From the Junior School
From the Head of Junior School
Embracing challenge – having a go and stepping into nature
This week our first group of Year 6 girls head off for their Outdoor Education program at Glenworth Valley. This program provides a unique opportunity for our girls to demonstrate their courage, resilience, and teamwork skills. As they navigate through various outdoor activities and engage in team-building exercises, they will undoubtedly face challenges that will test their limits. However, it is precisely in these moments of challenge that true growth occurs, and special memories are made. I am so proud of our girls as they step into this opportunity for personal development and self-discovery.
Embracing challenge – putting on a performance
Our Year 1 and 2 students are also busy preparing for their concert performance, which will take us all on a journey into space and new frontiers. As our young performers step onto the stage, they will showcase their talent and embody the courage to try something new. Through this experience, they will learn the value of taking risks, pushing boundaries, and embracing new challenges. In Term 4 our Kindergarten girls will have their performance opportunity with a Nativity performance.
Embracing travel – our Year 5 girls are off to Goodooga
Next week a small group of Year 5 girls head off on the long journey to remote northern NSW to attend the Goodooga Indigenous Games. This is an event we attended last year for the first time and we are honoured to be invited back. This year the girls are travelling under the care and leadership of Mrs Cindy Anderson and Miss Sarah McGeogh who both bring exceptional depth of knowledge and love of country. We look forward to hearing about all the adventures this team will have.
Embracing challenge through sport
I was lucky enough to watch one of our Year 3 teams play their first game of Touch on Saturday morning. This team demonstrated true Pymble spirit playing with heart and determination and clearly enjoying working as a team.
Good luck to our Snowsports teams who performed so brilliantly in the competition over the holidays and who continue to train hard for upcoming competitions.
Congratulations to our Athletics Age Champions and Junior and Senior Champions.
8 Years Champion: Siena Cassidy (Year 2)
9 Years Champion: Amélie Berg (Year 4)
10 Years Champion: Isabelle Lau (Year 4)
Junior Champion: Isabelle Lau (Year 4)
11 Years Champion: Emma Fogale (Year 6)
12 Years Champion: Adele Cassidy (Year 6)
Senior Champion: Adele Cassidy (Year 6)
Our Sporty Staff
We are very proud of Mrs Tracy Reid, Year 3 Compass Teacher who won the Women’s Individual Stableford competition at Pennant Hills Golf Club on Sunday 23rd July. Mrs Reid and her husband, along with two of their playing partners, also won the Team 4BBB Stableford competition on the same day! Congratulations Mrs Reid!
Nurturing courage and encouraging our students to embrace challenges is paramount to their personal and academic growth. By instilling a sense of adventure, resilience, and determination, we empower our girls to overcome obstacles, discover their potential as confident young women ready to take on the world.
The power of sleep
In order to embrace challenge with a clear and open mind, our girls need lots of sleep. As Dr Hadwen wrote in her newsletter last week, we are keen to focus on the power of sleep this term. Our staff are embracing this focus and many are now tracking their sleep patterns and prioritising self care by trying to get more sleep each night. It’s important that despite our busy family schedules we establish healthy sleep routines for our girls. Sleep enables our girls to optimise their thinking during the school day and therefore optimise their learning potential.
Celebrating our culture as a community
I was so proud as I watched so many of our girls enjoy the Dragon Boat Festival on Friday evening. We had girls playing piano, singing and dancing. Most importantly we had girls working together to share the history and story of the Dragon Boat festival and we also had girls supporting one another, sharing stories and enjoying a plethora of Chinese treats throughout the evening. A huge thank you to our Junior School parents who worked diligently behind the scenes over many months to bring this event to life. As a College we look forward to many different cultural events in the future.
This week we celebrate NAIDOC week, and our Years 3-6 girls enjoyed a presentation and dance performance by Jade George, Year 6 a proud Kurinerg woman and some of our senior students to explain the significance of this week and this year’s focus, ‘For our Elders’. Kindergarten and Year 2 were treated to some book readings by our Senior students too.
Another baby in our Junior School family
I am delighted to announce that Mrs Justina Hefter and her husband, Andy, welcomed a little boy to their family last week. Born 3 weeks early, Henry is healthy and much loved by his proud parents and his big sister, Sophie.
Welcome to our Junior School
I am delighted to welcome these amazing women to our Junior School team. Ms Leila Broughton joins our Professional Services team and will be on our Years 3-6 reception on Thursday and Fridays.
Mrs Rebecca Chan joins our EAL/D team following Mrs Sheryll Ward’s retirement. Mrs Chan brings lots of experience to the team and as she’s an Alumni it’s lovely to welcome her back to her school!
Kindness Matters! A note from our Kindness Captains; Amna and Jessamy
This week’s Kindness Thought for the Week is: Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness of people – Roy T Bennett
This week’s Kindness Challenge is: Smile at someone or compliment someone and make their day! Imagine the difference you can make to someone’s day.
Kindness to our Environment- a note from our Sustainability Captains; Oriana Fenton and Richielynne Xiong
This term we have started Plastic Free July. We know what you must be thinking- isn’t July almost over?! Yes, we thought that too! So, our Junior School Plastic Free July has become “Plastic Free in Term 3”. This term we are going to be working on limiting the use of single use plastics in our school as they damage our environment when they end up in the oceans and other areas as they cannot break down. We encourage everyone to also do this at home too by doing small things like using reusable shopping bags instead of plastic bags and reusable coffee cups instead of disposable ones.
Last term our Semester 1 Sustainability Captains Georgia Friedel and Charlotte Pang introduced a House Competition to help keep our playgrounds free from rubbish. In this competition each Year group has an area to keep tidy, with house points being awarded each week to the Year group with the tidiest area. At the end of Term 3, the House with the most points will win a special reward. We are really determined to protect our birds and animals as well as keep the Junior School clean and rubbish free.
A kind offer by a member of our community – FREE vision screening for K-2 girls
Mr Jason Chan, father of Charlotte in Kindergarten, is a Director at SpecSavers Hornsby who are very generously offering free initial vision screening appointments at school to our K-2 girls. This is part of a widespread community health project by SpecSavers.
The vision screening takes approximately five minutes per child and includes looking at her vision, 3D perception and the health of her eye. No marketing or database will be collected by SpecSavers and there is no obligation to book any future appointments with SpecSavers. This is an opportunity for your daughter to have her eyes screened and a report will be provided that states whether there is any need for review by an ophthalmologist of your choice. If you are interested in booking a free screening for your daughter on Wednesday 6 September or Thursday 7 September, please click HERE to register.
Please click here to download the Consent form which needs to be completed if you would like to register your daughter for vision screening. Please click here to view a sample vision report so you can see what you will receive if your daughter has her vision screened.
Parents do not need to attend the screening, please make an appointment with SpecSavers Hornsby if you wish to attend with your daughter.
STEM in our Junior School and Science Week – a note from Mr Dan Brown, Head of STEM, and our STEM Captains; Olivia Chan and Sophia Wong
As we look forward to Science Week in Week 5, we are focusing on a critical skill scientists and innovators use in their investigations and ideation – observation. This week our STEM Captains introduced a challenge to Years 3-6 girls who want to hone their scientific observation skills by sitting silently for ten minutes in our Valley playground at the start of one lunchtime and then noting what they see and hear within nature. Each week we will ask girls who are interested to observe something different and then record their observations. During Science Week the girls will then have the opportunity to develop one of their observations or wonderings into an idea. We will also be running a series of experiments and investigations for all girls K-6 during that week.
New clubs in our Junior School; app building and e-Sports.
We are introducing app building in our STEM club this term which is a very exciting skill for interested Years 3-6 girls to learn.
To much excitement in assembly, we announced we are launching our first ever e-Sports club which will be led by Mr Jake Turnbull and Mr Dan Brown and is open to Years 5-6 girls.
Tech Connect – Year 3 Dads and Daughters, Wednesday 30 August – an evening of dancing puppets
This event will be led by Mr Dan Brown, Head of STEM K-6, Mrs Lara Bird, Deputy Head of Junior School Academics, Mrs Alison Tedesco, K-6 Robotics Coordinator and Mrs Kate Brown, Head of Junior School.
Come and create your own string puppet with your daughter. Bring your puppet to life by coding a micro:bit to play music and sound. Then enjoy the magic of making your puppet dance to its own music! At the end of the evening, we can enjoy a performance by all the puppets to celebrate the fun of this collaborative evening. Girls may take home their puppet (without the micro:bit) at the end of the evening.
Girls can attend the event in mufti (school uniform is not required)
Pizza and water will be served at 7.00pm for Dads and their daughters to enjoy.
Please click here to register for the event.
A message from Lara Bird, Deputy Head of Junior School – Academics
Academic Learning Discussions
This term there will be an opportunity for you to participate in an Academic Learning Discussion with your daughter’s Compass Teacher.
On Monday, 18 September the Junior School will be holding our academic learning discussions for Semester 2 with your daughter’s Compass Teacher who will discuss your daughter’s progress and next steps in English, Mathematics, Inquiry (History, Science and Geography) and Specialist subjects. This discussion will be online only using Microsoft Teams. The structure of the discussion for Years 4-6 will be a three-way conversation with girls leading the discussion. All K-6 students will take home their iPad on Friday, 15 September.
As these discussions will be online and throughout the whole day no Junior School student will be on campus on Monday 18 September. A notice will be placed on the portal detailing the structure of these discussions and how to book your interview. If there is no adult who can supervise your child at home on this day, please email Lara Bird lbird@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au.
A message from Nerissa Davey – Deputy Head of Junior School – Operations
Year 6 Leaders and Class Captains
This term we welcome all our Semester 2 Year 6 leaders to their roles. We know you have all been waiting for this opportunity and we look forward to you embracing these roles with kindness and enthusiasm.
In Week 1 the girls from Year 1-6 also voted for their Class Captains. We wish the following girls well in their new roles:
| Term 3 Class Captains | |||||
| Class | Class Captain | SRC Captain | Kindness Captain | Sustainability Captain | ICT Captain |
| 1C | Lua Jung | Sophia Thach | Jacqueline Liu | Kelly Ni | Olivia Kang |
| 1T | Melody Yi | Claire Sun | Leah Ji | Lucinda de Bilde | Willouw Brennan |
| 1S | Michelle Zhang | Audrey Ren | Celine Shen | Allison Lu | Emily Siadatkhoo |
| 1H | Aria Shi | Kim Wang | Helen Cai | Karen Zeng | Olivia Yang |
| 2B | Sarah Kitzing | Mia Xu | Claire Huang | Siena Cassidy | Evelyn Chiu |
| 2L | Melissa Wang | Sophie Woo | Zarah Khan | Aviana Faraz | Ishita Singh |
| 2A | Mischa Jadav | Mila Li | Amelia Chen | Joyce Gong | Katherine Gu |
| 2C | Camilla Yan | Kaymi Madugalle Wijeratne | Ariel Wang | Isabel Chang | Chloe Chen |
| 3BW | Olivia Jin | Davina Excell | Karena Lu | Avril Huang | Yoyo Wu |
| 3W | Rayna Zhou | Zoe Ababio | Tiffany Ma | Jianing Li | Emma Ware |
| 3M | Mikayla Kiang | Alice Deutscher | Bella Sherrah | Rachel Zhang | Emily Yan |
| 3R | Nadya Faheem | Eva Shi | Celine Wang | Rose Wang | Kaylee Yang |
| 3K | Tiffany Gu | Ellie Rose Ruiz del Portal Greene | Florence Ma | Rachel Shi | Melanie Lin |
| 4S | Vivian Li | Dora Chen | Harper Chen | Anthea Yang | Vanessa Lee |
| 4M | Zoe Soumboulidis | Grace Wang | Afra Sarchami | Clarisse Chan | Isabella Wang |
| 4D | Sarah Lu | Lola Yang | Sunny Wang | Zara Ware | Alexandra Handley-Greaves |
| 4L | Zoe Hanna | Emily Long | Juliet Walsh | Kiana Rad | Samantha Robson |
| 4PB | Clarice Chung | Erin Wei | Madeline Chen | Emily Horniak | Summer Wang |
| 5P | Taylor Green | Amélie Rahme | Cecilia Zhang | Divangi Sahni | Audrey Lee |
| 5B | Evelyn Shi | Aarna Ashwin | Michelle Xing | Olivia Zhao | Isabelle Yeh |
| 5N | Angela Chiang | Hayley Nguyen | Sophia Mohseni | Emma Popli | Lydia Chen |
| 5W | Reyne Wang | Bianca Ng | Sophia Na | Oliana Zeccola | Eleanor Zalewski |
| 5A | Indie Leon-Searle | Charlotte Xue | Tanvi Raniga | Sophia Kandelas | Betty Su |
| 5L | Mia Pan | Victoria Yu | Melody Chen | Olivia Beaumont | Lily Zhang |
| 6P | Annabelle Zhou | Chloe Lenane | Catherine Wang | Madison Aikman | Ella Zhou |
| 6O | Jade George | Ellie Lau | Jing Yuan Liu | Hailey Judd | Ava Costa |
| 6C | Lauren Chen | Duola Lin | Sophia Guo | Miranda Wu | Kiara Excell |
| 6M | Ruby Thomas | Faith Hedley | Autumn Wang | Zoe Chan | Madeleine King |
| 6A | Jocelyn Chow | Anabelle Watts | Wenhui Zheng | Georgia Friedel | Alina Kharbanda |
| 6S | Sharon Xia | Michelle Shi | Amber Chen | Haley Zhang | Jacqueline Zhou |
Pymble Gives Back
This term we continue our theme of giving back. A reminder to all families in K-6 that there is a clothing bin in Sunshine Square for you to add clean and used clothing in good condition. We look forward to your donations which will be donated by the College.
Keeping safe in carlines
We would like to remind all parents to please be vigilant during pick up and drop off times. We ask you to take particular note of the following – (we have used teacher vehicles for the purpose of dramatisation)
- During drop off in the morning please do not use the teacher carpark as a road. This is very dangerous. I am worried that one of our staff could be injured. We know that parents driving through this area use this to push in line to get out the College quicker, this is not allowed.
2. When collecting your daughter from flagpole in the afternoons please do not double park. This is very dangerous as it means your daughters have to cross the road to get to your cars and could be seriously injured in the process. Please wait in 1 line as you do for pick up.
3. Please do not park in the No Parking zones outside the GMCPA. This area must remain clear for vehicles to pass by and ensure safety to our students when moving to flagpole and other locations.
4. if you are waiting for your daughter to arrive at flagpole, please wait in the lined area around the oval (see photo). Cars at flagpole should be loading or unloading only.
We thank you for your co-operation to allow us to keep our girls, staff, and parents safe.
Learning in Kindergarten to Year 6
K-2 Performing Arts – Tiffany Farlow
Year 1 – 2 Showcase Space Cadets: The Cosmic Quest, Friday 11 August
Embark on an out-of-this-world journey with a group of fearless girls in ‘Space Cadets: The Cosmic Quest’. Join their adventure to be the first girls to soar from Earth to the Moon,but hold on tight as their spacecraft goes off course! From encounters with friendly Martians to navigating a treacherous storm on Jupiter, the courageous astronauts discover the wonders of the solar system and beyond. With a blend of imagination, teamwork, and a touch of humour, they conquer unexpected challenges and prove that friendship and determination can bring dreams to life even amidst the stars. Get ready for an exhilarating cosmic escapade that will ignite young imaginations and remind us all to reach for the stars.
Dates/times: Friday 11 August: Show 1 – 2.00pm | Show 2 – 5.00pm
Run Time: Approx 50mins
Tickets sales: to be posted on the portal
Further information will be provided by Miss Farlow via the portal regarding hair requirements for this event.
General Play Photos
Message from the Administration Office
Morning Tea and Lunch
Please ensure that all lunch boxes and drink bottles are clearly named. Please note that we are a nut-free school and we ask for your assistance in this when preparing your daughter’s lunch so that we can safeguard the needs of all our students in the Junior School.
Birthdays
There is no expectation that you supply treats for your daughter’s class. We will make every girl feel special on their birthday. But, if you would like to provide treats for the class on your daughter’s birthday, she may come to school with a small cupcake for each student in the class or an ice block if the weather is warm. Please do not bring in gift bags.
Uniform and Appearance
Jewellery: please note that the girls are only permitted to wear plain gold or silver studs as earrings. Whilst sparkly and gemstone earrings are beautiful, they should only be worn on weekends (not to Saturday sport) or during school holidays. Girls are permitted to wear a religious necklace as long as it is not visible over her uniform. Please do not send your daughter with a smart watch that can receive texts, emails or phone calls. Girls are not permitted these devices during the school day.
Please refer to page 32-33 of your daughter’s student diary for further information.
For K-2 girls travel arrangements which have changed for Term 3 please email juniorschool@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au
All absences for must be emailed to juniorschool@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au or preferably submitted through MyPymble.
Lost Property – please help!
Please check that all your daughter’s items are named including socks, hats, lunch boxes and drink bottles.
From the Junior School Parent Group (JSPG)
Please save the date for the following events:
Jeans for Genes Day BBQ – Friday 4 August
The JSPG will be running a sausage sizzle on Friday 4th August to raise funds for the Children’s Medical Institute who research childhood genetic diseases.
Further information including tickets will be sent out on MyPymble shortly.
Kindergarten to Year 2 Parent Daughter Dance – Saturday 5 August
We are very excited to be holding the K to 2 Dance with this year’s theme, “Under the Sea”. Our daughters and their families will have an amazing time at our sea-themed extravaganza, dancing to our DJ, having photos taken and enjoyed dinner and dessert. Please note that dressing in the theme is optional. At last year’s dance, all our families had an absolute ball so we cannot wait for this year’s dance! We look forward to catching up with everyone and celebrating a very special dance for our daughters and their friends.
To purchase your tickets, please click here
Years 3 to 5 Parent Daughter Dance – Saturday 19 August
Roll up, roll up, for a very glitzy and glamorous night at the Years 3 to 5 Dance! With a theme of “Glitz and Glam” (dress up is optional), the hall will be decorated to the finest, the red carpet will be out and it will a very special occasion indeed! We look forward to celebrating with our girls and friends at the dance, enjoying our DJ, photos being taken and a delicious dinner.
Don’t miss out, please purchase your tickets here
On behalf of the JSPG, we wish all the junior school families a fantastic and productive Term 3.
If you have any questions or require further information, please email us the JSPG at: pymblelcjspg@gmail.com
Important Dates for Term 3
| Friday 28 July | Year 6 OEP Group 1 Glenworth Valley |
| Monday 31 July | Emmy and Friends for Year 1 – Consent education program |
| Monday 31 July | Constable Lynda Hart talk to Years 5 and 6 |
| Tuesday 1 August | Ryde Eisteddfod Bands 8.00am to 11.30am |
| Wednesday 2 August | Kindy 100 Days and Kindy Windows into Learning, 11.45am to 1.30pm |
| Wednesday 2 August to Friday 4 August | Year 6 OEP Group 1 Glenworth Valley |
| Tuesday 1 August to Friday 4 August | Goodooga – Indigenous Games – selected Year 5 students |
| Friday 4 August | Jeans for Genes Day Barbecue |
| Friday 4 August | K-6 Author Visit – Kate and Joel Temple |
| Friday 4 August | K-2 Play Around the World |
| Saturday 5 August | JSPG K-2 Parent Daughter Dance – Mrs Brown will attend |
| **Note for your calendars: Academic learning discussions will take place on Monday 18 September 2023. All students will take home their iPad on Friday 15 September. As these discussions will be online and throughout the whole day no Junior School student will be on campus on Monday 18 September. |
Kate Brown
Head of Junior School