From the Upper School

A message from Mr Tom Riley, Head of Upper School

It has been lovely to see our girls enjoying the sunshine (excitedly in their summer uniform) this week, and we look forward to glorious weather this weekend for the Garden Party! I look forward to seeing many of you there and ask for a final push tonight in bringing in a lolly jar for our Bottle Bingo Stall.

As we come to the end of a busy term, our Year 9s and 10s (as well as us all) can fray at their edges from tiredness. This might show up as more dissatisfaction at home, challenging friend dynamics, assessment stress, or general lethargy. Recently, we have been conducting parent focus groups for a proposed Year 10 Internship Elective in 2024. Without fail, every industry professional we spoke to said that they both look for and hire attitude over skills. I share this as I think that when tired, it can be easy for our worst selves to show up – I certainly know I am not easy to live with. I’d love for you to discuss the following three simple tips from world-renowned expert, Justin Coulson, with your daughters on how to supercharge their attitude:

Reframe – when something rotten happens, find a way to derive a life lesson and positive meaning from it. Ask yourself, where is the opportunity for growth here?

Acceptance – “it is what it is”. Accepting a situation allows us the space we need to see things for what they are and to reorientate ourselves towards what we want.

You’ve got to love the hills – stress is when the demands we experience exceed our resources. Experiencing these moments, providing not chronically, builds our resources to cope and to proposer in a compound sense and gives us more resolve for the future.

Speaking of Focus Groups, we enjoyed having Leaf Architects speak with 30+ girls this week to run them through the proposed new Upper School space for 2024. It was fabulous to hear the girls getting excited about the space, offering ideas for the dining and soft spaces, and considering how our Year 9s and 10s will share the space.

Finally, please enjoy some lovely photo updates from our Exchange students around the globe!

Interstock Pick Competition Newsletter

Congratulations to Year 10 students Lauren Korenblyum and Christiana Soo who won the Inter-School Stock Pitch Competition held at Sydney Grammar on 8 September. Lauren and Christiana faced stiff competition from representatives from North Sydney Boys, North Sydney Girls, Barker and Sydney Grammar, amongst others.

The competition involved the teams selecting a preferred ASX stock and justifying their selection. This included addressing some tough questions from Equity Research Analysts from Macquarie Group, who judged the competition. As part of their victory, Lauren and Christiana have won a one-day work experience at Macquarie.

The quality of the presentations was particularly high and all the schools put forward strong cases for the various investments they recommended. Lauren and Christiana represented Pymble after winning the highly competitive internal Pymble Stock Pitch Competition which was held over two lunchtimes and was judged by Economics teacher Mr Peter Fogale and Business Studies and Commerce teacher Ms Alana Bowler.

Special recognition and thanks to previous Pymble winners, Year 11 students Rachel Chan and June Yoon, who ran lunchtime sessions to help prepare the students for both the internal competition and the Inter-Schools competition. The value of their assistance was evident in the high quality of all the presentations made by all the participating students.

Year 10 Mums and Daughters Day at Vision Valley – Bookings close soon!

There’s still time to gather a group of friends and join us for the first ever Year 10 Mother and Daughter Day on Sunday 8 October. Tickets to this fun day out remain on sale until next Tuesday 19 September only. Vision Valley offers 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

Thank you to everyone who has generously given up their time to volunteer at the Heavenly Pancakes stall at the Garden Party. We appreciate it! If anyone still wants to sign up, we need two volunteers for the 11.00am to 12.00pm slot and two more for pack up between 3.00pm and 4.00pm. Also, thank you for all the generous donations that have come in; the deadline for final donations is end of day Friday.

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.