From the Enrolments Managers

We are pleased to welcome Melinda Clements as our Enrolments Manager, Kindergarten to Year 6. Melinda has recently repatriated with her family after 16 years living in Asia. She brings international schooling experience and a deep understanding of the great value of diversity in school communities and is passionate about intercultural understanding. Melinda also understands the unique characteristics of third culture children and the challenges they may face.

Melinda is available to discuss your daughter’s enrolment and Junior School enquiries on 02 9497 7831 or at enrol@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au

Students commencing in 2023

To ensure our new students and new families become part of our Pymble family quickly, we hold orientation events in October and again in January. Our new students have a chance to get to know our current students and staff and meet other new students also commencing. Some students are the only person from their school changing to Pymble and it can be a daunting prospect. Parents too want to be part of this orientation process.

We have arranged for our confirmed 2023 students the following events:

• Kindergarten to 6 2023 – Links Day (new students) on Friday 28 October 2022.
  (Kindergarten students have two additional orientation sessions in September and October)
• Year 7 2023 – Links Day (new students and current Year 6) on Friday 28 October 2022
• Year 7 New Boarders sleepover – 28 October 2022
• Year 7 Assessment Morning and Parent Information Session – 29 October 2022
• Years 8 to 11 2023 – Orientation morning (new students) – Friday 11 November 2022

Parent information and family connection events have also been organised:

• Welcome family picnic for Year 1 to 6 students and families – Saturday 29 October
• Family fun day for Kindergarten students and families – Saturday 15 October
• Parent Information and light supper for Year 7 2023 parents – Tuesday 18 October
• Year 7 2023 Boarding parent Breakfast and Dinner – Friday 28 October

Visiting the College in 2022

We are excited to be holding our Garden Party (fete) on Saturday 17 September (10.00am-4.00pm). This is a fabulous opportunity to see our Pymble family in action and girls enjoying fun together. You and your family of all ages are welcome to attend.

In August we also have a Junior School and Secondary School Open Event for prospective parents to learn more about Pymble. Our Principal, Leadership Team and our students will host you. Bookings are required to attend.

Book to attend the Secondary School Open Event – 18 August 4.00pm-6.00pm

Book to attend the Junior School Open Event – 25 August 9.00am–11.00am

If you’d like to introduce the College to friends or even show your family around please share the Booking links with them.

We have a couple of places that have become available in Kindergarten next year if families who are enrolled and wish to bring their enrolment forward.

Scholarships at Pymble

Applications for available scholarships at Pymble close on 5 August.

2023 Performance – Sport and All-Rounder Scholarship registrations are open and close August 2022.

2024 Academic, Performance – Music, Boarding and Pymble Ex-Students Union Scholarship registrations will open at the end of April and close in 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. 

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.

From the Principal

A gift of a lifetime

Hello, from overseas where I am on enrichment leave over the holiday break visiting innovative STEM-based buildings and learning spaces, meeting with existing and future academic partners at leading universities, undertaking a course at the University of Oxford and attending a global conference on girls’ education, amongst other professional learning experiences. I’m inspired by the opportunity to learn from the best minds around the world and look forward to sharing how this research will inform the development of exciting new programs, buildings and learning facilities at Pymble in subsequent editions of this newsletter.

Typically, I use this column space to talk about new initiatives or student achievements but today I’d like you to cast your mind ahead to your daughter as a Year 12 graduate, a university graduate or perhaps even a young woman at the beginning of her career. For some of you with very young children, this will be a stretch, but bear with me…

You see, we believe one of the many benefits of a Pymble education is the ongoing connection and support of our community throughout our students’ lifetime. ‘Once a Pymble girl, always a Pymble girl’ is our way of saying you will always be a cherished member of our Pymble family who we take great pride in championing and supporting, even as a graduate embarking upon and travelling through each new life stage.

Each year, the College hosts a number of career-focused events for ex-students to meet with members of our community who volunteer to share their professional experience and knowledge as mentors, speakers or panellists. Our most recent such event was our Alumni Networking Event held in May. More than 300 professionals in our community attended to connect with and mentor our younger graduates – some as recent as our Class of 2021.

The night included keynote speakers across a range of industries, before mentors and mentees broke out into industry chat spaces to share experiences, seek advice and connect. The overall theme of the night was summed up perfectly by one of our graduates, Evie, who now works in agribusiness:

“What we talked about tonight was don’t have any fear, reach out, people are always happy to help and you already have a network, an amazing Pymble Alumni community.”

This followed a networking event for ex-students working in the Legal industry – the first of a series of smaller networking events giving our Pymble Alumni the opportunity to network with others working in the same industry, from entry point to senior levels.

The beautiful thing about our mentoring culture is that it goes both ways, and we frequently welcome back our ex-students as mentors and advisors to our current Pymble girls at a wide range of careers events including:

Careers Expo

This event is held in the first half of the year for Pymble students in Years 10, 11 and 12. This year our girls were fortunate to be joined by 40 ex-students representing a wide range of professions, including architecture, audiology, communications, education, engineering, firefighting management, geology, law, medicine, nursing, politics and policy, publishing and research but to name a few. Our students also appreciated catching up with recent Pymble graduates representing residential colleges of the universities they now attend as undergraduates. Seeing familiar faces goes a long way to making a step into the unknown world of university a whole lot less nerve-racking, as I’m sure you would agree!

Sydney Boarding Schools Rural Health Careers FOrum

Jointly hosted by Pymble and NSW Rural Doctors Network, this annual forum is designed for senior Boarding students from rural NSW and students with an interest in pursuing a career in health. The event informs students, parents and staff about the pathways and career opportunities across rural health, including medicine, nursing, midwifery, allied health, Aboriginal health, administration and practice management, and includes Pymble ex-students sharing their insights of studying and/or working in this sector.

emPOWER Lunch Series

This is a new monthly event where guest speakers join our Senior students for lunch to share insights and promote a greater understanding about their work. Our inaugural emPOWER Lunch speaker in May was an ex-student from 2016 who shared her experience of studying and working in the field of engineering.

Future Careers Insight Evening

Held towards the end of the year, this event is hosted in conjunction with St Ignatius’ College, Riverview for students in Years 10 and 11. Alumni from both schools lead group sessions designed to shed light on industries and areas of interest for our students as they embark on their Senior School studies and set their sights on a future beyond school.

We also host a hugely successful Junior School (K-6) Careers Expo each year where our Junior School parents working in a diverse range of professions host expo-style ‘stands’ for the girls to interact with equipment or activities and learn more about potential future careers. This highly successful event speaks to research that shows parents are one of the greatest influencers in their children’s careers – even above academic success – and that girls and boys who have an understanding of their parents’ qualifications and careers have higher levels of self-confidence than those who do not.

Our goal is to offer a world-class education that sets each student up for life – but it’s by no means a case of set and forget. The care and commitment we deliver during our students’ school years extends into their professional lives, as members of our alumni, and our Pymble Network is genuinely a gift of a lifetime.

PS. Should you wish to get involved as a mentor or mentee in one of our abovementioned programs for students or alumni, please contact our Alumni Relations Manager, Mrs Katrina Corcoran (Hum, 1987), or our Director of Futures and Partnerships (K-12), Mr Andrew Kozyra.

Dr Kate Hadwen

Principal

Kindness Convention

Our Junior School Community of Kindness

Our kindness revolution continues as we hosted the inaugural Children’s Kindness Convention. Nineteen schools attended, bringing together 100 Year 5 students to share ideas and think critically and creatively about initiatives they could lead in their school and local communities to promote positive change and kindness. The lead up to this event was supported by our girls in Year 5 who designed logos for lanyards, showbags and helped research the scenarios presented to the delegates at the convention. The event was planned to serve as a call to action to inspire children to believe in the potential impact of their voice and the power of kindness.

Chloé (Year 5) clearly sees kindness as a superpower. Please enjoy the poem she created after the Kindness Convention:

Kindness is my superpower as you can see

Kindness is my superpower I’m kind to all and me

Kindness is my superpower I help those in need

Kindness is my superpower I help all to plant a kindness seed

Now Kindness is our superpower as you can see

Kindness is our superpower and it will always be

– Chloé

International Conference on Girls’ Education

Indigenous Round/NAIDOC Week

To acknowledge Reconciliation Week, we held an Indigenous Round of Sport where we celebrated our Indigenous culture and the role sport plays in bringing us together as a nation. Joined by Loreto Normanhurst, Abbotsleigh, Meriden School and students from St Ives Rugby Club, Lindfield Rugby Club and Gordon Rugby Club, the event commenced with a Welcome Ceremony that was followed by several sporting fixtures in Tennis, Basketball, Football and Rugby Sevens.

Celebrating NAIDOC Week in the first week of term seemed particularly appropriate given the 2022 NAIDOC theme, Get up! Stand up! Show up! Our First Nations scholars did a great job leading our weekly assembly, during which we celebrated five former First Nations graduates from Pymble who now are giving back to their communities in a professional capacity in the fields of law, health, teaching, sport and the Police Force. We continue to learn, celebrate and stand together proudly with our First Nations scholars and are grateful for the richness they bring to our community.

Pymble Model United Nations

Model United Nations (MUN) is a simulation activity that allows students to represent a country of the United Nations and debate international affairs.

Our Pymble Model United Nations (PMUN) team recently hosted their first inter-school PMUN Conference. The conference, co-ordinated by Pymble students, was attended by over 50 delegates from nine schools who represented many countries and spoke eloquently about some big topics.

It was a great day for the students to mingle with like-minded students and all enjoyed the experience.

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.

Students of Young Entrepreneurs Society (YES)

Students of Young Entrepreneurs Society (YES) recently presented their enterprises at the annual YES Pitch Night. YES is a student-led club and over the past semester, the girls have worked diligently to develop their business ideas with the aid of student mentors, learning the basics of entrepreneurship, pitching and collaborative skills.

Showcasing the fruits of their labour at this year’s Pitch Night, the groups proved to be particularly impact-driven with pitches targeting issues ranging from animal welfare to student learning.

The girls also crafted exhibitions to display their work in stalls throughout the Conde Library to celebrate the first face-to-face Pitch Night since the beginning of the pandemic.

Thanks to our judging panel Ms Sangeeta Venkatesan, Co-Founder of Fairvine Super and Executive Director of EG Funds; Ms Sally Wong, Associate of iFREE Group and Educational Project Director of HEI Schools Australia; Mrs Valerie Bruce, former Advertising and Communications Executive at J. Walter Thompson Worldwide; and Dr Sarah Loch, the College Director of Research and Development.

Congratulations to all the girls for their efforts and wonderful presentations, and a thank you to all judges, teachers and parents who attended.

Year 8 National da Vinci Decathlon Champions

It is with great joy that I write about the recent success of our Year 8 da Vinci Team, who placed first at the Nationals on Monday 27^th July.  Isabella, Grace, Kikki, Rosa, Alice, Ruhani, Amber and Katherine are a formidable team!  It goes without saying that they are incredible scholars, capable of near perfect scores in disciplines as diverse as Cartography and Ideation.  What gives this team the “edge”, though, is their abundance of “soft skills”.

When it comes to working harmoniously with others, these are the soft skills that Dr Steel, who heads up the Department of Marketing in Deakin Business School, says you need:

• leadership
• communication
• interaction
• teamwork
• listening
• innovation
• creativity
• problem solving

It has been a pleasure watching this team grow and develop their soft skills over the past year and a half. They set their own goals and schedule their own meetings.  They are quick to respond to e-mails and adept at making group decisions; they know their strengths, taking control in areas of expertise; they are open to feedback and suggestions, and are always up for a challenge, including taking on a new discipline in the competition to compensate for someone’s absence.  It is one of the many blessings of my role, observing the workings of a well-oiled machine!

It beggars belief what these students are capable of producing, given the crippling time limits for each discipline and the pressure that comes with representing Pymble at the very highest level!  Here are a few insights into the challenges they surmounted.  In keeping with this year’s theme of ‘Experimentation’, the girls produced an artwork and poem demonstrating the avant-garde form and style, detailed the process of designing a car, and deciphered codes to encrypt passwords.  They also built this incredible structure in less than one hour with limited resources for Engineering (see image, below).

Clearly this is is a team worthy of celebrating (and cloning)!  Congratulations to our National Champions and thank you to all the teachers, parents, and helpers who contributed to their success!

Pymble crowned champions at first ever Robotics championships

Our Senior Robotics students, alongside Barker College and Abbotsleigh, claimed the top spot at the FIRST Robotics Competition Southern Cross Regional. Amongst a sea of blue, red and white the atmosphere was truly electric when our Pymble Pride 6510 team claimed victory, earning them a ticket to compete at the World Championships in Houston, Texas.

What an absolutely fantastic achievement from our talented Robotics girls!