Pymble becomes a White Ribbon school

Friday 31 August, 2018

Pymble’s annual Upper School Father and Daughter Breakfast provides a special opportunity for Pymble girls and their fathers to share time together and to celebrate the significance of their relationship.

The breakfast also reflects the College’s commitment to support the message of White Ribbon Australia to break the silence surrounding domestic violence.

At this annual event, held ahead of Father’s Day, Pymble girls and their fathers take a pledge to promote respectful relationships between men and women, and to take a stand against any form of domestic violence. This commitment is recognised with the symbolic presentation of a White Ribbon lapel pin between fathers and daughters.

“Our father and daughter breakfast is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and strengthen the special relationship that fathers and daughters share,” says Principal Mrs Vicki Waters.

“It allows us to reinforce the important message that Pymble girls can make a difference and that their fathers will work shoulder-to-shoulder with them to embrace the White Ribbon message to speak up against domestic violence.”

“Domestic violence is a complex issue, but one thing is clear: we want to encourage our girls, as the generation of future leaders, to keep the conversation alive and to stand up for themselves, and others, when they know something is not right; to be proactive about speaking out about all forms of domestic violence, and to make sure that they, and their friends, know what a respectful relationship looks like. When a girl has the support of her father, this is an easier task.”

Pymble Ladies’ College is one of only a small percentage of Australian schools to be recognised as a White Ribbon School. College staff participated in Breaking the Silence, an award-winning professional development initiative for schools that provides foundational knowledge, tools and strategies to develop respectful relationships and domestic violence education programs in schools. The programs are age appropriate and applicable to all years from Kindergarten to Year 12.

The program builds on Pymble’s existing initiatives to strengthen the College’s culture of respect and equality at all levels of the school community – via the curriculum, core values, role modelling from staff, policies and procedures, parent education programs, and family and community partnerships.

As a White Ribbon School, Pymble is recognised as a strong symbol of a safe, equitable workplace and a vehicle for community change.

Watch the video below to view our previous years fathers and daughters unite against domestic violence.