From the Futures Team

Welcome to our new Overseas Pathways Careers Advisor – Simone Salier

I am pleased to welcome a new member to our Futures team, Simone Salier, as an Overseas Pathway Careers Advisor.

She commenced in Term 2 and will be on campus on Fridays. Her focus will be to advise students with overseas pathways application preparation and working with us to deliver initiatives from our Global Education Pathways strategy.

Please see below for a brief biography on Simone:

Simone is an experienced careers counsellor who has worked in International Schools in Dubai and Hong Kong as well as Ascham School, Redlands and SCEGGS Darlinghurst. She is a member of the St Andrews University Global Advisory Board and has supported students to achieve prestigious scholarships locally and internationally. She also currently works at the Lycée Condorcet International French School in Sydney.

Personal Statement Workshops by College Essay Guy

Over 50 students from Year 7 to 12 participated in the first-ever holiday workshops focused on developing skills and knowledge on overseas pathways. This series was facilitated by Spencer Ganus from College Essay Guy. Spencer travelled from the USA to deliver the three-day, in-person workshop to students to help them to learn more about how to prepare the personal statement component of US Applications for College.

Florence Luncheon – Celebrating and Elevating Women in Construction with Master Builders Association

A group of Pymble students and staff were invited to attend the Florence Luncheon last week. Ex-student Dene Paterson (2022) also joined us at the event to share her experiences as a student. Dene is currently studying construction management at UTS and completing an internship with Transgrid. Students and staff enjoyed a keynote speech from former world number four tennis player, Jelena Dokic.

We were also fortunate to connect with the Seidler family, who were attending the event to honour the passing of their father, Brian Seidler, Executive Director of Master Builders Association. Brian’s daughters, Mila (2024) and Ashleigh (2019), are former Pymble students, his son, in Year 12 at Knox, and their wife, Donna, were pleased to see the Pymble students at the event. Brian was a strong advocate for women in construction and started the Florence initiative to showcase the contribution of women across the industry and to promote future generations.

Thank you to Stephen Edwards Constructions for inviting our students to the event and for sharing this wonderful opportunity with the College.

Student reflections

“We had the opportunity to listen to guest speaker Jelena Dokic and talk to ex-Pymble student Dene Peterson who studies construction management and staff from Stephen Edwards Constructions’ involvement in the Grey House Precinct building at our school.

Something that was interesting was seeing that there are so many opportunities in the construction industry beyond the typical construction jobs that you think of. From all kinds of engineering, digital modelling, urban planning, architecture to project management. It was nice to hear that industries are becoming more aware of the importance of gender representation in workplaces and are wanting to support women for 50:50 men & women employees with the empowering Florence magazines and scholarship opportunities.”

Yuyin Luo (Year 11 Futures Leader)

“We listened to former fourth in the world tennis player Jelena Dokic share her struggles with abuse in the sports industry, how she bravely overcame them and is now encouraging other individuals to find their own voice against abuse. She also shared about her personal motivations in life which I found very empowering and aspirational. While enjoying the delicious food, we got the opportunity to chat with the representatives of Stephen Edwards Construction. I found it very insightful to learn about different roles in construction and the importance of women in male dominated fields like construction. I am extremely thankful for this amazing opportunity given to us by Stephen Edwards Construction.”

Madelene Wong (Year 12)

“I didn’t realise there were so many jobs in construction, like engineering, digital modelling, and planning – not just building. It was also cool to see how the industry is trying to get more women involved through scholarships and things like the Florence magazine. I learned a lot and it made me think more about future careers. I am overly grateful to Stephen Edwards Construction and Pymble Ladies’ College for the wonderful opportunity and everything I was able to experience and take away from the day”. –

Peita Christofis (Year 10)

Year 10 Strengths and Skills Day

The Strengths and Skills Day was run on Wednesday 7 May with all Year 10 students engaged in workshops and activities to unpack their Clifton Strengths Student Profiles and understand how to effectively communicate their strengths to others.

Further information will be reported back on the event next week from student reflections of their learning.

Thank you to Fiona D’Souza for leading this event and to the Upper School for their support in its planning and delivery.

Kim Maksimovic

Director of Futures and Partnerships (K-12)