From the Junior School

From the Head of Junior School

Welcome to Term 3. It’s been fabulous to see the girls back at school and bringing the magic of their smiles and joy for learning. This term, we extend a warm welcome to Leia Bennetts (Year 1), Georgia and Isla Coupland and Gemma Shum (Year 2), Mia Yuan and Ananya Agrawal (Year 3), Harriet Cheung and Joy Hong (Year 5), Chloe Zhang, Vedha Choudhary, Melanni Baker, Jessica Parker and Shushu Zhang (Year 6) and their families, who have joined our Junior School family. I look forward to getting to know you all over the coming weeks.

We ended Term 2 with our spectacular STEAM Festival, and we have started this term with the magic of creativity as we all engaged in the writing extravaganza led by Mrs Bird. I am so proud of the opportunities we offer our girls to extend their thinking and show them the fun there is to have with academic challenge and new experiences. I am delighted to say that through their STEAM marketplace, this year the girls raised a staggering $6,301 that will go towards STEM kits which we will deliver to the HARK Refugee Clinic to support children and bring the magic of learning to families who have left their homes and lives through trauma. This is an improvement on last year’s total of $5,577.

Watching the girls engage with the scenes they saw as they arrived at school on Tuesday and hearing their wonder about how and why the teddies, hot air balloon and other items had ‘landed’ in our Junior School reminded me of the power there is in letting children’s imaginations run wild. Often in the fast pace of our digital and consumer-focused world, we inadvertently encourage children to grow up too quickly. Too often, children don’t have the opportunity to lose themselves in the magic of imaginary worlds, yet there is such power to be had from exploring different ideas and unknown situations. Imagination and imaginary play enable children to shape and try new ideas and possibilities out of bits of existing knowledge. Imagination allows children to challenge their thinking, therefore helping their cognitive development.

This week we have gone for gold with our athletics carnivals – bring on the Olympics as our Pymble girls brought their passion for sport and house with gusto! The girls ran fast, jumped hard and gave each activity their absolute best. A special shout out to our Year 6 House Captains who led by example. In true Pymble spirit, some of the House Captains noticed a younger girl upset on the morning of the Year 3 to 6 Carnival and immediately sprang into action and encouraged her to play a game of dog bingo with them and me in Hedgehog House, ensuring that the little girl started her day with laughter and joy. #PymbleProud!

A message from Lara Bird, Deputy Head of Junior School – Academics

Unleash your imagination – Junior School Writing Extravaganza

On their first day of term, Junior School girls excitedly participated in a writing extravaganza, where the playground was transformed into an imaginary world. This event not only sparked their imagination but highlighted the importance of writing as a powerful tool for self expression, communication and learning. Across Kindergarten to Year 6, on a daily basis, our girls are given opportunities to consolidate, develop or extend their existing writing skills.

Learning to write is a complex process encompassing cognitive, physical and cultural dimensions (Daffern, Mackenzie & Hemmings, 2017). Writing is good for mental health; it strengthens executive functions and encourages reflection and self-awareness. Writing is an integral part of learning in the Junior School and is undertaken across all subject areas where the girls learn to compose a range of texts to meet different purposes, audiences and subject-specific content. This enables them to build their ability to not only think, but write across a range of disciplines.

Writing is the act of conveying creative ideas, stories, and information through words, a skill essential for the girls as they journey through Pymble. By writing, the girls invite the reader into their world, to share experiences, whether real or imagined. Independent writing cultivates various skills including creativity and organisation. Through writing activities in the Junior School, the girls are able to clarify what they think, experiment with expression as well as articulate their own ideas. They learn to adapt their writing to suit the different purposes of texts including persuasive, informative and imaginative.

Writing also has a strong relationship with oral language and reading. Through reading a range of texts and genres, not only does it provide exposure to coherent and cohesive text structures and sophisticated language choices, but also stimulates ideas for the girls when composing their own written texts. The girls are also exposed to different grammatical structures, sentence structures and vocabulary. Through our library programs, the girls are provided opportunities to learn the skills of writing with our visiting authors. Our Year 5 girls are also working with Kate Temple, our author in residence, to hone their skills as writers.

By creating this whole school writing extravaganza, we hope to continue to foster a love of storytelling and enable the girls to increasingly view themselves as writers and authors.

OzKids in Print – Writing and Art Competition

If your daughter would like to enter a short story, poem or artwork into the OzKids in Print Competition, please contact Lara Bird, Deputy Head of Junior School – Academic, at lbird@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au. Entries will be closed for submission on Friday 30 August (Week 6). Please include a title with any short story or poem submitted. For any artwork submitted, please include a title and a brief description of the artwork. (For more information, please click here.)

Wellbeing Weekly – Kate Giles, Head of Wellbeing K-6

Parent Wellbeing Series

This term we will be holding two workshops in our Parent Wellbeing Series. The first of these will be held on Thursday 1 August at 7.45am in the Junior School Library. The session will focus on supporting your daughter with her friendships, particularly in a digital world where girls are interacting with each other online. I will be leading this session with Emma Davenport, Year 6 Co-ordinator. Parents of all students from Kindergarten to Year 6 are welcome to attend. Please sign up using this link.

A message from Mr Robinson – Acting Deputy Head of Junior School – Operations

Afternoon Departure Procedures

It is vitally important that students are well supervised in the afternoon and that the College is aware of student movement so we can support students and ensure their safety.

Grey House Walk: Students who exit the campus via Grey House Walk must do so with a parent or carer. If they are meeting the parent on the street, or walking to a nearby house, they must carry an authorised Grey House Pass provided by the Junior School office. Students who do not have a pass will need to wait with the teacher or at the Junior School office for later collection.
Collection Via Grandview Street: Students in Years 3 to 6 who wish to be collected from Grandview Street or walk home to a nearby residence will from Term 3 be required to carry a Grandview Street Pass. This will be shown to the Junior School teacher on duty at the station overpass. Students without a pass will return with the teacher to the Junior School for later collection.

Name badges: All students in the Junior School are expected to wear a name badge as part of their uniform. At the beginning of the year, the College provides all students with two name badges free of cost. In the event that these become damaged or lost, students will be provided with a replacement, with the cost of $10.50 charged to student accounts.

Lunch Orders: We are excited to see changes to the Junior School lunchtime menu, with the launch of a Junior School-specific Flexischool site from Term 3. This new offering includes cold drinks and frozen treats available for all students K-6 each Friday. We are also seeking the support of family members to support sorting lunch orders and serve cold food items throughout Term 3. If you are able to assist, please sign up via this link.

A message from Tiffany Farlow – Performing Arts Teacher

We are excited to announce a drawing competition for Year 1 and 2 students, based on the musical Porridge!

Students are encouraged to create an original piece of artwork at home, using any medium, on A4 or A3-sized paper. The artwork must be the student’s own work, completed without any help from parents or siblings. On the back of the artwork, please ensure the student’s full name, age and class are written.

Additionally, on the back of the artwork in pencil, include a title and a short description explaining how the artwork relates to Porridge. All entries must be submitted to Ms Farlow by tomorrow, Friday 26 July. The top three artworks will receive prizes, and finalists will have their artwork proudly displayed in the Junior School. We can’t wait to see the creative and original pieces our students will produce!

Term 3 2024 Key Dates – Week 1 and 2

Friday 26 July – Catch up photo day

Friday 26 July – IPSHA Debating

Saturday 27 July – IPSHA Saturday Sport commences for Term 3

Monday 29 July to Friday 2 August – NAIDOC Week

Monday 29 July – 100 Days of Kindergarten, 11.00am to 1.00pm

Thursday 1 August – Wellbeing Series: Friendships in Digital World, 7.45am

Friday 2 August – Jeans for Genes – Years 2 to 6 sausage sizzle (pre-paid)