From the Principal
To an outsider, our weekly newsletter must look pretty impressive. Week after week, digital page after digital page is filled with stories, honour rolls and events celebrating our students’ achievement in all its forms – from qualifying for competitions, to getting through to the next level or round, winning, placing or simply having a go as a participant and completing a personal goal. As a high-performing school, we are blessed to achieve success on a regular basis; equally, we understand the power of celebrating success and that success looks different for everyone.
Last week’s Visual Arts Exhibition is a prime example of how we celebrate the successful completion of Year 12 major works and honour the hours of labour that go with creating these artworks, long before a mark or a ranking has been awarded. Well done to all our Year 12 students who have finished major bodies of work – whether that’s for English Extension 2, TAS or Visual Arts. Much like our dancers, musicians and dramatists who have worked so hard on their HSC performances, your perseverance and dedication to your craft are worthy of celebration. Congratulations to all students who exhibited their works, and a special shout-out to Gemma Hodge who received the Packer’s Prize for her incredible linoleum print, Palimpsest (A Room of One’s Own) and to Amelie Miller and Phoebe Mason who were awarded the Principal’s Prize for their respective works, Erasure and Sunburnt Country (Still Life on Ceramics).
It was also a great joy to celebrate our Year 12 girls as a cohort today at a special teddy bears picnic on Mollie Dive Field. Hopefully the opportunity to come together for lunch with their Compass Groups, on such a beautiful warm day, will give them the time and space to appreciate how far they have come and help to motivate them for their final Year 12 hurdle, the HSC exams.
Celebrating students’ success is as important to us as acknowledging that each learner has different goals, at different levels, and different challenges to overcome. Sometimes, success looks like a table of medals, such as those awarded to our athletes who trained so hard to achieve their best on the track and field, winning the IGSA Athletics Championships and then going on to take out the National Championships in Canberra that same weekend.
At other times, a measure of success might be learning a new skill, making a new friend, getting to school on time in the morning for one whole week or avoiding resorting to takeaway dinners on school nights – okay, I confess, that last goal is mine on the weeks when my wonderful husband and master chef, Matt, is working away!
For our Deputy Principal, Mr Justin Raymond, success meant having a go at the unbelievably gruelling challenge of The Unreasonable East 200-mile race, which saw him run from 11.00am last Tuesday until the following Friday at 9.02pm, only resting for 4 hours, 11 minutes and 8 seconds in total and finishing in sixth place overall! Having completed many different ultra-marathons, this was his first attempt at a 200-mile (or 327.3km) race and a huge personal goal to achieve, given it covered a staggering elevation of more than 10,000 metres. When asked why, Mr Raymond said: “I really value the role of challenge in shaping a rich, adventurous life and feel it is a privilege to be in a position where you can choose your challenge in life.” Congratulations Justin, we are all a little bit in awe of you right now.
Celebrating an achievement that is meaningful to you, with people who are important in your life, creates stronger relationships, boosts morale and self-confidence, and can lead to greater productivity and more success. For this reason, the College has undertaken a strategic project to audit and seek feedback on all the ways we recognise students’ success – from formal awards, appointments, badges and medals to less formal, in-situ affirmation from staff at the point of achievement – across all areas and aspects of learning.
The project sits under the Emotional Intelligence pillar in our Strategic Direction, and involves surveys of current students, alumni, parents and staff. Our aim is to ensure our traditional, formal awards retain their special significance and value, while introducing additional ways to recognise and honour consistently high effort and application that leads to measurable, observable improvement. We look forward to introducing two new awards at our Year 12 Speech Day this year, and sharing more details of how we will be expanding our process of knowing, guiding, challenging and celebrating students’ achievements across the College at the conclusion of this comprehensive strategic review.
Say hello to our HOLAs
Our Head of Learning Area – Visual Arts is Mrs Brigiat Maltese, who joined Pymble in January 2021, a “quite unforgettable” year, given it was the year of the long lockdown. A significant part of her work is teaching our Visual Arts students in Years 11 and 12.
Brigiat, what was the ‘aha’ moment that led you into teaching?
“When I was younger, being a teacher felt like the biggest dream of all. I admired my teachers – they were like role models. I have always loved Visual Arts from a young age and both my parents were always so positive about my artwork. So, it was a combination of two loves. The adult aha moment occurred when I started my first full time position within a girls’ school. Educating young women and watching them achieve goals is truly a privilege and an inspiration – one that I never tire of.”
What is the most rewarding aspect of the work you do here?
“Seeing students and staff flourish. When students and staff build resilience, make connections between knowing and understanding, challenge themselves and embrace creative and critical thinking, the outcomes are extraordinary. Teaching is a relational profession; complex and dynamic. I love working with the Visual Arts staff as well – a skilled and committed group of educators. They bring out the best in me. So, the nature of the work itself here, is truly the reward.”
What are you most proud of achieving as a Pymble HOLA?
“I think the recent Year 12 Visual Arts Exhibition (with over 500 items of work!) was quite an achievement in terms of scale but also the extraordinary standard of work. The Vision Valley overnight Art Camps have also been an achievement as well as the restructuring of all Visual Arts Teaching programs from Year 7 to 12. The outcomes of this are bearing fruit.”
Work aside, tell us a fun fact about you…
“How about two? I’ve had my own artwork selected for exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW – three times. I’ve always had a love of horses and riding.”
Finish this sentence: If I could impart one life lesson to our students, it would be…
“Recognise that ‘mistakes’ are opportunities for reflection, redirection, and refinement. The goal is growth not perfection.”
Celebrating our Dads!
Wishing all the dads, grandfathers and father figures in our community a wonderful day on Sunday, hopefully spending some time with people you love. In the lead-up to Father’s Day, we will be sharing a glimpse into the lives of some of our staff members who happily juggle their roles at Pymble along with being loving and busy fathers. Look out for the campaign on our social media, or you can read more on our website. Happy Father’s Day to all the special men in our lives and thank you for being role models for all our young people, especially our Pymble girls.
