From the Junior School

From the Head of Junior School

It’s wonderful to be back and to hear all the many varied adventures our Junior School girls have had over the holiday break. For those who travelled, I hope you had safe journeys and I hope those who visited family and loved ones far away have come home with special memories of precious family time. I enjoyed glorious, long days over in England with all my family and set up our eldest daughter, Hannah, ready to begin her psychology studies at University over in England. I’ve come back to school feeling energised and ready for the challenge of a new term and it’s evident our girls are similarly prepared for their new term and new learning challenges.

Our Kindergarten girls enjoyed yarning about their holidays and used wool to show the connections between the things they did over the holiday.  Year 6 have been reciting classic poems they have chosen to learn, and I was thrilled that Arianna Ng, Wendy Wei, Charlie Sadler and Grace Jacobs came up to share their poems with Mrs Davey and me at lunchtime. Year 2 are also exploring poems and I’m excited to watch their passion for poetry grow.

I was lucky enough to start my morning in Year 1T and was delighted to hear the girls unpack their understanding of their kindness focus for the day ‘being kind to myself’ as they begin their learning adventures this term:

I can be kind to myself by not being mean to myself when I get something wrong. I can just try again – Penelope Lam

I can not get cross with myself when it’s hard – Luci de Bilde

I can remember that when I am making mistakes I am learning and growing – Isabella Isaac

Mrs Bird and I also enjoyed listening to a group of our Sokratis Junior students, Zoe Ababio, Maisie Borg and Nadya Faheem (Year 3) talking about their passion for their project which is centred around their research question: How did scientists research objects in the past without technology? The girls explained how much they have enjoyed the freedom to research an area of interest, to collaborate and share their findings, ideas and wonderings and how they are loving the chance to determine how they present all the information they have already collated.

This term we are lucky to welcome 9 new families to our Junior School and we extend a warm welcome and hug to these girls and their families: Celine Huang (Kindergarten), Emilia Stead (Year 1), Evelyn Chiu (Year 2) and sister Genevieve Chiu (Year 4), Melissa Wang (Year 2), Kelsie Huang (Year 3), Queenie Jia (Year 5), Moxuan Zhang (Year 3) and sister Moyan Zhang (Year 5). Please join me in making these families settle into our community and to feel connected as soon as possible.

Congratulations – a new baby in our Junior School community

Mrs Lexi Phillips and her husband, Nick welcomed their second daughter, Penelope to the world on 14^th July 2023. Penelope is utterly gorgeous and much loved by her parents and her big sister, Arabella.

Kindness focus for Term 3

This term our focus is on Kindness to the Environment. I am delighted to be leading this focus with our new Kindness Captains for Semester 2, Jessamy Facer and Amna Syed. As they explained they are looking forward to being role models for our younger girls and inspiring and empowering them to lead with kindness in our world. They were passionate in their hope that one day no unkind world will ever be spoken in their world. Amna and Jessamy are passionate about the environment; Amna is keen to inspire us all to think about reducing (or eliminating) plastics in the ocean and Jessamy would like us to do more to protect the bees as our survival depends on bees as our major pollinators.

Each week Jessamy and Amna will appear in our newsletter with a kindness thought and/or challenge for the week. Please encourage your daughter to reflect on the thought or participate in the challenge as we look to grow our girls as leaders in their communities through kindness.

Kindness Captains’ Thought for the Week: ‘Think before you do’

Kindness Captains’ Challenge for the Week: Pick up one piece of rubbish this week

In their words:

‘If the world would stop and listen to children about the power of kindness, all the unkindness in our world would stop and it would be a better place for us all.’

This term the girls will unpack Kindness to the Environment through 4 facts:

1. I can reduce, reuse and recycle
2. I can bring nude food to school
3. I can pick up litter
4. I can use less water

Alice Wu and Oliva Guo (Year 5) have kindly volunteered to work on creating posters for each of these facts which will then be shared with all grades throughout the Junior School.

Plastic Free July – an initiative led by our Sustainability and Kindness Captains

As we commence our focus on kindness to the environment our Sustainability Captains. Oriana Fenton and Richielynne Xiong and our Kindness Captains are working under the leadership of Mrs Kate Giles to launch Plastic Free July which invites us all to choose to refuse to use one single use plastic in our daily lives. This initiative encourages us all to make small changes so that together we can have a huge and positive impact on our planet.

Watch this short video which introduces this global initiative.

We now have a fabulously bright and colourful cow in our K-2 courtyard (special thanks to Mrs Lara Bird and Mr Steve Robinson who painted her over the holiday) who represents our focus on kindness and each of our College Houses. Kindness the Cow will stand proudly in our K-2 courtyard as a visual reminder of our Junior School focus on kindness.

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.

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.

Reminder ICAS Competition – Years 3-6

Junior School girls in Years 3-6 are offered the opportunity to participate in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS).  Not all schools enter these competitions, and some schools enter only their high achieving students. The results do not form part of our formal assessment program.  If you would like to enter your daughter to participate in these voluntary competitions, please refer to the portal notice. Registration closes on Friday 21 July.

Sokratis Junior – What matters to me

Students who are participating in Sokratis Junior will be finalising their research on their chosen topic and preparing for their presentation in Term 4. Students are reminded to attend the weekly Sokratis Jr research sessions in the Year 5 Learning Café. Girls will be informed at the beginning of term when their research session will take place.

Curiosus Magazine

Calling all writers and editors in Years 2-6.  Girls are invited to contribute towards the Spring Edition of Curiosus Magazine. Information will be presented to girls in Assembly in Week 2. Curiosus Magazine is led by Year 6 students and is printed each term.

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: Approximately 50 minutes

Tickets sales: to be posted on MyPymble next week.

Further information will be provided by Miss Farlow via the portal regarding hair requirements for this event.

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)

Welcome to Term 3! We hope all our junior school families had a happy and restful holiday break.

We are looking forward to a busy and fun-filled term.

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

Monday 24 July	Emmy and Friends for Year 1
Tuesday 25 July	Catch up Photo Day
Tuesday 25 July	Years 5 to 12 NAIDOC Assembly 1.30pm
Wednesday 26 July to Friday 28 July	Year 6 OEP Group 1 Glenworth Valley
Wednesday 26 July	Years 5 and 6 Maths Olympiad
Wednesday 26 July	Years 3 and 4 Maths Explorer
Thursday 27 July	Year 5 and 6 da Vinci Decathlon
Friday 28 July	Year 6 OEP Group 1 Glenworth Valley
Monday 31 July	Emmy and Friends for Year 1 – Consent education program
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
Saturday 5 August	JSPG K-2 Parent Daughter Dance
	**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