Ode to Joy Find out more on page 37
PYMBLE LADIES’ COLLEGE ISSUE 2, 2020 VOLUME 49
Contents
Pymbulletin | Volume 49 PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Principal’s Message .........................................3
SUSTAINABILITY Jeans for Genes Day .................................... 29 Young Entrepreneurs Society (YES) ......... 30
NEWS
Recipes for Charity........................................31
Meet Archie!..................................................... 4
Koala Champion ............................................31
World-Class Education Partnership ..........6
SEEDS Launch ............................................... 32
Vision Valley Now Owned by Pymble ....... 8
PERSONALISED LEARNING
Front cover Ode to Joy About Pymble Ladies' College Celebrating 100 years of education in 2016, Pymble’s history has been marked with excellence. The College has gained a reputation for offering extraordinary opportunities with outstanding teachers and facilities. Pymble students aspire to the College motto, ‘All’ Ultimo Lavoro’ – Strive for the highest, graduating with confidence and maturity to embrace the challenges that lie beyond the College gates. A school of the Uniting Church in Australia, Pymble welcomes girls of all faiths in Kindergarten to Year 12 and Boarders from Year 7. Pymble Social Media facebook.com/pymblelc instagram.com/pymblelc twitter.com/pymblelc bit.ly/youtube-pymblelc bit.ly/linkedin-pymblelc Acknowledgements This edition of Pymbulletin was prepared by the Community Engagement team, Pymble Ladies’ College. Contact Us Pymble Ladies’ College PO Box 136 North Ryde BC NSW 1670 Pymble NSW 2073 AUSTRALIA Telephone +61 2 9855 7799 CRICOS Provider Code: 03288K www.pymblelc.nsw.edu.au
SPORT AND ACTIVITIES Tildesley Tennis at Pymble ......................... 35
Outdoor Education for Year 8 ....................11 Textiles on (Virtual) Parade .........................12
Cadet Graduation Ceremony ................... 36
Online Art Exhibition ....................................13
Ode to Joy ...................................................... 37
Making their Voices Heard ..........................14 Wheely Gourmet ...........................................15 Kindergarten Seasons and Reasons .........16 Pi Day ................................................................17
Diving into a Virtual Experience ............... 37 Ready, Set, Go! .............................................. 38 Junior School Athletics Carnival .............. 38 Secondary School Athletics Carnival ...... 39 Surfing at State Level ...................................40
COMMUNITY
Dance Choreographic Workshop ............41
Upper School Connections Days ..............19
BLACK WATCH TIES
Our Own Gold Fields!.................................. 20
Black Watch Ties........................................... 42
Tie-Dye Takeover ..........................................21
Notices ............................................................44
Pymble Goes West ........................................21
Reunions and Events ................................... 46
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
From the Archives......................................... 47
Curious Creatures, Wild Minds ................. 23 2020 Artist in Residence ............................. 24 Science Week in the Junior School ......... 24 Languages Week .......................................... 25 Prep Tales ....................................................... 26
Principal’s Message Outdoor education camps, carnivals and tournaments were also reimagined to allow our girls to safely continue these essential components of the curriculum while observing the requisite health and safety guidelines for COVID-19. Never before have we been so grateful for our expansive campus and facilities which allowed us to host a modified Tildesley Tennis Tournament for girls from Pymble and other independent schools, as well as many of our own muchloved events, including our Preparatory School’s ‘Ready Set, Go’ athletics day, the Secondary School Athletics Carnival and our Year 8 Outdoor Education program.
Welcome to Volume 49 of Pymbulletin. We hope you enjoy this snapshot of life at our College and the many achievements of Pymble girls in Terms 2 and 3 of 2020. The montage on the cover of this issue reflects perfectly the innovation for which Pymble is renowned. Our innovative Ode to Joy project was inspired by the unique challenges of teaching, learning and connecting, as a community, during a pandemic – not to mention the 250-year anniversary of composer, Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth. Each frame represents one of 681 individual video submissions from students, staff and ex-students playing an instrument or singing – in German! – to create a 10-minute virtual performance of Beethoven’s masterpiece. The voluntary project was initiated and produced by our incredibly passionate and talented Music teachers who decided to gift our community with the opportunity to create beautiful music together, despite not being able to gather in the same room to do so. The result is joyful in every sense of the word. You can enjoy our virtual performance anytime at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuyx2SGI1_E Ode to Joy exemplifies the enthusiasm and capacity of Team Pymble to explore new ways to collaborate, create and share learning across all areas and departments of the College. We saw this in our reimagined SEEDS program, where our Year 8 girls developed online lessons for their peers and Year 6 students in lieu of hosting our annual Kids Teaching Kids conference day. Our girls also continued to participate in diving competitions, parades, exhibitions and concerts, filmed in COVID-safe instalments which were then compiled to create one event to share virtually.
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An incredible amount of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure a school like Pymble is able to remain operational for students and staff to continue face-to-face learning during a pandemic. To say I am proud of our girls, staff and parents for their ongoing commitment to the health of our community is an understatement; thank you all for the care, courage, integrity, respect and responsibility you continue to demonstrate. This year, our College Council and a number of staff spent countless hours pursuing another exciting opportunity for our girls and, in Term 3, we were delighted to announce we are now the proud owners of Vision Valley. Set on 30 hectares of land in north west Sydney, this iconic recreational facility features outdoor adventure activities as well as accommodation for 274 people, a commercialgrade kitchen, main auditorium, open-air amphitheatre, lakeside areas and bushland, Chapels, offices, meeting rooms and much more. There are so many day and overnight programs we can run at Vision Valley for our girls, staff, partner organisations and charities, especially given that it is only 45 minutes away from our campus. Vision Valley is an important addition to our College facilities, and an outcome that we have been working towards for many months as part of our strategic planning for the future of Pymble, which I look forward to sharing with you soon. Speaking of exciting acquisitions, it was such a pleasure to welcome our new College dog, Archie, to our Pymble family in Term 3. Archie is already bringing so much joy to our community each day and we look forward to watching him grow up with our girls.
Dr Kate Hadwen PRINCIPAL VOLUME 49 | PYMBULLETIN | PAGE 3
News
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News
Meet Archie!
Madeleine Watson, Charlotte Moorhouse, Naia Magrath, Aimi Jenkin and Neve MacColl, Year 7
Meet Archie, the newest member of our Pymble family. Archie is an Australian Cobberdog who has arrived from Queensland (yes, he was given permission to fly across the border!). Lisa Wang and Grace Santoso, Year 6
Archie is a gentle soul and so much more than a pretty face. He is a working dog who will be trained to spend time with girls from Kindergarten to Year 12. Since Archie arrived on Tuesday 1 September, he has been introduced gradually to the different year groups and schools – and when we haven’t made these introductions fast enough, some of the girls have taken the initiative to come and meet him in their own time. The main reception building has never had so many visitors! Without fail, the response from all the girls has been pure and utter joy; you see it written all over their faces. Our girls are feeling the pure joy and unconditional love that a puppy brings.
Olivia Spanswick, Sarah Foster, Phoenix Surridge, Gemma Casiglia and Lucy Glendinning, Year 12, with Mrs Julie Shaw (Deputy Principal) and Archie
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News
World-Class Education Partnership Pymble Year 10 Elective Geography students have been given a world-class opportunity with an education partnership with Celestino, the creators of Sydney Science Park.
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The education partnership with Pymble Ladies’ College is part of the park’s successful collaboration with CSIRO to deliver Australia’s first Urban Living Lab. As a designated CSIRO Urban Living Lab, Sydney Science Park aims to challenge business-as-usual urban development by improving the resilience, sustainability and liveability of Australian cities and towns. In particular, it provides the platform to build a city that is fit for the future with places to test and monitor innovations and new technologies under real world conditions.
News
finding efficient ways to travel in and out of the city,” said Georgia Spanswick, Year 10. At the launch event held on Wednesday 22 July, Stage 6 Geography Co-ordinator, Mr Liam Hume, challenged the girls to ‘imagine’ the possibilities. “The project you will be participating in over the course of Term 3 is no ordinary school project. This is the most real project you could possibly be involved in, where your actions, your decisions, your ideas could change the way future generations live, work, socialise, survive and more,” Mr Hume said. Principal Dr Kate Hadwen said the partnership gives students the opportunity to practise field work in urban planning, architecture, science, health, energy and water.
“The girls will meet with industry specialists and participate in activation events, industry panels, mentoring, think tanks, research in the field, ideation sprints and a solution festival,” Dr Hadwen said. Dr Hadwen said that through the partnership, the school will align with industry experts to better understand the transferable skills Pymble students need to be successful in their future careers, and realise their hopes, aspirations and true potential.
Ms Tanya Davies, Member of the Legislative Assembly Member for Mulgoa, Elizabeth Gan, Year 11, Emma Sullivan, Year 11, Mr Justin Raymond, Dean of Curriculum Innovation K-12, Megan Buson, Year 11 and Mr Duncan Challen, General Manager – Celestino Property Development, Sydney Science Park
Pymble will be the first independent girls’ school to partner with Sydney Science Park, with students working on real-life challenges including urban greening, energy and water demand, future mobility considerations and community wellbeing.
“Our long-term vision is to collaborate with industry and other educational institutions to co-create micro-credentials that could be entry points for university or offer opportunities for internships with employers,” Dr Hadwen said. “As Dr Hadwen has said many times before, ‘We are Pymble, watch us change the world…’, well here is your chance and we know you will!” Mr Hume said.
The girls are really excited to challenge themselves in this new and exciting way. “I’m really looking forward to working with Celestino at Sydney Science Park, as we haven’t done anything similar to this in the classroom. It will be great to get hands on and get a deeper insight on our chosen topic, such as transport. We can assist with
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News
Vision Valley Now Owned by Pymble Exciting news! Pymble has been successful in acquiring the iconic and beautiful Vision Valley retreat at Arcadia. We have big plans for many wonderful programs we can run for generations of Pymble girls, staff and the wider community at this site.
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One of Sydney’s best-known outdoor education venues, Vision Valley is only a 45-minute drive from the College and set on more than 90 acres of land bordering the Berowra Valley National Park. It will provide an extensive and diverse range of opportunities for Experiential Learning and wellness activities. As the College Council and Executive Team work to develop our newest strategic plan, Experiential Learning is emerging as one of the most important facets of education. Chair of College Council, Mr James Hunter, said: “It’s all part of our Pymble strategy, which Dr Hadwen has helped us refresh with staff, and think about really carefully.
News “Experiential Learning is so key now to building and understanding of learning by doing and being in different environments as (students) learn, as they do, as they play.”
I’m most excited about the opportunities for our girls to develop a strong set of vital life skills...
Mr Stuart Clark, Director of Experiential Learning at the College, said that after months of planning, the Executive Team and Council were in agreement that Vision Valley was a vital part of Pymble’s future. “I’m most excited about the opportunities for our girls to develop a strong set of vital life skills, ones that we are already focusing on across College programs, but enhanced by invigorated Experiential Learning which is housed in the ability for a young person to develop self-efficacy, resilience, courage, coping skills, safe risk taking, leadership and teamwork,” he said. He said that the new site would allow students more accessible outdoor education opportunities, which was vital for personal development and character development. Mr Clark said that the site’s bushland backdrop allowed him to plan for off-grid activities, as well as making use of the existing facilities – which include a conference centre, sporting field, archery range, canoeing, rock climbing, abseiling and a zip-line. “The adventure infrastructure is quite wide-ranging,” he said. “With the acquisition of Vision Valley, we go from one standalone outdoor education event per year offsite, which is traditionally how outdoor education has been across the College, to potentially offering multiple events around that curriculum each year, with a bespoke staff who can really tailor that experience.”
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Personalised Learning Community
Charlotte Dhanu, Amelie Muir and Vienna Li, Year 8
Personalised Learning Personalised Learning experiences value students’ voices, needs, aspirations and passions in authentic ways, because their purpose is to empower those learners to become self-directed and independent. Our Personalised Learning Framework, places at its heart the attributes of passion, scholarship and self-assurance; its intention is to foster young women who can delight in their successes and failures because these experiences contribute equally to ongoing learning.
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Personalised Learning
Outdoor Education for Year 8 Alexandra Hyett, Amber Halliday, Georgia Phillips and Ellie Beck, Year 8
Year 8 students participated in an outdoor education program with a difference in Term 3... camp on our beautiful Pymble campus! During the three-day program held from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 August, the girls moved across our campus challenging themselves with activities such as rock climbing, mountain biking, adventure racing and teamwork. There were also engaging lessons on camp craft such as pitching a tent and a shelter, tying knots, cooking on a camp stove and navigating in the bush. The girls also learnt from two Dharug women who shared their connection to the land through special stories, dance and ochre art. The camp enabled improved connections between peers and staff and pushed personal comfort zones. What a great week of energy, positivity and excitement!
Arabella Cox, Year 8
“I learnt about the rich culture of the Indigenous Australians; their stories, beliefs, music and art continue to influence our country just like 60,000 years ago.” – Julie Sheng “I have learnt about communication and teamwork with my Connect group. I enjoyed participating in the adventure race and getting to know more people in my Connect group.” – Aashna Rana “Today I have learnt how to do some basics of mountain biking. We did our activities in our Connect groups, so we got to spend time with our Connect groups more.” – Jennifer Makeham “I think we worked really well as a team and it was quite enjoyable putting up the tent together.” – Madison Yip “Today I learnt about map references and I really enjoyed finding features on the map.” – Lindsay Campbell
Ava Luxford and Lara Groves-Berry, Year 8
“Rock climbing was fun and challenging. There were eight climbs all together and I just finished all of them!” – Nina Baikie
Hannah Thornton, Sarah Macpherson, Maya Turk and Tess Elmslie, Year 8
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Personalised Learning
Textiles on (Virtual) Parade Textiles on Parade is a highlight on the Pymble calendar. In 2020, our Years 10 to 11 textile students showcased their work in a virtual parade that was videoed and photographed in the Gillian Moore Centre for Performing Arts (GMCPA) on 29 July. It was an eclectic, creative and stimulating visual extravaganza with inspiration from Eurovision, Free Spirit and Mesmerised by the Met. The exciting work was the culmination of hard work over the last six months. Congratulations girls!
Georgina Maher, Year 10
Imogen Powell, Year 11
Arousha Soltany, Year 11
Jessica Davidson, Year 11
Ella Atkins, Year 11
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Personalised Learning
Helena Ji, Year 11
Online Art Exhibition While the global pandemic may have impacted on many aspects of daily life, we have all found ways to adapt and make the most of our circumstances. Not even social distancing can get in the way of making and displaying artworks. Our Year 11 Visual Arts students had the opportunity to showcase their creative endeavours in the College’s inaugural online art exhibition - Figuration to Abstraction. The exhibition was launched on Thursday 11 June and opened by our College Principal, Dr Kate Hadwen.
Charlotte Ivantsoff, Year 11
Diana Xie, Year 11
Informed by their art historical and art critical studies, the artworks in this exhibition reveal the diversity of ways in which students have explored traditional, modern and postmodern conventions of art practice to create a body of work across a range of expressive forms and media. Congratulations to all the Year 11 Visual Arts students who worked with passion and commitment to develop their art-making for this exhibition.
Alice Guan, Year 11
Kelly Zhao, Year 11
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Personalised Learning
Making their Voices Heard Year 5 is an extremely passionate group of girls who are determined to make a difference in the world around them. While studying persuasive techniques and how to most effectively argue for something they believe in, the girls discussed a number of significant issues that they felt needed to change. These included limiting the use of petrol fuelled cars, decreasing the age for university entry and being more compassionate to the plight of refugee children. The girls chose their issue, researched it in depth and embarked on a persuasive letter writing campaign to a variety of Government officials, including the Australian Prime Minister and the British Prime Minister. After what seemed like an enormous amount of time, some responses were received! Sahana Vivekanandhan received a response from Scott Morrison who complimented her passionate letter-writing skills. Katherine Boyce received a very detailed letter from the Office of the British Prime Minister in response to her plea to allow refugee children into the United Kingdom. We are hopeful that we will continue to receive responses from the Government officials we wrote to over the remainder of the year.
Sahana Vivekanandhan, Jemma Hung, Scarlet Li and Charlotte King, Year 5
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Personalised Learning
Wheely Gourmet On Wednesday 12 August, the Year 11 Business cohort was treated with an insightful and unique incursion that offered more than just learning! The incursion was an Experiential Learning opportunity whereby Cris Bosevski, a passionate entrepreneur, came to speak to us about his start-up food truck and catering business, ‘Wheely Gourmet’. The incursion began with Cris providing us with booklets based on the syllabus topic that we are studying in class, ‘Business Planning’. He then used his expertise and personal experience to talk to us about the process of establishing a new business, marketing and pricing strategies he uses, how he maintains quality, the challenges he has faced (particularly COVID-based) and how he differentiated his service to overcome them. It was fascinating and helpful to hear the textbook content that we are learning in class spoken by a real-life entrepreneur who has physically experienced it in the business world! We were then given the opportunity to ask questions at the end and grow our knowledge even further.
Mrs Narelle Moylan (Business Studies Teacher), Mr Ray Howells (Geography Teacher), Mr Trevor Lucas (Head of Learning Area – Geography, Business Studies and Economics) and Ms Debra Owens (Geography and Commerce Teacher)
To finish off the incursion, we were provided with the cuttingedge culinary experience, which included gourmet wagyu beef or chicken burgers and chips made fresh from his food truck. They were absolutely delicious and lived up to his mission statement. Thank you to Cris and Ms Owens! Megan Buson BUSINESS STUDIES SUBJECT CAPTAIN AND TEAM GBE
Megan Buson, Emma Sullivan, Tiana Zarafetas, Mia Campbell and Claudia Vowels, Year 11
Alexis Cameron and Chloe Small, Year 11
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Personalised Learning
Kindergarten Considers Seasons and Reasons Aubrey Zhang, Kindergarten
Kindergarten has been investigating seasonal produce as part of our Science and Technology unit ‘Seasons and Reasons’ in Term 3. We received a delivery of winter fruits and vegetables from the markets. As part of the unit, we welcomed the College horticulturists to the Kindergarten spaces to talk about how the different seasons affect what is planted in the College. We enjoyed looking at lemons, cucumbers, mandarins and broccoli, fresh from the Agriculture Plot. Kindergarten returned from the session buzzing with new ideas that they were keen to share. “I never knew there were so many different types of mandarins!” – Sofiyah Khanche “I learnt that flowers can grow in winter too, not just in spring.” – Euphemia Wang “Today I learnt about winter fruit and vegetables. The vegetables need to be strong so they can grow in the cold.” – Shelley Xie
Vivien Huang, Kindergarten
Zara Jacob and Celine Wang, Kindergarten
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The girls were delighted to become gardeners and plant their own seasonal flower. We will be using our ‘green thumbs’ to care for our plants as we watch them grow.
Claudia Hoch and Maisie Borg, Kindergarten
Personalised Learning Pi Day It was all about numbers for our Secondary girls at our annual mathematical Pi Day. Girls who recited Pi to 15 decimal places won a delicious pie. Those who could make it to 50 were entered into a raffle to win a piĂąata. Congratulations to Angie Wang, Year 9, who recited Pi to an amazing 650 decimal places!
Jessie Qin, Ye
ar 9
Abby Christopher, Year 7
Sarah Usher, Year 7
Melanie Tan, Year 7
Alyssa Yee, Year 9
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Community
Olivia Bransgrove, Zara Benson and Sanah Goklaney, Year 9
Community As a community, we value the relationships we have with each other and we stand together as global citizens, included and valued. Connecting and engaging with members past and present ensures our rich learning community extends through generations to build Pymble bonds that endure. Together, we acknowledge and commemorate our past and present achievements. At home and internationally, community members are committed, loyal and proud to be a part of Pymble.
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Community
Upper School Connections Days Laura Legovich and Jenhui Lau, Year 10
Deblina Roy, Year 10
Felicity Chu, Year 9
It was a busy time in the Upper School with Connections Days fun on top of our regular activities. The Year 10 Upper School Leaders worked with staff to create a day where relationships were celebrated, and the girls reconnected with their peers after time apart during Pymble Online. The girls enjoyed their surprise activity – a silent disco, which we discovered was anything but silent! Year 9 Connections Day provided the girls with a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities, hear from guest speakers, and take a mental break from their academic studies. It was wonderful to see the girls wholeheartedly involve themselves in the themes of self-care, service and gratitude.
Ava Olesen, Year 9
“The Year 10 Connections Day that took place on Friday 14 August was a day filled with joy and connections among the Year 10 cohort. Throughout the day we heard from two guest speakers, Dr Rebecca Overton and Dannielle Miller. We also participated in a variety of service wellbeing activities including ‘Wrap with Love’ and ‘Days for Girls’, Zumba, face marks, friendship bracelets, pilates, painting and crafts. My favourite part of the day was the special surprise planned by the Upper School Leaders, which was a silent disco for the whole year group. This was such an amazing experience and was very uplifting to bring the whole of Year 10 together as a year group. The Year 10 Connections Day was overall so well organised and thoroughly enjoyed by all the Year 10 girls.” - Isabella Holdsworth, Year 10 “Connections Day was a fantastic experience and allowed us to switch off from our schoolwork and have a fun day with our peers. The physical activities of Pilates and Zumba were a great way to spend time together while getting active. Listening to speakers, Dr Overton and Dannielle Miller, helped us to think about our mental health as well as learning a lot about gratitude. Dannielle’s speech was incredibly engaging as she told us personal experiences that have helped her to become the woman she is today. She was also extremely funny and we all had a good laugh. I learnt a lot about loving yourself and appreciating all that you have. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to wind down for a day and spend time doing activities in the sun and getting a delicious sausage sizzle and ice cream. I hope we can have another amazing Connections Day soon.” - Zoe Moss, Year 9
Jasmine Pham and Lihini Jayasekara, Year 10
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Our Own Gold Fields! One Saturday afternoon in Term 3, nine adventurous Marden girls set off with Mr Bell to find their fortunes. Mr Bell began the afternoon with a fascinating lesson on Geology, which provided an interesting analysis of precious metals before setting off to the ‘mining field’, also known as the Riverbed on the edge of the Preparatory School. The girls listened attentively as Mr Bell explained how to use a metal detector and were excited to test their new skills. They were also excited to ‘discover’ the various treasures that Mr Bell had hidden in the Riverbed. Mr Bell had promised that it was finder’s keepers and with treasures of silver and even a gold nugget on offer the girls were ready to fossick! The girls’ enthusiasm outlasted the batteries of the metal detector and the next part of the adventure was panning. Each girl tried her hand at panning with the prize of keeping whatever she found. The girls loved their special prospecting adventure and are keen to go back to find the treasure that is undiscovered in the Riverbed. A huge thank you to Mr Bell for this very special and unique experience. It was an afternoon to be treasured.
Matilda Barwick, Sarah Thornton, Year 9 and Mr Matt Bell
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knell, Supervisor), Phoebe Buc ack (Assistant House Back Row: Ms Mardi Cus 8 Year n, Year 7, Hannah Thornto or, Year 7, on, Year 8, Sophie Sutt ani, Year 8, Victoria Burt h Thornton, Sara Front Row: Chiara Calv 7, Year n, Tyso l Mr Matt Bell, Rachae Alice Beveridge, Year 7, Year 9 Year 9, Matilda Barwick,
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Tie-Dye Takeover While some of our favourite Boarding outings are best avoided for the moment, there has been no shortage of amusements and chances to expand our skills and knowledge on the College campus. Tie-dye has become a winner and ticks all the boxes in keeping our Boarders busy and creating a fashion statement at the same time! Lauren Seville, Year 11, perfectly sums up the craze that has taken over Boarding. “On the weekend, we were all lucky enough to enjoy tie-dye. The colours were very fun to play with. We could express ourselves through the colour selection; I chose yellow, blue and green as these are my happy colours, but others chose purple and pink and all together, they looked amazing. With the independence to design your own shirt through scrunching them up, or twisting or random was exciting. Some curled their whole shirt to make spirals, others scrunched up small circles around the shirt. The bathrooms that day became colourful as everyone rinsed down their shirts to reveal the masterpieces. Every shirt was unique as so is every girl, with the help of the staff and our fellow Boarders we enjoyed a very fun activity.”
Lauren Sevil
, Stephanie
Chan and Ti
arn Wilesm
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Pymble Goes West The July break was a lovely opportunity for our Principal, Dr Kate Hadwen, her husband and parents, and Mrs Carolyn Burgess, Director of Boarding, to get out and about and catch up with some of our Boarding families. Mrs Burgess enjoyed spending time with the Wilson family in Narromine and Dr Hadwen took the opportunity to catch up with the Tishler family in Lightning Ridge and the Warden family in Walgett.
Madeline Warden, Year 12 and Dr Kate Hadwen (Principal)
Our Boarders also loved the chance to ask their Day Girl friends to ‘go bush’ with them. Just one example of this is Saskia Fitzgerald, Year 8, who, after spending many weekends with Alexandra Hyett, Year 8, and her family, was very excited to bring Alex home to her farm in Nundle. The girls were out and about every day – riding horses, checking the heifers and having a fabulous time!
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People and Culture
Emma Ware, Annabelle Hazzard and Rachel Shi, Kindergarten
People and Culture We are committed to ensuring every student is known, valued and encouraged. Professionally, we nurture a learning culture that celebrates creativity, engagement and critical thinking. Our professional practice is deeply embedded in worldwide research and best practice, and we actively seek to share our expertise, facilities and resources to create a vibrant global educational community. Together we make a difference, within Pymble and beyond.
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People and Culture
Curious Creatures, Wild Minds Melanie Lin and Charlotte Bu, Kindergarten
There were curious creatures and interesting characters out and about when we held our annual Book Day in the Preparatory and Junior Schools.
Davina Excell, Kindergarten
We were also delighted to hear from two special guests, Belinda Murrell and Felicity McVay. Belinda Murrell is a bestselling, internationally published children’s author with a history of writing in her family that spans more than 200 years. She has written more than 30 books including the popular Lulu Bell series and Pippa’s Island. Belinda’s most recent series, Aussie Kids, celebrates the diversity of Aussie kids and families. Ex-student Felicity McVay graduated from Pymble in 1995 and has worked as a lawyer and at Google, Disney and YouTube, and now enjoys the freedom to explore writing. From this has come her debut picture book, The Boy Who Burped: The Tale of Barnaby Glurp. Felicity spoke to the girls about her time in the Preparatory School and how she came to write her book. In the Junior School, we saw the power of our girls’ imaginations as they morphed into favourite characters from much-loved texts. We had Matildas, Hermione Grangers, The Baby-Sitters Club characters, Mary Poppins and some of the most popular wild cats from the Warrior clans. The playground was abuzz with characters eagerly sharing their passion for their chosen novel. It was wonderful to see and hear the girls using their creativity to bring their favourite characters to life. As always, our outstanding Junior School staff members were also dressed up and delighted the girls with their creativity and shared passion for literacy.
Back Row: Milly Xu and Chloe Wang Front Row: Leila Rich and Scarlett Li, Year 5
Sabeen Mujahid and Cecilia Zhou, Year 4
Our Preparatory girls wrote stories about the wonderful book characters and curious creatures they were portraying, made some curious creatures and went on a character hunt around the College to find some hidden treasures.
Nikita Orena Barlin, Year
3
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People and Culture
2020 Artist in Residence Our Year 8 Visual Arts students welcomed the Ex-Students’ Union sponsored Artists in Residence, Anne Starling and Rafael Butron Georgia Phillips, Mr Rafael Butron during Term 3. and Stella Rober tson, Year 8 Both experts in their field and with international reputations, Anne and Rafael generously shared their knowledge of printmaking – dry point intaglio print and lino cut relief. Ms Starling was a Visual Arts teacher at Pymble for many years and it was wonderful to have her back working with another generation of students. The artists started the residency with a presentation of their art practice and introduced the theme of the environment. Students were asked to develop designs based on their emotive response to the fragility of nature (bushfires, floods, drought, flora, fauna, habitat, ecosystems) and a social response to the altered face of the man-made environment and the impact climate change is having on the urban environment.
Molly Liu, Year 3
Science Week in the Junior School The Junior School celebrated Science Week in Week 5 Term 3. Each day our girls were given the opportunity to share and deepen their passion for Science through activities run by their teachers. On Monday in Assembly we had some special guest scientists (who looked a lot like some of our Year 6 girls) speaking about their areas of science. During Connect time, teachers ran experiments, read books about amazing women in science, told science jokes and talked about fun science facts. On Friday the girls dressed up as famous scientists or a favourite area of science. The girls talked about how science is all about asking questions and being curious. We hope we have ignited a passion for science in the Junior School!
Ms Anne Starling, Grace Scott, Rachel Chan and Alexandra Hyett, Year 8 Ashton Malcolm and Amalia Bond, Year 4
Yvette Volk and Elena Duta, Year 8
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Chloë Lenane, Year 3
People and Culture
Languages Week Jasmine David
en, Year 11
and Ashley Ch
During Week 3 Term 3, the Secondary School held Languages Week, an annual event celebrating the diverse opportunities available at the College as well as the cultural diversity of the Pymble community. Throughout this week, many language themed events were held, one of which was an International Kahoot! Tournament. For this initiative, Middle School language students competed against their fellow classmates in a 20-question quiz about their language of study and its associated culture. The highest-scoring student from each of the five language cohorts then progressed to the finale where they battled it out in a 30-question quiz about international languages and history. Congratulations to Amelie Muir, Year 8, who took out first place, and Julie Sheng, Year 8, and Ashleigh Ip, Year 7, who received second and third place respectively.
Serena Kao, Year 11, Mulan Xu, Year 8, Tanvi Thomas, Year 8, Ashley Chen, Year 11, Jasmine David, Year 11 and Alessandra Natale, Year 11
Ashley Chen, Jasmine David, Alessandra Natale and Serena Kao, Year 11
The next initiative we hosted was an International Singstar Challenge where we challenged Upper School students to embrace their love of languages and the performing arts by creating a video of themselves singing, lip-syncing or dancing along to an international cover song. Student performances ranged from I’ll Make a Man Out of You in Mandarin from the animated Disney movie Mulan to the Japanese cover of the Baby Shark song. With their fabulous interpretive dance to the Japanese rendition of Let it Go from Frozen, the Year 9 Japanese class was crowned the winners of the 2020 International Singstar Challenge. Well done girls! The final way that we sought to engage all Secondary School students in Languages Week was through the creation of a collaborative artwork. For this initiative, each student decorated a leaf-shaped template with the national flag of a country they culturally identify with, are currently learning about or would love to travel to. The languages team then collated the leaves and assembled them into beautiful flowers, a shape symbolic of how languages are truly ‘flourishing’ at Pymble. The completed piece is currently on display in the Conde Library as a vivid exhibition of the College’s thriving Languages programs. 2020 Languages Week was a great success and we would like to thank everyone who participated in our initiatives and showcased their love of languages. Ashley Chen, Jasmine David, Serena Kao and Alessandra Natale LANGUAGES CAPTAINS
Ashley Chen, Year 11, Serena Kao, Year 11, Amelie Muir, Year 8, Jasmine David, Year 11 and Alessandra Natale, Year 11
VOLUME 49 | PYMBULLETIN | PAGE 25
People and Culture
Meera Gohulan
, Year 2
lough, Year 1
d Sasha Fairc
Isabelle La an
Prep Tales Lights, Camera, Action! The excitement in the Preparatory School was obvious as our girls took to the stage for the Preparatory School Concert. Prep Tales celebrated the special gift that each girl brings to our community. The joy and laughter of the girls rang through the Gillian Moore Centre for Performing Arts (GMCPA)!
Annabelle Ha
zzard, Kinderga
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rten
People and Culture
n
, Kindergarte
Freya Holland
Alexandra Handley-Greaves, Selina Year 1
Zhang and Lora Guo,
Loriah Zhang and Sophia Wang, Year 1
VOLUME 49 | PYMBULLETIN | PAGE 27
Sustainability
Imogen Jones, Emily Finucane, Summer Teni, Eleanor Rowe, Blair Elliott, Claudia Sherlock, Jamilla Soo, Sophie Kidd, Pia Vandeleur, Silka Czyniewski and Emma Scott, Year 4
Sustainability We embed high-level sustainable practices in every area of Pymble life – educational, operational and wider community settings – as the way to protect and guide our future. Social and personal responsibility, as well as economic and environmental initiatives are evident throughout the College, influencing others to make positive changes.
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Sustainability
Jeans for Genes Day Our girls got behind the cause and the school was coloured in a sea of blue as we swapped school uniform for denim and participated in Jeans for Genes Australia Day. Students and staff from Kindergarten to Year 12 supported this worthy cause raising much needed funds for the Children’s Medical Research Institute. Lavan Cardo, Zara Le Hoang, Anika Watson and Emily Mitchell, Year 7
Jessica Persson, Year 4
lcolm, Isabella
m, Ashton Ma
ha ck, Zara Sand Annelise Cusa y, Year 4 Mea McBurne
Sarina, Abby
Pisani and
Jessica Tran , Freya How es and Ab Year 7 by
Orla Cottrell, Year 3
Christoph
er,
Pipi Chen, Year 1 and Aubrey Zhang, Kindergarten
Sophia Lynch, Year 8
Aadya Singh
sch,
and Anna Drab
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Sustainability
Young Entrepreneurs Society (YES) Pymble’s Young Entrepreneurs Society (YES) held its Final Pitch Night in Term 3 to celebrate the achievements our aspiring entrepreneurs have made over three terms. Not only was the night awe-inspiring and thought-provoking, it was also very rewarding with valuable insights from our two judges: Ms Sangeeta Venkatesan, the Chairman of FairVine Super and CEO of Applegrove Capital, and Ms Yuki Thomas, the founder and director of Soulara. YES is a Co-curricular group helping members to nurture the essential mindset and characteristics of entrepreneurs and leaders of tomorrow. The girls pitched convincingly on ideas such as environmentally-friendly cosmetic packaging, wellbeing apps, innovative food and beverage services, celebrating diverse culture, investing sustainably, global voice and education. Some projects are gaining interest from industry and government, making YES one of the strongest high school entrepreneurs societies in Australia. Thanks must go to the YES student leadership team who worked tirelessly in supporting the YES girls and making the Final Pitch Night a success. Thanks also go to the Geography, Business and Economics (GBE) Department, especially Economics Co-ordinator Mrs Wright, for their unwavering support of YES.
• F OODA – Nina Baikie and Hannah Ford, Year 8: FOODA is an app designed to eliminate food wastage by converting existing ingredients from your kitchen into easy, affordable recipes. • C onverso – Joy Ye, Jasmine Li, Amelie Matthews and Mulan Xu, Year 8: Converso is an online platform designed to help people to learn a foreign language in a fun, interactive and effective way. • An Organic Change – Annalise Martin and Nilan Esmaeili, Year 9: An Organic Change is an organisation that upcycles furniture into functional products, highlighting the issue of plastic waste. • Miracle Milkshakes – Penelope Girdis and Miki Culver, Year 9: pitched an idea to bring back unique, old-fashioned milkshake carts, catering to dietary needs. INNOVATION AWARD
d Nilan
Ann
tin an alise Mar
Faye Chang, Chloe Hoang, Jenhui Lau, Isabelle Ho and Caitlyn Kim, Year 10
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ENCOURAGEMENT AWARDS
, Year 9
Esmaeili
• R ice UP – Faye Chang, Chole Hoang, Jenhui Lau, Isabelle Ho and Caitlyn Kim, Year 10. Their pitch took the form of an app and website, with the aim of bringing Asian cultures, cuisine, stories and people together.
Sustainability Koala Champion Holly Hogan, Year 6, has been championing those who are working to protect our precious koalas. Holly has started her own small business and is making beautiful beaded bracelets and scrunchies that she sells to support the Koala Foundation. Our Year 3 girls are currently investigating koalas and their habitats, so Holly appeared as a VIP guest speaker with Grace Walmsley, Year 6, as her ‘interviewer’, to share her knowledge about the plight of koalas and to explain what she has been inspired to do to help them.
Mrs Julie Shaw (Deputy Principal), Rachel D’Cunha and Eleanor Buchanan, Year 12
Recipes for Charity
We are very delighted and proud to announce that Holly will be donating $1,009.00 to the Koala Foundation. Well done Holly and your family who have generously donated the cost of resources to the foundation.
We have been so proud of the way our girls rallied behind communities in need this year, notably through their outstanding commitment to Pymble Gives Back activities and other acts of kindness during isolation. It has been especially gratifying to see this commitment to helping others continue past lockdown. Congratulations to Rachel D’Cunha, Year 12, for almost singlehandedly creating an amazing cookbook to raise funds for a social organisation she founded, Hygiene 4 Women. With the specific aim of providing underprivileged girls with hygiene products like sanitary napkins, heat packs, hand sanitiser and razors, the organisation currently supports 260 girls across seven orphanages in India. Her first initiative was to collate recipes and publish a cookbook called Recipes for Charity that will be available for sale.
gan, Year 6
y and Holly Ho
Grace Walmsle
VOLUME 49 | PYMBULLETIN | PAGE 31
Sustainability
SEEDS Launch We were thrilled to launch our SEEDS (Science, Earth, Environment and Design Solutions) program for 2020 recently. This year, the students will be developing online lessons for their peers and Year 6 students. Amelia Barter, Year 8, summarises the launch below:
Emma E
aton, Ye
ar 8
“The SEEDS projects are an incredible initiative where ‘kids teach kids’. During their Science lessons this term, Year 8 students will construct a lesson about sustainability for the Year 6 students. To help us with our research, three influential women came to Year 8 to talk about their professions in sustainability. The presentations were a fantastic stimulus to young women and a wonderful kick-start to our project. Listening to these women who had accomplished remarkable things encouraged us that these acts of leadership are not out of reach. We first listened to Ms Sarah Myles who works for RES (Renewable Energy Systems). She explained in detail why we should change our main energy source in Australia from coal to renewables, including the environmental impacts of coal and the sustainability of renewable energy. She then spoke about the company she works for, and how it helps the transition of energy sources. RES is a company that installs enormous solar and wind farms, one of which can generate electricity for up to 220,000 homes. If one of the wind farms they created runs for a year, it reduces the same amount of carbon dioxide as removing 490,000 cars from road. Next, Ms Emma Treadgold gave a speech about sustainability in communities. Ms Treadgold is part of Ku-ring-gai Council and strives to help everyone in Ku-ring-gai reduce waste and energy use. She described different ways that we could reduce our waste and energy use as individuals, providing opportunities such as starting a compost heap, keeping thermostats at 21 degrees, and turning off appliances after using them. Additionally, she spoke about the lifespan of different types of plastics, and how to reduce our usage of them. Finally, Ms Belinda Bean spoke to us about marketing for sustainability. After graduating from Pymble, Ms Bean attended Macquarie University to study marketing. She was shocked with the course they were given, as the students were taught how to cheat people into buying products. She then changed her studies to sustainability. After graduating university, she taught Macquarie University students about sustainability, and started a club called Tap It with her students. This club gave out water bottles made of corn starch to the students and designed water bottle filling stations all around the grounds. This goes to show how anyone can make an impact if they put their mind to it, and we can start our transition to sustainability with SEEDS.” Amelia Barter YEAR 8
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Sustainability
u and Yuki Bethany W
ar Wang, Ye
8
Meg Sta pleton, Catheri Steinwe ne Walke de, Year r, Jessic 8 aS
later, Lu c
inda Wo
odfield
and Jad
e
Juliette Harris, Grace Gerreyn and Alexandra Hyett, Year 8
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Sport and Activities
Alexandra Ferguson, Rachel Tang, Jennifer Zhou and Jessica Kellaway, Year 12
Sport and Activities Pymble is balanced in its passions, demonstrating to students that true success comes from a holistic approach to education – this approach equally values academic success, music and cultural pursuits, sporting achievements, community service and personal wellbeing.
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Sport and Activities
Tildesley Tennis at Pymble Congratulations to the Pymble Tildesley Tennis team that competed for the Tildesley Shield on 18 and 19 July, albeit with restrictions befitting these COVID-19 times. The event had been rescheduled from Term 1 and Pymble was proud to be able to offer our beautiful College facilities to host the event.
Our amazing Pymble team put in an extraordinary effort to equal our points score from last year placing fourth out of the 22 schools in attendance. A special thank you to Jessica Kellaway, Year 12, our Pymble Tennis Captain, for her outstanding leadership of the team this season. A special mention to the students who achieved exceptional results this year: • Mikayla Zahirovic, Year 12: Semi-finalist Singles • Ashlee Narker, Year 9: Round of 16 Singles
Eloise Kinchington, Year 9 and Dr Kate Hadwen (Principal)
• Angela Cui, Year 8, Eloise Kinchington, Year 9, Danielle Rusman, Year 11, Sofia Thorne, Year 8, Sienna Warden, Year 8: Fourth Round Singles • Rachel Tang, Year 12 and Chelsea Taylor, Year 11: Round of 16 Doubles • Emma Sargeant, Year 9 and Jennifer Zhou, Year 12: Round of 16 Doubles.
Michaela-Jayne Kennedy, Year 8 and Scarlett Stewart, Year 10
Alexandra Ferguson, Year 12, Susannah Su, Year 8, Sofia Thorne, Year 8, Danielle Rusman, Year 11 and Ashlee Narker, Year 9
VOLUME 49 | PYMBULLETIN | PAGE 35
Sport and Activities
Cadet Graduation Ceremony The Pymble Ladies’ College Year 12 Cadet Graduation ceremony was held on Monday 7 September 2020. This ceremony is a very special occasion for our Cadet unit - a time where we acknowledge the service and achievement of cadets who have remained in the program until their final year at Pymble. The farewell parade for our departing cadets was attended by Dr Hadwen who provided a speech to the Unit and Reverends Bent and Rodriguez who provided a blessing for the unit. The parade was filmed for families who could not be on campus for the event due to NSW Health restrictions.
dra Alessan 0: WO2 2 0 ney 2 rt u m hip Tea SGT Co Collins, r Leaders rk e io c la n C ra e S G rt a g , LT Stu ce, CUO raduatin ra Long Crouda d Cadet G e n ll a e s s b a a C CUO Is s, SGT Natale, nni Rina O Naha U C , g n Wo
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Sport and Activities
Diving into a Virtual Experience Some of our divers had a wonderful experience competing in the first Virtual Diving Competition held at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) at the end of August. This was a trial event between Malaysia and NSWIS divers. Competitors dived at SOPAC and Malaysia, while the judges from NSW, Victoria, New Zealand and Malaysia judged virtually. It was a unique experience for all divers and judges and while there were some technical difficulties, it is sure to be the start of a future way to bring sporting events together. Our Head of Diving, Mrs Chris Lang, was one of the Virtual Judges. “It was exciting to have the opportunity to be part of such a new concept and the possibility for future events, including our own Pymble Virtual Diving event,” she said. Congratulations to Kennedy Cooper, Year 11, Samantha Scarr, Year 10, and Brittany O’Brien (Coach) who competed in this event.
Ode to Joy We were very excited to launch the performance of Ode to Joy to the Pymble Ladies’ College community on Thursday 20 August at 7.00pm. The performance was in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. The Pymble family project was initiated while our students were in home isolation. With more than 650 submissions, this magical performance features 340 students from Years 3 to 12, as well as staff, Ex-students and families, learning and performing their pieces at home, across three continents and countless regional towns across Australia. Congratulations to all the participants and to Mrs Sabina Turner for her incredible vision and organisation. A huge thank you to the Music staff: Mrs Crawford, Mr Stafford, Mrs Colbey, Mr Schweinberger, Ms Bain, Mrs Dunlop, Mrs King and Mrs Goodman, for their amazing work in assisting the students with learning their parts, navigating the technology and recording their submissions as well as the brilliant editors, Mr Matthew Horrex and Mr Ralph Wilcock.
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Junior School Athletics Carnival
Sport and Activities
Ready, Set, Go! While our usual Preparatory School Athletics Carnival was unable to take place, that didn’t stop the girls practising their running, jumping and throwing skills once back on campus at the end of Term 2. They had worked hard during PE lessons and took great joy in sharing their abilities in our fun event, Ready, Set, Go! The focus was on getting active, keeping fit and healthy and having fun with their peers. The girls proudly ensured their activity passport was stamped at the end of each event and we are sure that this opened many discussions at home as they shared each highlight with their family. The girls competed in a range of activities including a sprint, long distance race, hurdles, long jump and some throwing events. As is the hope of all athletes, each girl took great pride in receiving their medal, and much delight was evident as these medals shone around the neck of each Preparatory School girl. What a fantastic way to finish the term with a celebration of being back on campus and keeping fit and active!
Although COVID-19 did not allow Pymble to hold a full Athletics Carnival in Term 2, we still want to recognise and celebrate our athletes in the Junior School that have been tirelessly training in our Athletics Program. During PDHPE lessons at the end of last term, the girls competed in Track and Field events. We used this data to then invite the top girls from each event to participate in Championship Heats. Please see results of our 2020 ‘deconstructed’ Athletics Carnival below:
Champions JUNIOR SENIOR 8 YEARS 9 YEARS 10 YEARS 11 YEARS 12 YEARS
Amalia Bond Zoë Hart Amélie Rahme Gemma Dixon (Year 4) Amalia Bond (Year 4) Amelia Bicego (Year 5) Zoë Hart (Year 6)
WINNING HOUSE Gibbs
Faye Li, Year 1
Charlotte Wu, Year 2
PAGE 38 | PYMBULLETIN | VOLUME 49
Nouvelle Nicholson, Year 1
Naomi Shi, Year 1
Sport and Activities Secondary School Athletics Carnival The Secondary School came together on Tuesday 4 August for the Athletics Carnival on our Main Oval – the first time that it has been held on our College oval since 2009. The format was quite different this year, as we strived to align with the restrictions presented to us by COVID-19. While Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre (SOPAC) would have missed our big, boisterous sea of red, white and blue, we were able to pack a lot more events into our program, boost House Spirit and decrease carbon emissions without an additional 30 buses congesting Ryde Rd. We were blessed with wonderful weather and enjoyed a day of great House rivalry, athletic prowess, friendly competition and fabulous music!
Age Champions 12 YEARS 13 YEARS 14 YEARS 15 YEARS 16 YEARS 17 YEARS 18 YEARS
Grace Townsend Amber Halliday Georgia Phillips Brianna Worsfold Emilia Duncan Ella Koster Ashlie Edwards
Records Sienna Bond 15 Years Long Jump 5.64m – old record 5.32 (2013)
The Boarders and Day Girls relay was won by the Day Girls. The Champions of Champions race finished off the day and it was an exciting race to watch. Olivia Inkster, Year 10, won in a super-fast time of 12.30. Congratulations to Goodlet House for coming first in the overall point score.
Brianna Worsfold Intermediate Discus 37.62m – old record 36.43 (2015)
A big thank you to all the staff who were officials on the day, to the Facilities staff who set up equipment and lastly to our fantastic PDHPE staff and Sports staff. Without their expertise and organisation this carnival would not have been possible.
Samara Bond 13 Years Long Jump 4.97m – old record 4.81 (2017)
Imogen Gardiner, Year 12, Annabel Maple-Brown, Jessica Bird and Kristen Cook, Year 10
Amarley Bron, Natasha Newham, Lucy Hobson, Phoebe Mason and Milla Black, Year 9
15 Years Shot Put 12.70m – old record 11.62 (2015)
Ella Koster 17 Years Long Jump 5.11m - old record 5.04 (2019)
Grace Whyte, Lauren Purkis, Claudia Webster, Madeleine Macdonald and Jessica Ding, Year 9
Chloe Luzar, Louise Ng, Stephanie Loui, Michelle Huang, Cassandra Long and Yvonne Smith, Year 12
VOLUME 49 | PYMBULLETIN | PAGE 39
Sport and Activities
Surfing at State Level Cayla Phillips, Year 10, represented Pymble Ladies’ College at the NSW High School State Titles in Coffs Harbour on Tuesday 11 August and Wednesday 12 August. There were 16 surfers representing NSW at the State across the seven regions, with each selecting two surfers. Cayla was selected to represent the Sydney Northern Beaches area. There was a big swell with six to eight-foot waves at the start of the competition. Cayla caught the first wave of the day for the Junior girls and the commentator described her wave as ‘a gutsy wave’ as it was seven feet! She managed to ride it 100 metres down the beach. While Cayla scored the highest points across the Sydney North Region Junior girl surf representatives, she was knocked out of the first round. Cayla finished ranked number 12 overall. This is a fantastic result and we are proud of Cayla representing the school at such a high level – congratulations Cayla.
ips, Year 10
Cayla Phill
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Sport and Activities
Dance Choreographic Workshop On Monday 31 August, the Year 10 Dance class participated in an intensive workshop with contemporary dancer and choreographer, Georgette Sofatzis. Georgette is an Honours Graduate of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre School and has danced professionally both in the United States and Europe. She is a passionate and motivational dance teacher, with expertise in movement therapy, which ensures her choreography not only looks good, but feels amazing. Georgette took the Dance students through a detailed technique lesson in which they were able to explore making the most of transitions between skills, pushing their articulation of joints and muscles. The dancers relished exploring the movement sequences taught, set to artistic electronic music with a pulsing beat. It was exciting to see the girls moving in such a deep and connected manner, exploring new movement qualities with their bodies and embracing this highly contemporary style.
Georgina Maher and Delta Zarafetas, Year 10
Jessica Tse, Victoria Patt
ison and Anika Perera,
Year 10
Georgette shared some key points about her choreographic process with the dancers, leading them to think about their upcoming composition task. She worked with each group and individual to ensure their choreographic concepts had clarity and a clear movement motif (or series of motifs). It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to work with a professional choreographer so early in their own process as it ensured they found evocative, relevant and original movement signatures to work from going forward. In a year where there have been limited opportunities for dancers to come together and share their work, this choreographic workshop served as a valuable opportunity. We are very grateful to Georgette for sharing so much with our Year 10 dancers.
Year 10 Elective Dance Class
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Black Watch Ties Sustainability
ESU President’s Report
ar Zara Ware, Ye
1
Janet Lawless (Thomson, 1939)
Black Watch Ties With a long and prosperous history, we have always celebrated and enjoyed the ever-strengthening relationships with our Alumni as we continue to grow as a College community. Together, the College and the Ex-Students’ Union (ESU) have continued to focus on ways to engage with past-Pymble girls from across the generations. Join the alumni Facebook page by searching ‘Pymble Alumni’ on Facebook PAGE 42 | PYMBULLETIN | VOLUME 49 42 | PYMBULLETIN | VOLUME 42
Black Sustainability Watch Ties
Alumni News special production and to those who watched it on Sunday 26 July.
As the end of 2020 draws near, many of us will take a deep breath and look back on the year that has been. While we have met many challenges along the way, we have also adapted, grown and introduced our new ‘normal’ into our lives. This has happened at the College as well. We had to be creative in order to hold our annual Commemoration Day service this year. We believed it was important to acknowledge this strong Ex-student tradition, in which we celebrate the 1919 dedication of the College, and as a sign of our times, presented the service via a beautifullycreated video. The positive aspect to not physically gathering in our beautiful Chapel was that we were able to send this video to our Ex-students living overseas and interstate – some of whom had never been able to attend the service before. The response from all corners of the earth, and also locally, was a feeling of inclusion, re-engagement with the College and joy in watching. If you missed it and would like to view the video, you will find it on our Pymble Ladies’ College YouTube channel. A very big thank you to all who gave up their time to be filmed for this
The Pymble Ladies’ College Community Engagement team, including our Alumni Relations Manager Mrs Katrina Corcoran (HUM 1987), and our committed volunteer Ex-Students’ Union (ESU) committee, work together to promote and celebrate the lives and careers of Pymble Ex-students as role models for current students, and to support Ex-students as lifelong members of the broader College community. We have recently partnered with the ESU to launch a mentoring program, Pymconnect, to facilitate mentoring opportunities, to build a sense of belonging, create a culture of shared learning and enhance personal and professional growth within our Pymble community. Pymconnect matches current Senior students or recent school leavers with Ex-students and Pymble parent mentors. It was inspired by the success of the Networking and Mentoring Event held at KPMG in 2019, ESU Networking Events, and an all-round desire from our community to support not only Ex-students, but also current Senior School students as they look forward to and plan for their future post-Pymble. If you did not receive the email invitation we sent to all Ex-students but would like to sign up, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at pymconnect@ pymblelc.nsw.edu.au and we will get you on board. We also partnered with the ESU earlier in the year to launch The Ex-Students’ Assistance Program provided by Benestar under the
‘MyCoach’ program. MyCoach offers a team of professional coaches trained to assist with everything from family and relationship issues, to challenges at work, dealing with grief, improving exercise and sleep and everything in between – all with the utmost confidentiality. We are so pleased that we have been able to provide this program, during a time when they may feel disconnected due to COVID-19 restrictions, or are in need of some extra support in their professional lives. While our Reunions, Ex-student tours, and other Ex-student events for this year were put on hold, we are hopeful they will be back on next year and we are very much looking forward to seeing you. Please check the College website www.pymblelc.nsw.edu.au or join our Ex-student Facebook page: www.facebook.com/groups/ PymbleESU as we hope to be able announce our face-to-face events calendar for 2021 soon. Finally, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to our 2020 ESU Committee, who has worked hard to keep our Ex-student community connected and engaged throughout this extraordinary year. Led by Zoe Wang as President, this group meets regularly, brainstorms often and shows genuine care for and commitment to our mission of creating opportunities for Ex-students that lead to a lifelong connection to Pymble. Kelly Mancey DIRECTOR – COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Update your contact details – go to the Ex-Student section of the College website www.pymblelc.nsw.edu.au/community/ex-students-union VOLUME 49 | PYMBULLETIN | PAGE| 43 VOLUME 42 | PYMBULLETIN 43
Black Watch Ties FROM THE ESU PRESIDENT 2020 has certainly been a year like no other. Without the normal whirlwind of events which normally fill our calendars, we have turned inwards and have reflected on what the ESU is and what role we play in the life of the College. I am very proud of what we have been able to achieve this year. In partnership with the College we have launched two significant programs which we hope will provide long lasting benefits to our Ex-student community for years to come. One program focused on networking and mentoring and another focused on supporting mental wellbeing. For the first time in the ESU’s history we have not had our meetings in person, we have embraced Zoom meetings, and in doing so many of us have found it almost as effective to meet over video conference as it is in person. This has made it easier for many on our committee to fit in meetings around work and family commitments. We have, however, been missing the camaraderie of meeting in person and we are looking forward to having our AGM on site at the College in November, (with appropriate social distancing in place of course).
Notices Births
Vale
Briony Clark (McIntosh, 2001) and husband Matt are proud to announce the birth of their first child, a daughter, Betty Enid Page, in San Francisco on 13 June 2020. Grandma Susu, Sue McIntosh (Turnbull, 1972) is thrilled but unable to visit in these uncertain times.
Jane Sanders (Logan, 1946) passed away peacefully at Hammond Care in North Turramurra on 13 June 2020 at the age of 90. Jane grew up in Gordon and attended Pymble for her secondary education with younger sisters Margaret and Alison following her. After leaving Pymble, she gained employment in the agricultural laboratories at Sydney University while studying Science at Ultimo Tech. In 1951 she married John Sanders and moved to Turramurra. She had four children; Catherine Conroy (Sanders, 1970), Belinda Sanders (1972), William Sanders (Knox, 1974) and Megan Armstrong (Sanders, 1976). She spent her married life dedicated to family and the community. Over many years, she was heavily involved with the Gordon and then the Killara Uniting Churches and with Meals-on-Wheels. When her children attended their various schools, she was heavily involved with each P & C and for more than 20 years she read and recorded for the Blind Society thus helping blind university students. As her grandchildren arrived and grew, she took great interest in all their activities and when two of her grandchildren were able to attend Pymble, she was delighted; Hannah Wilshire (Armstrong, 2006) and Prue Armstrong (2008). Jane’s school year of 1946 regularly had luncheons and up until the last couple of years she loved attending them and catching up with everyone. Although in the last couple of years Jane’s mind was slowly slipping, she still felt compelled to help right to the end. A wonderful loving caring person who always thought of others.
Weddings Anna Yoon (2008) married Jaeyong Choi in the College Chapel on Saturday 12 September 2020. The wedding was attended by Ex-students Ika Fong (Sangadi, 2007), Anny Kim (2008), Molly Zhang (2008) and Jessica Lee (2008).
If you are interested in becoming involved in the ESU, or would like to find out more about any of the programs, events or grants mentioned in this report, please get in touch. You can contact us by email at pymble.exstudents@gmail. com. Alternatively, you can contact us via the Alumni Relations Office at the College on +61 2 9855 7799. Zoe Wang (Moore, 1994) PAGE 44 | PYMBULLETIN | VOLUME 49
Anna Yoon (2008) and Jaeyong Choi
Catherine Conroy (Sanders, 1970)
Black Watch Ties
Justice System; Financial Inclusion and Social Finance; First Nations Peoples; Gender Rights; LGBTI+ Rights; Modern Slavery; and Rural, Regional and Remote Australians.
Sarah Morton-Ramwell (2001)
News Sarah Morton-Ramwell (Ramwell, 2001) My Pymble journey started in 1992 when I began in Year 3. However, I moved to Brisbane for the rest of primary school and came back to Pymble in Year 7 for all of my high school years. After spending nine years abroad after University (where I studied Arts/ Law at the University of Sydney and spent a semester on exchange at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), I moved back to Sydney in 2015 when I started as the Global Pro Bono and Social Impact Partner at international law firm Ashurst. I had started my career at the Centre of Reproductive Rights in New York, and also worked at International Planned Parenthood Federation in London. I undertook a training contract at Freshfields, before joining their pro bono team, and spending five years running pro bono and Responsible Business at Reed Smith. The pro bono practice at Ashurst focuses on: Citizenship and Global Displacement; Climate Crises and Resilience; Death Row and the Criminal
The Social Impact program at Ashurst provides a way for our people to share their time and professional skills to support community partners. It also recognises our role in driving forward important social justice conversations and our ability to advocate for positive social change. My journey to this work started in Year 9 in Geography. We were reading an article about the plight of 14-year-old girls in Afghanistan and how they were literally dying in their quest to seek education. For me, it was a lightbulb moment. I realised that by pure luck I was sitting there learning, with all the freedoms and future that entails. In Afghanistan, the exact same person, with the same feelings and hopes and dreams, would not have those chances. It was the first time the weight of that hit me. The gross unfairness just blew me away. I was already a feminist, but I became passionate about women and girls’ rights. That’s all I ever really wanted to do from that point, and as I grew older, it grew into a wider desire to work in human rights and social justice. I feel so lucky to be able to do this type of work every day.
Dr Kate Baecher (2000) After 13 years at Pymble, it’s safe to say I was a Pymble girl through and through! I left Pymble in 2000, and following a GAP year in the UK, commenced a Bachelor of Psychology. I loved my studies, I loved being a student, but I knew that I still yearned for more of a challenge, so I decided to join the Army Reserve. The idea of learning new skills in everchallenging environments, serving my country and working with small close-knit teams with a strong sense of service and pride, all factored into my decision to enlist. Fast forward a few years and it’s hard to imagine how my life would have turned out had I not made this decision. The Army changed not only my perspective, but my career trajectory, my future, and the breadth of wild experiences that were to come. I completed my undergraduate studies whilst I was in the Army Reserve and then transferred to the Australian Regular Army (ARA; full-time Army) where I completed my post-graduate/ clinical internship and added a few extra years of service for good measure. The Army taught me more about humans, psychology and loyalty than any civilian
Sarah has been recognised for her work by being one of the WorldSpreads 2011 ‘30 Under 30’ which celebrated the 30 most successful and influential young individuals in the City of London. Sarah was also presented at Buckingham Palace to the Queen and Prince Philip at a reception for prominent Australians living in the UK. Sarah won QANTAS Australian Woman of the Year in the UK in 2014.
VOLUME 49 | PYMBULLETIN | PAGE 45
Dr Kate Baecher (2000)
Black Watch Ties
Notices
Reunions and Events
organisation ever could. Throughout my 15 years, I worked all over Australia, as well as internationally in East Timor and Afghanistan.
2020 Reunions
2020 Reunions
5 Year Reunion (2015) Date and venue TBA Amelia Jang E: amelia.jang1@gmail. com Olivia van Veen, Bianca Martinolli, Alix Leighton
50 Year Reunion (1970) Cancelled
I left the ARA to complete my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Macquarie University, and I can honestly say that the Army was the reason my very atypical psych career turned out as it did. In Clinical Psychology, the typical trajectory is to work in hospitals, private practice, or universities. The Army, however, teaches you to look at the person within the context, rather than the person as a silo. It’s a small but very significant distinction and it led to my working within corporate organisations like the NSW Police, the Australian Federal Police, the NRL and Reality TV. It also enabled me to set up a Performance Psychology organisation working in high risk/high consequence environments developing a role for psychological care within the domain of World Extreme Medicine. I was also able to deploy in humanitarian organisational roles (including providing first response aid to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh), consult to the Hague, and most recently – my greatest passion – establishing mental health and psychological care as a significant domain within wilderness, remote, austere and complex environments. I even worked as a ‘fashion psychologist’ for PR/TV roles! This route of mine has never been easy, but it is one that I am incredibly passionate about. Pymble taught us that we can do more than just settle for the status quo. For anyone contemplating the pathways that Psych can take you – I would say that it is infinite. With a little creativity, a whole lot of stubbornness and a whack of hard work, this career is the one to take. I wouldn’t swap it for the world! PAGE 46 | PYMBULLETIN | VOLUME 49
10 Year Reunion (2010) Date and venue TBA Dreem Qin E: dreem.qin@gmail.com 15 Year Reunion (2005) Date and venue TBA (convenor needed) 20 Year Reunion (2000) Cancelled 25 Year Reunion (1995) Date and venue TBA Nadia Gibson E: nadia246@hotmail.com Felicity McVay (Carr) E: felicity.mcvay@gmail.com Kate Blanchard (Glasson) E: kateblanchard77@gmail.com 30 Year Reunion (1990) Date and venue TBA Suzanne Miller (Fozzard) E: suzmiller5@icloud.com Allison Simons (Evans) E: allisoncsimons@gmail.com 35 Year Reunion (1985) Date and venue TBA Sally Shepherd E: sheppi@live.com Nicole Gaupset (Warren), Prue Wedlock (Johns), Kate Bradbury (Thornely) 40 Year Reunion (1980) Saturday 7 November, The Treehouse, North Sydney Catherine Thompson (Booth) M: 0425 259 350 E: ccthomo@bigpond.com 45 Year Reunion (1975) Cancelled
55 Year Reunion (1965) Cancelled 60 Year Reunion (1960) Cancelled 65 Year Reunion (1955) Date and venue TBA (convenor needed) 70 Year Reunion (1950) Date and venue TBA Beth Kannegieter (Tierney) E: kanneg@bigpond.net.au Dorothy Oag (Cathels) E: dotoag@bigpond.com
Regional Reunions in 2020 Darling Downs and Northern New England Date and venue TBA Helen Gibson (Colton, 1963) T: (07) 4683 5229 M: 0418 194 375 E: research2@hotkey.net.au Melbourne Cancelled Perth Cancelled
Global Reunions in 2020 All global reunions have been cancelled for 2020.
Other Alumni Events KPMG Mentor and Networking Event Postponed ESU Annual General Meeting Monday 23 November, 7.00pm Online
From the Sustainability Archives
Heritage Archive Student Volunteers The Heritage Archive hosts a successful student volunteer program. Students from the Middle, Upper and Senior Schools contribute to preserving and unlocking the stories behind the collection, many undertaken as part of Duke of Edinburgh service.
Bringing College Heritage to the Classroom
Tasks may include removing photos from old sticky albums and rehousing in archival quality sleeves and albums, transcribing our original student registers, which date from 1916 to 2011, and researching ex-students who served in World War II, creating and continuing to build profiles and the stories of their service on the War Service Project page on the College website. Other assistance has been provided with creating a virtual tour of the campus with stops as key locations, providing the history of the site along with then and now images. A similar project is capturing our Ag Plot, its well-loved characters, such as the late HG the goat, and plot changes over time. Working on a video of interviews with College staff and students to capture our experiences with COVID-19 and comparing this to the Pandemic in 1918 which is described in the early magazines, with late starts to the school year and disrupted sport and activities. Creating values postcards using photos from the Archive photo collection and Community Engagement images and cataloguing our collection of music gifted to the school by ex-student Dame Joan Hammond. The Archive also has a large collection of original plans which have recently been digitized and are forming the basis for another project comparing the First Boarding House, Marden, floorplan with its appearance internally today. These activities all continue to build our Heritage Archive and unlock its gems for learning and growing of Pymble’s story.
Christina Yang and Jennifer Chen, Year 1
Sarah Lu and Aurora Lin, Year 1
On Tuesday 1 September 2020, Year 1 students immersed themselves in History. The Year 1 Co-ordinator and teachers created an experience on campus, in lieu of the usual excursion to the Rocks and The Big Dig Archaeological Centre, focused around family life in the past. The students participated in play activities from the past, making peg dolls, practising quill writing and games. Complementing the day’s activities was a visit from the College Archivist. Students studied photographs from the past depicting how students travelled to school, dressed, the classrooms and play and sport activities. These were discussed and compared to today. Students then explored artefacts from the Heritage Collection including globate and leather satchels, replicas of smocks and hats, and explored past readers and word books. The students also explored a virtual tour of the Campus which captures history and images of then and now, created by Duke of Edinburgh Archive volunteers. These were complemented by displays and objects gathered by the Year 1 teachers from home and the College drama costume collection. The Heritage Centre looks forward to welcoming these students in Year 2 when a visit is a component of their History studies. These are focused around how schools and technology have changed over time and include a visit to the NSW Schoolhouse Museum. Thanks to the creative and gifted teachers of Year 1, and Year 1 Co-ordinator, Preparatory School - Erin Dorsen for her planning and invitation to the College Archivist. VOLUME VOLUME 49VOLUME | PYMBULLETIN 48 | PYMBULLETIN | PAGE | PAGE 47 | 6 42 | PYMBULLETIN 6
Marden Floor Plan
Avon Road, Pymble NSW 2073 PO Box 136, North Ryde BC NSW 1670 Australia Tel: +61 2 9855 7799 communityengagement@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au
www.pymblelc.nsw.edu.au A school of the Uniting Church in Australia for girls from Kindergarten to Year 12, with Boarding available from Year 7
‘All’ Ultimo Lavoro’ – Strive for the highest
CRICOS 03288K