From the Principal
Welcome back to Pymble for Term 3. We hope your daughters appreciated the jolliness of our first few days, thanks to our Year 12 students who, despite furiously preparing for their Trial examinations, planned Christmas in July festivities as a gift for us all to celebrate their last term on campus. We have a huge term ahead, with more new learning opportunities for all students – including the two-week Aviation and Space Expo in Weeks 6 and 7, which includes an ADF helicopter landing on the oval and Vanessa Hudson (Pymble alumna and CEO of Qantas) coming to speak to our students. We continue to have high expectations for each girl to stay curious, be open to different ways of seeing the world, and ‘have a go’ at something new in Term 3.
We’re incredibly proud of our continually evolving scope of programs and experiences on offer, all of them firmly focused on life after Pymble. Setting our students up for success beyond their school years is highly strategic work that relies on the expertise and vision of curious, innovative and future-focussed educators and leaders, which we are fortunate to have here in droves.
Attracting the best talent to Pymble is at the heart of our People and Culture strategy. We look forward to opening our Early Years School (EYS) in 2026 for little ones from six weeks of age as part of our employee value proposition, and I’m delighted that around 70 staff have already expressed interest in having their children attend our EYS.
So, as we begin the second half of the year, it is a great joy to shine a light on several staff members who exemplify the gold standard of teaching and learning we strive for across all areas of the College, at all times.
Congratulations to our new Doctors of Philosophy
Dr Reverend Cass Blake, College Chaplain
Dr Mariel Lombard, Deputy Head of Upper School
Dr Ryan Stewart, History Teacher – History, Society and Ethics faculty
Dr Josh McDermott, History Teacher – History, Society and Ethics faculty
The number of staff with doctorates at Pymble continues to grow, with several more teachers working towards attaining the highest level of academic achievement in their discipline. Other notable, recently acquired qualifications of staff include:
Mr Justin Raymond, Deputy Principal – Students (K-12): Master of Educational Leadership.
Ms Leanne Speechly, Head Coach – Swimming: Certificate IV in Elite Athlete Wellbeing, through the Wellbeing Science Institute.
We also congratulate our Engine Coach for Pymble Swimming, Mr Rafael Rodrigues, who has successfully coached Declan Budd, a member of our Knox Pymble Swimming team, all the way into the Australian Para team heading to Singapore.
For a further deep-dive into academic rigour at Pymble, we invite you to click through to the latest edition of Illuminate: Research and Innovation. Issue 11 features insightful contributions from 10 staff members on a range of topics under our Social Intelligence pillar, or you can browse any of the other editions of our back catalogue here.
Finally, I’d like to give a special shout-out to 13 staff members who received a Living Our Values Everyday (L.O.V.E.) Award on the Staff Day held prior to the commencement of the term. These peer-nominated awards were first introduced in 2021 to celebrate our unsung heroes who quietly go about making a difference to our College community. In 2025, the nominations criteria is focused on the behaviours and contributions associated with the value of Respect.
Congratulations to the following LOVE Award recipients:
JUNIOR SCHOOL STAFF
Mrs Alana Hooper, Administration Co-ordinator
Mr Shannon Loker, Classroom Teacher
Mrs Jenny Dreverman, Learning Enhancement Teacher
Mrs Danielle Carre, Classroom Teacher
SECONDARY SCHOOL STAFF
Mr Aaron Kingsley, Science Teacher
Mr Adam Moynihan, Legal Studies Co-ordinator
Ms Catherine Smith, Acting Head of Learning Area – Mathematics
Miss Katherine Kitto, Science Teacher
Miss Monique Millett, PDHPE Teacher
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES STAFF
Ms Gladys Yu, Administration Assistant – Performing Arts
Ms Kristen Wright, Talent Acquisition Manager
Miss Kate Inglis, Head of Year, Boarding
Mrs Cristhina Boni Lavratti, Robotics Manager
Signing off with great anticipation for the term ahead and much respect for all the students, staff and parents who contribute to the exceptional learning community of Pymble Ladies’ College.
Please enjoy these photos of a few special achievements during the break…
Our Year 6 students leading the way as the first all-girls’ team to compete in the global Formula Goblin Greenpower Electric Vehicle racing challenge in the UK.
The delegation of Pymble students and staff who spent two weeks in Tanzania providing in-need communities with basic food, supplies, learning experiences and facilities, as well as friendship, care and respect.
Our Year 8 team proudly displaying their National da Vinci Decathlon championship winner’s cup (from left to right): Adele Jiang, Jennifer Kurniawan, Duola Lin, Arden Liceralde, Emma Ouyang, Annabelle Zhao, Penny Xing and Meii You, pictured with their fabulous coach and our Director of the Centre of Excellence, Mrs Debbie Tarrant.
