From the Junior School

From the Head of Junior School

Tech Connect evening – bringing our community together

Last Thursday we launched our Tech Connect series with the chance for our Year 4 dads and daughters to collaborate on creating and coding an inchworm to compete in a highly entertaining and hotly contested Formula 1 inspired race series. Huge thanks to all the dads who came to the event and embraced the fun of the evening with their daughters and with each other.

Next term we are looking to invite Year 3 dads to join their daughter at our second Tech Connect evening which will involve designing and making string puppets and coding them to create music they can dance to. The event will run on 30 August from 6.00pm to 8.00pm.

Congratulations to our Drama students who performed at the Sydney Eisteddfod last week and were awarded high praise for their passion and teamwork as they showcased their original plays. We’re very proud of them all:

2^nd place (Primary Category)

Title: The Environmentalists

Performers: Bella Xu Year 6, Fiona Wu Y6, Amelia Hardas Y6, Eden Ni Y6, Sueann Deng Y5, Trinity Sun Y5, Olivia Guo Y5, Tanvi Raniga Y5

Highly Commended (Primary Category)

Title: Frozen: A Movie Whirlwind

Performers: Grace Neal Y6, Ellie Lau Y6, Adele Cassidy Y6, Emma Popli Y5, Florence Cheng Y5, Alice Wu Y5, Lilyan Shen Y5

Feedback from Focus Groups

Thank you to all the parents who have been able to come and share their thoughts at the focus groups over the last few weeks. The conversation has been honest, constructive and creative as we look to how we can grow as a community together. Some interesting takeaways from the focus groups include:

The Pymble App is working really well, and the information is easily accessible
You would like smaller social events to enable parents to get to know one another in grade groups – although that comes with complexity for parents who have daughters in multiple grades as it increases the number of social events for already busy parents
You would like the College to consider what defines our ‘Pymble culture’, touching upon all our cultures and finding a way to bring a collective focus to our Pymble-ness; a shared culture for us all
You would like us to consider a cultural food celebration. We may look to run a cultural food area as part of our Let’s get Creative Festival in Term 4 on 14 November 2023. Please let Mrs Nerissa Davey know if you would be interested in help with a cultural food festival on: ndavey@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au
You would like more House spirit for our families as a way of connecting across year groups
You would like opportunities for parents to come together and collaborate on small group projects. This could be food, sport/health activity, casual coffee time at Archie’s, perhaps even a parent community choir
You would like more opportunities for Dads to connect with one another
You would like us to increase opportunities for our incoming Kindergarten families to connect with one another from 2024
You would like to have a common space where all group chats are uploaded

Blossoming Minds are running Circle of Security Parenting groups in June and August. These workshops aim to help parents of young children understand their child’s emotional needs and regulation, foster self-esteem and strengthen their child’s security.

Safety online

This week our girls have been participating in ySafe workshops learning how to stay safe online. Some of the key take aways for our girls from these sessions include:

What you post matters – be mindful of the things you post
We have a visible and an invisible audience when we post online
Make sure any accounts you have online are private
We need to make sure we only interact with people online who we have met (and our parents have met) in person

Add on top tips from the sessions

Thank you to all our parents who were able to attend the ySafe parent session on Tuesday evening. Allowing our girls to grow up in their digital world as safe and discerning users of technology is a constant challenge. As a parent, I found it hard to manage wanting to give my daughters’ independence and the capacity to connect with their friends alongside my need to keep them safe and connecting with me as their parent. It’s a constant challenge. Please remember there are age restrictions placed on social media apps to assist parents in ensuring that content viewed by their daughter is age appropriate and they are able to interact with others safely and in age appropriate ways.

ySafe have created an online safety hub for our Junior School. Please click here to access the hub which will provide you will some great information about keeping your family safe online.

KINDNESS DAY – Call for help!

On Wednesday 14 June we are celebrating our Kindness Day in Junior School which will centre around service. Each year group will be taking part in an activity that will involve giving back to others. We would love to invite following members of our community to assist on the day:

Year 4 – We need knitters and anyone who is able to crochet and assist in putting together the squares our Year 4 girls have knitted this year for the charity – Wrap with Love.

Year 6 – We would love to invite any Grand adults to assist with sewing hearts. The girls will be stitching around felt hearts and we would love some assistance with teaching them how to use embroidery thread. This will be in support of 1000 Hearts Charity.

We are very excited to have some Alumni joining us to assist too.

If you are able to assist please email Alana Hooper ahooper@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au Many thanks!

Year 2’s Adventure to the Wildflower Garden – by Emily Cole, Year 2 Compass Class Teacher

On Wednesday 31 May, Year 2 participated in an Outdoor Education Program at the Wildflower Garden. What an exciting day we had together in nature and in the beautiful sunshine! Each class moved through four different rotations, led by the OEP and Wildflower Garden staff. These rotations included habitat building for Bluey the Blue Tongue lizard, fauna encounters, a bush tucker walk and bug catching! This excursion linked perfectly with our current Inquiry investigations into living things and their habitats along with how climate and weather affects people and places. Enjoy reading some quotes from the students about their favourite part of the day…

Yifei Zheng: “My favourite part of the day was when we went hunting for bush tucker. I made soap out of a plant and water! It was magic!”

Mia Xu: “I loved the hike because I used a stick to help me! It was challenging but I had a lot of fun! I saw lots of beautiful nature.”

Chloe Pan: “I loved bug catching. I liked learning about new bugs. I enjoyed hunting and searching for them.”

Kaymi Madugalle Wijeratne: “My favourite part of the excursion was when we went on a bug hunt because we got to take brushes and I even caught a worm!”

Katherine Gu: “I loved seeing the animals. My favourite animal was the turtle! I also enjoyed seeing the duck.”

Year 6 to Riverview – Solar Buddies, Clair O’Connor – Year 6 Co-ordinator

Last Wednesday 31 May, Year 6 students attended a STEM Day at Riverview Junior School. The purpose of this day was to build Solar Buddy light systems. Solar Buddies are special solar lights which are constructed by students in Australia and sent to less fortunate children around the world, who have limited to no electricity. Students worked collaboratively with the Riverview boys to build these kits successfully. Additionally, to the building of the solar light kits, students thought about the challenges related to energy provisions in poorer villages. Students wrote letters, partnering with children from around the world sharing their experiences. To complete the day, both of the schools engaged in an Amazing Race challenge. Students completed a range of stations to crack the secret code had lots of fun. We are grateful for the partnership we have forged with Riverview and look forward to developing this further in the future.

Performing Arts K-6

You are warmly invited to the 2023 Year 5 Showcase called ‘Archie’s World Music Adventure 2023’. This will be taking place in the GMCPA on Friday 16 June from 1.30pm – 2.30pm. Entry is free, and all are welcome. We look forward to seeing you there!

Vision Valley Winter Holiday Camps – booking close Friday 16 June

Messages from Junior School Administration

To ensure your daughters are not disrupted during class time, could we please request that all deliveries are dropped to the Junior School Admin offices and we will ensure they are delivered to your daughter.

Absent, Late Arrivals/Early Departures, Vacation

If your daughter is late, please remind her to go to the office to sign in so we know she is here. Please help your daughter to arrive at school by 8.10am each morning (unless she has an earlier activity) so she has time to settle into the day with her friends and is ready and calm for her learning in Period 1.

If you daughter is absent from school please enter her absence through the MyPymble App or email juniorschool@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au .

If your daughter will be away from school for more than 2 days for family leave or other commitments (e.g sport) please complete the Exemption from Attendance Application form on the Portal. Where possible please provide two weeks advance notice.

Lost Property – please help!

We are finding an extraordinary amount of lost property each week, much of which is unnamed. We want our girls to be responsible for their things so please ensure your daughter’s full name is clearly labelled on all items of clothing including socks, hats and lunch items so they can be quickly returned to your daughter

Event and Excursion approval

A reminder to parents to please provide permission for your daughter to attend an event or an excursion. Click this link to view how to. If your daughter has approved leave on the day of the event or excursion please mark not approved to attend.

From the Junior School Parent Group (JSPG)

Past Events

Family Fun Day & Movie Night

Thank you to everyone who attended our Family Fun Day and Movie Night on Saturday 20^th May. We had over 850 people in attendance and it was a wonderful day of fun and entertainment. We hope everyone had a fabulous time.

Year 6 Parent Daughter Dance

Our Year 6 Dance Committee prepared a sensational night at Killara Golf Club last Saturday night. Thank you to everyone who attended, we had over 250 girls and their families. With the theme “Springtime in Paris”, the evening was beautifully crafted to the finest detail and included an array of French décor, food and entertainment. We hope all our families had a très magnifique time!

Upcoming Events

Kindergarten to Year 2 Athletics Carnival Stall (Thursday 8 June)

The Junior School K-2 Athletics Carnival is always an exciting day in the school calendar. The JSPG runs a food and drink stall throughout the day for students and spectators to purchase from. We rely on food and drink donations from our wonderful parents as well as a team to serve throughout the day. Thank you in advance for your help!

Please click here to help participate.

Years 3 to 6 Athletics Carnival Stall (Friday 9 June)

The Junior School Years 3 to 6 Athletics Carnival is always an exciting day in the school calendar. The JSPG runs a food and drink stall throughout the day for students and spectators to purchase from. We rely on food and drink donations from our wonderful parents as well as a team to serve throughout the day. Thank you in advance for your help!