Boarding Head Prefects’ Report

Boarders

Brianna Kierath and Ella Jones, Year 12

BOARDING HEAD PREFECTS’ REPORT

Sisterhood

The Prefect-run Big Sister Little Sister program was successful in creating friendships between Boarders in all year groups and helped to make an easy transition for new Boarders. Girls in Years 7 to 9 were allocated a Senior Boarder who mentored their younger buddy. Boarding Prefects assisted the Year 10 girls in hosting their little sisters for a movie night in Goodlet House and, throughout the year, hosted the Prefect Supper Club where younger year groups enjoyed supper and a chat in Lang House. Sisterhood is at the heart of Boarding and Prefects visited Marden girls to tuck them in at night which helped to form strong friendships. Girls from all year groups met every Friday for Boarders Get Baking, a much-loved activity run by the wonderful Mrs Wiedemann, TAS Assistant, who baked delicious treats with girls from all years.

Boarding Instagram

This year we introduced the long-awaited official Boarding Instagram account! We created it to connect girls to their families and also the wider community and to showcase moments in Boarding that people would not usually see. It was a great success.

Community

The sense of community in Boarding is unique. We cherished time spent together in our tight-knit community through a range of activities in 2021. Community weekends were held once a term with fun activities like Raging Waters, African drumming workshops and group orienteering to foster relationships between girls. We also came together on Valentine’s Day with ‘speed dating’ to promote new friendships and conversations. Lunar New Year, celebrated with an amazing oriental dinner on Marden Lawn, was inspired by our diverse community and highlighted the many cultures which make Boarding so special.

It was special to see support from the whole school, even after Boarders beat the Day girls in both basketball and volleyball!

Celebrating Boarding

Boarders’ Week in Term 2 was a highlight for Boarders and Day girls alike. We celebrated with volleyball, basketball and AFL games, a pink themed mufti day, a bacon and egg breakfast for staff and a bush band who taught us line dancing. It was special to see support from the whole school, even after the Boarders beat the Day girls in both basketball and volleyball! The traditional Jersey Day continued to bring a great sense of community as the whole school wore their favourite jersey to commemorate three Boarders who tragically passed away in 1993. The celebration of the Boarding sisterhood raised money for the Boarding Scholarship, a truly life-changing opportunity for a Year 7 girl.

Mia Lorimer, Dr Kate Hadwen (Principal), Addison Seeto and Phoebe Roberts, Year 7

Boarders

Matilda Barwick, Macey Leahy, Sarah Thornton, Elise Djerrkura, Alice Hillsdon, Abigail Ballhausen, Mrs Carolyn Burgess (Director of Boarding), Amarley Bron, Isabelle Francis and Georgina Pechan, Year 10

Harriet Wykeham-Fiennes, Year 11, Chloe Hanlan, Year 11, Annika Ferguson, Year 11, Angela Ye, Year 10, Celine Hu, Year 10, Carmen Zhao, Year 11, Mrs Carolyn Burgess (Director of Boarding), Angeline Sum, Year 10 and Amanda Lwin, Year 11 Abigail Ballhausen, Year 10

Leadership

Leadership is embedded throughout Pymble Boarding, independence and confidence is encouraged and facilitated with opportunities for girls of all ages to contribute and become leaders. The Boarders’ Representative Council (BRC) includes two girls from each year group and the Head and Deputy Head Boarding Prefects and meets fortnightly to provide a platform for girls to voice their opinions and represent their year group. Discussions ranged from Boarders’ merchandise, Love It activities and, one that came up frequently, food! Another leadership role in Boarding is our Year 11 Spirit House Captains who worked closely with our Prefects to lead fortnightly Chapel Services and helped organise Community Weekends.

Ella Jones and Brianna Kierath, Boarding Head and Deputy Head Prefects

Back Row: Sophie Zheng, Year 7, Stella Robertson, Year 9, Saskia Fitzgerald, Year 9, Lauren Whitfield-Lowe, Year 9, Mr Stuart Clark (Director of Vision Valley) Front Row: Rylee McKinstry, Chloe Moore, Year 11