From the Junior School

Kindness in Our Community

Today, four of our Year 5 Kindness Captains Charlotte, Sofiyah, Kate and Ellie were fortunate to attend the Children’s Kindness Convention co-hosted by Mosman Prep and Queenwood. This is the fourth year of the Convention and we are very proud of how it is now being hosted by other schools both in Sydney and interstate as it was something Pymble initiated to bring Year 5 students together to think of ways kindness can lead change in our world. Author Deborah Abela who wrote The Kindness Project surprised the children by coming to the Convention and giving them feedback on the initiatives they came up with throughout the day.

Over the last four years, approximately 500 Year 5 students have come together through the Conventions to ideate solutions for social/environmental issues they see in the world and to plan ways to advocate for positive change.

Windows into Learning

Tomorrow, we are thrilled to welcome our Year 2 families to our “Windows into Learning” event. The girls will be actively engaging in a reading activity alongside their parents, followed by an insightful spelling lesson focusing on the ‘oy’ and ‘oi’ digraphs, both making the /oy/ sound. To conclude their “Windows into Learning” experience, our Year 2 girls will enjoy a book during ‘crunch and sip’, before delving into their Maths lesson where they’ll explore the connection between arrays and finding the area of quadrilaterals.

K-2 Athletics Carnival

A huge congratulations to all our Kindergarten to Year 2 girls who showcased their vibrant Pymble spirit at their Athletics Carnival yesterday! The girls ran, jumped, and threw with boundless enthusiasm. Their incredible encouragement of one another and the sheer courage they displayed in ‘having a go’ were truly commendable. We’re extremely proud of every single one of them.

Podcasts Are Coming!

We’ve heard your feedback loud and clear! We’re excited to announce that we are looking to create podcasts or short videos that reflect the rich learning shared through our Parent Academic and Wellbeing Series. To kick things off, we are currently producing a podcast that delves into the profound power of sport and ‘risky play’ on children’s academic, social, and emotional development. We’ll be sharing the link to this inaugural podcast with you all in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Introducing the DREAM Diploma

Next year, with the highly anticipated opening of our new Year 5 and 6 learning areas, we are thrilled to be introducing the DREAM Diploma. In partnership with Cambridge, this innovative initiative will offer our girls unique academic, social, and emotional challenges throughout Years 5 and 6 as they work towards achieving this special ‘Diploma’.

The Diploma is founded on five core concepts:

DARE: Dare to seek out challenge and hold yourselves accountable for your learning journey.
REACH: Reach as high as you can and push yourselves beyond your comfort zone.
EXPERIENCE: Experience a diverse range of activities that are new, exciting, or sometimes even a little daunting.
ADVOCATE: Advocate for the things that truly matter to you and take meaningful steps to be a change-maker.
MASTER: Master new skills by working tenaciously on the goals you set for yourself.

Our partnership with Cambridge will significantly enhance the girls’ global-mindedness through research and exploration of the United Nations Global Sustainability Goals. Other exciting new opportunities will include an engineering challenge thoughtfully designed by our Head of STEM, increased chances for advocacy and service, and some very engaging short-term workshops led by our dedicated Year 6 teachers.

Through their DREAM Diploma journey, we genuinely hope the girls will see themselves as true agents of their own learning. Our aim is for them to leave the Diploma program with a profound sense of purpose and determination, ready to continue driving their learning journey as they transition into Middle School.

We would love to invite parent feedback on the Dream Diploma as we continue to work towards the launch of this exciting program next year. A portal notice will be shared in the coming days for parents to register their interest in participating in focus groups.

Pyjama Day

Earlier this term, some incredibly passionate Year 6 girls approached me with a heartfelt plea: to advocate for the re-tuning of the piano at Bowden Brae Nursing Home. The girls beautifully explained how much they loved playing music for the elders, but that the piano was desperately in need of repair and tuning. Demonstrating incredible initiative, the girls already had a plan! They would organise a fundraising day, working with the SRC, to make it a special Pyjama Day for the whole school.

I am so very proud to share that, thanks to their efforts, the girls have collectively raised an outstanding $1195! This fantastic sum will be donated to tune the piano and provide engaging games and resources for the girls to use with the elders at Bowden Brae.

A huge well done to Tessie, Natalie, Sana, Candice, Isabella, Lena, Anaiya, Eadie, Sunny and Summer for your fabulous advocacy and genuine kindness towards the Bowden Brae elders.

Here’s what some of them had to say:

Natalie: “It was important to us to have the piano tuned as the elders love hearing music and it makes them feel happy.”
Summer: “I love going to Bowden Brae and building friendships and connections with the elders so this was really important to me.”
Candice: “Someday we will all be old, and I know simple acts of kindness like this make a difference and also hopefully inspire future generations.”
Anaiya: “The music from the piano will give the elders joy and something to look forward to.”
Sana: “A small action like this can have a big impact on other people. It was important to me to get people to join us to make a difference.”
Tessie: “At Pymble, we are focused on respect, and I think this is important to show respect and kindness to the elders of Bowden Brae.”

Good Luck, Hindson Chamber Strings!

Our talented Hindson Chamber Strings ensemble is competing in an Eisteddfod next Monday, 16 June, and we wish them all the very best of luck with their performance! I was incredibly lucky to listen to their rehearsal last week, and they sounded absolutely sensational. Honestly, if I closed my eyes, I would have thought I was listening to our Secondary students playing together – they are truly outstanding.

Around the Grounds

A Message from Our Kindness Captains

From Sooin, Nouvelle, Christina, and Isabella, our Year 5 Kindness Captains:

We’ve now achieved 2687 acts of service, and we’re still going strong! We’re so excited to announce that we are now challenging ourselves to complete a whopping 5000 acts of service as a Junior School. Get ready to help us reach our goal!

A Message from Matt Tyson, Head of Sport K-6

Last week, I had the privilege of speaking with parents about the important topic of Sport and Risky Play, highlighting the myriad benefits these activities have on the holistic development of children. Among the various areas of growth that sport profoundly influences, two stand out in particular: the cultivation of confidence and resilience in our school-aged children.

Engaging in sports provides children with invaluable opportunities to set and achieve goals, bravely overcome challenges, and experience both the exhilaration of success and the lessons of failure within a supportive and encouraging environment. These experiences contribute significantly to building robust self-confidence, as children learn what they are truly capable of and gain positive recognition from their peers and coaches. Furthermore, the often unpredictable nature of sport inherently teaches resilience; children must adapt to setbacks, persist through difficulty, and develop essential coping strategies when things don’t go exactly as planned.

Ultimately, consistent participation in sport deeply encourages children to believe in themselves and to confidently bounce back from adversity. This lays a strong foundation for personal growth and a positive self-concept that extends well beyond the playing field and into all aspects of their lives.

Please feel free to reach out to Mr Matt Tyson, Head of Sport K-6 mtyson@pymblec.nsw.edu.au for more information on how to get your daughter involved with Sport at Pymble.

A Message from Rachel Kingsell, K-6 PDHPE Co-ordinator

Our Health lessons this term for Year 3 and 4 have been focusing on introducing the wonderful Butterfly Body Bright program. Developed by the Butterfly Foundation, this program aims to foster a positive sense of body image and self-esteem in our girls, while encouraging them to appreciate and celebrate their bodies and all that they do. It’s truly helping to build body confidence and a genuine appreciation for each girl’s unique body.

Throughout the unit, we explore six key lessons, forming the acronym B.R.I.G.H.T.:

B – Being Brave: Standing strong in our bodies against appearance-based teasing.
R – Resilient: Developing resilience in our bodies.
I – Inclusive: Fostering an appreciation and acceptance of difference.
G – Grateful: Being grateful for what our bodies can do, and learning not to compare ourselves with others.
H – Happy: Embracing joyful movement, learning to love moving our bodies, and understanding that not all activity has to be competitive.
T – Thoughtful: Using thoughtful language and nurturing a positive attitude toward eating.

We continue to build on these themes during our Health units in Year 5 and 6, drawing on the language and ideas to consolidate the girls’ learning. If you would like to learn more about the program, please click here to access details about each lesson and its specific focus. There are also links to the Butterfly Foundation website, offering more valuable information and resources for families to use at home.

Our PDHPE lessons consistently focus on supporting our girls to enjoy movement, have fun, and develop the confidence and resilience required to try new things. We diligently teach the girls fundamental movement skills, enabling them to apply these abilities to various game scenarios and, hopefully, inspiring them to confidently try a new sport or co-curricular activity.

For Semester 1, our K-2 girls have focused on Gymnastics, Dance, and Athletics, while our Year 3-6 students have been immersed in team games involving throwing and catching, Athletics, and Dance.

The K-2 girls have worked incredibly hard to improve their strength, flexibility, and skills across various gymnastics apparatus. They’ve thoroughly enjoyed fun and inclusive circuits that have allowed them to refine both their gymnastics and fundamental movement skills.

In Dance lessons, our Year 3-6 girls have been learning set dances and actively practising and modifying them in small groups. The girls have truly impressed us, not only with their dancing ability but also with their wonderful willingness to ‘give it a go’ and simply have fun with the activities. We’ve seen outstanding displays of teamwork, collaboration, and kindness in action as they’ve encouraged and motivated their groups to successfully learn their dances.

Our Athletics unit has been instrumental in preparing all our K-6 girls for their participation in the Junior School Athletics Carnivals. It has been truly wonderful to witness the girls developing their fitness and their sheer determination to improve, particularly in the track events. It was great to see the K-2 girls showcase their skills at the athletics carnival yesterday, and we eagerly look forward to seeing the Year 3-6 girls showcase their abilities at their upcoming carnival!

A Message from Mr Stephen Robinson, Deputy Head of Junior School – Operations

Junior School Canteen Helpers 

We’d love your support in the Junior School Canteen! Please click here if you can volunteer your time.

For the care and safety of all our girls, it is essential that all volunteers hold a current Working With Children Check (WWC) number. If we don’t already have your WWC on file, please email your WWC number and date of birth to juniorschool@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au so we can verify it. Your help makes a real difference!

A Message from Our Performing Arts Teachers

You are warmly invited to join us for the Year 5 Showcase, a truly special event celebrating the creativity of our students!

The Showcase will take place on Wednesday, 18 June 2025 at 1.30 PM in John Reid Hall. This year’s inspiring theme, “Why Not?”, invites students to reflect on the immense power of possibility and the vital importance of imagination in shaping the world around them.

Through an engaging blend of dance, drama, and diverse creative expression, our students have worked collaboratively to craft a performance that not only challenges limitations but also passionately celebrates potential. We would be absolutely delighted for you to attend this wonderful occasion, as we come together to recognise the creativity, growth, and enthusiasm of our talented Year 5 learners. We can’t wait to see you there!

Date: Wednesday 18 June 2025
Time: 1.30 PM
Venue: John Reid Hall

Dates Week 6 and Week 7

Saturday 13 June IPSHA Saturday sport

Important Dates for Diary

Friday 27 June Last day of Term 2

Tuesday 22 July First day of Term 3

From the PPA

PPA Trivia Night 2025 – What a Success!

What a fabulous night for our parent community! Parents from across the College from K to 12 enjoyed an evening of trivia, prizes, games, fundraising and dancing. Our theme this year was “Time Travel” which inspired incredible creativity in costumes and table decorations.

It was our biggest and most successful Trivia Night with over 280 attendees and $20,000 raised. The funds will go towards staff development programmes, teacher appreciation initiatives and facilities benefiting students.

We had an amazing group of parents on the Trivia Night organising committee who planned the event with much enthusiasm and dedication. The parent community showed wonderful support through generous donations, raffle ticket purchases and bidding on live and silent auction items. We are also very grateful for the generous donations from local businesses.

Special thanks to Dr Hadwen, Mrs Brown and Kurtis Mathews (Head Diving Coach and Olympian) for their fantastic auction contributions. A very special thanks also to Natalie Lowndes and the Community Engagement team for working right alongside us in organising this event and contributing very popular Pymble items for the silent auction.

There was such a great atmosphere at this event and everyone is already looking forward to Trivia Night 2026!