From the Director of the Pymble Institute

From the Director of the Pymble Institute

Pymble Institute News

“There is no doubt: the time for girls – and for girls’ schools – is now”.

This phrase popped out to me from the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools (USA) website and I gave a little fist pump as I thought about my own work as Director of the Pymble Institute. Through its development and launch in 2021, the Institute’s mission to make a positive impact in the lives of girls and women was established, but what are we doing about this goal?

The National Coalition of Girls’ School website points to three key elements to lift up ‘global changemakers’ (https://www.ncgs.org/girls-as-global-changemakers). You will see these elements, and more, in the work of the Pymble Institute:

  • Stronger community involvement
  • Greater cultural competency
  • Increased political engagement

I’m delighted to announce that Rev Punam Bent, with a colleague from St Catherine’s School, Bramley in England, has been successful in her application to present a research paper entitled, “The impact of social media influencers in senior high school years for girls”, at the Global Forum on Girls’ Education for the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools (NCGS), USA. The research also involves a girls’ high school in India which connects students from three countries in an investigation into the shifting paradigms of who an influencer is and the catalysts that exist within school communities for impactful influencing.

Katie Jackson, from the Mathematics Department, will also be presenting at the NGCS conference this year. Katie has completed an action research project on the use of whiteboards as a dynamic and under-utilised teaching and learning tool. A summary of her findings is outlined below.

Congratulations to Punam and Katie for securing the opportunity to represent Pymble and Australian girls’ school education at this prestigious, international event. For those interested, the NGCS conference website https://www.ncgs.org/professional-development/global-forum-on-girls-education-iii/ outlines further information and a range of excellent resources for girls’ civic engagement and advocacy.

Dr Sarah Loch

Director – Pymble Institute