Adele Ramsay - Principal 

A very warm welcome to all our Tara families. Our ELC, Kindergarten and Year 7 students, along with new students across all year levels, have made an excellent start to the year. Their smooth transition reflects the nurturing environment that characterises our School community. 

We began our academic year with the Years 3-12 Commencement Service and it was wonderful to see many new families join us. The service provided an opportunity to pray collectively for our school community. Our Chaplain, Dr Isaacs reminded us that despite the changes around us, God is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He walks beside us, calming our storms and guiding our journey ahead. 

Thank you to those who attended our recent Community Prayer breakfast. These gatherings, held on the first Thursday of every term, provide a meaningful opportunity for families, staff and students to come together in prayer. We warmly invite you to join us again in Term 2. 

The School calendar is already bustling with activities that extend learning beyond the classroom. Recent events include our Swimming carnivals, the first round of Saturday Sport and numerous Rowing Regattas. Our Senior School Prefects attended their Induction Service at St Andrew's Cathedral, while we have also hosted a MYP Information Evening and a Junior School Parent Information Evening. 

Looking ahead, we will hold our first IB Diploma Programme Information Evening on 26 February, as we prepare to implement the Diploma for Year 11 students in 2026. 

I also warmly invite all parents to attend our ‘Twilight at Tara Welcome Drinks’ on 20 February - a wonderful opportunity to connect with our School community. 

I also encourage you to continue engaging with 'Tara Connect', our new communication portal that provides access to calendar dates and School information. As we gradually implement this platform throughout the year, it will become your comprehensive source for all School-related communications and updates. 

As the term progresses, I look forward to speaking with you and strengthening our partnership in your daughter's education, development and contribution.   

God's richest blessings. 

As Tara prepares to be authorized to deliver the IB Diploma Programme in 2026, we invite you to find out more and learn how this programme offers an additional pathway for students in Years 11 and 12 for our Tara Community.

Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Tara Theatre
6:00pm - Light Refreshments Available
6:30pm - Information Night Commences

This event is aimed at current Year 10 families and students, although anyone is welcome to attend.

Discover More About:

• What the IB Diploma Programme is and how it compares to the HSC
• The benefits of an IB Diploma Programme education
• What student is best suited for the IB Diploma Programme
• The subjects to be offered in 2026 for Year 10 students
• The timeline for subject selection
• How the IB Diploma Programme is assessed
• Meet the IB Diploma Programme Coordinator
• Opportunities for questions

A handout will be available via a QR code at the venue. Kindly bring a device suitable for scanning the code if you wish to access the handout.

Please RSVP by 24 February 2025 - click the link below.

Tara - IB Diploma Programme Information Night RSVP

Tara Anglican School for Girls is a Candidate School* for the IB Programme. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Tara Anglican School for Girls believes is important for our students.

*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme, or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org

Tara Hub is the central community body for Tara, where every parent of a current Tara student is a member. It plays a key role in organising social events, fostering connections within the school community and fundraising for the school.

Each term, the Tara Hub hosts a community gathering, providing parents with an opportunity to discuss various aspects of school life. These meetings are regularly attended by the Principal, Mrs Adele Ramsay.

The first meeting of 2025 will take place on Tuesday, 4 March and all parents are welcome to attend. Mr Scott Baker, Deputy Principal and Head of Senior School, will be sharing insights into the HSC results achieved by the Class of 2024. 

Dinner and drinks will be provided from 6:00pm with the presentation starting at 7:00pm. 

We hope you can make it. 

To book please use the link below: 

https://www.trybooking.com/CZDYS

Tara Hub warmly invites parents to join them at the 2025 welcome drinks, Twilight at Tara. This event is a fantastic opportunity to reconnect, catch up with old friends and warmly welcome new families to the Tara community.

We look forward to welcoming as many parents as possible.

Please see details below and use the link to RSVP by Tuesday, 18 February. 

Booking link: https://www.trybooking.com/CXTZO

The Tara Dads Club enriches the Tara experience for every Tara girl by fostering the bond between fathers and daughters, providing opportunities for dads to embody Tara School Values and cultivating a sense of community. The Club:

• Organise activities designed for dads and daughters to enjoy together
• Raises funds that are then donated to Tara for the benefit of Tara girls
• Facilitates various forums where Tara dads can connect with one another, enabling them to actively engage in the Tara community and support network

To join the Tara Dad's Club, please click on the following link: 

https://www.trybooking.com/BIBYA

The first Tara Dads Club meeting of 2025 will be the Annual General Meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, 26 March at 6:00pm. Stay tuned for more details and a booking form coming soon.

We warmly invite you to join us in celebrating International Women’s Day. This special event will take place on Thursday, 6 March 2025, all families and students are welcome to attend.

Please see the details below and use the link to RSVP by Friday, 28 February 2025.

Booking form: https://www.trybooking.com/CYTIN

We are delighted to invite you to an insightful talk by Australia’s leading expert in Cyber safety Susan McLean. This essential session will provide valuable guidance on keeping our children safe in the digital world and we strongly encourage all parents to attend.

Susan McLean is not only a national leader in online safety but also a globally recognised expert. 

This event is free of charge as we recognise the critical importance of this topic. However, places are limited, so we encourage you to register as soon as possible to secure your spot.

Please see the details below and use the link to RSVP by Wednesday, 12 March 2025.

RSVP - Susan McLean 

Once again, the Tara School Community will participate in the Mother’s Day Classic at Parramatta Park. Join us on Sunday, 11 May, as we walk 5km together as a team. We will meet at 8:30am to take part in this meaningful event, now in its 28th year, which raises essential funds for breast and ovarian cancer research.

To register, please join the Tara Tigers team via this link.

Mother’s Day Classic - Join Now

Last week, we proudly gathered to celebrate the Junior School Leaders Commissioning Service for 2025 at Tara.

In a meaningful ceremony, each Year 6 leader took an oath, pledging to serve the Tara community with dedication, integrity, and a commitment to leadership. Surrounded by parents, friends, staff, and fellow students, our newest leaders were officially welcomed into their roles.

Congratulations to our 2025 Junior School Leaders! We look forward to seeing you inspire, lead, and make a difference throughout the year ahead.

We have continued our swimming lessons over the school holidays, along with 3 weeks of intensives lessons and 2 sessions of Carnival Prep Program. The intensives lessons were a tremendous success with most students moving to the next level. Along with such positive feedback on the Carnival Prep Program that our Coach Peter conducted.

If you have been away and would like to re-enrol it is now the perfect time to do so or if you would like to join our program, please contact our reception on 8838 2699 or email: swimming@tara.nsw.edu.au  

Learn to Swim: Monday to Friday Afternoon - 3.30pm - 6.30pm 

We are so proud to announce Souly as our Swimmer of the Month for January 2025. She has been so dedicated and committed to her swimming lessons that in the 15 months that Souly has been with us, she has progressed 5 levels, starting from Jellyfish to now our Penguin level. Souly is one of many swimmers in our program that has progressed several levels within a short time frame. Well done and congratulations to Souly!

WOW What a night! Our very first Twilight Race Night went off with a splash! With lots of laughs and big smiles the students had such a great experience of a race night! With every student receiving an award, well done!

I would also like to give a BIG thank you to the parents and grandparents that generously helped us out on the night. Without their support this amazing night wouldn’t have been possible. 

And of course, for our amazing swimming instructors, thank you for also making such a big splash on the night and for your help, you all did brilliant work, thank you!

We are accepting Active Kids and First Lap vouchers.

To use them in our program, please forward the details to swimming@tara.nsw.edu.au with your child’s details

If you have a child or know someone who is at squad level, and are wanting to join Swimming@Tara squads, please email swimming@tara.nsw.edu.au so we can get them in for an assessment!     

Mrs Cropper and Mrs Napier - Food Technology and Hospitality Staff 

Now in our fourth year, Dignity Dishes continues to gain momentum as a rewarding service activity amongst our students in Years 9-12.

For our first cook in 2025, we had 18 dedicated girls attend, some for the first time.

Their efforts yielded close to 100 meals (cooked & packed in under 60 minutes), which will feed those less fortunate in our community.

A Dignity Dishes representative will also be attending Senior School Assembly on Tuesday 11 March to share more about the Dignity story, and hopefully encourage more girls to volunteer.

We are very grateful to all students and staff (especially Ms Lachet), who give off their free time after school to participate. 

Dignity Dishes will run this year on Wednesday afternoons, WEEK A from 3:30pm in the Food Technology and Hospitality kitchens.

Thank you girls and please keep volunteering!

Our Year 12 Drama class had an amazing time at OnSTAGE! OnSTAGE is a collection of outstanding HSC Drama works from 2024. The program showcases a range of projects and performances, from monologues and group performances, to video drama, moved script readings and costume and set designs.

Our Year 12 Drama students thoroughly enjoyed the showcase and were inspired to create original and engaging performances for their HSC examination later this year. 

We are excited to be welcoming students back to The Learning Resource Centre (Claridge) for 2025. This year we have a new Teacher Librarian - Senior School: Ms Melanie Webster who is excited to be starting at Tara and looks forward to getting to know the students in the weeks and months to come. 

Claridge is open from 7.30am to 6.00pm every day. Our direct phone number is 02 8838 2672. Parents are welcome to call us after school to convey messages to their daughter(s). Students are allowed to keep their mobile phone switched on in their school bag and can receive or make calls about transport in the lounge area.

Keen readers in Senior School are invited to keep a record of their 2025 reading by creating a Personal Reading Journey keyring. This is a collection of mini book covers on tags, resulting in a tangible display of personal reading throughout the year.

All readers (students and staff) are encouraged to claim their own keyring and start collecting mini book covers for each book read in 2025. 

Submit your images using the link on the front page of the Oliver Library Portal.

The PRC opens on Monday 24 February and closes on Friday 22 August. 

This challenge is open to all NSW students in Kindergarten to Year 10. “It aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely.”

Students in Years 7-10 who participate are required to read 20 books during the year. They can choose a maximum of 10 Personal Choice books and 10 books from the 7-9+ PRC Booklist.

Senior School students wishing to participate should contact the Library Staff in Claridge.

For more information please go to NSW Premier's Reading Challenge 2024 : Home (det.nsw.edu.au)

Congratulations to Manisha in Year 11 who has won a money prize with the Playconomics simulation at UNSW in late 2024!

Congratulations also to her teacher Chris Saltos and to Michelle Mai who researched and introduced this economics simulation into Tara for Year 10 students.

Orchid Y - Community Prefect

Galentine's Day on 14 February started with a cheery welcome party in the morning under a pink balloon arch leading up to the main campus. With Galentine's themed music playing in the background, a festive atmosphere was quickly established as girls arriving at school were handed an assortment of Valentine-themed candies and lollies ranging from chocolates to heart-shaped marshmallows. It was a heartwarming event that celebrated the joy of sharing love and happiness with friends while also paving the way for many more fun memories yet to come.

Chelsea C - Sport Prefect

Tara’s Club Expo 2025, held on Thursday, Week 2, Term 1, was a fantastic showcase of the School’s diverse extracurricular opportunities. Students eagerly explored stalls, connected with club leaders and signed up for activities ranging from sports and performing arts to academic and special interest groups.

The event saw a strong turnout, with many clubs reporting increased sign-ups and enthusiasm. Club Expo not only highlighted the variety of opportunities available but also reinforced the importance of student involvement in building a positive school community.

With such an exciting start to the year, the momentum from Club Expo 2025 is sure to carry through, inspiring students to engage, lead, and make the most of their School experience!

On Thursday 13 February, the annual Archbishop's Prefect Commissioning Service was held at St Andrew's Cathedral. Many prefects and leaders from Anglican schools all over Sydney were invited to attend this prestigious event.

Our 2025 Tara Leadership Team began the day with breakfast hosted by The King's School leadership team where all students were able to discuss and share insights on their own roles, lessons learnt so far, and goals for the future.

During the service, there were hymns, prayers, a student testimony, the Archbishop's sermon on leadership and the collective commissioning of all students present. A brief morning tea followed the service where all prefects and leaders of all schools could converse and collaborate. Finally, a Q&A section with the Archbishop concluded the day where our key takeaways included:

• As individuals are created in the image of God, we are called to embody the values He has shown us. True leadership is not about the number of people we lead but about the strength and integrity of our vision. When we pursue clear and meaningful goals, others will naturally follow.
• Courage is essential in leadership - it means stepping forward with conviction, guiding others with purpose, and standing firm in our beliefs while remaining open to feedback.
• Clarity in communication ensures that our message is understood, inspiring confidence and unity. True leadership also requires active listening, acknowledging the voices of those we serve while staying committed to our principles.

Overall, the day was a significant opportunity to gain insights into the important qualities and actions to consider as a prefect/leader in the school and under an Anglican ethos. This morning tea highlighted a strong sense of unity and shared responsibility in all student leaders to best uphold the privileged role we have.

Congratulations to Chelsea in Year 8 who recently represented Castle Hill RSL Dolphin Club in the 2025 Australian Open Water Championships in Perth!

Chelsea's hard work and dedication has been rewarded by finishing 14th place in the Women 5km race under a very tough weather condition and Jelly fish sting.

Chelsea is the first swimmer from the club who qualified with a national time with a great performance and achievement in 2025! Go Chelsea. 

Congratulations to Mia (Year 7) on her incredible success in elite-level competitive dance!

Mia is a versatile and accomplished dancer, excelling in Contemporary, Lyrical, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Hip Hop, Ballet, and Acrobats. Over the past three years, she has built an impressive competition career, winning multiple championships and awards.

Her recent performances at the Hollywood Bound Dance Competition National Finals in January were exceptional, earning her top placements across multiple categories:

• Pre-Teen Dance of the Year – Top 3
• Lyrical – 1st Place
• Miss Hollywood – 1st Place
• Commercial Contemporary – 2nd Place
• Musical Theatre – 3rd Place
• Superstar Award – Top 3
• Overall Placement – Top 3
• Ultimate Shining Star Title

Adding to these achievements, Mia was honoured with a special invitation to perform her solo and serve as the host for the 2025 Poly Sydney Opera House Spring Festival Gala on February 1st at the Sydney Opera House.

We are incredibly proud of Mia’s dedication and success. As a Chinese Australian dancer, she values the opportunity to contribute to artistic exchanges between Australia and China, enriching the dance community with her talent.

Congratulations Mia! We look forward to seeing what you accomplish next!

Congratulations to Victoria (Year 9) on her incredible achievements in sailing!

Victoria has had a remarkable season, competing in high-level regattas across Australia and internationally. In December 2024, she raced at the Moreton Bay Brisbane States, securing 1st place in her race and finishing 8th overall—an outstanding result!

She then travelled to Hong Kong for the Asians and Oceanian Championships, where she competed as part of Team Australia 1 in the Teams Racing event. Her team delivered an exceptional performance, winning Gold as the top-placed Oceanian team. In Fleet Racing, Victoria placed 11th in the Silver Fleet and 2nd among Oceanian girls.

Continuing her success, Victoria competed in the 2025 Australian Optimist Championships, where she was crowned 1st Australian Girl Champion and finished 11th overall. She was also awarded the Perpetual Trophy for Top Australian Girl, a prestigious honour in the sport.

Victoria’s dedication and talent have once again earned her a place on the Australian team for the 2025 European Championships, set to take place in Çeşme, İzmir, Türkiye, later this year.

We are incredibly proud of Victoria’s achievements and look forward to following her journey on the international stage. Congratulations, Victoria!

Congratulations to XingXiao (Year 8) on her outstanding achievements in basketball!

XingXiao has been selected for multiple High Performance Teams, showcasing her talent and dedication to the sport. Most recently, she was chosen to participate in the SCC State Development Program, an elite initiative run by Basketball NSW. As part of this program, she travelled to Melbourne in January 2025 to compete against other state teams.

XingXiao had a fantastic tournament and is eager to continue gaining experience and seizing new opportunities to compete at the highest level.

Well done XingXiao! We look forward to seeing your future successes on the court.

Leila O - Rowing Captain

Our first regatta of 2025 marked the five-week countdown to the Head of the River. Despite challenging wind conditions, 17 crews competed, with 15 students securing second-place finishes and four winning gold.

Congratulations to Olivia B, Hannah R, Isabel D (her first gold) and Reeta L, who won on her birthday. Next weekend, select crews will compete at the NSW State Championships.

On Saturday, 9 Tara girls raced at the Sydney International Regatta Centre in Penrith at the annual NSW State Rowing Championships. It was an electrifying day of racing with our rowers showcasing their skill and grit out on the water.

Five of our girls took to the water in the Championship Schoolgirl Coxed Four division racing over a 2km course. Amy R (11), Leila O (11), Gemma W (11), Olivia B (11), and Tamika T (7) and placed 5th in their race with a season PB! A huge congratulations to these girls for toughing out the hot and humid conditions, solid competition, and fatigue.

Another four girls raced in the Under 17 Double division, Nicole J (10) and Isabel D (10), and Kelly L (10) and Reeta L (10) over a shorter 1km course. Both boats displayed amazing efforts in their two respective races. A huge thank you to our incredible coaches and parents who are the grassroots to our success!

Over the next few weeks, our girls will be racing at the PLC/Kings Regatta, IGSA Regatta, and our Schoolgirl Head of the River. We'd love to see your support down the course! 

Tara embraced the challenge of the NSW State Championships, continuing our 16-year presence at the event since rowing began in 2009. Our crews gained valuable experience against top interstate competition, with strong representation from VIC, ACT, and QLD.

Year 10 rowers Reeta and Kelly placed 19th and Isabel and Nicole 25th, both achieving personal bests.

Our Year 11 coxed four also set a personal best despite returning from illness, finishing 9th—just one spot shy of the final.

Sarah Fahd, Tara coach and former student, won silver for UTS in the U23 single scull.

Meanwhile, the rest of the squad kept momentum strong with a solid session at Drummoyne as we push toward Head of the River—now just one month away!

Grace T - Water Polo Captain

On Saturday, our Junior 1st team had their first  water polo game of the season against Meriden. However, the game served as an opportunity to improve and find the strengths of the girls within the team. A few girls who stood out during the match were Carissa C (Year 8), who confidently shot goals successfully, Adelaide P (Year 8) , who took strong shots from further away, and Frankie B (Year 7), who smoothly evaded defenders from the opposing team, passing the ball up vigorously. We are so proud of our junior 1st team and can’t wait to see them improve as a team throughout the season! 

Ellie H - Touch Football Captain

For the first week, touch football teams worked very hard in their games, building on new skills and plays they have just learnt and adjusting to their new teams.

For TAR01, a difficult game was played, yet despite the score, it was an incredible game. Tries were scored by Erum M (Year 10) and Alanna D (Year 11), as well as some excellent runs and communication by Antonia S (Year 12) and Verity A (Year 11) to help secure these tries.

The junior teams also had an excellent performance for their games. Specifically, TAR03 had a great action-packed game. Cleo F (Year 9) was successful in many straight drives across the field, and she was assisted by Lara K (Year 9) in communication and always being there for a pass. Angie K (Year 9) also supported the team, playing the ball quickly and doing accurate passes. 

Ellie H - Softball Captain

Tara Softball Round 1 was very successful - we had a win across both teams!

The senior softball team faced a tough team for their first round, playing against Pymble. All the girls worked together well, cheering each other on and throwing and batting very well. In particular, Sophie B (Year 9) had excellent fielding on third base, catching a girl out in the first innings. Also, for her first game, Keira C (Year 12) had a great game, with great judgement of the balls and strikes when batting. Bella S (Year 10) also had good base running during our batting. I am excited to see how the senior softball team will continue to improve as we take on other schools!

The junior team had an excellent game as well, and the many new players had a win on their first game! In particular, Bianca Y (Year 9) caught a high ball, and was a great asset to the team in terms of her throwing during the fielding sets. Karissa L (Year 7) communicated well to her teammates throughout the whole game, cheering them on and also instructing them where to throw the ball when under pressure. Finally, Victoria H's (Year 9) batting was fabulous, giving the other team multiple strikes and keeping the game going quickly. Well done girls! 

Laura W - Badminton Captain

It was great to see so many new faces at badminton trials this year! A whole heap of girls have already started making new friends in their first week of training, while those who have been playing badminton at Tara for a while quickly got back into form after the holidays. On top of that, a great number of teams secured their first win of the year, with some even experiencing their first-ever badminton match!

One of the standout performances came from Tara 6, a team made up of four Year 12 students—Mehervir G, Yasmin L, Tian R, and Zara S. Their dedication to the sport and the skills they’ve developed over years of playing at school were evident as they showed impressive coordination and skill, securing a strong 4-1 victory in their first match of the year! With that result, their teamwork and determination have set a high bar for the season ahead, while also setting a great example for the rest of the badminton girls!

For the junior teams, Tara 17, a team of all Year 9 girls—Naesha D, Ashwiinah J, Sophie L, and Melodie Z—delivered an impressive performance, achieving the highest score of 5-0 and securing their place on the leaderboard. We hope this victory gives them the confidence and energy boost they need to continue performing strongly throughout the rest of the season. 

Round 1

S02 Tara 1 vs Queenwood 1, Draw, 4-4

S08 Tara 2 vs Abbotsleigh 3, Loss, 0.5-7.5

S12 Tara 3 vs SCEGGS 5, Loss. 2.5-5.5

S15 Tara 4 vs Ascham 8, Loss, 1.5-6.5

S17 Tara 5 vs Queenwood 6, Loss, 0-8

S18 Tara 6 vs Loreto Kirribilli 7, Loss, 0-8

S20 Tara 7 vs SCEGGS 7, Loss, 1.5-6.5

J04 Tara 8 vs Ravenswood 9, Loss, 3-5

J12 Tara 9 vs Loreto Kirribilli 18, Win, 7.5-0.5

J14 Tara 10 vs Loreto Normanhurst 19, Win, 8-0

J15 Tara 11 vs Roseville 21, Win, 4.5-3.5

J16 Tara 12 vs Loreto Kirribilli 21, Win, 5-3

J18 Tara 13 vs Abbotsleigh 18, Draw, 4-4

J19 Tara 14 vs Loreto Normanhurst 24, Loss, 1.5-6.5

Y704 Tara 15 vs St Vincents 8, Win, 8-0

Y706 Tara 16 vs Loreto Kirribilli 25, Loss, 3.5-4.5

Y709 Tara 17 vs Loreto Normanhurst 29, Loss, 3-5

Y711 Tara 18 vs Ravenswood 17, Win, 5-3

Each week we send Year 10 to Year 12 a listing of the relevant events and ideas and programs to them to help with their Career planning.  

There are some great events and opportunities coming up! Learn more about them via the links below. 

Careers Newsletter -  17 February 2025 

For more information please contact Mr David Berridge via email - dberridge@tara.nsw.edu.au