From the Middle School
This week in Middle School we are seeing the girls continue to settle into routines and step up to the challenges, as they become more organised and class work demands further consolidation. Teachers are reporting that the girls are actively engaged across the curriculum and invested in their learning. This week our Year 8 English students who are currently studying Miyazaki’s film Spirited Away were invited to extend their knowledge of anime by joining a lunchtime screening of Howl’s Moving Castle– another of the Japanese director’s masterpieces. It was great to see so many students in attendance.
Just a note that the Cross Country has been rescheduled to Monday 4 March due to excessive heat on Thursday. All girls will be invited to participate across the morning, starting with roll call on the oval at 8.15am. For this event, students are permitted to wear their sports uniform, with House shirts, to and from school on the day.
Congratulations to our Year 7 students who competed at the 2024 NSW All Schools Triathlon Championships last week.
| Dimity Loeve | Year 07 |
| Ruby Azar | Year 07 |
| Quinn Parry-Okeden | Year 07 |
| Ellie Lau | Year 07 |
| Ava Costa | Year 07 |
| Lillie Oldfield | Year 07 |
| Georgia Blue | Year 07 |
| Jade George | Year 07 |
Dimity (Year 7) has shared a reflection from her experience below:
“This year’s triathlon was a wonderful experience for all of us. Even though we had an early start, getting there at 7.00am, everyone was excited and ready to race. When we arrived, we all got our numbers and wheeled our bikes over to the inspection bay.
The Junior girls started first followed by intermediate then senior. We were all racing in the heat, but everyone did an excellent job at pushing through. The swim was unfortunately cancelled, so the swimmers did a 750m sprint much to their disgust. Overall, it was such an exciting event for all.” – Written by Dimity Loeve (Year 7)
Next week on Tuesday during our special assembly, we will be celebrating International Women’s Day. The theme for this year is Inspiring Inclusion/ Inspiring Creativity. In preparation,we have used some of our Compass time this week to reflect on what inclusion looks like and feels like. Everyone was asked to select a special themed postcard and make a commitment to how they could live the College values and foster inclusivity within their own lives. These pledges will be displayed as reminders of the importance of fostering inclusive behaviour. Across lunchtimes this week, we have also had an enthusiastic and creative group of volunteers painting banners which highlight themes about Inclusivity. These will be hung on the colonnade as visual prompts underscoring our values. A number of our Year 8 Middle School Leaders have been invited as representatives of the college, to attend external International Women’s Day events over the next week. In Week 6’s newsletter I will invite students to share their experiences with you.
Thank you to all of the Year 7 families who have so promptly attended to completing the Outdoor Education Program permission forms. Just a reminder that we would appreciate these being finalised by Friday this week. You can complete it by clicking here. Next week the girls will meet with our Outdoor Education Director who will share details of the adventures that lie ahead in Weeks 8 and 9.
For those that did not have the opportunity to attend the Knowing People, Knowing Pymble event last Tuesday 20 February, you can watch the recordings here: Year 7 Presentation and Year 8 Presentation.
I am looking forward to catching up with Middle School parents at the Icebreaker on Friday evening. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to make connections and help to grow our community.
From the Middle School Parent Groups
Year 7
We are looking forward to seeing you at the Icebreaker tomorrow evening starting at 6.45pm on Gloucester Lawn (near GMCPA).
The weather forecast looks excellent! We have over 110 Year 7 parents registered which is fabulous. It should be a wonderful night.
Kind regards
Stephanie, Leigh and Briar
Year 8
PPA Icebreaker 2024
Thank you for your amazing support! Over 600 tickets have been sold for the PPA Icebreaker and it will be one of the biggest and best events of the school year!
On the night, head to the Year 8 balloon to meet up with the parents in our cohort. It’s a very relaxed night to talk to people, and great if you do not know many people. This year’s theme is “Florals” if you would like to dress in theme (although not essential). It may be easier to add a touch of floral (perhaps a flower, floral accessory etc).
Year 8 Coffee Catch Up
A Year 8 Coffee Catch Up with be held on Friday morning on Friday 8 March at Brick Lane Expresso, a favourite local West Pymble café. A table has been booked from 8.00am in the name of ‘PLC Year 8’. Pop in after ‘drop off’ before you head off for your day. The café is open early for any parent whose daughter may have an earlier start to the day.
A WhatsApp Poll will be set up closer to the date in the Year 8 general chat group to confirm numbers of parents attending.
Dads@PLC All Years
Dads are welcome to join the Pymble Dads’ WhatsApp group. It is a community group for dads from Kindergarten to Year 12. Click here to join the group.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with either Cindy or myself if you have any questions or need help with anything.
Ms Cindy Tian 0400 980 181 and cindy.tian@gmail.com
Ms Kai Jones 0431 725 948 and kai_look@yahoo.com
Jenny O’Donnell
Head of Middle School