From the Principal

Regardless of where we all stand politically, it is likely that around this time two years ago many of us had begun hanging onto every word spoken by Gladys Berejiklian, then Premier of NSW. And so, it went on for months, the ‘drop-everything-and-listen’ 11.00am briefing with Gladys, our source of certainty in a highly uncertain time. On Wednesday, we were honoured to welcome Ms Berejiklian to Pymble as our inaugural guest speaker at the first in a series of events hosted under the banner of our new Centre of Excellence – and once again, we found ourselves hanging onto her every word.

Our Centre of Excellence speaking events aim to inspire students, staff and families with stories of excellence in all its forms, and this one exceeded all expectations thanks to a remarkable combination of guest speaker and student leaders. It’s important to note this was a student-led event, and my goodness our girls set the bar high. Congratulations to our interviewers extraordinaire, aka Year 12 Academic Learning Prefects, Eloise Kinchington and Caitlyn Tan; our eloquent MC, Evelyn Zhu in Year 10; Saja Abdel-Megeed in Year 8 for her thoughtful vote of thanks to Ms Berejiklian; and Grace Peters in Year 10 for her respectful acknowledgement of country. To say we’re Pymble Proud of these girls is an understatement. 🤩

Thank you also to the hundreds of students, parents and staff who came along, very early in the morning. For those who were unable to attend, please enjoy a few of the messages (abridged at times for brevity) shared by our special guest.

Caitlyn: Given this is a Centre of Excellence event, what is your definition of excellence?

GB: Always doing your best. Outcomes may differ but if you always strive to do your personal best, that to me is a definition of excellence.

Eloise: There are moments of joy and challenge in every job. What are some of the joys and challenges you have experienced?

GB: I find joy in the simple things. Every morning, I wake up and think: how can I make a difference, what positive thing can I do today? I think it’s important to always have a positive attitude.

In terms of challenges, any occupation where women are in the minority is always challenging…but, while those challenges exist, we should never use them as an excuse not to do our best, not to push through, and not to lead by example. I often got criticised for not speaking about women’s issues but, I thought, the moment I do that I will be regarded as a female Premier and I wanted to be regarded as a Premier. That was my way of demonstrating that women in leadership can make a difference – not defined by our gender but by the job we have done.   

Caitlyn: What made you choose politics?

GB: It was the absolute commitment to give something back, to serve, which was instilled in me in my early years by my parents, who were migrants. We are fortunate to live in a democracy and, yes, all of us have challenges in our life, and life isn’t easy, but relatively speaking we have it pretty good. That sense of giving back and the freedom and liberty to express ourselves, which is very different to the country my parents came from, was a huge opportunity for us to give back.

Eloise: Where and how do you find inspiration?

GB: For me, it comes from people and from always wanting to give back. I also think a positive attitude is inspiring. Sometimes I look at my schedule now and think, ‘gosh there’s so many things I have to do today’, but I get inspiration from knowing that in a small way each of us is making a difference.

Eloise: How do you maintain that positive attitude in the face of challenge?

GB: There’s inspiration drawn from the sense of responsibility you have. For students here, it’s a sense of completing your studies and making sure you contribute to school life, but every task that we do has the opportunity to make a difference and make a change.

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be Premier of NSW; that’s not why I went into parliament. I wanted to make a difference to my local area…I just did my very best at every step of the way, without having a grand plan or a grand vision, other than giving back, and the opportunity came. Never be afraid to take inspiration from the smaller things because they all add up and you never know when an opportunity will come your way.

Caitlyn: As a College, our statement of intent is Watch Us Change the World. As you say, from little things, big things grow. So, how would you encourage young people to voice their concerns about various societal issues?

GB: Having the facts, the knowledge and a well-presented argument is always the best way to be heard. Make sure you equip yourself with all that before you go forward, with the support of your school and parents.

Eloise: If you had any piece of advice for your younger self or young people today, what would that be?

GB: Don’t be so hard on yourselves. It’s okay to make mistakes; it’s okay not to do as well as you wanted to. If you try your best and have the courage to follow what you really enjoy doing, rather than feeling the pressure of doing something that others encourage you to do, then you’re on the right path.

Eloise: The pandemic was a time of incredible uncertainty. I’m an Extension English student so part of our rubric involves characters seeking certainty and solace within their environs. You were our source of certainty throughout the pandemic – how did you maintain your motivation?

GB: I’m really pleased you used those words. I had arguments with people around me, who said, ‘people will get sick of you, don’t go on television every day’, and I thought, ‘no’. I chose the time carefully. I wanted to create that certainty, at a time when things were uncertain, and people were afraid of the future. I had the most information of anyone in NSW and wanted to make sure that, even if the rest of the day was a bit crazy for people, there was some information at 11 o’clock that would give them an indication of what the next few weeks would look like.

Caitlyn: What is your mark or the legacy you would like to leave on the world?

GB: I hope that people would say about me, she was a kind person.

Giving back, having the courage to try new things and make decisions, doing your best, changing the world in big and small ways, and being kind…I don’t think we could find someone more aligned with our Pymble values if we searched far and wide. Interestingly, Ms Berejiklian also cited the issues she was most passionate about changing – geopolitics of the world, climate change and support for First Nations people – adding that, despite known and unknown challenges, she holds a very positive view of the future. This was a timely message, given Reconciliation Week and our strategic intent to build our personal and collective Social Intelligence through learning about and learning from other people, cultures and perspectives, including our First Nations peoples. As we think deeply about the road to reconciliation and how to best support our First Nations students, her words offer optimism and hope:

“Collectively, there’s been a huge positive shift in values and people are looking at things differently. Whether it’s the pandemic or global circumstances, I think people are attaching their own values to decision making a lot more which I don’t think is a bad thing.”

We extend our grateful thanks to the truly excellent Gladys Berejiklian for sharing her wisdom and learnings so generously. A huge congratulations also goes to our Director of Centre of Excellence, Debbie Tarrant and Director of Staff, Steve Dunk, who have led the inception of our CoE and have more exciting initiatives up their sleeves. Our next speaker event will be held on Tuesday 1 August – so save the date!

Thank you for giving back to our Annual Appeal

Finally, on behalf of the Pymble Foundation Board, please accept our most humble thank you to those who have already responded to our 2023 Annual Appeal, launched earlier this week. The Appeal aims to raise funds to enable the College to offer more means-tested scholarships to deserving students, who otherwise would not be able to afford the excellent education our girls enjoy, and to support our building program to evolve learning spaces and facilities for current and future generations of Pymble students. Every donation, small or large, is needed and makes a difference. If you are interested in helping to support the vision and shape the future of our wonderful school, please follow the link to learn more about our 2023 Annual Appeal.   

Dr Kate Hadwen, Principal