From the Middle School
Last Friday’s Icebreaker was a great success despite the weather. Thank you to all who attended! The Middle School team enjoyed catching up and sharing stories.
It was wonderful to see so many of our Middle School girls involved in our Cookie Decorating Gloucester Gathering activity on Tuesday. Please encourage your daughters to get involved in the variety of activities run on Tuesdays and Thursdays across lunchtime to build connections and community.
Thank you to all our families who responded to the student phones survey. The data collected from both parents and students has been very helpful. On Friday this week, we will be working with the Year 7 cohort to help the girls better understand phone usage at the College based on the shared feedback.
Year 7 Outdoor Education Experience
Tuesday 18 to Friday 21 March: Bennet, Goodlet, Hammond and Ingleholme (Mr Stern’s POD)
Tuesday 25 to Friday 28 March: Lang, Marden, Thomas and Wylie (Mrs Michie’s POD)
Last week, all of our Year 7 families would have received the information regarding their daughter’s Outdoor Education Program which is scheduled for later this term. All the necessary details are within the documentation but if you have any questions, please reach out to the Middle School office or Vision Valley directly.
I encourage everyone to please complete the forms as soon as possible so that we can confirm arrangements with Vision Valley. You will need to ensure that the Vision Valley waiver form and the medical consent form are both submitted. The optional gear order form is only if you need to purchase items.
I have had a couple of questions about the travel bag in which the girls will pack all their items. This can be whatever you already have; a soft duffle bag is easiest to load and move between camp sites. The girls will not be carrying this bag on the expedition – it will be transported for them. They will only need to carry a small day pack over the four days containing water, sunscreen, EpiPen (if needed) etc.
Next week, the staff from Vision Valley will be presenting information to the girls about the whole program, and there will be plenty of time for students to ask questions at the end.
Year 8 National Exchange Program
Dates: Saturday 17 May to Sunday 25 May or Saturday 24 May to Sunday 1 June, (One-week exchange across host school and Pymble)
We are excited to have now launched our Year 8 National Student Exchange Program taking place in Term 2. This year we are hoping to have partner schools across all states and territories providing an opportunity for the girls to experience school and family life elsewhere.
This is a reciprocal exchange program where participants will stay with a host family for the first five days at a school in another state, and then four days back home and at school here in Sydney. The exchange develops independence and confidence in our girls, inviting them to be representatives of the College nationwide.
Our application process involves an initial letter of interest with scaffolded questions provided, from which a selection of students will be shortlisted for interviews. We hope to send approximately five students to each partner school with one accompanying Pymble teacher.
Please encourage your daughter to read through the information which has been provided to her via email and follow the application link. We have also posted information about the program on MyPymble.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Aaliyah Khanche and Stella Pieterse of Year 8 who both participated at the national finals for aerial circus in January. What an achievement and incredible skills!
From the Year 7 Parent Co-ordinators
Dear Year 7 parents, we hope your daughters are settling in well to Term 1. If you have any questions or need any help please feel free to reach out to us, your Year 7 parent Co-ordinators: Edwina Burns (0419 580 580) and Maria Guo (0414 379 688).
You are invited to join other parents from Year 7 for drinks on Thursday 20 March at Killara Golf Club. This will most likely be the only social event we organise for this year so it would be wonderful if you could join us. There is plenty of parking on site. Please see the invitation below, and click here to purchase your tickets.
Jenny O’Donnell
Head of Middle School