Mrs Susan Middlebrook

This week, we have the beginnings of a regular school life with the return of ELC, Kindergarten, Year 1, and Year 12 to the Tara campus.  Next week the rest of the students will be very warmly welcomed back to the School. I hope you have an image of me happy dancing in my office (when I think about it, that might not be a great image). While we will be living with restrictions to manage a safe environment for students and staff, it will be worth it all in order to have the girls back in School to experience all the benefits of being on campus and re-establishing friendships and relationships in a real way in the remaining weeks of term.

Tara Anglican School for Girls is pleased to offer the following scholarships:

• Academic All Rounder Scholarships for girls entering Years 7 or 9
• Music for girls entering Year 7
• Tara Foundation (means tested) for girls entering Year 7
• Boarding for girls entering Years 7-11

Details for these scholarships are outlined on the Tara website. Click here for more information.

Lead the way and give your daughter a promising future – she belongs at Tara.

The Tara Dads Club invites all the Tara Community to reconnect and enjoy a family fun filled day with other Tara families at Fagan Park, Galston.

Saturday, 20 November 2021

11.30am - 5.00pm

There are over 55 hectares of beautifully manicured gardens, fabulous picnic areas, bicycle tracks, two playground and electric BBQ facilities. Explore the gardens of many nations which cover 10 hectares with 11 themed gardens including Japanese, Dutch, Chinese and Mediterranean. The park was originally owned by the Fagan family and operated as an orchard and cattle farm before it was donated to the government. Netherby Cottage was the original Fagan family homestead and is still preserved on-site along with an adjoining museum featuring heritage artefacts. BYO food and drinks. To book please click here www.tara.nsw.edu.au/book-events

Do you have any good quality second hand uniforms that your daughter has outgrown or no longer wearing? 

The Uniform Shop requires summer uniforms. If you have second hand uniforms please complete the form located on the website and drop them into the Uniform Shop.

https://www.tara.nsw.edu.au/documents/209/2021_PF_Secondhand_Uniform_Item_Sheet.pdf 

Annual General Meeting on 9 November via TEAMS 

Positions are now available to join the Parents and Friends Executive Committee.

We invite our Tara Parents and carers  to be part of the P & F Executive Committee which meet every month during the School term on a Tuesday night.

The special experience that Tara provides is made possible by the strong partnership between the School and its parent community. The  P&F facilitates this partnership acting as a conduit for information and feedback, and is a source of support. The P&F encourages participation and a sense of community amongst parents by providing a variety of social functions throughout the year for the whole Tara community such as parent dinners, the Mother and Daughter High Tea, Trivia Night and of course our major event The 125th Gala Celebration 2022, as well as raising funds for any major projects.

Meetings are attended by our Principal, Mrs Susan Middlebrook where you get to hear first hand about events and activities that are being planned within the School.

If you would like to be part of the team, please contact kdickinson@tara.nsw.edu.au, all involvement is greatly appreciated! 

The Tara Dads Club needs you! 

Come and join our fun, proactive and friendly team! 

We are all Tara Dads trying to enhance our daughters Tara experience, by nurturing the Dad and Daughter relationship, creating opportunities for Dads to contribute to the Tara values and fostering a spirit of Community.

Membership is free! To join go to www.tara.nsw.edu.au/book-events/ 

Students in Years 3 and 4 have been inquiring into: The Paralympics and Inclusive sports and games, as part of their online learning unit in PE.

Mid way through their unit they were very fortunate to have Para athlete and coach, Julie Charlton, join them online. Julie is a wheelchair track and field athlete and coach, and she openly shared her experiences during an online lesson. Julie spoke about how her journey as an athlete first began at a Primary School Sports Carnival, some of her most significant achievements as an athlete as well as some of the challenges she has faced throughout her journey.

Julie is a wonderful advocate for young people with disabilities and the information she shared challenged the students to change their first thinking. Following Julie’s talk, students were able to reflect on how their thinking had changed from the start of the unit, to now. Students have continued their inquiries from home by practising skills used in sitting volleyball with balloons and learning the different techniques used to project a ball in Boccia. 

By Jeeya K and Eden W - Year 6

This year, two teams from Stage 3 had the opportunity to participate in the Tournament of Minds competition. This competition is where teams choose a challenge from a discipline of their choice to solve and present their solution in a creative way. One Tara team chose the STEM challenge, and the other chose the Arts challenge. With the guidance of Mr Baker and Miss MacAskill, both teams did a really great job, with the Arts team winning the regional finals and progressing to the state finals! 

There were several obstacles we needed to overcome, and we grew so much throughout the whole process. Teamwork and collaboration were crucial in order to obtain a better result, which also included members of each team trusting each other to do their assigned tasks. With only a seven-week timeframe to complete the challenge, we had to be organised each training session and manage our time appropriately. Another key skill we developed throughout was analysing things critically and responding in creative approaches. Each team constantly reflected and evaluated ways to improve, which really enabled us to reach our full potential!

It was a fun yet enriching learning experience, and we especially improved our teamwork and problem-solving skills. Being able to participate in this competition, despite it being different due to the lockdown, was nothing short of a rewarding journey!

The children had a great time during the October holidays at Vacation care. They were all very excited to see their friends and our educators after being stuck at home for so long.

The children showed a large interest in space these holidays. We completed activities from our program as well as running spontaneous activities to extend on the growing interest. Some of the activities the children enjoyed were milk galaxy science experiments, craft solar systems on paper plates, planet puzzles and more.

The children loved playing outside and participating in The Tara Mini-Olympics, enjoying French Day, and having a yummy pizza lunch.

We are looking forward to welcoming the girls back to Before and After School Care over the next two weeks.

Have a wonderful Term 4 and we hope everyone stays safe and happy. 

Congratulations to Kate H, Ashleigh Yo and Mila N (Year 11) who have achieved 2nd and 3rd place in the 2021 Plan Your Own Enterprise Competition. This competition enables students to see the interconnectedness in business operations and promotes key skills such as:

• organisation and planning
• innovation
• decision making
• research and communication
• prioritising and collaborating
• enterprise thinking
• reflection and action

Kate and Ashleigh were awarded 2nd in the State with their original business concept, Fantasia Design, “an app that allows consumers to visualise their future home through an app that virtually customises a living space without the risk of consumers making unnecessary and unsuitable purchases”.

Mila Nikolic was awarded 3rd in the State with her business concept, Oh So Zen, “a booth that promotes mindfulness-based and reduces anxiety, facilitating a Zen state of mind”. These awards are a testament to their hard work in Business Studies. 

Alix B and Joohee U - Year 8

The Future Problem Solving competition (FPS) is a competition for students all over the world. In groups of four, students are provided with a future scene and follow a six-step model to identify possible challenges and solutions within the scene.

Elizabeth George - Head of Social Science

Earlier in the year the girls sat for the Economics and Business Studies Competitions. Here are the excellent results

2021 Economic Competition Results - Year 12

High Distinction
Bianca M - congratulations to Bianca who will be awarded a trophy as a State winner. 

Distinction
Calista C, Mackenzie C, Leila C, Caroline H, Deveka L, Evelyn M, Linda T 

2021 Business Studies Competition Results 

High Distinction
Bianca M (Year 12), Zoe T (Year 12)

Distinction
April C (Year 12), Emily D (Year 11), Sabrina F (Year 12), Paris G (Year 12), Kathy G (Year 12), Mary-Claire N (Year 12), Natasha R (Year 12), Gabrielle S (Year 12), Chyna T (Year 12), Nikki Z (Year 12)

Congratulations girls!

My name is Jessica S and I am the Debating Prefect for 2021-2022.

I’m so excited to get to work with all the incredible debaters Tara has to offer, including the girls who have been working so hard throughout Term 3 and the holidays in the Festival of Speech. It is truly inspiring to see so many girls encouraged to participate and receive great results in competitions, even with all the changes resulting from lockdown. 

Congratulations to the following girls for participating in the Australian Individual National Debating Competition and Speakfest: 

Jessica D - Finalist and will compete in the World Debating section next year. 

Isabella C - First Place in the Reading section. 

Alisha G - Finalist and will compete in the World Debating section next year. 

Suhanya J 

Zara S 

Jemma S 

Alisha V 

Faith W 

Congratulations to our IGSA Festival of Speech participants: Guinevere F - Senior Poetry, Assya G - Junior Poetry, Alicia P - Senior Public Speaking and Zara S - Junior Public Speaking. Our Year 9 and 10 Archdale Debating teams in the Festival of Speech will also be competing in the Archdale Quarter Finals on November 9: 

Year 9 Archdale Team: Georgia H, Suhanya J, Jemma S and Jasmine X

Year 10 Archdale Team: Alisha G, Aarushi H, Alisha V and Faith W

Un Voice of Youth: Imogen B and Joohee U

The House ISO competition results are in!

Congratulations to all girls who participated in the various ISO events. Awards were presented by Mrs Middlebrook online during lockdown for the following categories.

House ISO Olympics

1st - Crawford
2nd - Hake
3rd - Walker
4th - Waugh

Junior Champions
1st - Rebekah K 
2nd - Abigail R, Anna W, Sarah S 
3rd - Veronika A

Intermediate Champions
1st - Ashley K, Jess S 
2nd - Kate W 
3rd - Sophia S

Senior Champions
=1st - Jordyn E, Kate H
3rd - Charlotte M

House ISO D&T

1st - Hake
2nd - Crawford
3rd - Walker
4th - Waugh

House ISO Art

1st - Walker
2nd - Hake
3rd - Crawford
4th - Waugh

On 8 October via video, we honoured girls who have represented Tara in sport and thanked those who have served Tara Sport so willingly, many over a large number of years.

Presented by 2020-2021 Sport Prefect Macayla, girls were awarded in the categories of Honour Awards, Special Awards, Sport Captaincy, IGSA representation and 1sts Representation.

Details of awardees are below:

Mrs Michelle Williams - Careers Coordinator

Girls are encouraged to keep checking details on the Careers Newsletters as many institutions are reviewing details such as closing dates for early entry schemes.

Careers Newsletter - 7 October 2021

Careers Newsletter - 14 October 2021

For more information please contact Mrs Michelle Williams via email.