Pymble Ladies' College | |
---|---|
Location | |
, | |
Coordinates | 33°44′50″S151°08′09″E / 33.7471°S 151.1359°E |
Information | |
Type | Independent, day and boarding |
Motto | All' Ultimo Lavoro (Strive for the highest —Dante) |
Denomination | Uniting Church |
Established | 1916 |
Chairman | Chris Fydler |
Principal | Kate Hadwen |
Chaplain | Lorenzo Rodriguez Torres, Punam Bent |
Employees | ~210 [1] |
Gender | Girls |
Enrolment | ~2,100 (K–12) [1] |
Colour(s) | Scarlet, navy blue and white |
Affiliations | AHIGS JSHAA |
Website | www.pymblelc.nsw.edu.au |
Pymble Ladies' College is an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Pymble, a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Pymble Ladies' College was founded in 1916 by John Marden, due to the increasing enrolments at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney, another school established by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of NSW.
In 1921 Nancy Jobson became principal of the college. [2] after the resignation of Gladys Gordon Everett. [3]
During Jobson's tenure, enrolments increased from 256 in 1921 to 414 in 1929 and the number of boarders from 95 to 161, however the Great Depression later caused a slump in enrolments to only 208 by 1932. Jobson left the school following a disagreement with the school council over proposed downsizing measures prompted by the economic downturn. [4] She was succeeded by the Scottish born Grace Mackintosh who had been a head in New Zealand. [5]
Mackintosh had not been successful in New Zealand where she had suffered with the climate, her arthritis and routine decisions, Now at Pymble College she failed to impress. Younger students found her accent difficult and as the depression hit then the number of students began to fall. Mackintosh decided to introduce new ideas including her ideas about Presbyterianism. She lost her faith in 1936 and decided to resign. [5] In July 1936 Dorothy Isabel Knox OBE AM became the school's replacement Principal. She had been the head of the Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Orange. Knox was at the college until she retired in 1967 having overseen the expansion of the school during her leadership. During Knox's final year the Wyndham scheme was introduced [6] that restructured secondary education encouraging comprehensive education in New South Wales. Knox approved of the changes. [7]
The college, formerly a school of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, is now administered by the Uniting Church in Australia. Girls of any faith may attend the school, although they are expected to also attend a weekly chapel service. The school caters for all classes from Kindergarten to Year 12.
Twenty hectares in size, the grounds of the college feature a 50m swimming pool, gymnasium, several fields, tennis courts, an agriculture plot, library, buildings dedicated to specific subjects: an art building, a technology and applied studies building, a languages building, and a science block. There is also a music building, a chapel, healthcare centre, three boarding houses (Lang, Goodlet and Marden) and the most recent additions – the Gillian Moore Centre for Performing Arts in 2005, the Senior School Centre – Kate Mason Building in 2011, and the Centenary Sports Precinct in 2016. [8]
There are eight houses in the secondary school, including the original three, Lang, Goodlet and Marden, and five more added in 2009, Wylie, Bennett, Ingleholme, Hammond and Thomas. [9] There are three houses in the Preparatory and Junior Schools named after famous Australian authors, Gibbs (after May Gibbs), Mackellar (after Dorothea Mackellar) and Turner (after Ethel Turner). Recently, the preparatory and junior schools have transitioned into the eight houses of Marden, Lang, Goodlet, Wylie, Bennett, Ingleholme, Hammond and Thomas – Gibbs, Mackellar and Turner houses no longer exist after only 8 years in existence.
Pymble Ladies' College is a founding member of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS).
No. | Portrait | Principal | Term | Details [10] | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John Marden | 1916–1920 | Principal of Croydon 1887–1920, Principal of both Colleges from 1916, founder of the college | ||
2 | G. Gordon Everett | 1920–1921 | [11] | ||
3 | Nancy Jobson | 1922–1933 | [4] | ||
4 | Grace Mackintosh | 1933–1936 | [5] | ||
5 | Dorothy Knox | 1936–1967 | [12] | ||
6 | Jeanette Buckham | 1967–1989 | |||
7 | Gillian Moore | 1989–2007 | |||
8 | Vicki Waters | 2008–2019 | |||
9 | Kate Hadwen | 2019–present | [13] |
The Sydney Morning Herald ranked Pymble Ladies' College the 20th highest performing school in NSW in 2022 [14] based on their HSC Success Rate, up from 25th in 2021.
Dunmore Lang College is a residential college of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
The Geelong College is an Australian independent and co-educational, Christian day and boarding school located in Newtown, an inner-western suburb of Geelong, Victoria.
Kambala Church of England Girls' School is a private Anglican early learning, primary, and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located in Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1887, Kambala has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,000 students from early learning to Year 12, including 95 boarders from Year 7 to Year 12. Students come to Kambala from the greater metropolitan area, rural New South Wales and overseas.
The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney is an independent early learning, primary and secondary school for girls, located in Croydon, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school has a non-selective enrolment policy, and caters for approximately 1,500 girls from age 4 to 18, including day students and 65 boarders. Established in 1888 by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of NSW, PLC Sydney is the oldest continuously running Presbyterian Church school in its state.
The Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS), is an Australian association for independent girls' schools, founded in New South Wales, Australia.
Columba College is an integrated Presbyterian school in Roslyn, Dunedin, New Zealand. The roll is made up of pupils of all ages. The majority of pupils are in the girls' secondary, day and boarding school, but there is also a primary school for boys and girls in years 1–6.
John Marden was an Australian headmaster, pioneer of women's education, and Presbyterian elder.
Ewen Neil McQueen was an Australian headmaster, prominent educational innovator, scientist, psychologist and General Practitioner. He was most often known as Neil McQueen or E. Neil McQueen.
Frances Jane Ross (1869–1950) was a New Zealand school principal known as "a pioneer in women's education".
John Mackintosh (1833–1907) was a Scottish historian known for writing The History of Civilisation in Scotland.
Susie O'Reilly was an Australian family doctor and obstetrician. She practiced on the North Shore in Sydney in the first half of the 20th century. Despite graduating fourth in her year from Medicine at the University of Sydney, her application for residency at Sydney Hospital in 1905 was rejected in favour of male applicants with a poorer academic record.
John Hay Goodlet was a Scottish-born Australian timber merchant and philanthropist.
Freda Leslie Whitlam, was an Australian educator and feminist. Whitlam was a leader in the Uniting Church. She is best known for her work as the principal of the Presbyterian Ladies' College (PLC), at Croydon in inner-west Sydney, where she worked for 18 years.
Nancy Jobson was an Australian teacher and headmistress. She attended the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne and in time became the head of Pymble Ladies' College.
Elizabeth Mary Goodlet born Elizabeth Forbes was an Australian Church worker and philanthropist who was the secretary of the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Association.
Gladys Gordon Everett MBE known as Miss Gordon Everett was a New Zealand born headmistress. She led the Abbotsleigh private school for over twenty years during a time of expansion and rising attainments.
Dorothy Isabel Knox OBE AM was an Australian headmistress. She led what became Pymble Ladies College and she inspired the creation of Dunmore Lang College at Macquarie University.
Grace Mackintosh was a Scottish-born school teacher and principal. Originally from Aberdeen, she became a headmistress in leading schools in New Zealand and Australia, but then returned to being a teacher. She was later a teachers' college lecturer in English literature.
Constance Mackness MBE was an Australian headteacher and author. She wrote ten books and she was the founding head of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Warwick.
[...]Lyons graduated from Pymble Ladies' College, in a suburb of Sydney, with a degree in marketing,[...]- The article misidentifies Pymble as her university (as "college" in American English means a university).
As her fan base grew, the former Manly Seabirds cheerleader and Pymble Ladies' College alumnus[...]