher who convened the event and the cohort of parent volunteers who assisted on the day. Over 544 girls from Years 2 to 6 purchased smoothies/water and practised healthy habits by pedalling their exercise bikes to blend their drinks.

• Save the Date – JSPG Family Fun Day & Movie Night – Saturday 20 May

Please save the date for the JSPG Family Fun Day and Movie Night! We are very excited to be holding this very successful event again this year, in a more casual format with a family picnic and movie. It will be a great chance for everyone to catch up early in Term 2 (end of the second week). More details to come shortly – please keep an eye on MyPymble.

• 6S Class Dinner – Friday 28 April

Please join us for a class dinner at Urban Tadka on Friday 28 April at 7.00pm. To RSVP, please contact your class parents. Please see flyer for more information.

• Cocktails & Conversations – Saturday 29 April

Northern Beaches Parents present “Cocktails & Conversations” at The Newport on Saturday 29 April from 7.00pm. Look for the red balloon! Please see the flyer for more details.

• Year 6 Parent Daughter Dance – Saturday 27 May

Year 6 is very excited to invite you to their parent daughter dance at Killara Golf Club, with a theme of “Springtime in Paris”. It will be a very special occasion to mark the girls’ final year in the Junior School. Please purchase tickets here.

It has been a very busy term and on behalf of the JSPG, we would like to wish all our Junior School families a very happy and healthy easter break.

Key Dates

Wednesday 26 April	First day Term 2 2023
	ANZAC Day Assembly
Wednesday 3 May	Years 5 and 6 Maths Olympiad
Wednesday 3 May	Years 3 and 4 Maths Explorer
	Years 5 to Riverview – to build Billycarts
Thursday 4 May	Year 4 Fizzics Incursion
Friday 5 May	Catch up Photo Day

Kate Brown

Head of Junior School