From the Upper School
A message from Mr Riley, Head of Upper School
It was so lovely to see our Year 9 Adventurers return triumphantly from Vision Valley last Friday and to then honour their journey in Chapel. I am sure it was quite an emotional moment walking through the welcoming crowd and we now look forward to having all of Year 9 back on campus for the first time since mid-Term 1!
A quick plug for the leadership workshops that our Upper School Liaison Prefects (Year 12s Rose Haran and Jessie Qin) are running over the coming weeks. This is in response to feedback that guidance from those who have experienced the roles and been through the selection process would be beneficial.
Last week I also had the opportunity to attend our student-led research conference and loved seeing some of our Upper School students in action. Please enjoy Kitty He’s, Catherine Shi’s and Alice Mao’s reflections:
The Future of Space Pollution and Kessler Syndrome – Kitty He (Year 9)
Kessler Syndrome refers to a scenario in the low Earth orbit where the extent of space pollution is great enough that collisions between objects cause a cascade effect in which each collision generates more debris, increasing the likelihood of further collisions. With the growth of the commercial space industry, an increasing amount of literature details the promises of space appropriation but also the environmental harms. However, the majority of these focus on the environmental impacts on Earth. Thus, this essay aims to discuss the environmental consequences of space appropriation, focusing on the growing issue of space pollution and specifically Kessler Syndrome – the climate change of Space.
I am thrilled to have participated in the research conference. It was my first time presenting my project in an academic setting, so it was a great experience to learn from the guest speakers and the older students. The wide variety of topics was interesting, and I would definitely do it again next year.
AI Powered Technology – Alice Mao (Year 9)
As AI-powered technology enters widespread international use for applications like face recognition and crime detection, issues have arisen regarding the transfer of human biases onto these systems through the data selection and machine learning processes.
From experimentation, Stable Diffusion’s diffusion model has taken on bias such that 100% of people generated under the prompt ‘a hardworking engineer’ are male. To prevent harmful real-world outcomes such as criminal justice systems that target ethnic minorities, global collaboration for impartial datasets and increased human intervention in AI learning may prove necessary. This is something that I am continuing to look into, as part of my research process.
The opportunity of the student conference has given me many enjoyable experiences with presenting my passions to an audience. Also, learning from other students committing to similar projects has opened my eyes to new issues or phenomena I wasn’t previously aware of.
I am very excited to be presenting my final project later in the year, alongside other students.
What makes Shakespeare, Shakespeare? – Catherine Shi (Year 10)
Last Tuesday, I had the incredible opportunity to present at my very first research conference. It proved to be an invaluable experience, allowing me to share my ideas and research while also learning from fellow students and industry professionals. For my own presentation, I delved into the topic of ‘What makes Shakespeare, ‘Shakespeare’?’
It aimed to provide students, staff, and parents with a comprehensive overview of Shakespeare’s life, historical context, and the techniques he employed in his works, which have contributed to his enduring popularity, influence, and timelessness. To support my speech, I incorporated a slideshow that included insightful pie graphs depicting the various ways Shakespeare’s characters met their demise (someone got baked in a pie!), a breakdown of his body of work, as well as visual representations of Shakespeare’s house and family.
While I must admit that I felt most nervous during the seven minutes of questions at the end, it also provided a valuable opportunity to practice impromptu speaking and reflect on my presentation and findings.
Overall, participating in the conference was an incredibly fun and stimulating experience, leaving me eagerly anticipating future Pymble research conferences. It allowed me to not only share my own research but also gain valuable insights from others in the field.
Year 10 also enjoyed lunch and a talk from Your Choicez on Monday. Thank you Maddy Taylor for your thoughtful reflection below:
On Monday Year 10 got to listen and participate in the respectful relationships seminar for young people by YourChoicez. The seminar provided us with a different outlook into what relationships can be like and what we should expect from them.
We heard stories of people just like us who had been in bad situations or relationships and got to hear first-hand what they wish they had done and what we can do should we ever be in this position. Consent and what is it was the main theme throughout this seminar, and we discovered the social norms of boys and girls in different situations, how hard it is to just say no.
Overall, the seminar was extremely informative and I’m sure everyone in Year 10 went through a wave of emotions as we listened to experiences and learnt how to better navigate relationships in the future.
A big well done to our students who trialled for the Swans Academy over the break, two of which (Aimi Jenkin and Emily Visser) are pictured below!
Elective Geography visit the Sydney Science Park
On Friday 19th May, our Elective Geography students from Years 9 and 10 travelled out to Luddenham for an exhilarating day of field work at the Sydney Science Park. The event, organised by our partner Celestino, offered the chance for our students to visit 8 ‘challenge zones’ – water management, circular economy, energy conservation, transport and mobility, urban development, smart cities, urban agriculture, health, and heat. At each zone, students were challenged and empowered by industry experts to envision how a sustainable city of the future might look in Luddenham. Throughout the day, our Geographers engaged with enthusiasm as they learned about cutting-edge technology, such as solar powered cars and augmented reality, as well as networked with professionals about future careers and university pathways. We also planted a native tree as a symbol of our personal commitment to growth and sustainability.
The motivated Geographers will now embark on a journey to harness the inspiration from the fieldwork to research and develop a potential solution to a real-world challenge facing the developers of the Sydney Science Park. Students will receive a unique opportunity to pitch their project to industry partners at the learning celebration event, being hosted in Conde Library after school on Thursday 15th June. We are excited to see what the talented students will accomplish.
The Geography, Business and Economics (GBE) department is committed to showcasing how our subject area opens doors for future university courses and careers. We are always on the lookout for opportunities to provide our students with experience and skills they need for their future careers. If you would like to contribute to this in any way, please contact Liam Hume (GBE Partnership Lead and Geography Teacher) at lhume@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au
From the Upper School Parent Group
Dear parents and guardians of Year 9 students, please save the date for our Year 9 parent / guardian social evening to be held on Saturday 17 June. Details and the link to book will follow shortly.
Year 10 Zoe Green bzgreen@bigpond.net.au
Pamela McPherson bruceandpam@bigpond.com
Year 9 Monika Surana monsisurana@yahoo.co.in
Christel Vigne vignechristel@gmail.com
Social media community groups:
PymbleLC Parents Class of 2025 (Facebook for year 10)
PymbleLC Parents Class of 2026 (Facebook for year 9)
PymbleLC USPG 2023 (Facebook for all Upper School parents)
Or please contact us for an invite to a WeChat group or Dads WhatsApp group.
Key Dates
Monday 5 June – Year 10 into 11 Subject Selection Launch to Students
Tuesday 6 June – YSafe Parent Online Event – Details on Parent Portal
Monday 12 June – King’s Birthday Public Holiday
Tuesday 13 June – Year 10 into 11 Subject Selection Evening (6.45pm to 8.30pm) – To be held in the Gillian Moore Centre for Performing Arts (GMCPA), Main Hall and Colonnade classrooms
Tom Riley
Head of Upper School