From the Principal
Congratulations Year 12, your HSC Trial exams are now done and dusted! Your wonderful teachers are working at pace to return your papers and, given that many of them have in the past or will be soon marking actual HSC exams, this feedback will add an invaluable layer of insight as you approach the final exams. It is always a highlight for me to read and comment on your papers, and to appreciate how far each student has come in their learning. Well done to Year 12 (and their teachers!) for continuing to take every opportunity to improve as you inch closer to the start of final HSC exams – in just seven weeks!
A few highlights of the past week…
So much happens on a daily basis at Pymble that is a genuine challenge to select what to cover in a summary of any given week. Our girls inspire and delight us every day with their positive energy and zest for life. With that disclaimer, a few highlights of the past week, in no particular order, include…
Laughter at lunchtime
One of the many joys of moving into the Middle Colonnade offices is being surrounded by the sound of fun and games – planned and unplanned – during recess and lunch. Our Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 House Liaison leaders have teamed up with Year 6 House leaders to bring Junior School and Secondary School students together on Gloucester Lawn for a series of bonding activities. This week connected Wylie and Thomas House girls, and next week it’s Marden and Lang’s turn. Our Junior School girls are loving sharing lunchtime with their ‘big sisters’ – and we are loving the peals and squeals of laughter this brings.
Magical musicians
Where words fail, music speaks. Well, I’m almost lost for words to describe last Thursday night’s Music Scholars’ Recital. The talent on display was akin to attending a concert at the Sydney Opera House or the Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts!
Congratulations to Audrey Quan, Susie Han and Ivy Yan (Year 7), Danielle Hu and Jessica Franklin (Year 8), Sitian Chen, Zoe Manning and Joy Yin (Year 10), Grace Walmsley (Year 11), and Aine Oo and Zarina Nurlanov (Year 12) for showcasing so beautifully your talents, passion and the exceptional Music program and teachers we are blessed to have here at Pymble.
Divine dancers
Speaking of incredible gifts and talent, last week’s HSC Dance Showcase featuring Elective Dance students was out of this world – a mesmerising program of skilful performances and thoughtful insights into the academic learning behind each item. As a bonus, tickets sold raised $3,200 for our much-loved Sony Camp. Well done to our Elective Dance students in Years 8, 10, 11 and 12 – and their wonderful teachers and coaches – for an outstanding display of your work.
This Saturday, I’m looking forward to another fairytale ending to the week watching our K-12 RAD Ballet students’ very special production of Hansel and Gretel. I had to laugh this morning as I chatted with two Junior School students, both of whom are performing in this production – one was busily telling me about rehearsals, and the other didn’t much like her costume!
Awesome all-weather athletes
Our awesome athletes powered through two days of fierce competition at the igsa Championships at SOPAC last week, claiming numerous cups and trophies and Overall Point Score winner – again! – despite the challenging weather conditions. It was a rare treat to be out there on Friday with our dedicated coaching team and our beautiful Year 7 girls to cheer on team Pymble.
Just a few days, later our Junior School IPSHA Athletes also took the track at Homebush, with much sunnier skies and equally impressive results, which you can read all about in the Junior School section. Well done to all!
Art with heart
Finally, it’s impossible not to mention this year’s Year 12 Visual Arts Showcase, which officially opened last night with 250 individual pieces of work on display.
Walking through the exhibition with our Head of Learning Area – Visual Arts, Ms Brigiat Maltese, was quite an emotional experience. A major work is an intensely personal journey, made with love, many hours of toil and, often, a few tears along the way. Thank you to our Year 12 Visual Artists for sharing your deeply meaningful artworks, and to our amazing Visual Arts teachers for guiding them so carefully during this process.
With a few tears in my eyes, I am proud to announce that the Principal’s Award goes to Iris Hastings for her work Solace (In Memorium). Congratulations also go to Highly Recommended recipients Jasmine Economou for Confluence and Riya Kalva for Unveiling Her Devotion. Our very own Packers’ Prize, chosen by our Visual Arts assistants, has been awarded to Evila Zhou for Ethereal Silence.
The exhibition is open until Saturday and I highly encourage art lovers and budding art students of all ages to drop by and appreciate the beautiful bodies of work on display and the meaning behind them.
