From the Principal
What a great photo this is of our alumna Anneka Deaton (1995), who knew she wanted a career away from a desk – and boy, did she get one! Anneka is now investing time with her two beautiful children, working as a high-performance coach and head of a group called Women’s Integrated Networking Group (WINGs), which is aimed at providing both professional development and networking to Air Force women who may be working in non-traditional roles and isolated from other women in their working environment.
In Australia, women constitute a small percentage of the aviation workforce, particularly in technical and piloting roles. While specific figures vary, estimates generally place the proportion of women in aviation at around 6 to 10 per cent overall.
With Vanessa Hudson taking over as CEO of the Qantas Group in 2024 (Vanessa is also one of our Pymble alumni), we thought it was a unique opportunity to work intentionally on highlighting the wonderful opportunities available in aviation in Australia and abroad. Our inaugural Aviation and Space Expo, which begins next week, also links nicely with our newly formed Drone Academy, for which we already have students enrolled to complete their Drone Licence.
Highlights of the program
- Women in aviation assembly (Parents welcome, see below for details)
A student-led Q&A with Qantas Group CEO, Vanessa Hudson, and a panel of female Qantas staff, including a pilot, engineer and flight attendant, Sophie Mills (1986). - Navy helicopter landing on Main Oval – yes, really! (Parents welcome, see below for details)
A mic’d up, all-female crew of pilot, co-pilot and meteorologist will talk us through the steps involved as they land a defence helicopter on main oval and take off again at the end of this unmissable event. - Planetarium experience
A walk-through visualisation of space, hosted by Macquarie University’s academic staff. - Australian Defence Force flight simulation
For Secondary School Mathematics students to learn about the physics of flight. - Excursion to Sydney Control Tower
For Year 12 Physics students to observe operations in real time and gain an understanding of the physics of taking off and landing. - UNSW Rocketry and Aviation workshops/showcases
Hands-on sessions for students in various year groups to learn about the science of rockets. - Drone uses in Surf Lifesaving
Demonstration on campus, followed by a presentation on how drones are used to monitor beaches for public safety.
Parent events
We are delighted to invite parents to be involved in the following experiences:
- Helicopter landing on the Main Oval
- 1.00pm Thursday 28 August
- Strictly no parking onsite, as gates will be closed for the event. Please park off campus and walk through the pedestrian gates to the Main Oval.
- Women in aviation assembly, with guest speaker Vanessa Hudson
- 9.00am Friday 29 August
- We can accommodate a maximum of 100 parents at this event, with RSVP via this link.
It takes an enormous amount of work to develop a two-week voyage of learning such as this one, which gives wings to the aeronautical heights our student will aim for, and achieve, as they take off from our campus and soar into their future (sorry, couldn’t help myself!).
A huge thank you to the Pymble Pathways team: Christine Kenny, Aly Hitchcock, Greg Meagher, Lara Bird, Jake Plaskett, Kim Maksimovic, Suzanne Parker, Lachlan Bradley and Stephen Campbell; I am confident you will all sleep a little easier when this metaphorical plane has landed.
Signing off with the words of our incoming Learning Prefects, Alice Mao and Kitty He (Year 11) who are also flying high on the excitement of this opportunity to explore aviation and space pathways. “So, hop onboard this awesome journey and choose your own destination.”
