From the Junior School
From the Head of Junior School
A joyful weekend of stories and music!
Thank you to all of you who attended the College Icebreaker on Friday evening. What a glorious evening we shared! It was lovely to chat to so many of you and to meet so many new families. I am sorry if I didn’t manage to get to chat with you on the evening and I hope to be able to chat with you soon.
A huge thank you to all of you who brought your daughters to Band Camp on the weekend and a special thank you to all of you who volunteered and helped with the logistics of this event. These events are not possible without your support- thank you!
Mrs Bird and I had a wonderful time listening to the girls’ practise and perform on Sunday and it’s fabulous to see them so passionate about their music. For many of our girls this was their first performance, so they were extremely courageous in sharing their emerging skills with our parent audience.
An enormous thank you to Mr Kurt Schweinberger, Deputy Director of Co-Curricular Performing Arts, who led this opportunity for our Junior School girls with Mrs Maria Lee, Miss Ellen Buckley, Miss Tiffany Farlow, Mrs Narelle Colby, Mrs Sarah Turner, Mrs Julie Hare and our many music tutors.
Junior School Parent Group – Self and Service
Thank you to all of you who attended our first JSPG meeting of the year. It’s always a good chance to catch up and share stories and I am always so grateful by the number of you who give up your time to support these events.
For those of you who were unable to attend, Mrs Lara Bird provided an overview of the new English and Mathematics curriculum with these key points to note:
- 2023 –new K-2 English and Mathematics Syllabuses implemented in all NSW schools.
- 2024 – Years 3-6 new English and Mathematics Syllabuses will be implemented.
- Parent Academic Series
- Term 1 Week 6 – Being a Junior Mathematician – on campus
- Term 2 – Transitioning to Middle School
I spoke about our focus this term on ‘Self and Service’. Our Term 1 focus is on Kindness to Self and I’ve chatted with the girls about how important it is to know yourself and to value all that you are and all that you bring to each day and each opportunity. Please watch the video below to view a short animation by picture book author and illustrator, Peter Reynolds.
When we have self-assurance we can embrace each new experience as a chance to learn and grow. When we are happy being ourselves, we can understand that mistakes in learning are inevitable and a chance to challenge our thinking and grow. When we are kind to ourselves, we can show true kindness to others and embrace opportunities to make new friends from outside our existing social circle or culture. When we are happy being who we are we can go out into the world and make a positive impact.
Our Kindness Captains, SRC Captains and Sustainability Captains have been working on their launch of our Junior School Service mission for the term. On Tuesday 4 April 2023, each girl across K-6 will work in her House group to create a postcard to welcome refugees. This is part of the Student Rebuild project where the Bezos Family Foundation are giving $5 to humanitarian agencies supporting refugees around the world for each postcard they receive designed by a child before 9 June 2023. We hope to raise almost $4000 as a Junior School through this initiative led by our girls. Our Kindness Captains for Semester 1, Melanie Xu and Eden Ni, are going to extend the challenge to our Secondary School in the hope that as a College we can raise even more money and awareness for children and young people who are displaced from their homes.
Our swimmers and divers
I was very proud to cheer on our swimmers and divers at the ISPHA Swimming and Diving Competition this week. The girls swam and dived with Pymble Pride and I was most impressed by their sense of team as they supported one another throughout the day.
Year 1 Visit to the Chapel
How does the organ work?, What sort of sound does it make?, How many years does it take to learn to play the organ?, What are the pipes made of? and How old is the Pymble organ?
These are the many questions that our Year 1 students investigated as we visited the gallery in our Chapel. As part of our Science and Technology unit ‘What’s that sound?’, students listened to Mr Kurt Ison play the organ and were amazed to learn that the organ had over 1000 pipes. Thank you to Mr Kurt Schweinberger for organising such an exciting experience for the girls. During class, we also learnt about the various instruments in the orchestra, including instruments from the woodwind, brass, string and percussion families.
A message from Mrs Lara Bird, Deputy Head of Junior School – Academics
On Thursday, 23 February we launched our academic series for parents with a webinar on “Supporting Reading at Home”. Thank you to our parent community for joining us and for your positive feedback. Here are the suggested texts for our Junior readers referred to in our presentation.
Kindergarten suggested reading list
Years 1 and 2 suggested reading list
In our webinar we also talked about the reading environment, one of my most fond memories of my children when they were young was hearing them read aloud or reading to them curled up together on the sofa. We had a favourite family picture book which was regularly read! We would immerse ourselves in stories, travel to faraway lands, talk about the different characters, their traits and the problem or problems found within the story. We would even change the ending to a story or add in additional characters from other stories we had read!
Please find a selection of questions that you may want to ask your daughter when reading together. We hope this selection of questions provide opportunities for your daughter to build a strong understanding of texts read and also encourage rich conversations about literature.
Academic Series for Parents – Being a Junior Mathematician
On Thursday, 9 March the Junior School will be hosting “Being a Junior Mathematician”. This presentation will be held on campus in John Reid Hall from 6.00pm to 7.00pm. Parents will hear how Mathematics is taught in the Junior School, learn about the structure and content of the new K-2 Mathematics Syllabus, and the proposed 3-6 Mathematics Syllabus to be taught in NSW schools in 2024. There will be stations set up for parents to participate in hands on activities that encourage mathematical reasoning, problem solving, critical and creative thinking as well as experience how concrete materials are an important tool used in the teaching of Mathematics. Parents will be provided information on the flexible strategies used to solve addition and subtraction problems. If you would like to attend this event, please register using this link.
Academic Opportunities
Throughout the year there will be opportunities for our Junior School girls to participate in various opportunities and competitions. They may have an academic focus, encourage passions and interests or develop leadership skills and may involve a whole year group or a small group of students. Set out below are some of the current opportunities for the girls.
OzKidsinPrint – Kindergarten to Year 6
Calling all budding writers, poets and artists who would like to see their work published!
Girls in Kindergarten to Year 6 are invited to submit short stories, artwork or poetry as part of the OzKids in Print Competition. Student work may be chosen to be printed in the OzKids magazine throughout the year or selected as an overall winner. Entries close September 2023. For more information please visit: https://ozkids.com.au Girls are asked to submit work to Mrs Lara Bird, Deputy Head of Junior School –Academics, who will upload work on behalf of students.
National History Challenge – Years 4 to 6
The National History Challenge is a research based competition for Australian students. The 2023 theme for the challenge is “Change and Continuity”. There are eight special categories students can enter: Australia’s Wartime Experiences, Democracy Matters, History of Sport, Indigenous History, Australian Women’s History, Using Primary Sources, Asia and Australia and Museum Exhibit. The theme “Change and Continuity” needs to be incorporated in the special category entry.
Entries are to be submitted online before 25 August 2023. If your daughter is interested in undertaking research work as a historian, please email Lara Bird, Deputy Head of Junior School – Academics at lbird@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au
HARK Refugee Clinic
As part of the College’s focus on service, we will be supporting HARK Refugee Clinic at the Children’s Hospital Westmead. We are seeking donations of new stationery items to assist students at school. This could include lead or coloured pencils, pencil cases, pens, textas, exercise books, scissors and other small stationery items. These items can be brought to school by your daughter or dropped at the Junior School offices. If you have any questions, please email kgiles@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au. We thank you for helping support this initiative.
PJ Factor – Years 3 to 6
In 2023, the annual Junior School PJ Factor will be held in Term 4 and will be in a different format. As part of the College Let’s Get Creative Day, students will have the opportunity to showcase their talents and skills for their peers. Dates and further information will be communicated to students in their Junior School PA/ Music lessons and via the College Newsletter.
Uniform and Appearance
All students are expected to wear their uniform correctly and with pride. Uniforms cannot be mixed with each season. Junior School has a strict ‘no hat no play policy’, please ensure your daughter has her bucket play hat at school every day. The navy ‘P’ cap is only to be used for sport not PE lessons or in the playground. The Junior School raincoat should be packed in your daughter’s school bag every day. Please make sure that your daughter’s uniform is named.
Jewellery: please note that we are doing lots of checks of uniform and particularly jewellery this week as we’re noticing lots of girls wearing jewellery which is not permitted by our College rules. If your daughter comes to school wearing earrings or jewellery which is not permitted, we will confiscate this jewellery and keep it safe until the end of the school day.
Please refer to pages 32 and 33 of your daughter’s student diary for further information.
Car line
Parents are reminded that parking along the LOWER Road is not permitted at any time.
Please be aware that girls arriving before 7.45am must attend Out of School Hours Care. Our playgrounds are not supervised before 7.45am.
From 7.45am, staff will be in attendance at car line and in the playgrounds. Students in Kindergarten to Year 6 may enter grade spaces to put their belongings in their lockers.
Please do not arrive before 2.30pm in the afternoon. Girls are escorted to car line after the conclusion of the school day at 2.45pm. We do our best to ensure drop off and pick up is a smooth process but we need your help! Please be patient with the queues at the start of this term and please only arrive at the set times. Once co-curricular activities start, car line becomes much quicker.
Parents are reminded to remain in their car for the safety of both girls and adults and to assist with traffic flow. If you are delayed in collecting your daughter please be reassured that she will be taken to Out of School Hours Care until your arrival.
Our Week in Learning
From the Junior School Parent Group (JSPG)
It was lovely to see our new and existing families at our PPA College Icebreaker last Friday night. Thank you to the PPA and Community Engagement for organising a wonderful night outdoors on the beautiful Gloucester Lawn under the stars!
Please join us for our New Parents’ High Tea on Thursday 23 March from 10.00am to 12.30pm. This will be held in the Jeanette Buckham Gymnasium (Centenary Precinct). Please note that parking is available in the Centenary Carpark. All new parents and carers, as well as those in Year 7, are welcome to attend. Dr Hadwen, members of the PPA and key academic staff, will be attending. Please refer to the newsletter (Community Engagement section) and MyPymble app for details.
We are looking forward to our JSPG Pedal Your Smoothie fundraising event on Wednesday 29 March for Years 2 to 6. This is a much-loved event for our girls, who pedal exercise bikes to blend their choice of smoothies. There is a dairy-free berry smoothie and a banana smoothie, as well as Pump flavoured water.
Thank you to our Year 5 parent convenors: Leah Deutscher, Edwina Burns and Stephanie Yu. Proceeds from the day will be donated to the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter.
To order your daughter a ticket, please go to the MyPymble app. Tickets are $7.50 each.
For those who missed the JSPG Semester 1 Meeting, here is a video recording of the event:
We are very excited to announce that we have just (this moment!) secured the date of Saturday 6 May for our Family Fun Day and Movie Night. Please save the date! The Family Fun Day is the biggest Junior School social event of the year and it was a much-loved day in the last few years. This year we are going to focus on family values and building connections across our Junior School families by downsizing to more of a picnic, old-fashioned games and BBQ-style event (with a reduced entry price). We are in the very early stages of planning and if you have any thoughts about what you would like to see, please send your thoughts to pymblelcjspg@gmail.com
We have two year group events coming up for Year 1. There is a Year 1 Mums’ Night Out on Wednesday 15 March from 7.00pm at The Governor Hotel and Year 1 Dads’ Night Out on Thursday 23 March from 7.00pm at The Greengate Hotel.
There is also a KD class park play date coming up on 4th March from 10am to 12pm at St Ives Village Playground.
Please see the attached flyers for more information.
Hope you have a wonderful week.
JSPG Relationship Leaders
Key Dates
| Monday 6 March – Friday 17 March | Duckling Hatchlings visit Kindergarten girls |
| Tuesday 7 March | Young Leaders Convention |
| Wednesday 8 March | International Women’s Day |
| Thursday 9 March | Australian Reading Hour – 9.30am |
| Thursday 9 March | Academic Series: Being a Junior Mathematician – John Reid Hall 6.00pm – 7.00pm |
| Tuesday 14 March | Year 4 Author Visit |
| Wednesday 15 March | Year 2 NSW Schoolhouse Museum Excursion |
| Wednesday 15 -Friday 17 March | NAPLAN – Years 3 and 5 |
Kate Brown
Head of Junior School