Upper School

A MESSAGE FROM MRS BOYD

2021 was a year that required flexibility and creativity in the Upper School.

Spark

In Term 1, Year 9 undertook the Spark program led by Burn Bright. Spark builds the toolkit to help our girls grow their confidence, positively express themselves, understand their personal values, experience gratitude and perspective and enhance their resilience. In addition, the program allows our girls to build empathy for each other and helps them discover how they can care for and respect themselves and others in their immediate community.

DARTA

In Year 10, Mr Paul Dillon addressed our girls in an interesting presentation. Through his business, Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA), Paul has worked in the area of drug education for the past 25 years. He is contracted by many agencies and organisations across the country to give regular updates on current drug trends within the community. Paul helped us to ensure that Year 10 students had access to good quality information and best practice drug education.

Online

Halfway through the year saw a shift to online learning for our students in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Year 9 and Year 10 students showed remarkable agility adjusting to new routines where they supported one another and staff in the digital world. Compass time, Chapel and assemblies were live streamed and many online Co-curricular activities were created to keep our girls connected and entertained. Many Upper School students participated in ‘Read by US’, a studentled initiative through which Upper School students recorded readings of popular children’s books to keep our Preparatory School girls entertained during lockdown.

Co-curricular

Our musicians, dramatists, visual artists, public speakers and performers in the Upper School were very impressive. Our singers won the annual Performing Arts Competition (PAC) at school, and many performed in Drama ensembles that took out numerous prizes. Thank you to the performers who entertained the Upper School throughout the year both online and in person. Notably, Year 10 was State Grand finalists in the Evatt Competition, an academic simulation of the UN Council held by UN Youth Australia, Jacqueline Qin, Year 10, was the winner of the 13 to 15 Years Young Archie competition and Year 9 students showed their skills as budding authors by winning prizes in Write a Book in a Day for their story Behind the Camera.

Kindness

Kindness was on display throughout the Upper School this year with Year 9 and Year 10 students eagerly participating in Pymble Gives Back Community Service initiatives. Our girls committed many hours of service over the year in our local community through Easy Care Gardening, Wrap with Love and Days for Girls led capably by Deputy Head of Upper School, Mrs Hunt. Year 9 was captivated during a visit from Dr Andrew Browning, an Australian trained obstetrician and gynaecologist who has worked in Ethiopia and Tanzania for more than 13 years as a senior fistula surgeon (trained by Catherine Hamlin). After his visit they raised more than $1,000 in a week to support his cause.

Thanks

At the end of Term 3, I concluded my time as Head of Upper School. Thank you to the students, staff and parents who were a part of the Upper School journey in 2021, I enjoyed every minute of the role. At the commencement of Term 4, Years 9 and 10 provided a warm welcome to Mr Tom Riley to the role. Mr Riley was most recently the Head of Student Wellbeing at Kinross Wolaroi School in Orange. It was my pleasure to welcome Mr Riley and his family into the Pymble community. I wish him every happiness and success as he undertakes this role. Mrs Melissa Boyd, Head of Upper School

A Message from Mr Riley

It was fantastic to join the Upper School in Term 4, albeit in slightly odd circumstances whilst learning continued online. Nevertheless, being online provided a wonderful opportunity for me to witness the resilience and enthusiasm of the Upper School girls first-hand, with some fantastic assemblies, leadership meetings and social activities still being held. Once back on campus, the excitement levels were difficult to contain with the Upper School courtyards awash with the screams and laughter of joy and happiness as the students rekindled their friendships.

Mr Tom Riley, Head of Upper School

Upper School

Pragya Mehta, Karenza Griffiths and Emma Sullivan, Year 12

UPPER SCHOOL LIAISONS’ REPORT

When we stepped into the role of Upper School Liaisons, we wanted to spread a message of respect. Through engaging and connecting with the girls in small groups and talking to them at assemblies about managing their stress and taking time to look after themselves, we tried to spread the concept of self-love and respect starting from within.

Welcome Packs

Our first initiative in the Upper School was creating welcome packs for the Years 9 and 10 girls as a way of introducing ourselves and showing a little bit of support as they went on holidays. We also held a New Student Morning Tea for all new girls in the Upper School. For this, we also created personalised packages that included advice, tips and tricks to help them navigate life in the Upper School. It was a great opportunity to learn more about the girls and build our cross-school relationships. We will miss the Just Dance sessions with Years 9 and 10!

Mentoring

A large part of our role was working with and mentoring the Years 9 and 10 Upper School Leaders. Whether it was standing behind the curtain helping the girls run their assembly or just passing over the script, it was a pleasure to see the girls grow into their roles and lead their peers with such courage and responsibility. We will miss the Just Dance sessions with Years 9 and 10!

International Women’s Day

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Emma was lucky to join the Years 9 and 10 Upper School Leaders to represent Pymble at the United Nations International Women’s Day lunch. The students were honoured to hear from Australian of the Year Grace Tame. Her message of strength and increased power for women was paired with key messages to make a change for gender equality within Australia and was empowering to listen to. Although our favourite part of being liaisons was definitely meeting so many wonderful people, being able to walk through the Upper School and see so many smiles and waves certainly made a big impact on us. We hope our messages of respect, love and support helped the girls in some way. Karenza Griffiths, Pragya Mehta and Emma Sullivan, Upper School Liaison Prefects

Upper School

YEAR 9 CHARITIES

Year 9 students at Pymble Ladies’ College were actively engaged with some incredible charities in 2021 and fostered a sense of community and raised awareness about the following organisations:

Barbara May Foundation

The Barbara May Foundation’s primary focus is safer childbirth, the delivery of live babies, and mothers not dying or injured during childbirth in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Dr Andrew Browning has made a significant change to the women in Africa. He has saved and helped many lives through the help of donations. Every day, women in Africa are suffering from not having a clean space to have their baby or they are struggling from having a fistula. Through the generous help of others, he has made such a significant change that has had a massive impact on many women through raising awareness. With the help of the Year 9 students, we can make many women happy and live better. Let’s make a change Pymble!” – Noora Miraki, Year 9

Days for Girls

Days for Girls is one of the College’s Community Service initiatives, allowing for meaningful involvement with the local and extended community, and interaction with people of diverse cultures and lifestyles. The organisation handles Period Poverty and makes washable and reusable menstrual health products for women around the world that do not have access to suitable products for their menstrual cycle. As part of the program at Pymble, girls have the opportunity to make these period kits to help women around the world manage their periods.

“Days for Girls is a brilliant initiative that allows Pymble girls to come together during lunchtimes and have a real impact on the lives of women around the world. Volunteering creates a feeling of fulfilment and creates an opportunity to engage with other students who have similar interests and speak to other students who you may not usually speak. We made a contribution to the wellbeing of women in developing countries and had fun while doing it.” – Lauren Carruthers, Year 9

Mrs Edwina O’Brien (English and Aboriginal Studies Teacher) and Celine Hu, Year 10

With the help of the Year 9 students, we can make many women happy and live better.

Wrap with Love

Wrap with Love allows students to volunteer by knitting and sewing to create wraps to transport around the world for people in need of warmth.

“Wrap with Love is a community service that some of our wonderful students help with. They knit squares which become blankets that can be delivered to those in need. This service helps our community as we are gifting them something warm to snuggle up in on a cold night. By doing this we are making a difference and lending a helping hand to those who need it most.” – Catherine Nachar, Year 9

Jiya Tanna, Year 9