From the Principal

Wow, what a wonderful way to mark the end of term. To all our amazing staff, students, parents and family members who volunteered or contributed to this year’s Garden Party spectacular, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

An enormous amount of effort goes into making this day such a success and we are delighted to let you know that, collectively, we raised $20,000 to donate to the Barbara May Foundation and $60,000 to fund this year’s Sony Camp for children with special needs. Special congratulations to our enterprising Boarding families who raised approximately $17,000 to go towards Boarding scholarships at Pymble. This is a wonderful community achievement, made even more special by the tangible feeling of belonging to something much bigger than self and pride in being part of our remarkable school.

Thank you to all those who went out of their way to say hello to me or their daughters’ teachers on Saturday and speak with so much passion about their love of Pymble; these encounters truly made our day. The day was extra special for me this year as my Mum flew in from Brisbane to attend; it was such a privilege to wander around this beautiful community event with her by my side.

Celebrating our Class of 2024

This week we farewell our oldest ‘daughters’, our Year 12 cohort, as they embark on their final weeks of revision and preparation for the pending HSC examinations. Staff members who have taught and cared for these amazing young people over the years are looking forward to formally celebrating their successes and achievements at the Year 12 Speech Day tomorrow, before the much-anticipated Valedictory Dinner with parents and carers in the evening. For some of our families, this will be especially poignant as it’s their final College event with a daughter at school. This farewell is for you, too. Thank you for many years (and, for some families, many decades and generations) of being champions of your daughter’s learning and all things Pymble. ❤️ 💙 🤍

In a final assembly for the Year 12 cohort today, we celebrated our “treasure chest of rare and precious gems” with a guard of honour – a much-loved tradition that is impossible to watch without shedding a few happy-sad tears. The girls leave with our love, respect and admiration for all they have brought to our Pymble family.

In fabulous news, some incredible results for the cohort have already been trickling in ahead of their final HSC exams. We are so thrilled that every single one of our Year 12 Drama students has received an OnSTAGE nomination for their group performance pieces, OnSTAGE being the showcase of the best HSC Drama work from students in NSW. Eight of these students have also received nominations for their Individual Performance pieces. Huge congratulations to the entire 2024 HSC Drama cohort of Chiara Calvani, Elizabeth Graves, Imogen Hawkins, Lily Hearne, Lydia Heazlewood-Lee, Ashley Park, Shanya Parti, Aashna Rana, Murphy Scott, Gigi Spiller, Ava Thomas, Sophia Thurkettle, Estelle Vander, Demitria Volos and Bella Walker for these outstanding results.

Not to be outdone, every single one of our ten Year 12 Dance students who completed their Core Performance and Major Performance exams have received a nomination for each area of study for possible inclusion in CALLBACK, the annual showcase of the best HSC Dance work from all schools in NSW. Two students also received a third nomination for their Core Composition. Congratulations to our entire Dance Class of 2024: Georgia Dixon, Ashleigh Henderson, Lisa Ji, Stephanie Lee, Georgia Shaw, Jessica Slater, Stephanie So, Gigi Spiller, Claire Spring, and Demitria Volos.

And, just today, we were advised that eight Textiles and Design students and seven Design and Technology students have been nominated for the SHAPE exhibition featuring exemplary HSC major projects from these subjects. Shout-out to Brielle Mann, Emma Eaton, Jameson Heyman, Sophie Ma, Meredith Reynolds, Arabella Smithyman, Ava Thomas and Sivi Thomas (Textiles and Design); and Alessandra Braysich, Victoria Burton, Lara Groves-Berry, Isabella Li, Jennifer Makeham, Georgia Phillips, and Sabrina Rolinek (Design and Technology).

In addition, eight of our Year 12 Music Performance students have been nominated for the ENCORE showcase. Take a bow, Airiana Chan, Lux Fritz, Grace Ho, Si Ting Ji, Genevieve Jones, Kai Xuan Li, Amelie Matthews, and Yueqin Wang.

While we are still waiting to hear which Visual Arts students are nominated or selected for ARTEXPRESS, we were absolutely wowed by their recent exhibition of HSC Bodies of Work that are currently being marked off-site.

Year 12, we are #PymbleProud of you all.

All these incredible works, performances and results demonstrate just some of the innumerable ways Pymble works hard to ensure our students are set up for their future. Whether your daughter is in Year 12, in Secondary School, or starting out in Junior School, her unique talents and passions, the collective efforts of her peers, and the work the College continues to do to ensure Pymble is a school of excellence, nationally and internationally, all contribute towards her graduating as a confident, resilient young woman of character, compassion and influence.

As we head into the holiday period, I’d like to leave you with this poem from one of our wonderful Year 4 students. The poem was one of many submitted by Junior School girls in a competition to create a book designed to spread kindness within our community. It speaks to me of one of the most important character traits of Pymble girls. Kindness to one another may not receive a mark, nomination for showcase, or contribute to your ATAR but, along with our College values, is key to making our school, and the world, a better place for all.   

Kindness

If kindness had a voice, it would hum,
A melody of warmth, like the beat of a drum.
Its tune would echo in every heart’s call,
A symphony of compassion, reaching us all.

In the gentlest whispers, it would speak,
Lending a hand to the wary and meek.
With every note, it would soothe and mend,
Bringing lightness to darkness, around the bend.

Its voice would sing of hope, of light,
Guiding lost souls through the darkest night.
In every act, it would ring true and clear,
Spreading joy and love, far and near.

For kindness knows no bounds, no end,
Its voice, a beacon, a steadfast friend.
So let it sing, let it soar,
For kindness, for evermore.

– Hailey Zhang (4L)

Wishing all our families a happy and safe break. We look forward to welcoming all our students back to the wonderful world of Pymble on Tuesday 15 October.