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Term 4, December 2020
Keeping Up With Our Boarders It is with great excitement that I pen this final column for the year. Of course, I am excited at the prospect of a well-earned break for all of us but even more excited in anticipation of what 2021 holds. In a year filled with challenge, I am proud of all we have achieved, the resilience we have demonstrated and the relationships we have forged. I am delighted to see these qualities shining through in our new Boarding leaders and I am filled with hope for an enriching and rewarding year to come. I hope you also enjoy reading of their dreams and aspirations for this special community.
Our Revs Anne Graham, House Supervisor, Lang Pymble’s two Chaplains, Reverend Lorenzo Rodriguez Torres (LRT) and Reverend Punam Bent (PB), provide spiritual leadership and pastoral care to our Boarding community. In this interview, they give brief insights into their early lives and chosen paths. Where were you born and where did you go to school? LRT: I was born in Perpignan, in the south of France. I went to mostly Catholic schools in Spain, France and Australia – around ten schools.
As you will read, these girls have outstanding role models in our beautiful Chaplains, Reverend Punam Bent and Reverend Lorenzo Rodriguez Torres. These extraordinary people are our neighbours, friends and family, leading our fortnightly Chapel sessions and being a regular and much-loved presence in our Boarding lives. As you will come to appreciate, our leaders from years gone by, including Hannah Green have also been a strong influence in shaping the quality of leadership in our community. And, it is wonderful to see leadership coming to life here in this very publication with our Boarding Editorial Team, lead so ably by Anne Graham, preparing yet another spectacular edition of Keeping Up With Our Boarders. My deep gratitude to each and every one of you who finds a special place in their hearts for our Boarders. Our wonderful Day School Staff, our Boarding Family Friends, our Alumni and the tireless Boarding staff, we are lucky to have you in our lives. Thank you to our wonderful families who entrust us with the care of their most precious assets – their beautiful girls. And, to those precious girls – thank you for the joy you bring to us every day. Every good wish to you and your families for a happy, healthy and holy Christmas and a fabulous start to 2021. Mrs Carolyn Burgess DIRECTOR OF BOARDING
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This means we journey with one another, checking in on each other – especially when the road can be a struggle and life can become burdensome. Relieving each other in these moments and supporting in care is what it is. What faith-based experiences are important you?
PB: I was born in a small town in upstate New York, called Wyoming. I was five years old when my family migrated back to India, so I did most of my schooling there. I attended an all girls’ school in a place called Jabalpur. It was a Catholic school called St Joseph’s Convent. The school was founded in 1873 by the Indian Province of the Sisters of St Joseph of Chambéry. How long have you been at Pymble? LRT: I have been at Pymble for ten years, since the start of Term 4 in 2010. PB: I have been at Pymble for five years now. Why did you become a School Chaplain? LRT: I was already working as a minister in the Gordon Uniting Church and wanted a change from working in a parish. My wife suggested I might enjoy working in a school. However, my main motivation in the work that I do is that I love working with people. PB: I have been working as a Chaplain for 17 years, and before that was working in congregations as a minister. I have felt called to this line of work as it challenges and motivates me and keeps me grounded. What does Pastoral Care at Pymble mean to you? LRT: It simply means care – conscious and intentional care and support of each other as a community. PB: Pastoral Care at Pymble is the nurturing and support of the community as we know it, so the care of our girls, our staff and extended community.
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LRT: Spiritual rituals, like Chapel, are important to me; rituals and celebrations which remind us each of our call as spiritual beings, to live with love and compassion in all of our relationships – with those we like and to learn to love those we don’t love or appreciate yet! PB: Faith-based experiences grounded in my own faith are extremely important to me, so the rituals and practices – as in disciplines within my faith – of praying, meditating and having quiet times are essential. What do you see here that gives you hope for the future of young people? LRT: It is the care and support shown by the girls to each other and their passion for social and environmental issues, as well as the care and passion of the staff here that gives me hope for the world now and in the future. PB: Keeping it real and words of encouragement can offer a lot of hope for the future of our young people. Are there any changes you’d like to see at Pymble? LRT: There isn’t any specific change that I would like to see – it is probably more intentionality in what we already do, in relation to care. More awareness and gratitude of the people who make this place so incredible, staff and students alike. PB: I would like to see more diversity at Pymble, in staff and among students. What do you think it takes to be a leader? LRT: There are many models of leadership, and my personal preference is the leadership style that acknowledges the strength and integrity of others – that doesn’t dictate, but rather, values people’s integrity and autonomy. A good leader for me is someone who cares about people, who is able to listen to advice, surrounding themselves with people who will challenge
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Boarding Prefect Leadership Team them at times, and who is able to celebrate the successes and strengths of their team members. PB: Honesty and Integrity – two things. Remaining true to who you are. What is important to you in your daily life? LRT: Primarily I would say relationships! I would add that my vocation, as expressed in my relationships and the work I do, add meaning and depth into my experiences. PB: My family and my own story. Over your life, is there anything you wish you could have done differently? LRT: Yes and no! I do wish I hadn’t made all the mistakes I have made or experienced all the suffering I have. However, I know that it is these very experiences and choices that have helped to shape me, and which have and continue to influence my choices and decisions! PB: Yes, I wish I had been there when my parents died. I missed these life moments, and always wish I could have just been there.
Ella Jones (Year 12), Shanghai and Brianna Kierath (Year 12), Dubbo I am Ella Jones and I am the new Head Boarder for the coming year. I am so honoured to have been given this great opportunity of leadership and I hope I can make an impact on our Boarding community. When I started in Year 7, I had no idea that my Boarding journey would lead me here, but I am really grateful for everyone who has supported me along the way. Coming from Shanghai, Boarding was something extremely new for me, having my family living so far away was a challenge at first but after settling in and meeting the girls I would be spending the next five years with, Boarding became my second home. My name is Brin Kierath and I’m fortunate enough to be Deputy Head Boarder for the next year. I am very excited for all the opportunities which will come from this experience! Like Ella, I started my Boarding journey in Year 7, a Dubbo girl ready to take on Sydney, with Ella being one of my first roommates. As my years at Pymble have gone by, Boarding has become a massive aspect of my life and shaped me into the person I am today. I couldn’t be more excited to lead a community which has made me feel so at home. We have many ideas for the year ahead and hope NSW Health guidlines won’t impact what we have in mind. We are hoping to bring back the charity event, or something similar, so that we can have our wider community back for some fun. We plan to continue working with the Country Women’s Association, a charity that we all feel is important for Boarding to support. We are in the processes of planning our community weekends which will, no doubt, be full of fun as our whole Boarding community will unite. Our Boarders’ Representative Council meetings have already started and will provide an opportunity for girls of all years to make changes. We’ve already been busy at work this term and, so far, have been having a blast. We are really looking forward to what lies ahead in 2021.
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Where are they now? Hannah Green (2016) My Pymble journey started in 2012 as a Year 8 Boarding student. I am originally from a property in Forbes, NSW, and found the move to Pymble very different from my hometown. I was very excited and grateful to be attending Pymble as I was a part of the fourth generation in my family to attend. My grandmother Jenny Williams (Low, 1957) and her sisters Sandra Sippe (Low, 1961), Meg Kierath (Low, 1958), Helen Duff (Low, 1958) and Jeannie Walker (Low, 1962) still hold the record for the most girls to board from the same family. You can find a photo of them in the Heritage Centre! While attending Pymble, I wanted to make the most of the extensive Co-curricular activities on offer. I enjoyed playing and participating in Netball, Rowing, Sailing, Basketball, Gold Duke of Edinburgh and trying different creative activities, including oil painting and ceramics. I also took Speech and Drama lessons and ended up attaining an AMEB Associate Diploma of
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Professional Communication in Year 12. I was also fortunate enough to be Boarding Prefect (Performing Arts) and Middle School Liaison in my final year. I was very grateful to have been involved in a leadership position and was glad to be able to serve the Pymble community. I loved being exposed to all the different opportunities and experiences that Pymble offers and it truly prepared me for life after school. After Year 12, I headed down to the capital to study a Bachelor of Commerce (International Business), Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the Australian National University (ANU). I am
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currently in my fourth year at ANU and due to graduate in June 2021. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time there and have lived on campus for two years at John XXIII College. I was very well suited for College life after spending five years boarding and living away from home. In my third year I went on exchange to study abroad at Radboud University in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. It was a fantastic experience to be able to study International Business overseas. I lived in an international apartment with people from 16 different countries! I decided to stay in Europe and defer my studies for a semester, my version of a mini gap year. Backpacking on my own through Europe was daunting at first but I felt very well prepared from my Pymble days. I believe we are taught to be independent, creative problem-solvers and make the most of every opportunity. Overall, my ten months away was very rewarding and I am grateful I was able to travel before COVID-19 and the whirlwind 2020 has thrown at all of us. While overseas last year I applied for ANU’s College of Business and Economics (CBE) Internship program. I actually submitted my video application while staying in a hostel in Tuscany, Italy! I was tasked with conducting a scoping project to investigate Wellbeing programs in the workplace for the ANU at the Work Environment Group (WEG). I was fortunate enough to have been nominated and won the ‘Intern of the Year’ for my contribution to the WEG as my work is currently reshaping the Wellbeing program at ANU. I have loved my time at the ANU so far and have enjoyed participating in various extracurricular activities including volunteering with 180 Degrees
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Consulting and St Vincent de Paul and playing social mixed netball. I also work part-time as a swim teacher, a career I started in Year 12 at Pymble. I am currently exploring different employment paths after I graduate in June 2021 with a particular interest in management consulting and the corporate business world. This summer I am undertaking an internship with the Federal Government to explore the different avenues of business in the public sector. Attending Pymble truly changed my life as I have so many positive experiences and many fond memories from my time there. It offered me a glimpse of all the exciting opportunities that exist if you are willing to give them a go. I look forward to my five-year reunion next year!
Pink Lady Award Our Boarders have created the Pink Lady Award to acknowledge support and commitment from those who have gone above and beyond to improve our girls’ Boarding environment. Mr Malcolm Boyes, Campus Manager, was the most recent recipient of this award due to his tireless work to bring our Boarding House refurbishment to fruition. For more than two years, Mr Boyes has been planning and working towards enhancing the buildings and modernising the interior fixtures to accommodate today’s students’ needs. It has been challenging as every room is configured differently in buildings that have been used for Boarding Houses for more than a century. His commitment to delivering quality and functional outcomes has been very much appreciated and we are grateful to him and the Facilities staff for their unwavering support.
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Social Inclusion Tiarn Wilesmith (Year 12), Wagga Wagga I’m Tiarn and I am thrilled to be the 2021 Boarding Social Inclusion Prefect! I started at Pymble this year from Wagga Wagga. I instantly fell in love with Boarding and it became like a second family and my home away from home. This sparked my passion to create an inclusive environment for every girl in the Pymble Boarding community to enhance a sense of acceptance and belonging. My aim is to achieve this through celebrating that every Boarder is unique and shares a different background, culture and ethnicity to those around her. This helped shape my experience when coming to Pymble and I hope to do the same for others.
2020 NSW International Student Awards Angel Wang (Year 8), Beijing This year has been a tough and unique year where COVID-19 has expanded all over the world. This plague had started from my country and this encouraged me to help out the community. My community service for both China and Australia earned me a place inside the 2020 NSW International Student Award. Although the results have not come out yet, I have been selected as a finalist for the award that will be presented at Government House on 8 December 2020. This award is given to international students who have done community service within either Australia or their home country. For me, that would be China and Australia. In the beginning of the year when the coronavirus erupted throughout China, especially Wuhan, I decided to donate a massive amount of medical supplies to the Wuhan hospitals because China had insufficient amounts of masks and medical protective suits during that period of time. After the donation, I travelled back to Australia for school and realised how differently people had responded to the virus. This motivated me to do something for the Australian community. I created a website www.thecovidwatch.com to inform people about the virus and wrote blog posts on information regarding the disease. I was hoping to contribute to the society and raise awareness on how to stop and prevent the virus from spreading further. After I donated and created the website, I shared it with the staff and teachers at the College. Ms Rockwell used these contributions to nominate me for the award where I was announced as one of the finalists. This was exciting news for me. I am looking forward to the award ceremony!
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Sport and the Arts Lucy Small (Year 12), Drummoyne My name is Lucy and I am the Boarding Prefect for Sport and the Arts for 2021. I am so excited to undertake this role! As this Prefect, I have the responsibilities of ensuring that Angus Cup weekends are organised and that each of our beautiful Boarders are involved. I also will be organising teams for the prestigious Boarders Relay Team at the school carnivals! My hopes for this coming year are that every Boarder feels proud of their achievements in both sport and the arts. To make this more accessible, I will be introducing a page on the new VC (coming next year) where Boarders can view the point scores of the Boarding Houses that will be updated regularly.
Sport Award Mikayla Zahirovic (2020), Mt Low, Queensland Winning both the Athlete of the Year Tennis and the Australian Olympic Committee Change-Maker Leadership Award has been a highlight to my year. I feel privileged to have received these awards, considering all the challenges and difficulties I have faced as an athlete this year due to COVID-19. After the awards ceremony I spoke with my family via FaceTime and showed them my awards and to see their beautiful smiles and joy on their faces… these are the moments I live for. Not having seen my family in almost four months and seeing how proud they were makes these awards even more special. My ultimate goal when coming to Pymble was to leave a tennis legacy and I couldn’t have done this without my wonderful Pymble Family.
House Liaison Greta Roberts (Year 12), Wagga Wagga My name is Greta and I am the House Liaison Prefect for 2021. I am from Wagga and started at Pymble in Year 9. Although I love Boarding now, at the beginning I found it hard to get used to the Boarding environment and was really homesick. Therefore, my goal as a Prefect is to help make our girls’ transitions into Boarding as easy as possible. I plan to strengthen the Big Sister, Little Sister Program and run regular events. Setting up a Boarding Buddy program for all girls, as well as just being someone who girls can come and talk to, is also part of my role.
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Wellbeing Lauren Sevil (Year 12), Narromine My name is Lauren and I am the Wellbeing Boarding Prefect for 2021. I am so excited for this role as I have a passion for ensuring the wellbeing of our Boarders and staff. I have the opportunity to support the physical, mental, social and spiritual aspects of our Boarders’ lives. The physical aspect through food is important and I will work with our amazing catering team to investigate healthy foods, and sweets of course! With mental wellbeing, bringing in guest speakers who can inspire our Boarders and working with the Day School on wellbeing initiatives are on my agenda. With social, building a stronger sisterhood and giving back by donating food from ‘Boarders Get Baking’ to shelters for the homeless, will be important. And lastly, spiritual wellbeing is significant as we have such diversity. Incorporating this into Chapel and our dinners will make a huge impact. I am so grateful for this position and can’t wait to enhance the wellbeing of Boarding.
My home town Macey Leahy (Year 9), Cootamundra I am new to Pymble this year and come from a farm near Cootamundra. ‘Coota’ has a population of about 5,000 people and is approximately four-and-a-half hours southwest of Sydney. I am one of seven kids and the first girl to go away to school. ‘Coota’ is a nice welcoming town where everyone knows each other. I live on 4,000 acres and we run both sheep and cattle as well as cropping. When I look out my window, I see acres of land, green and alive, this is quite a contrast from being in a drought for the past five years. When I go home in the holidays, most of my time is spent moving livestock or sitting on tractors. When there is some spare time, my siblings and I go out motorbike riding and swimming in the dams. In the summer, my family and I go water skiing down at Talbingo. This dam is part of the Snowy Hydro Scheme, providing power for New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria and has a big impact on the energy we have here in Sydney. I love being out in the country and having the feeling of freedom and going where I want.
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Lang Housewarming Sophie Neave (Year 12), Ottawa, Canada On Sunday 15 November, Lang House welcomed their 2021 Year 12 girls with a Housewarming dinner. We were lucky enough to have Ms Shaw and Mrs Burgess join, along with Anne and Emma from Lang House. Tamara and her team set up a beautiful dinner in the Quiet Room with white table clothes, flowers and music playing. The food was both ample and delicious. Mrs Burgess made a lovely speech referencing the tradition of the PLC Lang housewarming from 1916. Ella also spoke, introducing the individual girls and noting something unique about each of them. The cherry on the cake was the thoughtful housewarming gifts organised by Anne and Mrs Burgess, especially the coffee machine! There was lots of chatter among the tables and a delightful night was had by all.
Boarders’ Representative Council (BRC) The BRC is key to the continued success of our Boarding community and is charged with the following important responsibilities: build and sustain the sense of community; advise of concerns and recommend improvements and initiatives; demonstrate and promote the College values through exemplary leadership. The Council meets fortnightly and is led by our Head Boarder, Ella Jones and Deputy Head Boarder, Brianna Kierath. Congratulations to the following Boarders who have been elected by their housemates as members of the BRC for Term 4 2020 and Term 1 2021: • • • •
Year 7 – Alice Beveridge and Mia Chambers Year 8 – Hannah Thornton and Tiffany Mak Year 9 – Macey Leahy and Sarah Thornton Year 10 – Philippa Austin and Chloe Hanlan
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Halloween Queens Maddie Morris (Year 7), Gledswood Hills On Saturday 31 October, also known as Halloween, we celebrated in Marden House. Annabel (Year 7), Lucy (Year 9), Hannah (Year 9) and I dressed up for Halloween, competing for the prize of ‘best dressed’. Lucy and Hannah made Ninja Turtle masks to put over their faces. Annabel and I dressed up as ghosts. We used plain white bed sheets and, to complete our ghost look, we added a pair of sunglasses and the classic Boarders’ cap. We spent the night taking awesome pictures in our costumes, sharing many laughs and startling the staff with our jump scares. It was so funny not being able to see through the sheet! We won the best dressed award and had so much fun on the night.
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Marden’s dressed for Christmas Alice Beveridge (Year 7), Young It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! In late November we set up the Christmas tree in Marden. When I say we, I mean mostly Miss Glover – but we sort of helped. When we came down the stairs, we admired all the effort Miss Glover had put in. Well, at least that’s what I think. The Marden foyer is now covered in baubles, tinsel, stockings and Christmas lights. When you walk in the door, I guarantee you will be blown away by the festive decorations. And the smell of the real tree is just so Christmassy. Hopefully Santa is generous, considering all the stockings we put up! All the girls in Marden have had smiles on their faces when they realised that Christmas is coming soon. I am sure we all agree it is great listening to the Christmas carols when we are eating our afternoon tea. We are loving all of the bits and pieces of the decorations scattered around the foyer – including the pine needles as they fall off the tree!
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Global Awareness Stephanie Chan (Year 12), Wagga Wagga My name is Steph and I am the Global Awareness Prefect for 2021. My role involves encouraging sustainability and environmental awareness as well as supporting global causes and organisations, highlighting the global nature of Boarding and developing cultural exchange and immersion. Throughout this Term 4, my role involves support for the Exodus Foundation and starting a clothes drive throughout the Boarding houses. Clothes will be cleaned and donated to the St Vincent De Paul Society. As the new year begins, I will focus on Boarding’s Earth Hour and Clean Up Australia Day to encourage Boarders to be environmentally aware. I hope to build on ‘View from my Window’ section since it shows our diverse community and encourages open-mindedness as Boarders learn from each other. I also hope to introduce more new ideas and am excited to have been appointed to this role.
Communications Sophie Graham (Year 12), Cootamundra My name is Sophie, and I am the Boarding Communications Prefect for 2021! I have been a Boarder since Year 7 and I am from Cootamundra in South-East NSW. This role is new to our Boarding Prefect group and I hope to be able to build a strong platform for future Communications Prefects. Through this role, I want to help promote and showcase our Boarding community via a range of different initiatives in Combined Assemblies such as photos, updates on media platforms and videos about Boarding. I would also like to be able to create some form of media platform for parents and friends to see weekly photos of our Boarders engaging in activities such as the ‘Love It’ program, to help build a stronger sense of connection between our girls and their families. I am very excited for the year ahead and can’t wait to get things going!
Spirit House Captains While the Day School has membership to eight ‘Houses’, our Boarders are members of one of four of these Houses, known as ‘Spirit Houses’ – Lang, Goodlet, Marden and Hammond. Our Spirit House Captains are charged with engaging the Boarding community in events and activities throughout the year and promoting and fostering school spirit and the College values. Congratulations to our new Spirit House Captains for Term 4 2020 and Term 1 2021: • • • •
Lang – Annika Ferguson and Tori Makim Goodlet – Chloe Moore and Edie Cleland Marden – Eloise Wilson and Margaret Williams Hammond: Amelia Browning and Chloe Hanlan
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Boarders’ besties Hannah Thornton (Year 8), Dubbo One of the reasons Boarders get homesick is that we miss our best friends, aka partners in crime, aka the furry canines of the house. We know that no one will ever replace our furry friends at home, but the Pymble dogs are the next best thing. Archie – our own Pymble pooch, Bonnie (Mrs B) Sonny (Sally), Mabel (Lu), and Murphy (Rachel) all put smiles on our faces and will happily give you a hug, lick on the cheek, and even a workout routine if you’re willing to run around the grounds trying to catch them. Having these adorable dogs at Pymble really helps create a family environment, especially for all the country Boarders who have lots of dogs back at home. They help to make Pymble feel like a second home. This means as well as looking forward to seeing all the Boarding ‘sisters’, you can also look forward to seeing the four-legged members of the family.
Archie
Hannah’s dogs
Sonny
Murph
y
Mabel
Wentwor th
Bonnie
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