From the Principal

Hello from our growing Pymble family.

It is always such a joy to welcome new Pymble girls to the College. At the beginning of the year, we opened our arms to 198 new students in the Junior School and 156 in the Secondary School. Our newest members of the family include 36 new Boarders, including several siblings of girls we already know and love, and those who hail from as nearby as Sydney, all over regional NSW and as far away as Dubai, Hong Kong, Germany and Vietnam. Each girl brings her own unique personality, gifts and attributes, and we are delighted she has chosen to join our family. For those students commencing in Term 2, we can’t wait to get to know you too.

While it is exciting to welcome new people into our Pymble family, our Board has set caps on year groups to ensure each student is known, valued and cared for. We have all the benefits of being big, especially from a resourcing perspective, while ensuring each student can find her place and flourish in this remarkable environment. As we often say – if you can dream it, you can do it at Pymble!

Let’s get creative! Dream. Think. Make it happen

At the start of each school year, I like to set an overall theme to inspire our students and staff. In 2022, our theme is: Let’s get creative! Dream. Think. Make it happen.

Each term we will be encouraging our girls to think outside the square to re-imagine and re-configure one aspect of their life to better support their academic and co-curricular learning. In Term 1, we focused on getting creative to be our best selves.

The idea is to pick one habit or behaviour and engineer a new and improved way of doing it until a more self-fulfilling and empowering habit is made. It’s about encouraging our whole school community to think creatively in order to disrupt our unhelpful habits, make new ones and, ultimately, feel and function better.

There’s another important component to this message. This is now our third year of living and dealing with COVID-19 and I feel a deep sense of responsibility to focus on a bright future and things that are within our control. Throughout 2022, we will continue to inspire new ways to bring creativity, hope and joy into the lives of our Pymble family.

Congratulations to our Class of 2021

Since our last Newsletter message to you, our Class of 2021 has graduated from the College and embarked on the next stage of their journey. We are enormously proud of their vast and varied achievements. Many of our girls have achieved top subject marks and ATARs, along with entry into the courses and universities of their dreams. For others, it’s the personal growth and the hard but satisfying work it took to achieve that growth, which makes them stand ten feet tall with pride at the end of their school years. Each of our graduates has demonstrated great courage and commitment to achieving her goals regardless of what obstacles and detours the world threw her way.

As a cohort, our Class of 2021 achieved:

• A significant percentage improvement in Band 6 results in: Software Design and Development (43%), Studies of Religion (43%), Hospitality (30%), Textiles and Design (26%), Ancient History (20%), Visual Art (13%) and Economics (11%).
• An increase in ATARs >90 (47%, up from 44% in 2020).
• Improved exam results (82% of students performed better in external exams than in internal assessments, up from 74% in 2020)
• Improved ranking in the SMH Top 100 Schools list (Pymble is now ranked 25, up from 31 last year).

Special congratulations to our Dux of School, Tess Rickard (pictured below), whose passion for learning led her to achieve a perfect ATAR of 99.95 – one of only 14 girls in NSW to do so. Tess is now on her way to her goal of addressing “one of the biggest issues facing the world, climate change,” having commenced a degree in Renewable Energy Engineering.

Click here to read our in-depth HSC Results publication.

These achievements did not occur by chance or accident. The girls and their teachers worked incredibly hard – on campus and online – supported by the strategic implementation of our HSC Improvement Project, which saw the College instigate and complete a number of key actions in 2021. Our HSC Improvement Project was one of 11 key focus areas in 2021 under our Academic Intelligence pillar, which is one of the four pillars of our new Strategic Direction, Watch Us Change the World (WUCTW).

In addition, Pymble was one of the standout schools on the North Shore in terms of 2021 NAPLAN results, ranking third (Primary School) and fifth (Secondary School), according to the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority. 

I look forward to sharing more insights about priority areas and achievements of WUCTW, as well as new initiatives we are implementing in 2022, in subsequent issues of this Newsletter.

For now, stay safe and well.

Dr Kate Hadwen

Principal

From the Enrolments Managers

It seems that we have burst our way into 2022. I think we are busier than we have ever been with everyone getting out and about. We’ve had six large parent events at the College already, including our High Tea for New Parents and our Welcome to 2022 Icebreaker. We hope the school year has started happily and safely for those of you with school-aged children, particularly for those girls who started in Kindergarten.

Students commencing in 2023

We have held our final interviews for our 2023 cohort and will begin planning Orientation events for later in the year.

For your diary: 

• Years 1 to 6 2023 new students will have a Links Day (orientation) on Friday 28 October 2022
• Year 7 2023 new students will have their Links Day on Friday 28 October 2022
• Year 7 New Boarders sleepover – Friday 28 October 2022
• Year 7 Assessment Morning and Parent Information Session – Saturday 29 October 2022

Kindergarten students and families will have several Orientation dates which will be confirmed.

2024 Enrolled Students

We have begun interviewing and confirming places for students enrolled for 2024. We do have some places currently available for Kindergarten and Year 7 2024. If you’d like to introduce the College to friends, please have them contact Victoria or myself at  enrol@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au or call us on +61 2 9855 7799.   Also, please be in touch if you have not received our communications – we’d love to hear from you.

Open Events and visiting the College in 2022

We held a wonderful Open Event in March and the weather held out beautifully. It was  fantastic to have so many visitors onsite to meet with our students and our Leadership Team and to understand Pymble in more depth.

Our upcoming Open Event on Wednesday 18 May is full. Prospective families can be welcomed at our next Open Events to be held on Thursday 18 August 2022 for Secondary School students and Thursday 25 August for our Junior School students. School tours with our students along with a presentation by Principal, Dr Hadwen, and senior leaders of the College will share what Pymble can offer your daughter. The events will give families a chance to tour the College, meet our students and ask questions about Sport, Performing Arts, Boarding and more. 

To find out more or book a tour, click here.

If you’d like to introduce the College to friends or even show your family around, please share the Book a Tour link with them.

Scholarships at Pymble

Pymble offers scholarships to students of merit each year. Scholarships are open to current and external students. Registrations are currently open for:

2023 First Nations Scholarship Years 7 to 11 (applications close Friday 27 May)
2023 Performance – Sport (closes on 5 August)
2023 All-rounder Scholarship (closes on 5 August)
2024 Year 7 Junior or Year 11 Senior Academic Scholarships (closes on 5 August)
2024 Year 7 Performance – Music (closes on 27 July)
2024 Year 11 Pymble Ex-Students’ Union Scholarship (closes on 5 August)
2024 Year 7 to 11 Primary Producer Boarding Scholarships (closes on 5 August)
2024 Year 7 Alanda Clark, Jane Gay and Prudence Papworth Boarding scholarship (closes on 5 August)

For details and dates please visit the our Scholarship webpage.

School Tours

Take a tour

Full College tours will take you around the entire College, including our Junior School and Secondary School and are held on Tuesdays and Fridays. Secondary School College Tours will take you around the entire College, with the exception of our Junior School, and are held on Thursdays.

Bookings for tours of the College are essential. Please contact us directly should you require a tour of our Boarding facilities. 

We look forward to assisting you with your specific enrolment questions and to discuss your daughter’s educational needs. 

Open Event – 18 May 2022

Prospective families will be welcomed to our next Open Event to be held on Wednesday 18 May 2022. From 4.00pm, school tours with our students along with a presentation by Principal, Dr Hadwen, and senior leaders of the College will share what Pymble can offer your daughter. The evening will give families a chance to tour the College, meet our students and ask questions about Sport, Performing Arts, Boarding and more. Bookings are now open – click here to secure your place.

Virtual Tours

The virtual tour of Pymble is a wonderful way to see our campus and girls in action from the comfort of your home. Click here to get started.

Pymble’s oar-some success on the water

It has been a fantastic year for our Pymble Rowers! With 34 new girls joining the ranks – bringing the total to 118 Rowers – our shed at Leichhardt has been a hive of activity. 

In March the crew took part in the double header at Sydney International Rowing Centre (SIRC), competing in the PLC Sydney and Kings Regatta and the IGSA Regatta. We achieved a joint 2nd placing in the overall Point Score Trophy at the IGSA Regatta. The girls were victorious in winning the overall point score at the Schoolgirls Head of the River. All of our crews rowed brilliantly with Pymble winning nine gold, six silver and seven bronze! 

Showing true determination and grit, the girls brought home The Betty Deer Rosebowl for the second year in a row, winning the overall point score at the Head of the River (HOTR). The banks of Iron Cove were bursting with Pymble supporters, cheering our girls all the way to the finish line. Our Rowers won the 2nd VIII, came second in the 1st VIII and our Year 10 crews all placed 1st!

Thank You For the Music – Mamma Mia! The Musical

After eight weeks of rehearsals and four amazing performances, Mamma Mia! – The Musical was seen by more than 2,000 people and the cast, crew and orchestra delivered an outstanding performance that was enjoyed by all.

Director of Co-Curricular Performing Arts Sabina Turner said: “It was a huge team effort with more than 80 students involved. The joy and fun that it brought to the audiences was palpable in every performance.”

“I am so proud of all the students in the cast, band and crew for what they managed to achieve in such a short space of time and through all the complexities that COVID-19 threw at us throughout the production period. What a miracle that they all stayed well for the actual performances!”

Pymble leads the way with new Data Science course

Pymble is the first school in Australia to partner with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to offer the Introduction to Data Science Curriculum as an elective for students in Years 9, 10 and 11. STEM and fields such as Data Science represent the future of work for our girls. What our girls learn now, the experiences they share and the contacts they make in this space will have a profound influence on their careers in the future.

Last term we welcomed a wonderful group of industry professionals, parents, students and staff to a Data Science High Tea and afternoon of activities to celebrate the launch of our new Data Science curriculum and what it means for our girls.

Two of our Data Science pioneers, Echo Zhang and Durva Shinde (Year 10), interviewed our keynote speaker, Yotpo Vice President and General Manager JAPAC, Suzy Nicoletti, about the joy of working in the technology industry and the key lessons she has learned along the way.

The event was one-part celebration, one-part invitation for interested parties to join us as active partners in work experience, internships, collaborative projects and mentoring. 

Our Boarders really ‘Live It’

Creating a sense of family is at the heart of our Boarding community at Pymble. The Pymble Boarding community is supported by the ‘Live It, Love It, Learn It, Lead It’ programs.

Boarding staff work with our girls to help them develop independent living skills, resilience and responsibility that will establish a solid grounding for the rest of their lives.

Our ‘Live It’ program helps girls prepare for the challenges of daily life beyond Boarding by teaching basic life skills, from cooking meals to sewing a button, doing laundry, paying bills, changing a tyre and writing a ‘thank you’ note.

Congratulations to our Class of 2021

We wish to congratulate and acknowledge our 2021 graduates for the completion of their personalised education at Pymble and for their exceptional HSC results.

Pymbulletin

The Ex-Students’ section of Pymbulletin reports on the achievements of Pymble alumni, news items and engagements, weddings, births and vale notices.

This Is Pymble College

We have educated scientists, artists, community leaders, politicians, doctors, lawyers, musicians, athletes, entrepreneurs, Olympians and countless influential and compassionate women. Read about our past, present and future as we celebrate 105 years.