From the Upper School

A message from Mr. Riley, Head of Upper School

We are looking forward to our annual Garden Party and excitedly this year have both a Year 9 and 10 Bottle Bingo store, such was the demand in 2022. We really appreciate your help in donating two or three jars (examples below) ready for next week. We have seen a steady trickle come in so far but would love to have over 1000 by next week to ensure we can generate a fantastic Upper School charitable contribution on the day.

Elsewhere this week we had two special assemblies for Year 9, with Dr Hadwen attending on Tuesday to talk about her March of the Living experience in Europe earlier in the year and on Wednesday our Heads of Year and Counselling Team described how to develop your support ‘pit crew’ (do ask your daughter for more details!)

Our Year 10s welcomed back their Shore counterparts to finalise details for ‘Shormal’ in 2023. This year we have included student designed and led icebreaker activities to begin the evening and have also discussed reciprocal visits and activities before the event in 2024. Year 10 also handed out their Jacaranda awards at their year assembly this week – congratulations to the worthy recipients.

Congratulations to the following students for their fantastic recent achievements:

Keira Smith for winning her first medal at the State Championships last weekend
Olivia Ayton and Ruby Lyons for winning a gold medal at the U16 Sydney Volleyball league

Finally, Arabella Wheatley has spent much of the term training down at the snow. We share her reflections and highlights below:

I started my season at the beginning of the Term 2 holidays. At the club I’m at (Perisher Winter Sports Club) my training consists of being on snow five days a week and often involves me having to be on the mountain at Perisher by 7.00am.

During the holidays the NSW northern regional championships took place and I came first in both my disciplines. Unfortunately, after a few weeks of training the snow has progressively become worse. It has been unseasonably warm this year and very dry. This has made it quite difficult some days to do training with soft and unpredictable snow conditions. Hard packed snow is best for race training. Last week I participated at interschools ‘States’ for Pymble and from those results got into Nationals which was meant to be late next week at Mt Buller.

These have sadly been canceled due to poor snow conditions. At the moment, I am currently in Victoria, also at Mount Buller, where I am competing in the Under 16’s Australian Nationals. n the slalom races on the first day, I secured 5th place in both races. The second day of racing was canceled due to lack of snow combined with rain (giving me some opportunity to catch up on schoolwork), and I am hopeful the last two days of the national championships will still go ahead as planned. It looks like the season will end much sooner than normal this year due to snow conditions and I am likely to be back at school shortly.

Year 10 Mums and Daughters Day at Vision Valley

Year 10 students and their mothers will be given the opportunity to visit our Vision Valley campus for the the inaugural Year 10 Mother and Daughter Day on Sunday 8 October. A core part of the Outdoor Education program at Pymble, the pristine grounds of Vision Valley offer the perfect environment for a day full of light-hearted fun in the great outdoors.

Featuring a full roster of engaging group activities, a luxurious long lunch, an Amazing Race and an informative workshop titled ‘Making Formals a Breeze,’ the day promises to be an unforgettable experience for mothers and daughters alike.

Program

8.30am – Arrival and welcome beverages 

9.30am – Activity session 1 

11.00am – Morning tea 

11.30am – Activity session 2 

1.00pm – Long lunch on the balcony 

2.30pm – Workshop

3.30pm – Activity session 3   

4.30pm – Departure 

Cost: $110 per person

Tickets: Click here to purchase your tickets.

RSVP: Tuesday 19 September 

Convenors: Pamela McPherson (bruceandpam@bigpond.com) and Zoe Green (bzgreen@bigpond.net.au).  

Please see the invitation below for more details.

Notes

– Activities have been chosen to cater for all abilities and are always optional. There will be no extreme activities such as rock climbing, abseiling or mountain biking and activities are suitable for all levels of fitness.   

– A message of inclusion: If it is not possible for a mother to attend, students are welcome to attend the day’s events with another family member without gender restriction. 

– This event is designed to encourage meeting up with old friends and also discovering new ones. If you would like to nominate one or two other families to share the day with, please tell us on your booking form. 

– For Boarding families: This one-day experience is not designed as a residential stay. However, Vision Valley has agreed to make room-only accommodation available for a small fee for the nights before and after for those Boarding families who are travelling prior to the start of term. Owing to the lack of on-site supervision in the evenings, it is a requirement that there are only female attendees and no siblings.  If you are interested in this, please contact the event convenors for further information.

More information, such as what to wear and what will happen in wet weather, will be emailed to participants after numbers are finalised. For more details, please email the event convenors.

From the Upper School Parent Group

Heavenly Pancakes Stall – Garden Party 2023

We are putting the call out to parents and carers who would like to assist with the Heavenly Pancakes Stall at Garden Party 2023. Please click here to register to work at the stall on the day (one-hour slots between 9.00am and 4.00pm), or if you are able, please click here to make a donation that will go towards the stall.