Pymble Staff in Profile

Mrs Christine Kenny – Deputy Principal Academics (K-12) 

In her role as the Deputy Principal Academic (K-12), Christine leads a passionate and innovative teaching and learning team. She works closely with curriculum leaders across the College to provide authentic and engaging learning experiences that assist Pymble students become women of influence and compassion in the world.

Christine describes an idyllic childhood growing up with easy access to both the beach and the bush near Wollongong. She came to Sydney to attend university after completing her HSC. Her love of reading and literature drew her to the University of Sydney where she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree with an Honours year in English. She commenced teaching English and History in schools in Sydney’s Inner West, whilst also pursuing opportunities in government training and strategic planning.

As Head of English at Meriden School in Strathfield, Christine led a collegial, dynamic and creative department. She fostered student analytical and imaginative writing in fun and engaging ways. Students learned from writers in residence, author visits and poetry competitions which complemented rigorous teaching programs. Christine worked with her team to renew the texts studied, retaining some of the classics and including rich and diverse contemporary texts.

Christine’s focus broadened when she became the Head of Teaching and Learning. Excited by the oversight of all learning areas and motivated by the pursuit of excellence, Christine completed a Master of Instructional Leadership through the University of Melbourne. Her research into identifying and reporting student progress shaped the nature and timeliness of feedback to parents and students at her school. Studying in Victoria also deepened her understanding of the various ways the Australian Curriculum is implemented and widened her network of educational colleagues.

Christine enjoyed further opportunities to understand the global issues in education through her association with schools in Toronto, Canada. Interested by the emergence of learning commons, she visited schools and universities to understand different approaches to the challenges of 21^st Century education. She values these connections highly and believes that much can be gained by sharing with colleagues.

Christine and her husband, Peter enjoy spending time with their three adult children and travelling in Australia and overseas. Christine is delighted to join the Pymble family and looks forward to meeting you soon at one of the College events.

Junior School Enrolment Update

Connection is especially significant in a ‘home away from home’ environment such as a school. Shared hobbies and interests, languages spoken, customs, groups, sporting teams, cities and countries to name a few, are the commonalities that bring people together strengthening community ties and affinity.  

 In recent months, many activities have taken place with a focus on connection and bringing people together. Across the Junior School, transition programs, established to prepare and connect current students in anticipation of their upcoming change of year level have taken place and students are still buzzing about new connections made as a result of the Outdoor Education Programs attended. Year 1 recently enjoyed a connectedness to the environment thanks to an incursion as part of their Term 4 Science unit ‘Get Growing’ where the girls participated in the hands-on exploration of plants, their needs, life cycles and uses. 

Year 6 girls have been volunteering their skills and time at Uniting Northaven Care epitomising kindness and the Pymble spirit and connecting with the elderly residents, sharing their learning and making them smile.  

 The recent Grandparents Picnic allowed for multi-generational connections and Windows into Learning also took place providing an opportunity for parents to spend time in the classrooms making connections to their daughters’ ways of learning. Additionally, the recently held Academic Learning Discussions were an opportunity for parents to connect with their daughter’s Compass Teacher and the upcoming Year 6 Parent Cocktail Party and Year 6 Disco is sure to promote connection and memories. 

Parents also enjoy connection through various means whether it be being involved in our Junior School Parent Group (JSPG), involving themselves in events, as volunteers, as Relationship Leaders or Parent Grade Coordinators volunteering their time to help support the Junior School community. 

These are just a few of the ways Pymble instils a sense of connectedness to each other, the community and the environment. 

For our new students and their families joining us next year for the start of their Pymble journey, Term 4 has been a time for making new friends and connections. Through Welcome Picnics, Links Day and Parent information Sessions, both parents and their daughters have been able to connect with other new families as well as with current students. These events are designed with connection in mind and to assist our new students and their families to settle into our school as seamlessly as possible. Additionally, Pymble has many structures in place to support new families and much information about these can be found on the parent portal, MyPymble. All new families have now received their log in details and pre-commencement information and in the meantime, please be reminded of the following dates:  

2024 Year 1 to 6: New student orientation – Monday January 29, 2024 9.00-10.30am 

2024 All Students First Day Term 1: Tuesday 30 January 2024   

We look forward to welcoming families who are joining us next year and in the coming years. For families who have submitted an application for enrolment for Kindergarten to Year 6 and hold a provisional place for 2026, we will be commencing the enrolment interview process early next year and will be in contact to invite your family to a Junior Pymble Morning. 

 A Junior Pymble Morning gives girls and their parents the opportunity to meet Mrs Kate Brown, Head of Junior School and attend an interview. Your family will also tour the Junior School and have the chance to meet other new girls and their parents. 

Prior to the interview, we require photocopies of your daughter’s 2022 and 2023 school reports, where applicable. Please provide any medical or educational reports that relate to your daughter’s learning. You may send these to Enrol@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au 

 Should you anticipate a change in circumstances, please notify the College by contacting the Enrolments Department on +61 2 9855 7613 or email Enrol@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au 

 To stay connected to the College, please see Pymble’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn pages.

Mrs Melinda Clements
Enrolment Manager K-6

From the Principal

Hello from all of us here at Pymble. At the end of another wonderfully busy and enriching year at Pymble, we are delighted to present to you the last Enrolment Newsletter for 2023. 

If you have school-aged children you are most likely counting down the weeks until summer holidays, a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time together, celebrate the year’s achievements, and stock up on the sleep and rest that helps us all to thrive. If you are catching up on post-COVID travel, we hope you have an enjoyable and safe trip.

This term, we have been encouraging our students, staff and families to focus on regularly achieving the requisite amount of sleep for their specific age group, and there’s a highly scientific reason why. Among other benefits, sleep contributes to health and wellbeing and gives our brains a chance to consolidate the day’s learnings. I’ve downloaded the free version of the Sleep Tracker app which has served as a great reminder each night that it’s time for me to consider going to bed. Perhaps there are some simple strategies you can implement at home that might improve the quality of sleep for everyone in your household.

Over the next 12 months we will continue to focus on improving the overall health of our community and positively impacting our ability to learn through better sleep, combined with increased movement. Feel free to join us and experience the improvements for yourself.

Overall, 2023 has been a year of Pymble Gives Back. At the start of Term 1 our community made a commitment to ‘be of service’ where possible for the next 12 months; to give our time and use our special gifts and talents for the benefit of others.

In supporting a host of different charities, organisations and communities, collectively our girls across K-12 have knitted and sewed blankets, cared for the environment, made menstrual wellbeing packs, taught robotics to children with special needs, visited aged care residents and assisted them with technology, spent time with newly arrived refugees, crafted hearts for mental health, and travelled to remote national and international schools to work with students and contribute to much-needed facilities and resources.

We filled three industrial-sized Pymble Gives Back donations bins countless times over with clothing, blankets and other essential items to contribute to the work of Wayside Chapel, The Salvation Army and The Smith Family. And students initiated and led multiple fundraisers supporting charities including Red Shield Appeal, Days for Girls, Barbara May Foundation, Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter and Costumes for Cancer, as well as our sponsor child in Tanzania – whom Year 11 visited recently during their first service tour to the country since 2018.

Incredibly, our community also raised enough funds through our recently launched Pymble Foundation to offer three refugees from Afghanistan tuition at the College from 2024. Our hope is to continue to offer more bursaries for deserving girls who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford a life-changing Pymble education.

When term ends next week, our Year 11 students, supported by a team of dedicated teaching and medical staff, will take on the important role of caring for children with disabilities at our four-day Sony Camp, and all staff will participate in a day of ‘being of service’ to one of the 50+ charities or organisations we support in our community.

I’m also particularly proud of our College staff, who collectively have raised more than $22,000 this year for charitable causes.

Given the extent of support that exists among our entire community for all these programs, mid-next year we are excited to introduce a new opportunity for families in each year group to support a designated charity or organisation on a regular basis.

When we talk about ‘Watch Us Change the World’ we are talking about all of these actions – whether big or small – that help make the world a better place for others. These are the things that contribute to our collective feeling of being Pymble Proud.

In other news at Pymble, we can’t wait to welcome our incoming Year 7 Boarders to their newly renovated home in 2024. Our youngest Boarders will soon have their very own customised space to call ‘home away from home’ and help their transition into life as Pymble residents. It looks amazing, and I know the girls are going to love it! The challenge is we were fully booked out for Year 7 Boarding many months ago – a good challenge to have, but frustrating for families who want to access a place for their daughters.

We have so much to look forward to in 2024. Naturally, we will continue to keep you informed as we launch our next stage of strategic intents for teaching and learning, and as our campus at Pymble and Vision Valley site continue to transform under our exciting Master Plan for the future.

In the meantime, from our family to yours, wishing you a joyful Christmas filled with the magic of family and friends.

Dr Kate Hadwen
Principal

Secondary School Enrolment Update

As we wrap up a term filled with pre-commencement logistics and orientation events for our new 2024 students, I am reminded of the sorts of questions and worries parents have when starting at a new school and one such as Pymble. Class placements, friendship connections, activities, resources, subject offerings, transportation and of course the biggest question – how will you get to know my daughter?

We have a comprehensive pre-commencement program starting with each student’s interview two years’ prior to starting. There are multiple touch points over the 18 months prior to your daughter’s start where we collect information and use it to provide a successful transition. Our events also provide new and existing students to link with each other before the year is out. Our 2024 students are excited to start, and their parents are ready.  

 Our 2026 Year 7 starters will begin their final phase of enrolment in April next year with our Pymble Mornings. It will be hard for many of you to believe it is that time to be making final decisions around Secondary Schooling. I’m sure many of you may feel your daughter has only just started school! We will be inviting students that have a provisionally confirmed place at the College to attend an interview with our Head of School. Those on the waitlist will be advised if there has been progress for their daughter’s place in July.  

Scholarship opportunities for 2025 and 2026 commencement  

 In addition to the Foundation Bursary Program launched in 2023, the College offers various scholarships to students with an academic, music, sport or all-rounder strength. The College also offers scholarships for rural Boarding students and students that are Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islanders.  

 Our Sport and All-Rounder scholarships for 2025 entry, open in early December and close in early February 2024. There are different requirements for each scholarship. Please review the website for information specific to each scholarship. Students are no longer required to sit an examination for Sport Scholarships.  

 Information can be found on the Performance Scholarship -Sport webpage or the All-Rounder Scholarship webpage on the College website. 

 Academic, Music and Boarding Scholarships for 2025 have now closed.

Registrations for 2026 commencement will open on Wednesday 1 May 2024. 

 Year 9 Residential Program – Vision Valley 

 Our Residential Program for Year 9 students based at Vision Valley has been running for two years. The four-week program is imbedded into our Year 9 curriculum and students choose the term they wish to attend based on their commitments and family preferences.  

The program is ever evolving based on feedback and best practice. If you’d like to read what was shared with our 2024 students to gain a comprehensive understanding of the program, please visit our microsite Year 9 Residential Program – Vision Valley. 

In the year prior to the program commencing, when students are in Year 8, there are information sessions to understand the program that are relevant to them.  

Year 7 Boarding House 

 As Dr Hadwen indicated in her piece, we can’t wait for our incoming Year 7 Boarders to fill their newly renovated home in 2024. Girls will share rooms with up-to 4 in a room. This will also provide an opportunity for our Year 8 to Year 11 boarders to be placed vertically in our Goodlet and Marden Boarding Houses. Our Year 12s will continue to be in their own Lang Boarding House.  

If you haven’t toured our Boarding facilities and you’ve enrolled your daughter as a Boarder, please contact us next year and we can take you through our Houses and introduce you and possibly your daughter to the joy and structure of boarding.  

I look forward to meeting up with many of you next year at either an Open Event tour or at a Pymble Morning interview.  

 I wish you all the best for the end of year celebrations and hope that a break as a family can be had by all.  

Mrs Clair Stock
Enrolments Manager 7-12

Pymbulletin

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.

Congratulations to our Class of 2022

Language Arts is shining at Pymble

Our Language Arts students have been shining this year, and Term 4 has been no exception. From achieving second place overall at the igsa Festival of Speech that was held at Ravenswood to Pymble Model United Nations student Jemma (Year 8) winning the Best Speaker Award at Knox MUN.

Taking ARTEXPRESS by storm

Helping hands at Sony Camp

Windows into Learning at Junior School

It could be… Pymble Dance Showcase

In Week 5, over 580 Co-curricular Dance students took to the Gillian Moore Centre for Performing Arts stage to present the 13th annual Dance Showcase with the theme ‘It could be…’

 

Across five shows each of the Co-curricular Dance classes from Kindergarten to Year 12 boldly performed with energy to present the story of the showcase.

In a special collaboration with the Robotics team, our dancers were also able to incorporate Simba the Robot in a narrated performance; it was truly a magical experience for all involved.

 

Well done to all the students and teachers who worked so hard to put on an exceptional performance!

Practising sustainability at Vision Valley

Alumni Inspiration

Dr Larissa Burke (Miles, 1999)

As a current parent to Isabelle (Year 8 Boarder), an ex-student and one of four generations of old girls on both sides of the family, there are a number of strong ties to Pymble and many fond memories to share.

I grew up in Rouchel, near Scone in the Upper Hunter valley, on a cattle property. This connection to the land drew me back to living and working as a GP there (as well as meeting my now husband Michael who happened to be living in Scone when we met!). We have four busy and energetic children – Isabelle (13), Patrick (11), Clementine (9) and Lachlan (7).

I was lucky enough to complete my final two years of schooling at Pymble where I was able to experience the very best in academic excellence, sporting opportunities – particularly cross country, hockey and athletics and musical involvement with piano, accompanying, musicals and organ. It was also an action-packed time getting to know a friendly and fun boarding family and many lovely day girls.

One of the most unique experiences was learning to play the pipe organ in the chapel at school and playing for several boarders chapel services!

There are many Pymble family connections as both my mother and father’s side of the family went to Pymble (in fact this is how they met!) On my dad’s side, my grandmother Marion Miles (née Campbell) and two aunts were at Pymble. On mum’s side, my grandmother Jacqueline Judell was a biochemist and the head librarian for 20+ years at Pymble and is remembered by many for her amazing knowledge of all things relating to research, science, the arts, culture and keeping things orderly in the library!

My mum, Gillian Miles (née Judell, 1977) was at Pymble from Years One to 12 and was Goodlet Head Prefect, a talented athlete and a high achiever. These days she is a music teacher of cello and piano and has been working with children in the Upper Hunter for 30+ years.

My sisters, Sarah and Tamara also went to Pymble, and now my daughter, Isabelle Burke is a current boarder in Year 8 and really enjoying her time at the College.

After school, I commenced a Bachelor of Medicine at Newcastle University, which was an amazing chance to study a fabulous course and become a doctor. There were several opportunities to complete study placements overseas during the degree and I spent time in India researching tuberculosis and in England at a renal medicine unit.

My intern and residency years were completed at Royal North Shore Hospital and then I had a move north to Tamworth for a year in acute care which included emergency, intensive care and anaesthetics training. This set me up for a really good grounding prior to moving to Scone.

In Scone I completed my General Practice training and to this day I still work there (it’s now been 16 years!)

These days I’m a practice owner and registrar supervisor and the Hospital Staff Council representative. It’s a busy practice with many sub-specialty GPs and while rural medicine is a challenging job I find the challenge rewarding. We also look after patients at our local hospital, both in emergency and on the ward as well as working in theatre in anaesthetics.

Medicine is an exciting career and full of opportunities to specialise in whatever you are passionate about. Rural general practice has not always been easy but it is certainly an area where you can make a really positive impact in your local community.