From the Upper School

A message from Mr Riley, Head of Upper School

Hello and welcome back to Term 2! It has been a very exciting break with some fantastic successes by Upper School students nationally in Brisbane with Athletics, and internationally with our Robotics Team in America. More of this to come next week! The week has also begun with a flurry of activity with our last Year 9 Residential Program heading off to Vision Valley on Wednesday at 7.00am, and our wonderful cadets providing a moving ANZAC Day service.

This week, I would like to share the amazing achievements of Méa Shires and Jenny Xu from over the break. Below are recounts from Méa and Jenny about what they achieved:

I had an amazing experience at diving age nationals this year. It was a week-long event held at Sydney Olympic Park. I had an intensive timetable with early morning training sessions, waking up every morning at 5.00am, then competing throughout the day followed by afternoon training sessions. My competitions felt like a marathon, one lasting over three hours! It was a big test of my resilience and mental strength. I was proud with my results, securing a silver medal for both 1m springboard and platform and also bronze for 3m springboard. Overall, I was named 2023 National Champion for girls 14/15 years.

One of the best parts of the experience was meeting people from all over Australia. We had divers from Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory, Victoria, Tasmania and a special guest from New Zealand. It was great to connect with others who share my passion for diving.

I was also fortunate to represent NSW as the state representative for the 14/15 category competing in the State Challenge held during the opening ceremony. It was a tremendous privilege and the highlight of my journey. I competed with my team of three other divers, ending up winning second place, with Queensland taking home the title. Overall, it was an unforgettable experience which I will always remember. I’d like to thank my coach Maddi Pullinger who has been there for me on my tremendous roller coaster of nationals supporting and pushing me to do my best, and to Rylee McKinstry, a former Pymble diver, for knowing exactly how to help!

Written by Méa Shires (Year 9)

During the holidays, I represented NSW at the Voice UN Nationals, and spoke about how the international community should respond to states and companies that play a vital role in global trade but engage in unethical practices.

I was drawn to this topic as I wanted to explore the regulatory capacity of international bodies and the reasons behind why unethical practices continue to occur after they have been exposed. I was also interested in the role that economic and political power plays in the enforcement of current treaties or legislation.

My proposal targets developing countries that are dependent on exploitative corporate giants. In order to attract investment, many developing countries currently compete in a race to the bottom, lowering tax and overlooking a variety of unethical practices.

Governance building programs managed by the UN and ILO would assist these countries in areas such as skill upgrading, procedural improvements and administrative strengthening. These programs would aim to provide an alternative to the current ‘race to the bottom’ and would provide opportunities for ethical, organic development.

Written by Jenny Xu (Year 9)