From the Junior School

From the Junior School

From the Head of Junior School

My school – a reflection on our school and the learning day by our girls

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to spend time with some of our Year 6 girls at Bowden Brae Aged Care home and whilst I was there, I had a heartfelt chat with Mrs Rosalie Ramsay, former Head of Junior School at Pymble Ladies’ College from 1973 to mid 2002, serving 36 years working at Pymble. Rosalie shared her memories and her wisdom as a former Head of School. What stuck with me was Rosalie’s explanation of her highlight as Head of our Junior School:

My highlight was most definitely watching the girls celebrate their learning. I loved it when I could see the girls’ interest spark, when they knew they had learnt something new by themselves or had a new experience.

Each day our girls are learning who they are, what interests them, what matters to them and how they learn. Our girls don’t learn through text books, tests or worksheets. They learn through experiences, through owning their own learning and challenging their thinking and deepening their understanding.

This week I wanted to hand over the newsletter to some of our girls across the Junior School so you could hear from them what life as a Pymble Junior School girl feels like from their perspective:

Kindergarten:

I love that when I read a book it makes me imagine I am in that book. I love our school because it’s kind. I am kind to other people when they are upset – Lily O’Neill

I love Art, drawing cards and being helpful and kind to my friends at school and my family. I also love reading my Moana book – Zanetor Nanewortor

I like to learn and I love learning digraphs. I also love playing my violin and building with Lego – Stella Shen

I love Art and drawing unicorns. I also love playing my little piano and my harmonica – Bronte Boulos

Year 1:

I love creating new things that I haven’t even done before. For example, I tried my best recently to draw a realistic horse as I love horses. I also love writing because I learn new words and then try to use them in my stories – Alice Han

I love doing speeches and I’m excited as we got to choose our own topic. I am going to speak about ‘when I grow up’ and I will talk about my hope to become a scientist in Antarctica – Kitty Mae Ruiz del Portal Greene

Year 2:

I love Science because I got to choose to do a project about a famous scientist. I chose Jane Goodall because she’s a woman and she discovered so much in the wild. In the past lots of women have not been recognised so I wanted to choose a woman. – Li-Ya Koo

I also love Science and have chosen to research two astronomers because they wanted to teach everyone about the importance of all planets not just Earth and no one would listen to them. I have also learnt about the significance of the sun as without its energy there would be no life on Earth. – Claire Huang

Year 6: Glenworth Valley

I loved Outdoor Ed. For me, I didn’t really feel homesick because I knew it wasn’t forever! My favourite activity was abseiling. I loved it because there was a risk involved and I was facing my fears. I did the 12m cliff and the 20m cliff. The 20m cliff was my favourite because you had to walk down the cliff before you could abseil. You were connected to a single rope while walking down, then we got connected to other ropes and belayed ourselves down. It involved a lot of self-trust but was completely safe. I love Outdoor Ed so much. It is so much fun. – Aaliyah Khanche

I enjoyed my learning experience at camp immensely, but my all-time favourite activities were definitely horse riding, kayaking, abseiling and bushwalking. I had an awesome time with my friends in my group and the horses. – Madeleine Birrell

What makes a Pymble girl?

I asked girls across the Junior School to describe what makes them a Pymble girl and asked them to finish this statement ‘I am…’ and here are some of their thoughts:

I am brave because I try things even when I’m scared.

I am funny, I make other people laugh.

I am kind and inspiring.

I am talkative and will talk to anyone. I love to talk a lot!

I am not always right about things and that’s ok.

I am creative.

I am a scientist.

I am willing to challenge myself and do really hard stuff.

I am looking for new ways to do things.

I am determined and will keep on trying when I don’t know something. When I get stuck, I think, think, think and then try again.

I am kind to myself and kind to others.

This week’s Kindness message from Semester 2 Kindness Captains, Amna and Jessamy (Year 6) 

Kindness thought for the week: To give an act of kindness costs nothing, but to the receiver it’s worth everything in the world.

Tech Connect – Year 3 Dads and Daughters, Wednesday 30 August – an evening of dancing puppets

FIVE spots remaining **please sign up quickly if you would like to attend **

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.

Congratulations to all our Eisteddfod groups

Dance

Congratulations to our Junior School Lyrical dancers who won at the Sydney Eisteddfod on Sunday and to our Junior School Jazz dancers who placed 3rd. Both teams dazzled in their performances in extremely competitive groups.

Drama

Congratulations to our Junior School drama students who placed 3rd at the Ryde Eisteddfod on the weekend. We are so proud of these girls and their courage and commitment to their craft.

Band

Congratulations to our Jazz Band and our Grainger Band girls. Both Bands placed 1st at the Ryde Eisteddfod. What an amazing achievement, a testament to hard work and dedication by girls and their teachers.

Academic Excellence – Mrs Lara Bird, Deputy Head of Junior School Academics

100 Days of Kindergarten

On Wednesday, 2 August our fabulous Kindergarten girls celebrated 100 Days of Kindergarten. During the first 100 days of learning at Pymble, the girls have learnt about living things, cared for ducklings, investigated push and pull forces, materials and life in the past.  In both English and Mathematics, the girls have been developing strong foundational skills, becoming readers, writers and mathematicians. Well done girls!  We are very proud of you and can’t wait to see where the next 100 days of your learning adventure takes you.

“You’re off to great places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting,

So….. get on your way

~ Dr Seuss

NAPLAN

We are very proud of our girls’ performance in NAPLAN.  NAPLAN Reports have been mailed to parents and you should receive your daughter’s report this week. 

Both Year 3 and Year 5, achieved wonderful academic results:

We had many students who received “exceeding” across all tests which is a phenomenal result. As a school, we don’t ‘teach to the test’ and the format of the tests is different to the way we teach or assess our girls, so our girls have performed exceedingly well. For our Year 3 girls this is the first time they have sat a formal exam and it is scary, so we honour them all. We are proud of the wonderful achievement in our results as the girls completed these tests at the beginning of the year, when they were just settling into their new grade and they showed maturity and responsibility for their learning.

“The more that you read

the more things you will know.

The more that you learn,

the more places you’ll go.

~ Dr Seuss

Embracing Challenge through Academic Competitions

Congratulations to both our Year 5 and Year 6 students who competed in da Vinci Decathlon on Thursday 27 July.  We are very Pymble proud of the girls’ commitment in preparing for this highly competitive academic competition. They participated in lunchtime workshops, learnt to work as a team and faced challenges together. We are also proud of their performance on the day.  Our Year 5 girls were awarded 1st in Art and Poetry, 3rd in English, 2nd in Legacy. Year 5 placed 3rd overall in the competition.

Congratulations to Selina Jiang (Year 6) who entered the Kid News Short Story Competition and received Highly Commended for her story “A desolate world” and to Lily Zhang (Year 5) for having her work published in the “Oz Kids in Print” Magazine, her work “Seasons” is now eligible for the 2023 Young Australian Writer’s Awards. Lily was awarded writing excellence. Well done girls, we are very proud of you for having a go!

Submissions for Oz Kids in Print close on 25 September, if your daughter is a passionate writer, poet or artist, please send her submission (via email) to Mrs Lara Bird. Girls across Kindergarten to Year 6 can submit entries to Oz Kids in Print.

Submission for the Junior School Winter Art Competition and STEM Competition are due end of Week 4. Winners will be announced in assembly in Week 8.  This competition is open to girls in K-6.

National Tree Day- Tree Planting event – Sustainability Club

Sunday 30 July was National Tree Day organised by Planet Ark.Some of our Year 6 Sustainability Club Leaders and their families, alongside some Pymble staff took part in tree planting to regenerate the bush area of Loyal Henry Park in Roseville with Kuring-Gai Council. Thank you so much to Georgia Friedel, Oriana Fenton and Richielynne Xiong for leading the way to make a difference by being kind to our local environment.

Pymble Gives Back – Our Be of Service commitment – led by Mrs Nerissa Davey, Deputy Head of Junior School Operations.

Clothing

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.

HARK Refugee Clinic at Westmead

This week our Kindness and SRC Leaders began packing the hundreds of toiletry items our wonderful Junior School families donated. We thank you for the range of items donated for both boys and girls of various ages, these will be gratefully received by the refugee families whom they are given to.

Call out for more stationery please to help refugee children

Thanks to your donations in Term 2 which have helped so many families. The HARK Refugee Clinic has asked for more stationery packs to assist the children in their care. These stationery packs provide much needed essential school items for the refugee children in their care. If you are able to assist us, please send the following items to the K-2 or 3-6 Admin offices.

Kindy – HB pencils

Year 1 – rulers and sharpeners

Year 2 – erasers and glue sticks

Year 3 – coloured textas

Year 4 – coloured pencils

Year 5 – Pens – black, red and blue

Year 6 – A5 notebooks

Welcoming our new Assistant Chaplains

We are very privileged to have Mrs Edwina O’Brien and Pastor Michaela Antill-Cassie join us as Assistant Chaplains. They delighted the girls in Chapel this week with beautiful[ND1]  singing and guitar playing. We are indeed blessed to have these role models who lead our girls in their faith each week, under the guidance of our wonderful Reverend Bent.

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)

  1. 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.

Year 6 Outdoor Education Program

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)

Years 3 to 5 Parent Daughter Dance – Saturday 19th 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 be 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. If you have any questions or require further information, please email the JSPG at pymblelcjspg@gmail.com

Important Dates for Term 3

Friday 4 AugustJeans for Genes Day Barbecue – Years K-6 bring in a gold coin donation and wear jeans. Sausage sizzle for Years 2-6.
Friday 4 AugustK-6 Author Visit – Kate and Joel Temple
Friday 4 AugustK-2 Play Around the World
Saturday 5 AugustJSPG K-2 Parent Daughter Dance – Mrs Brown, Mrs Davey and Mrs Bird will attend.
Monday 7 AugustEmmy and Friends – Year 1
Monday 7 AugustICAS Assessment – Dig Tech – Year 5 (7.00am to 8.00am)
Tuesday 8 AugustICAS Assessment – Dig Tech – Year 3 (7.00am to 8.00am)
Tuesday 8 AugustYear 1 and Year 2 Concert Rehearsals
Wednesday 9 AugustICAS Assessment – Dig Tech – Year 4 (7.00am to 8.00am)
Wednesday 9 AugustYear 1 and Year 2 Concert for Kindy, 3-6 and filming (10.45am to 1.00pm)
Thursday 10 AugustICAS Assessment – Dig Tech – Year 6 (7.00am to 8.00am)
Thursday 10 August Year 4 State Library online incursion – 2.00pm
Friday 11 AugustYears 1 and 2 Concert for parents – 2.00pm and 5.00pm
 **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