From the Middle School
This week in Middle School we have gone all out to celebrate our wonderful Boarders for Boarders’ Week! The colonnade is awash with symbolic pink and a patchwork collage of images of the girls. We are very fortunate to have 12 Year 7 Boarders and 18 Year 8 Boarders who each enrich our community.
I wanted to share where the girls are from so that we can all acknowledge the diversity of their experiences and celebrate their courage and maturity living away from home: Dubbo, Dunedoo, Moree, Obley, Walcha, Alice Springs, Bilpin, Willoughby, Temora, Quandialla, Bourke, Narromine, Young, Rouchel Brook, Forbes, Walgett, Bentley Park (Qld), Bilpin, Wee Waa, Byron Bay, Forbes, Mount Frome, Red Hill (ACT), Hoing Kong, Reids Flat, Moulden (NT) and Moss Vale.
We kicked off our Boarding Week celebrations with our Year 7 Compass teachers visiting Boarding for afternoon tea on Friday 12 May. It was a great opportunity for the Compass teachers to get to spend some one-on-one time with our Boarders.
On Wednesday we held our Middle School Boarders Morning Tea where the girls were invited to share stories and celebrate achievements. This sat beside dedicated time in Year assemblies in which the girls were interviewed and an interactive quiz about boarding was launched.
Thank you to our Boarding families for sharing your daughters with us during term time. It is an honour to walk beside them.
Pymble wins prestigious igsa Cross Country
Congratulations to the Pymble teams who competed at the Annual IGSA Cross Country Carnival on Friday 12 May.
Well done to all of our Middle School competitors, each of you performed extremely well and represented the college with pride. A special mention to our individual Gold Medal recipient: Eliza Lawton (13 Years)
And well done to the Bronze Medal recipients: Gemma Dixon (13 Years)
Our top athletes will now prepare for NSWCIS Cross Country which will take place on Thursday 8 June.
Congratulations to all of the Year 8 Music students who wooed the crowd with their entertaining and professional performance of Madagascar. Your commitment as cast and crew members was a demonstration of your talent and integrity. The show was so well received and refreshingly entertaining. Middle School has done it again!
Well done to all our students who received their Colour awards in assembly this week.
MMG Survey Reminder
A friendly reminder to all Year 8 families that you still have time to complete the MMG Survey. Thank you to those that have participated, we appreciate your feedback.
Athletics Carnival – Thursday 25 May
The Secondary School Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday 25 May at the Sydney Olympic Park Warm Up Arena. The carnival will begin at 7.30am. Students are required to wear their House sports uniform and are permitted to wear this to and from the College.
Students competing in the Seeded events will need to be at Kelso Field no later than 5.55am for roll call. Remaining Year 7 and 8 students will need to be Kelso Field 7:00am for roll call.
The Athletics Carnival is a compulsory School event that aims to promote house spirit and participation. Girls who are unable to participate or attend, should provide a note via the Middle School Office by Monday 23 May. In the event your daughter is unable to participate due to injury, her attendance at the carnival is still expected. It should be noted that the College does maintain a record of student attendance for these important days in the calendar.
Attendance Matters
Education for your child is important and regular attendance at school is essential for your child to achieve their educational best.
The Importance of arriving on time
Arriving at school and class on time:
- Ensures that students do not miss out on important learning activities scheduled early in the day
- Helps students learn the importance of punctuality and routine
- Give students time to greet their friends before class ظ
- Reduces classroom disruption
Lateness is recorded as a partial absence and must be explained by parents.
A reminder regarding Leave Applications
Leave is only granted for illness, bereavement, elite sport or work experience. Vacations should be restricted to the prescribed holiday periods. Where possible, leave to attend medical appointments should be minimised. Students are expected to participate in whole-school activities and should avoid making appointments on these occasions.
Applications for special leave should be completed on the ‘Exemption from Attendance’ form found on MyPymble via the College website and signed by a parent or carer. Forms are to be sent to the respective school office as soon as possible or at least fourteen days in advance of the intended period of leave.
From the Year 7 Parent Group Leaders
Year 7 Coffee Meet Up – Friday 2 June
A Year 7 coffee meet up will be held at a favourite local café, Brick Lane Expresso, in West Pymble shops from 8.00am on Friday 2 June. This is a great opportunity to catch up with other parents, immediately after drop off and before you continue with the rest of the day. We look forward to seeing you there.
Year 7 Dinner – Saturday 17 June
As we rapidly approach the half-way point of the year, we would love to invite all parents to the first Year 7 Dinner. This relaxed dinner event will be held in the beautiful surrounds of The Rooftop at the Governor Hotel, just down the road in Macquarie Park.
We are currently holding a booking at this hugely popular venue and need to provide an indication of numbers to confirm the venue. If you are interested in joining us for this dinner, could you please complete the ”Expression of Interest” voting poll by Friday 26 May. The voting poll can be found in the “Yr 7 Parents Class of 2028” WhatsApp group. To be clear, the poll is to quickly gauge the likely numbers. It is not a firm commitment and booking details will follow at a later date. This event will be for parents only.
Jenny O’Donnell
Head of Middle School