From the Principal
Hello, from your Pymble family. We hope that wherever you are in the world, you and your loved ones are safe and well.
If you were among the thousands of visitors to our campus or the army of volunteers working with us on Saturday 21 September, please accept our heartfelt thanks for making Garden Party 2024 such a resounding success. We are delighted that the combined efforts of our Alumni, students, staff and families helped raise $20,000 to donate to the Barbara May Foundation and $60,000 to fund our annual Sony Camp for children with special needs. Special shout-out to our Boarding families and supporters who generated an additional $17,000 to put towards Boarding scholarships at Pymble. These are all wonderful achievements, made even more special by the tangible feeling of belonging to something much bigger than self and pride in being a member of our remarkable College community
Farewell to our Class of 2024
It’s also that time of year when we farewell our Year 12 students with a series of traditional events that you will most likely remember from your own time at Pymble. Our much-loved Final Assembly, Back to the Beginning Assembly (for girls who commenced in Kindy), Final Chapel Service, Boarders’ Farewell, Speech Day, Valedictory Dinner and the more recent addition of Honouring Ceremonies allow us to celebrate each student for their unique contribution to life at Pymble.
Our Class of 2024 has been exemplary in leading the student body according to our College values and their own special blend of inclusive and supportive leadership – not to mention their love of a good ‘Roar in 2024’. Excitingly, the cohort has done remarkably well in all subjects with performance or major work components. Across Drama, Dance, Music, Textiles and Design, and Design and Technology, 48 of the 86 students studying these subjects have already received a nomination (or two!) for the NSW showcase or exhibition for their exemplary work. That’s 58 nominations in total, which is a fantastic collective result before the HSC examinations even begin.
It is with great pride that I also share with you our Speech Day major prize recipients:
Isabel Aveling and Juliette Harris – joint winners of The School Prize
Anna Ward – The Marden Prize
Alicia Ge – Dux of the School (The Sir Robert Gillespie Memorial Prize)
These three prizes may only go to a handful of students, but there is something incredibly special about watching the entire cohort give a fabulously rowdy standing ovation to the winners. It gives me goosebumps every time to see our students support and celebrate their peers with such unconditional love, respect and pride.
We are here for you, always
Please remember the College is always here to support and celebrate you, too. In his Speech Day address, our Chair of the Board, Chris Fydler OAM, reminded our soon-to-be graduates of some of the many initiatives we have introduced over the years to benefit you in your adult life.
Along with organising local and global reunions, the College offers graduates gap year placement; casual work in our co-curricular programs, Out of School Hours Care centre, and the IT HUB; and opportunities to grow your profile and portfolio of research work through our Pymble Institute projects, publications and conferences.
We also welcome back graduates as mentors for students in our Socrates research program and as speakers at various College events and information sessions.
Of course, our flagship program is our Alumni Mentoring and Networking Event, which continues to evolve to best support you at key stages of your career – starting out, mid-point, and at Board entry level. Next year’s event is on Thursday 22 May 2025 – please keep an eye out for more details and callouts for mentors and mentees coming to your inbox soon!
In addition, the College is working hard to further increase the profile of Pymble internationally by developing connections with universities, academic partners, sporting clubs and associations in the United Kingdom and USA. Our aim is to ensure a Pymble education is valued for excellence, all over the world, and provide more pathways for students and graduates to study overseas, play sport at elite level, and establish global careers. Exciting times for all.
In 2025, we will be turning our sights towards you, our Alumni, to explore in more depth how the College can best serve your needs. We are deeply grateful for the ESU Committee members for their time and encouragement of this project and look forward to hearing thoughts, opinions and ideas from as many of you as possible.
Signing off with all best wishes, until we meet again.
Dr Kate Hadwen