From the Upper School
A message from Mrs Victoria Harrison, Head of Upper School
The conclusion of Term 2 has been nothing short of action-packed, highlighted by our leaders orchestrating and managing the Upper School Assembly on Tuesday. The event wrapped up on a high note with an engaging and competitive heads and tails game. Special thanks to our dedicated Upper School leaders for their exceptional efforts in planning and leading the assembly.
Additionally, we celebrated the deserving Jacaranda Award recipients for Term 2 and applauded the remarkable achievements of several young women who earned Duke of Edinburgh awards.
Our Jacaranda Award Recipients for Term 2 in Year 9 are:
| 9BA | Isla-Rose Campbell |
| 9BB | Charlotte King |
| 9GA | Hakone Liceralde |
| 9GB | Phoebe Pockley |
| 9HA | Evie Farr |
| 9HB | Emily Mah |
| 9IA | Catherine Zeng |
| 9IB | Rieza Khan |
| 9LA | Victoria O’Sullivan |
| 9LB | Lily Mancey |
| 9MA | Miranda Chen |
| 9MB | Rain To |
| 9TA | Caitlin Xi |
| 9TB | Katerina Economou |
| 9WA | Jasmine Chi |
| 9WB | Zoe Davies |
Our Jacaranda Award Recipients for Term 2 in Year 10 are:
| 10BA | Lucy Xie |
| 10BB | Simone Bennett |
| 10GA | Kitty He |
| 10GB | Penelope Danziger |
| 10HA | Katelyn Chan |
| 10HB | Liuyi Cai |
| 10IA | Ananya Upmanyue |
| 10IB | Isabella Park |
| 10LA | Wyntah Woodroffe-Mulholland |
| 10LB | Jemima Groves-Berry |
| 10MA | Tessa Gregory-Reid |
| 10MB | Madison Donald |
| 10TA | Annabelle Jones |
| 10TB | Eilidh Skelton |
| 10WA | Caitlin Kim |
| 10WB | Monika Huang |
As we transition into the holiday break, we hope that the girls take this opportunity to rest and recharge. We also wish your families a relaxing and enjoyable break after what has been a very productive and busy term.
Looking ahead, we have an array of exciting events and activities planned for both Year 9 and Year 10 in the latter half of the year. We are eager to welcome the girls back, refreshed and ready to tackle the challenges and opportunities that Semester 2 will bring.
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday and looking forward to seeing you all in the new term.
Our amazing Amber
Amber Li (Year 10) has been selected to represent Australia as part of the International Mathematics Olympiad. The official announcement of the team was made in Canberra on Monday 24 June. The Olympiad is being held in July at the University of Bath in the UK. This is a very big achievement, as Pymble has never had a student selected for this honour; Amber was also asked to make a speech at the ceremony which you can view below.
Thank you to Eloisa Hunt for sharing this reflection of her and Natalie Barclay’s time at St Anne’s School in Natal, South Africa.
South Africa Exchange
Going on exchange to South Africa was an exciting and unique experience. The culture, food and lifestyle were quite different from here and the experience was eye opening. The school I went to was called St Anne’s, which was in a town called Hilton, near the city of Pietermaritzburg. It is a boarding school starting from Year 8, and there are 440 girls.
It was quite a change from home being a day girl to now being a boarder. It was a nice way to meet new people and see how different the culture is. One of the activities I took part in was an after-school program called STEPP. It was a program where you teach English to the local children from underprivileged public schools.
The main language is Zulu, and the children speak it at home and are never taught English, so when they go to school and are expected to learn in English it is quite a challenge. Most of the children know how to speak some English but we were there to teach them proper grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, vowels and consonants.
The St Anne’s school took us out on trips during the day such as shark diving, the markets of Warwick, ziplining, the Nelson Mandela capture site and a safari. All these trips were educational and interesting experiences that I’m glad I was able to do. Overall, the exchange to South Africa was exciting and worthwhile, and involving myself in the local traditions and daily life made the trip a fun and educational experience.
Important Dates
Term 2
Friday June 28 Boarder’s Travel Day and Last Day of Term 2
Term 3
Monday July 22 Boarder’s Travel Day
Tuesday July 23 Term 2 begins – New students and international exchange students arrive
Sunday July 28 Year 9 Residential Program Group 3 begins at Vision Valley
Tuesday July 30 NAIDOC Week Assembly
Thursday August 1 Year 8 to 11 Textiles on Parade
Monday August 5 Year 10 Agricultural Camp begins (three-day camp)
Tuesday August 6 Pymble host St Edmund’s College Athletics carnival
Thursday August 8 Year 10 Pymble/Knox Social Cup (three Thursday afternoons)
From the Upper School Parent Group
PPA Trivia Night 2024: A Rockin’ Success!
The PPA Trivia Night 2024 was a fantastic evening of fun, laughter, and friendly competition. With more than 250 guests in attendance, it was our biggest since 2018! We’re thrilled to announce that we raised over $12,000 for our school community initiatives.
A heartfelt thank you to all our sponsors and donors who made this night possible. Your generosity is truly appreciated.
Special thanks to Dr. Hadwen and Mrs Brown for their incredible support of our live auction items. A huge thank you to the Pymble Dance department, Mr Harry Randall, MIC of Pymble Rowing and the team from Community Engagement for their generous support of our event
We couldn’t have done it without the enthusiasm and participation of our wonderful Pymble community. Thank you all for making this night one to remember!
For more information and to download photos from the night, please click here.
Victoria Harrison
Head of Upper School