From the Upper School

A message from Mr. Riley, Head of Upper School

Our Year 9s have been busy this week as part of Pymble Gives Back. Beginning the week with a talk from Dignity, the girls learnt about homelessness and what they can do to support families in their times of need. This includes cooking ready prepared meals at home with their families, donating key staples such as healthy cereals (which are in short supply at present), and/or volunteering their time to help package and deliver meals to collection centres. The girls themselves later cooked and packed care packages for Dignity, amongst several other service activities, on Wednesday. Their reflections will form our newsletter item next week.

A third of our Year 9 cohort had their service day on Tuesday, heading out to Vision Valley where they fished for invasive carp in the lake, painted new signage for the site, and help with tree identification. Whilst there these students, who were unable to join the Residential Program, also got to taste some of the amazing activities on the site including the high ropes course!

In Canoe Carp, the girls undertook sustainable fishing practices to remove invasive species from the lake to minimise human impact on nearby creeks and waterways. Students used tinned corn and stealth to lure the fish into nets. The carp quickly caught on to the capture plan and evaded capture, despite some close attempts
During the Service Signs session, the girls designed and created signage for Vision Valley key features and identification cards for plant species found around the site. The signage will be mounted around Vision Valley and maintained by future program students

Elsewhere, our Year 9s and 10s both heard from construction company Multiplex on opportunities to be involved in their ‘Jump Start’ program later this year.

Congratulations to Ann Kyle with her 3^rd place at her Ice-Skating competition in Melbourne last week. Also, to Emily Kim who will be attending the prestigious John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize Awards Ceremony at Oxford University in September! We look forward to hearing her write up closer to the time.

And finally, please find below Jaidey Samuelsson’s reflection from her time at the Goodooga Games earlier this term. Jaidey kindly hosted our girls at her Grandma’s house, with their Knox counterparts having to sleep on the floor of the local school instead! Year 9 enjoyed hearing about this at assembly this week:

Travelling to Goodooga with school for the Indigenous Games was an amazing experience. I love Goodooga and the Aboriginal culture that flourished within the community. My dad’s side of the family come from there. I got to see my nan Shelia who works at the school and hosted us Pymble girls in her home.

Lots of my family who live in Lightning Ridge also visited. The Indigenous Games were fun! There were students from 34 different schools both near (relative to rural distances) and far! We had a chance to soak in the bore baths.

It was refreshing to be able to share my culture and my family with Pymble girls and give them an opportunity to engage with my culture on a deeper level giving them a wonderful experience. One to remember!

From the Upper School Parent Group

Heavenly Pancakes Stall – Garden Party 2023

We are putting the call out to parents and carers who would like to assist with the Heavenly Pancakes Stall at Garden Party 2023. Please click here to register to work at the stall on the day (one-hour slots between 9.00am and 4.00pm), or if you are able, please click here to make a donation that will go towards the stall.