Keeping up with our Boarders, Term 2 2021

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ISSUE 2 | TERM 2 | JUNE 2021

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Keeping up with our Boarders A very special Term 2 Every term in Boarding is special but Term 2 is particularly extraordinary.

Boarders’ Week is always a highlight and a unique time for us to come together as a Boarding community. I know you will agree our Boarders’ Editorial Team, under the new and expert editorial leadership of Amy Lees, has done a brilliant job in capturing the essence of this special time.

Term 2 is also the season of Boarding expos and it has been a real treat for me to be on the road catching up with past, present and future Pymble Boarders and families. My heartfelt thanks go to the lovely folk who welcomed me into their homes and communities and found the time to catch up at the various ‘locals’. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to grow my understanding of the lives of our rural Boarders and to spend time with some of our families.

This term we also welcomed Ms Lamia Rockwell, Deputy Principal – Students (K-12), to our Boarding family. With her passion for student wellbeing and expertise in Boarding, she is a most welcome addition.

Lamia has worked tirelessly to get to know our Boarders, this edition provides the perfect opportunity for you to learn a little about her!

As always, the term has been filled with wonderful opportunities and I hope you enjoy reading about just some of them – highlights from our ever-popular ‘Love It’ program, the latest from Boarders Get Baking and lots of stories celebrating our beautiful girls.

Happy reading!

Carolyn Burgess DIRECTOR OF BOARDING

A note from our Editor AMY LEES (WAHROONGA) As the term draws to a close I have reflected on the very special opportunity to take editorship of Keeping up with our Boarders.

Our girls’ willingness to share their world, and their homes away from Pymble, is a privilege.

I have truly loved reading each and every story and working with our Boarders; a lovely bunch of girls – and talented too. My thanks to Mrs Burgess and Anne Graham for making this a smooth (but also fun!) process, and to our fantastic graphic designer, Amelia Hull, for such a beautiful publication. We hope you enjoy.

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Meet Ms Rockwell SARAH THORNTON (YEAR 10), DUBBO AND TILLY BARWICK (YEAR 10), GRAVESEND Tell us about your childhood and school life – where were you born and where did you go to school?

I grew up in the country with my parents on my maternal grandparents’ vineyard. I loved helping my grandfather with the harvest of the grapes. He would get my sister and I to jump up and down on the grapes (after we had washed and sterilised our feet, of course!) to produce the juice to make his own wine. It was great fun!

I went to a small French private school in North Lebanon for the most of my schooling where I learnt all subjects in French, except for History and Geography which I learnt in Arabic along with the Arabic language.

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What made you choose teaching as a career?

When I completed my HSC, I enrolled in Dentistry and completed two years.

However, my love for Mathematics and my passion for working with young people drew me back to teaching.

My mother’s side of the family; her three sisters, her brother and herself are all teachers. Listening to their wonderful stories about teaching young people and the impact their guidance and their support had on the young people they taught, inspired me to listen to that calling. I also found that I was not very fond of people experiencing pain and cleaning someone else’s teeth!

How long have you been at Pymble and why do you like it here?

I started at Pymble in January 2019.

I love the kindness and the care shown amongst the girls and the staff.

I love the curiosity and passion for the learning that the girls demonstrate daily.

I love that we have Boarders at Pymble who bring life, vibrance and diversity to our College. The grounds are incredible and I count my blessings every day for being part of the Pymble family.

Why do you think wellbeing is so important, and especially for the Boarders?

The idea of a “home away from home” for the Boarders is extremely important for my vision of the great Boarding experience. With the ease of modern communication, the stress of being away from home has been negated to some extent. However, our Boarders still need that daily, “Hi, how are you?” from the Boarding staff and sometimes they need more than that. Boarding staff often have to plug the gap that would normally be filled by parents at home with the deeper conversations that help young people navigate

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difficult experiences. Wellbeing is important for every member of our community, and it involves looking after our mind, body and spirit. I like to think that we are constantly working to keep us all in the positive so that when the inevitable hiccup occurs, we can cope with it and continue to progress without falling in a heap.

Who are your role models?

My mother has always been the guiding light in my life closely followed by my aunties who have cared deeply for me. I have no secrets from my mother and she always knows when something is troubling me. She is so caring about everyone else and she absolutely loves her grandchildren. Her riches cannot be counted in dollars and cents.

What do you like to do in your spare time away from school?

I love power walking, pilates, reading and the occasional dinner out at a quality restaurant.

What is your message to the Boarders?

When you care deeply about others, they will care deeply about you. Living in a community can be challenging and being able to accept others for who they are and lending a helping hand to others, when in need, is a gift.

Your outfits are always so fashionable!

Can you please give away your style secrets and tell us about your favourite fashion designer?

The most important factors when deciding on my outfits are comfort, quality and what makes a point of difference to suit my style.

Designers with an edgy aspect to their creations is what I am always on the lookout for and Toni Maticevski is one those designers. I am not only impressed by his creations but also by his perseverance and hard work to achieve the best he can.

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Jersey Day 2021 ELLA JONES – HEAD BOARDER (YEAR 12), HONG KONG Jersey Day was yet again a special celebration for us Boarders. To see the whole school in jerseys in honour of Boarders brings a sense of community like no other. For those who don’t know, every year, before the June Long Weekend, the whole school gets to wear their favourite jerseys to school for the day. A gold coin donation is brought in which goes towards the Boarders’ Scholarship fund.

The story behind Jersey Day is a tragic one for all of us at Pymble, especially all of us Boarders. In 1993 three of our beautiful Boarders were lost when they were travelling home on the June long weekend. Alanda Clark, Jane Gay and Prudence Papworth passed away when their plane tragically crashed on a hill just outside of Young. We remember these girls as we wear our jerseys with pride.

They are further commemorated by the Boarders’ window in the Chapel. The three trees are coloured by each girl’s favourite colours and weave together to symbolise the friendship and sisterhood, which is rooted in our Boarding community. The trees are cut short, representing the lives which were lost too soon. A scholarship has been set up in their honour, every year giving a Year 7 girl the opportunity to attend Boarding school, a truly life-changing opportunity for both the girls and their families.

It has become a tradition to drape the balconies of our Boarding houses with jerseys. The shirts linked together show the strong connections between us Boarders. Jersey Day is not just a day to stay warm in our favourite jumpers; it is a day where we take a moment to appreciate our friendships, which is especially important as a Boarder. When you are always with your friends, it is easy to take them for granted and overlook everything they do for us. When we remember Alanda, Jane and Pru, our community comes together and our sisterhood shines.

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Where are they now?

ANNA LISLE (2005) I grew up on a sheep and cattle farm in rural Australia so when I became a Boarder in Year 7, it was quite an adjustment. Even as a third generation Pymble girl (grandmother, Beth Tierney 1950 and mum, Cathy Kannegieter 1976) I remember being so overwhelmed by the sheer size of Pymble but the Boarding community, especially Goodlet House, soon became my family.

During school, I always had a keen interest in English – and so when I finished the HSC, I threw myself into a BA in Communications at UTS, Sydney.

After graduating, I decided to do an Honours in Journalism to hone my skills further (and buy some more time to work out what I wanted to really do). It was during this time that a friend became Editor of Shape Magazine Australia, a women’s health and fitness magazine and I was soon recruited as the features writer/ beauty editor/ recipe developer/ subeditor – a little taste of everything (as is often the case in small publishing houses). After just 12 months, the magazine folded (no pun intended, unfortunately) and I was made redundant. I still remember how heartbroken I was, giving every ounce of time and energy into the magazine.

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I not only came to appreciate the fickle nature of the media industry, but I built up an invaluable resilience.

More significantly however, it forced me to change my career trajectory. After a short break from work and some travel I started applying for jobs and eventually found myself working in the restaurant industry. It was only until I started writing about food that I truly found my calling.

As hard as it was at the time, looking back on being made redundant, I now consider myself fortunate for that having happened to me, as it changed the course of my career for the better.

There is no way I would have left the security of my job to go out and change industries without that push.

As Editor of Best Restaurants, I wrote restaurant reviews and managed a team of freelancers across Australia. After working in print media, I found the digital world more creative (and also a lot more forgiving). I applied to be a contestant on My Kitchen Rules (which was, at the time, Australia’s highest rating television show), together with my mum, Cathy. While we were somewhat naive about the nature of reality television, it was certainly a stepping stone for my career. Our instant restaurant episode attracted 2.25 million viewers and opened many doors.

I co-hosted Fresh, a show dedicated to restaurants and dining out on 2GB, with chef Luke Mangan and I also published my first cookbook, Bowl & Fork.

In 2016 I moved to London with my husband and published my second book, Whole Food, Bowl Food. Both cookbooks reflect my personal food philosophy of eating natural, unprocessed whole foods. While in the UK, I freelanced as a copy editor and recipe developer for supermarket chain, Tesco, and also worked with British celebrity Melissa Hemsley, editing, writing and styling her cookbooks and weekly columns. I moved back to Australia after I had my first child, Arabella, who is now three (I also have a one-year-old son, Hugo) and I now work as a recipe developer for Marley Spoon.

I have been incredibly fortunate to always love my job – and I attribute Pymble to giving me the confidence to follow my passion. The friends and connections made at Pymble have also been invaluable and I will forever look back on my time at Pymble so fondly – and hopefully one day my daughter will be fortunate enough to attend the College, too.

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Boarding – we really Love It! CHLOE BROWNING (YEAR 7), MEBUL This term we have had lots of opportunities with our ‘Love It’ program. At the start of this term, we were lucky enough to go to the Waratahs vs Rebels game, where Joeys and Knox played the pre-game. Most of the girls thoroughly enjoyed this game and said they had a great time. The next week was Mother’s Day creations with Mrs M, where we made special gifts for our lovely mothers. We made personalised aprons and tea towels for our mums. A few weeks later we had our Community Weekend, where we participated in the Angus Cup sports competition, where Hammond won! Every girl got into the Boarding spirit and participated with a smile on their faces and a great attitude. Then two weeks later we had the Marden social, where the theme was ‘neon’. The schools that attended were Knox, Abbotsleigh, Wenona, Shore, Ravenswood and Loreto Normanhurst. Most of the girls were very happy to see some of their old friends.

Later, we had the Senior Social with Years 10 to 12 attending. The theme was famous couples.

Then the week after some of the girls went to the city to have a look at the NSW Art Gallery, which was very beautiful. All the girls are so grateful that we have had all these great opportunities.

Thank you, Boarding.

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Rylee makes a splash!

RYLEE MCKINSTRY (YEAR 11), WAVERTON Over the past few months, I have had a few diving competitions which have been really exciting! In April, I was fortunate enough to go to the Australian Age Diving Nationals which were held in Brisbane. I competed in the 3m mixed synchro, and came 3rd; the 1m 16 to 18 girls springboard where I came 6th; and the 3m 16 to 18 girls where I came 7th.

During the course of the year, there have been a series of school diving competitions, starting with IGSSA, then CIS and a few weeks ago, there was the NSW State All Schools competition. I was lucky enough to come 2nd in the 17 to 19 years age group at all three events, placing me on the School Sport Australia team.

Boarding has really been a huge contributing factor allowing me to be so involved in my sport. The structured routine with study and bedtimes has been crucial in helping me achieve the perfect balance between being busy with my sport but still organised with school work. The staff have been so flexible in helping me achieve my goals with working around the long sessions to help me get assignments done and still manage to get into bed early for training the next morning!

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Welcome to Pymble!

ADDISON SEETO (YEAR 7), PAPUA NEW GUINEA AND ISABEL HUANG (YEAR 10), CHINA

Nationals triumph for Stella TORIE BURTON (YEAR 9), COONAMBLE AND HANNAH THORNTON (YEAR 9), DUBBO Our very own Year Nine Boarder, Stella Robertson, competed at the 2021 Australian Gymnastic Championships on 18 May. Growing up in Gunnedah, Stella has been competing in gymnastics since the young age of five, where she currently sits on Level 10, the highest level any Pymble lady has ever reached. Being chosen for the NSW team, Stella represented the State achieving 14th overall in her individual category, helping place her team 2nd in Australia. These outstanding achievements have not only made Pymble proud but also her Boarding sisters as well as her family and friends back home. In order to get a look into Stella’s gymnastic experiences, we decided to ask her a few questions.

What do you like most about gym?

I enjoy it when I feel like flying. For example, when I go over the vault, swing on the bars or flip around on the floor and beam.

What is your favourite apparatus?

My favourite apparatus is bars.

How did you qualify?

I competed in two State trials, as well as the State championships, in which my two best overall scores were taken and added together to qualify in the NSW team. From there, the six top gymnasts from NSW were taken to the Gold Coast where we competed at Nationals for NSW and came 2nd.

What is your training schedule?

I train five days a week, four hours each day. I also do an additional hour on Wednesday mornings. When we were on the Gold Coast, we were given the opportunity to train the day before each competition.

Hello everyone, I’m Isabel. I come from Shanghai China, and this is my first term at Pymble as a Boarder. Before I came here, I stayed in Shanghai and spent the whole of Term 1 in online classes. That was completely new to me and it seemed like I was participating in classes at the same pace as the other girls, but I was not actually with them face-to-face.

Due to COVID-19, I had to quarantine for 14 days in an allocated apartment, which was at Haymarket. At that time, I had no idea about what would happen and what my life would be like in this ‘foreign’ country. What I hadn’t expected was that, instead of being panicked about the new environment, I was actually more looking forward to meeting new friends and now I believe that I will be able to cope with anything that happens to me.

So, here I am! After two weeks of quarantine, I finally joined Pymble for Year 10 on the first day of Term 2. Thinking back to the time when I just joined Pymble Boarding, I was so appreciative for having these friends who are so nice to me and they really helped me a lot in figuring out what to do. They shared with me their opinions on Boarding and what kinds of emotional fluctuation they have experienced when they first came, which made me feel understood and strengthened our friendships at the same time.

As I got more used to my Boarding daily routine, I feel I am now more engaged in this big family and I have made more and more new friends. What I like the most about Boarding is that it provides me with a sense of belonging to this school, which I think exists only for Boarders, as we do everything here on this campus. Besides this, the sense of community also starts to build on me since the Boarders’ Week which we strived for our best to win the pride as a whole.

On the other hand, since this is my first time being a Boarder, I do feel that time management is super important, especially in Year 10. Sometimes I would struggle with

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my time because I found myself being not that productive when studying with friends. Actually, as long as I stay focused, studying with friends in Years 10 and 11 will help me a lot as we can discuss and ask for suggestions. For me, being a Boarder is a choice which I will never regret, I enjoy every day and looking forward to my further three years here.

Isabel Boarding for me this semester was a big rollercoaster. My family comes from Papua New Guinea, which is a five-hour flight from Sydney. Because of COVID, my parents can’t come down and visit so I just stay with my grandparents on the weekends and school holidays. I have another older sister in Year 11 in Boarding. She has definitely helped me with everything, from things like schoolwork to being homesick.

The beginning of this semester was crazy with everything going on. Just the thought of starting this new chapter in my life was scary at first, but the minute I walked in the Marden door I knew that I was really going to enjoy Boarding. I have made so many new friendships with other Boarders that I know will stick with me for the rest of my life. The staff really know how to make me feel at home and feel comfortable. They know how to cheer me up when I’m down and help me achieve every goal that I set for myself.

I have loved every second of Boarding and I can’t wait to see what it has in store for me in the upcoming years that I have here as being a Pymble Boarder.

Addison

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Our Pink Ladies

Boarders Get Baking

LAUREN SEVIL (YEAR 12), LEICHHARDT

SOPHIE LAING (YEAR 8), TULLAMORE

Our Pink Lady awards are awarded to people who constantly show kindness and generosity to us Boarders.

Firstly, we have a teacher who has become a big part of the Boarders Get Baking festivities, who always shows so much support and love for our Boarders. Her involvement in Boarders Get Baking has not only brought us many yummy treats, but her loving energy makes us feel welcome. She is a kind-hearted teacher who we adore and cherish so much for always wanting to help the Boarding community. She helped our girls prepare the B-shaped cookies which we were excited to give our teachers. It is none other than Mrs Sarah Budd! Mrs Budd, your kindness and contribution towards us Boarders does not go unnoticed.

Another Pink Lady award is going to Lauren from Health Care, who always makes sure that our Boarders are safe and are taken care of when we aren’t well. Without our mums and dads around, your care is much-needed and appreciated. Thank you for always showing us love and kindness.

Next, we have a girl who is truly a Boarder at heart. She is always so kind and including towards everyone, especially us Boarders.

It is hard to name someone who has so many friends in all Boarding year groups but who isn’t a Boarder herself. Georgie Seymour, this award is for you and your ability to always make everyone smile.

Finally, we have Arabella Wheatley from Year 7 who has been such caring friend to our Year 7 Boarders. Thank you for your kindness and for welcoming our girls who are still so new to this big school and city. Boarding is so much more fun with friends like you!

Thank you and thank you to everyone for giving the Boarders a home, yummy treats and smiles!

This term’s Boarders Get Baking has produced a variety of scrumptious treats. Mrs Wiedemann goes above and beyond every week to ensure that the activity runs well and is thoroughly enjoyable.

Mars bar slice, rocky road, and a range of other delicious sweets are just a few of the tasty goods we have created. We learn new cooking skills with Mrs Wiedemann throughout each session and we also get to enjoy yummy desserts. We listen to music, cook and sip delicious milkshakes at Boarders Get Baking. Overall, Boarders Get Baking is such an amazing activity that the Boarding staff and Mrs Wiedemann organise every Friday for all Years 7 to 12 Boarders to enjoy.

Thank you and goodbye ABIGAIL BALLHAUSEN (YEAR 10), NARROMINE During the final formal dinner for Term 2, we had the opportunity to farewell our catering team. Alliance Catering has been with the College for many years serving our Boarders, staff and Day girls at the cafes and of course, in the Boarders’ Dining Hall. Over this time, many of the staff have become much-loved members of our Boarding community – Albert, Nikki, Garry, Tamara and Bea always greet us with a smile… even when we are being picky eaters! On behalf of all the Boarders and Boarding staff we would like to thank Alliance Catering for being so patient and kind towards us. We know we can be fussy and have a lot of different catering needs and requirements, so we thank you for your efforts and hard work over the years.

We are so grateful to come into the Dining Hall at breakfast, recess, lunch and dinner to be greeted and served so kindly by you all, your smiles at every meal were very much appreciated by all of us. We wish you all the best for the future and again, we thank you so much and you will be greatly missed.

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Guess who!?

Floods, ferals and farming at Walgett HANNAH WEBER (YEAR 8), WALGETT The mice started to build in quantity and by February they were at plague numbers. Dad managed to save most of the hay, but he had to burn one stack because the mice had contaminated it so badly, it was not suitable as fodder. The mice took a control of a large ground bunker of wheat. Dad had to truck it out before it became downgraded in quality.

My cats, Mojo, Cally and Charlie have been allowed inside our house. They are awesome ‘mousers’ and never seem to grow tired of exterminating small furry grey intruders.

The Walgett River catchment area received a lot of rain in March and the Barwon and the Namoi Rivers had huge flows of floodwater in them. A few towns around Walgett were cut off by road. The flooding was a positive because it has been so dry, and we were hoping that the mice wouldn’t like the watery landscape.

This year’s winter planting has been extra special – special for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it has been the first back-to-back sowing of winter crops since 2011 and 2012 as a result of the terrible drought years. There is great sub-soil moisture, and the crops should grow well.

Our family farm has sown canola, barley, wheat and chickpeas this year. Hopefully these crops grow well and yield well at harvest. The canola seed is crushed and then the canola oil is used for all sorts of purposes. The barley is used for stock feed and depending on the quality, maybe beer! The wheat is milled into flour and the chickpeas make great hummus!

Secondly, my parents have managed to successfully sow the crops without too much interference from the furry little grey warriors – mice...

Thirdly, it’s been a special planting because Mrs Burgess actually planted some wheat for us. Yes, our lovely Head of Boarding operated a Case 450 horsepower tractor, pulling an 18m Boss planter with a 9000 Litre Simplicity seed cart. Miss Glover was also very helpful with analysing seed variety, checking seed placement and soil moisture.

Lastly, it’s a special planting because Dad has left a paddock for me to sow into chickpeas when I get home. I love operating the large machinery and the GPS guided auto-steer makes it easy and very precise. When I get home for the holidays, after I sow the last paddock of chickpeas, I will be helping to check crop growth and development, as well as picking up any sticks or debris from the chickpea paddocks.

Signing off for a few weeks, Hannah

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Anzac Day 2021 MRS CAROLYN BURGESS It was a memorable, if somewhat unusual Anzac Day for us – with all of us together at Pymble. As always, our Boarders made the most of the opportunity, commemorating our veterans in a variety of ways.

Our Boarders Get Baking crew dedicated their weekend to baking and selling Anzac biscuits, raising almost $200 to be donated to Legacy. Some of our Year 9 Boarders set off extra early to attend the Dawn Service at Roseville Park, while the remainder of our Boarders took part in the ‘Light Up the Dawn Service’ on the verandas of Goodlet and Marden House. It was a beautiful service that provided a moment of private reflection in remembrance of those who have served and sacrificed so much for our nation.

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The Brooksie BRIN KIERATH (YEAR 12), DUBBO

Boarders online SOPHIE GRAHAM (YEAR 12), AVALON BEACH Hi everyone! My name is Sophie, and I am the Boarding Communications Prefect for 2021! This year my role was to try and showcase our Boarding community to both our Boarding families and the wider community to show everyone just how amazing Pymble Boarding is! Mrs White and I created a Boarders’ Instagram, which is now well up and running. My aim was to connect our girls to their learning families whilst also showcasing the life of our Pymble Boarders on campus. The Instagram has come along quite nicely with some very fun features, including Archie the Pymble dog kitted up for Boarders’ Week and Mrs B driving a tractor! We frequently post photos of the girls at dinner, enjoying weekend activities, at our weekly Boarders Get Baking or just immersed in the Boarding element! If you aren’t following the account, find us on www.instagram.com/pymblelcboarding/ to keep up-to-date on what our Boarders get up to. The page however is only for Boarding students and immediate Boarding families.

The page has been a great success and has been such a great to get our families more involved in Boarding life.

The Margaret Brooke Award, better known as ‘The Brooksie,’ is awarded in the final Chapel service at the end of each term to a Boarder who exemplifies the spirit of a tenacious, courageous, compassionate and giving woman. Chloe Hanlan, of Year 11, is this term’s well-deserving recipient. Since joining us in Year 10, Chloe has embraced every opportunity. She is always cheerful and upbeat and it feels as though she has brought the sunshine of her hometown, Port Macquarie with her to Pymble. Chloe was an exemplary role model at our recent community weekend, encouraging all to participate and squeezing every ounce of fun out of the evening. She was integral to the success of Boarders’ Week, when she wasn’t participating, she was on the sideline cheering and encouraging our Boarders to victory. Chloe has also provided valuable feedback on our menus, diligently representing the needs of those with special diets. She takes her studies seriously, making effective use of the Evening Study program and making the most of every learning opportunity.

Sydney Boarder LAUREN PURKIS (YEAR 10), BIRCHGROVE Hi, my name’s Lauren and I’m a Boarder from Birchgrove in Year 10.

A question I get asked on the daily is “if you’re from Sydney, then why do you do Boarding?”

Apart from the fact that it used to take me two hours to get to school in the morning, I wanted to try Boarding as a new experience. Boarding is definitely one of the best choices I’ve ever made. I love the new connections I’ve made and the ability to meet new girls from all over the place. Boarding is such a great experience for me because I get the support from the Boarding community during the week (like the Academic Tutors during prep time) but I also get to go home on the weekends and enjoy some time with my family.

Boarding was definitely a thing I had to get used to, from growing up with one older brother to all of a sudden 50 girls in one house, Boarding is definitely different but exciting.

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Pymble hits the road MRS CAROLYN BURGESS It has been a real treat for me to be on the road this term, spending time with our Boarder families and meeting future Pymble Boarders. I have had an excellent travelling companion in Miss Kathryn Glover, House Supervisor of Marden House, and we have both enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about our girls’ hometowns and spend time with their families.

Our first stop was Walcha, where we stayed at the beautiful home of Edwina and Sam Payne, parents of Elke (Year 7). From Walcha we drove to Moree and had a fabulous night with a big group of current and soon-to-be Pymble families. This was followed by a trip to Walgett where we were treated to a tour of Fairlands (and a tractor ride for me!), home of the Weber family – including Hannah of Year 8 – and a great evening in the local pub with current and past families.

The trip culminated with the Dubbo Boarding Expo and a celebration with past, present and prospective Pymble families. It was an excellent opportunity for us to share all the great things about Pymble Boarding and was made all the more special by the attendance of the Chair of our College Council, Mr James Hunter and his wife, Mrs Katrina Hunter, as well as Dr Hadwen and Mr Bell. Fun stories about sleeping on verandahs and various Boarding ‘sisters’ were shared.

Later in the term I had the pleasure of catching up with past, present and future friends in Wagga Wagga and Young. A special treat was spending time with families at the home of Sharon Richens and Kelvin Bryant. We were especially appreciative that Annabelle Richens (Head Prefect 2020) was able to join us and share the joys of her time at Pymble.

The common theme of the many conversations was the deep gratitude that all past Boarders felt for their time at Pymble. It has been such a pleasure for us to spend time with these special people.

Thank you to all our families for making us feel so welcome and for their generous hospitality. We feel very lucky!

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View from my window …

MIA LORIMER (YEAR 7), OORAMINNA STATION Hey, my name is Mia Lorimer and I am 11 years old. I am obsessed with horses and I live with my family, friends and pets at home. I have two siblings, an older brother who is 13 and goes to The Scots College, and a younger sister who is ten years old and goes to Ross Park Public School in Alice Springs. I also have 11 dogs, 13 horses, about 40 head of cattle, 13 goats, roughly 200 fish, and finally, one pig on the property. Home for me is located on a small cattle farming/ hotel and restaurant property called Ooraminna Station, it is only 600 acres big. Ooraminna is located about 30 kilometres south of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

When I look out my window at home, I see the huge Tjoritja/ MacDonnell Ranges landscape across the misty horizon. In winter, every morning there is a big cloud covering the whole ground which gives you a cool but warm feeling when you get out of bed. Alice Springs is basically a rocky and sandy desert with some mulga in between. This means that it is a red, grey and green landscape.

My Dad is always up before the sun, so I am very surprised whenever he sleeps in. He is always in a hurry. If Dad ever gets time, he rides his favourite horse in the round yard below my window. This is the best view I could ever imagine!

An interesting fact! Many well-known Australian movies and TV series have been filmed on my family’s property like The Bachelor USA series finale, Sweet Country (an Australian movie), Russell Coight’s All Aussie Adventures (the original outback comedy!) which was filmed on the station about four times, The Drover’s Boy (the reason Ooraminna became Ooraminna), MasterChef (the finale episode), and Tina Arena had a concert out the back of the property…and many, many more. All of the movies that have been filmed at Ooraminna were before we moved.

We have only been at Ooraminna for five years in total now.

The film set that is on our entry road is now used as a function centre. My parents may hold functions such as weddings, big birthday parties, wedding anniversaries, parties in general, etc. The maximum number of people that have ever attended one of these events is 900 people, but most are only 500 to 700.

My favourite thing about being home is that there are always things to do so I never get bored. I love this so much because I have a passion for working with my parents and family at home. For me, working isn’t all about doing chores, when I say “working” I think about spending time with people who I love, helping my parents, helping others, and having fun.

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Boarders’ Week LUCY SMALL (YEAR 12), DRUMMOYNE Every year, Boarders’ Week celebrates the strong connections within our Boarding family and is an opportunity to share our experiences with the wider Pymble community. Boarders’ Week also signifies a strong relationship with the Day School, this involves a series of friendly competitions that take place each lunchtime throughout the week.

This year we had a wonderful display of talent and courage to ‘have a go’ from each of our Boarders. The Day Girl vs Boarders competition kicked off with the annual Athletics Carnival. The age-old tradition of the Day Girls vs Boarders relay race was a massive success this year, with Rosie (Year 7), Sophie (Year 8), Erica (Year 9), Abby (Year 10), Tori (Year 11) and Sophie (Year 12) winning the prized blue ribbon! Congratulations to all of the Boarders who got involved at the Athletics Carnival and gave it their best shot.

A cool Tuesday autumn morning followed the next day, where Boarders welcomed the teachers for breakfast on Marden Lawn. Thank you to all the girls who put on some gloves and picked up some tongs; it really made the breakfast a success. After the bacon and egg breakfast, next on the agenda was the basketball competition. In the gym, the Boarders’ Team played spectacularly, winning by over ten points! Thank you to our awesome basketball representatives, they each played with great enthusiasm.

A special ’well done’ goes to Sophie (Year 7) for her awesome efforts and Alice (Year 8) for persevering like a champ.

The wonderful weather stayed around for the Boarders vs Day Girls AFL followed the next day, where a great show of skill and talent was on display. Well done to Lauren (Year 10) who showed a great amount of strength and to Alice (Year 10) for her athleticism. Unfortunately, the Day Girls did win this event but the Boarders did not go down easily!

To complete the week of competitions, the final Boarders vs Day Girls activity was volleyball. Some amazing skills seen from Steph (Year 12), and some great serves from Rylee (Year 11). It was wonderful to see all of the Boarders come and support the team in their pink!

To end the fantastic week, the Bush Band joined us in the hall for some music and line dancing. Well done to all the Boarders, Day Girls and staff that got involved, the choreographed partner dancing involved a lot of laughs. A special mention goes to Mrs B for busting out her line dancing moves! A big thank you to Mrs White and Mrs Burgess for organising the wonderful events that took place and thank you to the Sports and Facilities staff who helped make all the activities possible.