From the Principal
Happy Diwali to our families who celebrate the festival of light, and a big, warm welcome to our new students: three in our Junior School and eight in the Secondary School. It’s not easy to start a new school towards the end of the year, however, I know our students and staff will go out of their way to ensure our new girls and their families feel like they already belong in our big, beautiful, diverse and inclusive community.
Term 4 is our final term in our designated Year of Respect, and our focus for the next six weeks is on respecting our Pymble environment by keeping it rubbish-free. This includes our main campus and Vision Valley – special shout-out here to Year 9 parents whose daughters, along with 55 Churchie boys, are one week into the final Residential Program at the Valley for 2025!
Each day, as I walk my dogs in the early hours of the morning and make my way around campus for meetings and visits, I stop and pick up any rubbish I see. Many others do this, too. In Term 4, we are asking all students to pick up after themselves at recess and lunch and take responsibility for removing other litter they see lying around classrooms, common areas or the school grounds. It’s a little thing, but it will make a big difference.
In Week 1, we were honoured to hear from the CEO of Clean Up Australia, Pip Kiernan (aka Aunty Pip to Neve in Year 8, and Mum to three former Pymble girls) who inspired us to get behind the cause her father started 35 years and 23 million Clean Up Australia volunteers ago.
As Pip told our girls in Years 5 to 10:
“Cleaning up your environment is a very simple act, but it’s a very powerful act, and it reminds us that we can have an impact. You can see the fruits of your labour straight away when you’ve done a clean-up. And often this is the catalyst that then propels people to go on and make other changes to lighten their footprint on the planet…”.
Introducing our Head Prefects for 2025 / 2026
It’s become something of an annual tradition to handover this column to our incoming Head Prefects. Without further ado, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Grace Beck and Jenny Xu.



Meet Grace Beck
“My first year at Pymble was in Year 6, where I jumped eagerly into all the opportunities the school had to offer. Since then, I’ve done swimming, athletics, cross country, diving and robotics, just to name a few.
“However, what I love most about Pymble is how, over the years, I have been given the opportunity to meet and connect with so many of my peers, within my year group and across others. Because of the activities I’ve participated in and the number of girls I was supported by, I’ve been able to share my story and listen to the stories of countless others, which is something so special.
“Something that will always stand out to me are the camps and when I’ve had the opportunity to travel with my friends. Sitting around a campfire at Vision Valley, flying over the snow-capped mountains on the way to French Exchange and travelling to Texas to compete in robotics were all made so special because of the peers I was surrounded by and the memories we made together. But sometimes, what I find to be most meaningful at Pymble, is a simple lunchtime, sitting down and laughing with friends, and taking the time to connect with each other, and your Pymble community.
“I applied for leadership in my final year as I have always wanted to represent this community and bring us closer together. To leave a legacy beyond my years here is something so special, and I really hope to achieve this as Head Prefect. I hope that in 2026 (with the theme, which we will reveal soon!), everyone at Pymble can feel inspired to be courageous, step outside their comfort zones, and strive to achieve their goals. Continuing from the 2025 ‘Come Alive’ theme, we hope to embody our College theme of Courage, embrace the Pymble Spirit, and support others, so that together we can all reach our goals.”
Meet Jenny Xu
“My journey at the College has been quite a long, winding road over the past 12 years. From K-6, I tried just about every activity Pymble had to offer – from band to tennis to Taekwondo. I had so much fun meeting friends and making happy memories during this time, and I will forever be grateful for the incredible range of opportunities that were available to us.
“It wasn’t until Year 7, however, that I discovered something I truly loved: the world of Language Arts. I was immediately drawn to the spirited and spontaneous nature of debating, the tight-knit community and the teamwork it required. Over the past five years, I’ve also taken part in debating, public speaking, Mock Trial and Model UN, and have learnt so much from the amazing staff, parents and older students who support us at every competition and training session.
“I am similarly inspired by the camaraderie within my own cohort. Although it’s only been less than two weeks since the beginning of Year 12, I’ve been so moved by the way my year group has come together to celebrate this milestone. Over the next year, I hope that we can foster the same kind of connection and support throughout the College.
“I applied for Head Prefect because I’ve always looked up to the prefects of the past (special mention to Ang-Ya and Emily for being such amazing mentors!). I hope that in 2026, we can inspire Pymble students to have the courage to act on what they believe in, even when it may seem daunting. I hope that we can inspire students to take that courageous ‘first step’, whether that’s trying a new co-curricular, making a new friend or pursuing a personal interest project.”
Farewell to our Class of 2024 / 2025
Thanks Jenny and Grace, we look forward to seeing your leadership evolve over the next four terms.
Signing off for this week with a few beautiful reflections (and tears!) from some of our outgoing leaders, who are now into their second week of HSC exams, believe it or not. We are with them in spirit as they work their way through each paper and thank them from the bottom of our hearts for making our world a better place. ❤️ 💙 🤍


















































































































































































































