Foundation Day 2019
Tuesday 14 May, 2019
All of our girls, from Kindergarten to Year 12, gathered together on Gloucester Lawn at the beginning of Term 1, in front of the Chapel, to celebrate Foundation Day and our 103rd birthday with staff, parents and guests and to give thanks for the people who came before us and provided the foundation for the community we value today.
On February 8 in 1916, the Presbyterian Ladies’ College in the suburb of Pymble opened its doors to the inaugural 60 Pymble girls, under the leadership of Principal Dr John Marden. Twenty of these girls were Boarders from country NSW, and 40 were Day girls arriving on pony traps, by train or on foot to commence living and learning in the three main buildings that comprised the campus: First House (renamed Marden House), Second House (renamed Lang House) and the Colonnade building, which was used for administration, a dining room and classrooms.
While our campus and student body has since developed beyond anything our inaugural girls, Principal and staff may have imagined possible, one very important thing has remained the same – the belief in the strength and capability of women to change the world for better.
Our Co-captains of Community Service, Grace Jarvis, Isabelle Nguyen and Isabella Natale took the opportunity of the whole College gathering to announce Pymble’s Service Project for 2019 and 2020. Our College-wide Service Project is supporting the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the aeromedical organisation that provides emergency relief and healthcare services to people in rural and remote Australia – people like our boarding families and their communities, and anyone who lives in or travels to rural and remote areas. This Service Project is less about generating monetary support and more about giving our time and harnessing our hopes and passion to make an impact together as a community and we look forward to seeing our girls make this happen today, tomorrow and in the future.