From the Middle School

This week we celebrated Reconciliation Week across the College with a number of wonderful and engaging events focusing on this year’s theme: Be a Voice for Generations.

I wanted to firstly acknowledge all of the Indigenous scholars in the Middle School: Sienna Melton, Ellie Pointon, Evie Farr, Sophia Kawane, and Imarni Woodroffe-Mulholland and thank them for their contributions. I was blown away by the very impressive Middle School representation in the Combined Assembly this week that showcased the girls’ maturity and integrity. Congratulations to Evie for her confident introduction to the guest speaker, Rikki Mason from Bangarra Dance and to Sienna Melton for the thoughtful and poised Q+A session that followed. The School Choir’s rendition of Paul Kelly’s From little things big things grow was enhanced by those Year 7 and 8 members who sang so sweetly.

The Middle School video presented at the Combined Assembly was introduced by Mia Cherry and Jaya Chand from the Year 8 elective class: First Nations Cultures and Histories. This was a moving demonstration of sincerity and care.

During Compass Curriculum lessons this week the girls invested time in further exploring Reconciliation. They were encouraged to use their voices to combat racism and to work toward creating a better country for future generations. Middle School was invited to make a commitment by completing an individual “Be a voice for….” card, samples of which are shared below. We will be making a mural along the colonnade showcasing these individual testimonies.

Congratulations to Saja Abdel-Megeed (Y8) on her warm gratitude in thanking Gladys Berejiklian at the Centre for Excellence Breakfast on Wednesday morning.

National Exchange

I am delighted to share with you an update on our Year 8 National Exchange program. The team has now managed to lock in partner schools from: Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. Out applications closed at the beginning of the week and now comes the process of selection for this great opportunity. Once participants are finalised, we will hold an Information Evening to share details. It is wonderful to invigorate what was a very successful pre-Covid experience.

Happy Box Project Update

This week we have really started to move on this wonderful Middle School service initiative. I was delighted to see over 70 students attend the Tuesday planning session. We will be holding lunchtime workshops on Tuesdays and Thursdays to prepare handmade contributions to the Happy Boxes. Please encourage your daughters to get involved and in turn clock up their Service hours. The design competition that is running alongside this project closes on Friday and we have already had so many inspirational entries that will be selected to be printed onto the tote bags which we will use in lieu of boxes.

Best of PAC Winners

Well done to Middle School girls who performed at the Best of PAC. Congratulations to Saskia Nicholson and Grace Louw (Year 8) for being the overall winners with their rendition of Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus. Alannah Tang (Year 8) won people’s choice award. Congratulations Laranya Nanthakumaran and Isabelle Port (Year 8) who also made the Best of PAC night a spectacular night.

Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to all who competed and participated at last week’s Athletics Carnival. It was lovely to see so many girls supporting and cheering on their House. Thank you to families for ensuring your daughters were here to catch that early bus.

Sophie Heap – Gymnastics

Well done to Sophie Heap who recently competed in the Australian Gymnastics Championships for Acrobatic Gymnastics held in the Gold Coast. Sophie and her team (all of whom are much older than Sophie!) placed third in the Junior 13-19 Women’s Trip All Around category.

Year 7 Debating

Our Pymble 7B FED team won the Grand Final! Dedication, cooperation, courage and critical thinking have been more than evident throughout the season.

The team attained the highest scores and now bring home the trophy.

Bravo and congratulations to:

Ruby Chu

Ella Zhang

Emily Basak

Alexa Wu

Coach – Lara Blair, supervisor Sarah Boyd

Attendance Matters

Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best.

The Importance of arriving on time

Arriving at school and class on time:

Ensures that students do not miss out on important learning activities scheduled early in the day
Helps students learn the importance of punctuality and routine
Give students time to greet their friends before class ظ
Reduces classroom disruption

Lateness is recorded as a partial absence and must be explained by parents.

A reminder regarding Leave Applications

Leave is only granted for illness, bereavement, elite sport or work experience. Vacations should be restricted to the prescribed holiday periods. Where possible, leave to attend medical appointments should be minimised. Students are expected to participate in whole-school activities and should avoid making appointments on these occasions.

Applications for special leave should be completed on the ‘Exemption from Attendance’ form found on MyPymble via the College website and signed by a parent or carer. Forms are to be sent to the respective school office as soon as possible or at least fourteen days in advance of the intended period of leave.

From the Year 7 Parent Group Leaders

Year 7 Coffee Meet Up – Friday 2 June

A Year 7 coffee meet up will be held at a favourite local café, Brick Lane Expresso, in West Pymble shops from 8.00am on Friday 2 June. This is a great opportunity to catch up with other parents, immediately after drop off and before you continue with the rest of the day. We look forward to seeing you there.

PPA Trivia Night – Saturday 3 June

The 2023 Trivia Night for parents (K to 12) will be held on Saturday 3rd June at Hornsby RSL. This is a hugely popular event with a ‘movie character’ fancy dress theme to add to the fun!

You can sign up to be allocated to a table and meet new people (request to be seated with other Year 7 families during the booking process), or get a group together to make up a table of 10.

We would love to see as many Year 7 parents attend this event as possible. Tickets are $75 each ($750 for a table of 10). Please click here to register.

Year 7 Dinner – Saturday 17 June

As we rapidly approach the half-way point of the year, we would love to invite all parents to the first Year 7 Dinner. This relaxed dinner event will be held in the beautiful surrounds of The Rooftop at the Governor Hotel, just down the road in Macquarie Park.

We are currently holding a booking at this hugely popular venue and need to provide an indication of numbers to confirm the venue. If you are interested in joining us for this dinner, could you please complete the ”Expression of Interest” voting poll by Friday 26 May. The voting poll can be found in the “Yr 7 Parents Class of 2028” WhatsApp group. To be clear, the poll is to quickly gauge the likely numbers. It is not a firm commitment and booking details will follow at a later date. This event will be for parents only.

Jenny O’Donnell

Head of Middle School