From the Upper School
A message from Victoria Harrison, Head of Upper School
Although it has been a little quieter on campus, it has been busy across New South Wales with Year 10 students engaged in five incredible Outdoor Education experiences. These options gave the girls the chance to go whitewater rafting on the Snowy River, traverse the Victorian High Country on the Namadji trek, enjoy canyoning and abseiling in the Blue Mountains, or stay a little closer to home with a new camp exploring the Central coast, Pittwater and a return to Vision Valley. Thank you to the Pymble teachers and Outdoor Education team for their support of the girls on their programs and for taking time away from their families enabling the girls to have these unique experiences.
With the hot weather increasing yesterday, our girls have shown great flexibility as they have adapted to changed plans and have enjoyed a short break from their scheduled activities.
Return Times for Year 10 camps (approximately) all from Kelso Pavilion:
- Waves to Wilderness Friday 28 November at 4:00pm.
- Blue Mountains Friday 28 November at 4.30pm
- Kangaroo Valley Friday 28 November at 4.30pm.
- Namadji Friday 28 November at 5:00pm
- Snowy River Friday 28 November at 5.30pm
While our Year 10 students have been exploring the great outdoors, this week I was fortunate to travel to Brisbane to visit Churchie (Anglican Church Grammar School) with four of our Year 9 students. Our girls were wonderful ambassadors for Pymble and the Vision Valley Residential Program as they shared their insights with parents at the Parent Information Evening.
Thank you to Clara, Haylee, Rose and Emma for sharing these reflection on their visit to Churchie:
Our time at Churchie was short but very rewarding, seeing my friends from Vision Valley for the first time in almost 6 months was so exciting. We spoke to some year 8 Churchie parents about the residential program and the entire panel of Resi alumni spoke so well about how life changing Vision Valley was. I hope we made a difference in the amount of boys who sign up for the 2026 program! Overall, we all had an excellent time in Brisbane and I hope we can all stay in touch with the friends that we made who we hadn’t met before. – Emma
Being able to participate in the joint interview between Pymble and Churchie was a wonderful privilege to be able to share and encourage younger students to join the residential program experience. I enjoyed talking to incoming Year 9s and their parents, sharing what the program is actually like from a student perspective. What I enjoyed most was how much it reminded me of my personal growth through the program, helping develop my resilience, independence, and character and I hope all our experiences interest Churchie students to participate in this life changing experience. – Haylee
Over Monday 24th and 25th, Myself, Emma, Clara and Haylee had the privilege of visiting Churchie school in Brisbane to talk about the Vision Valley on a panel to current Year 8 students and parents at Churchie, to help them understand what the program has to offer. On the panel we were asked questions about our unique experiences at VV alongside some of the boys who attended the program in Term 2 or 4. This was such an amazing experience and a true privilege to attend, I got to meet Churchie staff and boys all of whom were lovely people and I enjoyed the company of. The time bonding over shared experiences and telling stories was nothing but joyful and hilarious and I am very grateful to have had this opportunity to learn about everyone’s growth and development from the program. – Rose
Our time at Churchie was short and sweet, meeting all the Churchie boys that I heard about from my friends was a really nice experience to actually meet them and see what it could have been like with the boys. I enjoyed staying in a room with my friends and going to dinner with them. It was to talk about Vision Valley which seemed so far away at the time. Promoting Vision Valley was quite fun and I hope that we convinced all of those young boys to go. – Clara
This week, we have been thrilled to welcome Year 8 into the Upper School for various activities to support their transition to Year 9 in 2026. It has been delightful to see the girls using the Upper School Common Room during recess and lunch. We hope they are excited about joining us next year and are looking forward to this next stage in their Pymble journey.
As we start our preparations for the Vision Valley Residential Program in 2026, we were grateful to have some wonderful Year 9 Mentors give up their lunch yesterday to spend time with the next group of Vision Valley adventurers. Our Year 9 Mentors helped to ease some nerves, share some funny stories from their own experiences and answer any question thrown their way. There will be more opportunities for our Year 9 girls to step into the role of Mentor next year so please encourage your daughters to take up this valuable role.
To celebrate the end of a busy term, tomorrow our Year 9 students will be treated to a special barbecue lunch. We are very proud of the growth we have seen in our girls and are excited to watch them step into their roles as the big sisters of the Upper School.
We look forward to seeing many of our Upper School families at the upcoming Speech Day next Wednesday. This occasion is a special moment in the College calendar, and we appreciate your support in ensuring all students attend. The ceremony is expected to conclude at 11:30am, after which students will be dismissed.
From the Year 9 Parent Coordinators, Jenny and Ira
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Year 9 end-of-year parents’ breakfast last Friday. It was a lovely way to wrap up our 2025 social events – we enjoyed meeting many new parents and catching up with familiar faces. We look forward to seeing more of you next year. Wishing you all a happy and restful holiday.
