Ruth Adams - Deputy Principal | Head of Junior School

Wendy Abernethy - Dean of Learning E-6

The Tara Strategic Plan identifies the core purpose of the School as being: ‘a Christian learning community, characterised by excellence, which encourages, equips and empowers girls to achieve, serve and thrive in a dynamic world.’ The International Baccalaureate’s (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) provides an ideal framework to guide the delivery of curriculum in a rigorous, future focused way that reflects Tara’s core purpose.

From when girls begin their journey at Tara Junior School in ELC, through to their final experiences in Year 6, they have many opportunities to grow into internationally minded citizens, ready to actively participate in a complex world. In their quest to become internationally minded citizens, students aim to mature in each of the ten IB Learner Profile attributes. The IB Learner Profile represents a broad range of human capacities and responsibilities. These encompass intellectual, personal, emotional and social growth. The result is, Tara girls becoming more reflective, knowledgeable, open-minded, balanced, courageous, caring and principled humans who are inquirers, thinkers and communicators. That’s a lot to get your mind around!

What exactly does this look like in action? 

Essentially, the Learner Profile underpins all that we do from the moment girls start at Junior School. Because the Learner Profile is ‘lived’ in our School, your daughter may have come home talking about the ways she was principled or courageous, or a thinker or a communicator during her day of learning. She may have even described your behaviour according to the attributes. This indicates that she has been growing in her understanding of its personal relevance.

The Year 6 PYP Exhibition is the culminating experience of the Primary Years Programme, where the Learner Profile is fully expressed. On the first day of 2022, when asked to identify the key skills and attributes needed for success in the Exhibition, Tara teachers created an extensive list. 

See if you can identify how items on the list reflect an expression and development of the attributes of the Learner Profile in our students.

What emerged from this exercise is how these skills and attributes, so needed and developed through the Exhibition in Year 6, are actually being nurtured and taught from the moment every girl commences at Tara. They are an example of the Learner Profile in action!

Paul Ryan - Chief Financial Officer | Director of Operations

The weather has been much more favourable over the last two months and the builders have made significant progress on the Tara Aquatic Centre and Sports Precinct.

The installation of the roof and basement plant is well underway, as is tiling of the pools and changerooms. The builders are currently forming up the internal tiered seating and foyer areas ready for the next concrete pour and once this concrete is in place the structural steel for the gallery and foyer areas will start going up.  

Students, staff and families have all been extremely patient with regards to parking, access and delays during the construction period and I am most grateful.  

WHAT IS A RAP?

A Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is a formal commitment to reconciliation. It documents how your school or early learning service will strengthen relationships, respect and opportunities in the classroom, around the school/service and with the community. (Reconciliation Australia, 2022)

TARA RAP

At the end of 2021, with the encouragement of School Council, a group of staff from across the School, met to begin drafting a Reconciliation Action Plan for Tara. Throughout 2022 we have met online and in person 10 times, to discuss the purpose and steps towards registering and drafting a Reconciliation Action Plan with Reconciliation Australia. 

We began with the aim of providing a roadmap for Tara in developing productive relationships, enhancing learning, and deepening understanding and perspectives across the School community. We have formally registered the School and begun the process.

Together, we drafted a survey to provide a snapshot of the current state of reconciliation in our school and help inform actions. The survey was sent to all staff. We are thankful for the 71 responses and have used those responses to help inform our vision statement and plans for action.

A significant milestone in our journey is the development of a draft Vision Statement:

Our vision is a School ethos which embraces intercultural understanding and respect for First Nations' peoples, histories and culture, to create a more just, reconciled and peaceful world. 

Our School is committed to learning more, so we can acknowledge the past with integrity and embed First Nations' knowledge and perspectives into the fabric of our School. This includes but is not limited to policies, programs, events and celebrations. 

A workshop was held on 7 November to review the Vision Statement and reflect on the actions that we hope to implement in 2023 that help us reach our Vision of Reconciliation. This will be considered by the School Executive in consultation with the School Council before being lodged with Reconciliation Australia. Once ratified, you will be able to see our RAP on Narragunnawali site for Reconciliation in Education.

References

Reconciliation Australia. (2022, February). What is a RAP? Narragunnawali - Reconciliation in Education. Retrieved November 02, 2022 from https://www.narragunnawali.org.au/raps/what-is-a-rap

On Tuesday 25 October, Year 6 girls travelled to Moss Vale to Tudor House School. Tara girls joined Year 6 students from Tudor House and The King’s Preparatory School to participate in a range of challenging outdoor activities for the first ever 'Challenging Change Day’. The aim of the day was to consider the many challenges that lie ahead as our Year 6 students move to Year 7, and for them to identify and use a range of appropriate strategies to face challenges in life.

Activities on the day included climbing through a low ropes course, scavenging for natural materials to design a piece of ‘bush furniture’, completing a series of navigation courses using a compass, guiding a peer from a different school along a rope line, and cooking marshmallows over an open fire.

Tara girls participated with open minds, friendly dispositions, grit and determination. The mud added an unexpected element of fun! 

It has been a great start to Term 4 for our fabulous children and staff at Before and After School Care. 

We have been loving getting back into cooking/baking and have made carrot cake, scrambled eggs, chocolate brownies, banana bread, fruit smoothies and more. The children confidently discuss and recognise which foods are nutritious and can be eaten daily and which foods are sometimes foods. The children also choose the weekly menu items for breakfast and afternoon tea.

We warmly welcome our newest team member Miss Sophie. Sophie is our Educational leader and Assistant Coordinator. She will be working alongside the staff to program activities for the children based off their interests. The children have loved getting to know Miss Sophie over the last few weeks.

Shortly, our program and applications for the December/January Vacation Care will be sent out. We are very excited for all the fun we will have over Summer with activities ranging from Laser tag, slime making, science activities, water games and a Christmas party.

Have a fantastic Term 4 and a safe and happy holiday to those who we will not be seeing. 

K.O.A.L.A. is a children’s choice award in the Australian book industry. Students across New South Wales whose libraries are members are invited to nominate their favourite Australian books across the categories of picture book, younger readers, older readers and Years 7-9.  As a member, Tara girls from ELC-6 nominated their favourites earlier in the year as part of the process. 

K.O.A.L.A. joins with YABBA in Victoria and CROC in the Northern Territory to produce the REAL awards shortlist based on the top 10 books nominated across the categories. The shortlist of these ten books are then voted on by students to decide the winner for each category for that year. An awards day is held each year at a member school at which the winners are announced. A group of 19 very dedicated library monitors and book club members from Year 5 represented Tara at this year’s awards day held at SHORE Preparatory. They heard authors and illustrators talk about what the most unusual, weird or interesting place was where they had been inspired to write or had written about, heard the winners announced live, went to the bookshop to purchase books and then had them signed by the authors and illustrators. They also watched illustrator Sami Bayly create her magic on stage as the illustrator in residence. Authors and illustrators in attendance included: Jacqueline Harvey, Meredith Costain, Jaclyn Moriarty, Tim Harris, John Heffernan, R.A Spratt, Heidi McKinnon, Nat Amoore, Sue Whiting, Danielle McDonald, Jules Faber, Lisa Hathorn-Jarman and Libby Hathorn.

Here is some of what the girls had to say about the day:

Jane: “My favourite part was meeting the authors and illustrators and getting them to sign my books.”

Anna: “The best thing about KOALA Awards Day was when we got to meet all the amazing authors of my favourite books and getting a sign on my tote bag I got from the event.”

Aalisha: “Seeing all the authors and illustrators. Also shopping, getting my books signed and also seeing the authors win certain age awards!”

Ellyce: “My Favourite thing about KOALA was how we got to meet the authors and learn more about them! It's a day I will never forget.”

Michaela: “The best thing about the K.O.A.L.A Awards was the discussions the authors had with us in the auditorium.”

Sue Whiting is an award-winning children’s and YA author. She came to Tara to visit Year 5 and 6 and launch her brand-new book, Tilda. 

Sue is an experienced performer and amazing storyteller who had the girls hanging off her every word. She read to them from her new book and challenged them to a multiple-choice quiz that saw them competing against each other as to who knew more about Australia in the 1900s. The girls also had the opportunity to purchase her books and have them signed as part of the experience. Tilda has become the new must have read for these girls.

As part of our current unit, ELC went on our very first excursion, during week 3. Our central idea is 'Living things share their environments' and we were looking forward to seeing lots of animals in different spaces. We travelled by bus to Featherdale Wildlife Park where among many experiences, we fed kangaroos some food in an ice cream cone, watched a wombat run in its enclosure, played ‘Statues’ with a crocodile, howled at the dingoes and touched a python. For many of us, this was our first bus trip which was almost as exciting as seeing all the animals. Below are some of our reflections from the day: 

“My favourite part was patting the goats in the farmhouse and feeding the kangaroos.” Olivia

“I liked seeing the wombat eat corn for lunch.” Helena

“My favourite part was seeing the penguins. When we left, they were standing in a group and looking at us, like they were saying goodbye.” Lara

“When I fed the kangaroo, it was funny when it ate the cones.” Mary

“I liked the crocodile because it was frozen like a statue with its mouth open.” Avi

“My favourite part was patting and looking at koalas.” Sabelle

“My favourite thing was sitting next to Lara on the bus. I also liked the bunnies and echidnas. They were so pretty.” Jeaneva

“At lunchtime the chicken ate some of Helena’s bread. My favourite thing was going on a bus. I saw a water park and 7-Eleven.” Ellie

“I liked the turtle. Its shell was green.” Maddie

“My favourite part was touching and looking at the fluffy koalas and chasing the wombat.” Amelia

“On the excursion, I liked seeing penguins and the python.” Charlotte

“My favourite thing was looking at the koala and touching a snake.” Bella

The Year 10 Commerce classes are collaborating to create the 2022 Commerce Market Day. 

Each group must create a themed stall with unique products to sell to the Tara Senior School. 

There is a large variety of delicious stalls that students can buy from, ranging from Mexican, pasta, Greek food, waffles, churros, ice cream, lollies, fairy floss, loaded fries and much more for people to enjoy. 

The profits earned from this prestigious event will all be donated towards Parramatta Women’s shelter, a charity that Tara has worked very closely with for many years and are happy to be working with again.  

Evie - Year 12 2022-2023

Year 12 Biology students have currently been studying Infectious Diseases as the first topic of their HSC course. On Monday 24 October, Year 12 Biology students were given the opportunity to travel to UNSW and further learn about the different types of diseases and pathogens at the Museum of Human disease.

On this excursion, girls were able to view over 2,500 different disease human tissue specimens. We were taught about the hundreds of diseases and their complications including HIV/AIDS, cancer, strokes, heart attacks, genetic diseases and more. This was an interesting and educational experience and a great excursion to further expand our knowledge on diseases and the importance of prevention.

Anika, Shirley, Elisha and Bernice - Year 9 

Over the weekend from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 October, a Year 9 team consisting of Shirley, Bernice, Elisha and Anika, flew down to Melbourne to compete in the Future Problem Solving (FPS) National Finals.  

The Future Problem Solving Program is a research-based, creative and futuristic academic program that strives to teach students problem solving strategies, improve their ability to collaborate and communicate with others as well as how to think creatively and critically when addressing global issues. It allows students to help develop leadership skills and provides a unique opportunity for students to extend themselves and apply essential life skills in the 21st century. 

The process of solving such problems include analysing a scene from the future, produce up to 16 problems from the scene, formulate an underlying problem, create solutions and then develop an action plan – all within a two hour time limit as a team.

Our trip was jam packed with events and we received surprise affirmation letters from our Year 11 FPS mentors on our departing flight. During the opening ceremony of the competition, we got to see our beautiful School flag being presented on the big screen along with the flags of the schools we would be competing against. We were lucky enough to be able to listen to Yolanda Torrisi on her inspirational talk about the future of mining. Her speech was powerful, motivating, and left us feeling more confident in ourselves for the competition the following day.  

This trip allowed us to bond with one another as well as develop our skills in communication and collaboration. The action plan presentation and talking to the other teams pushed us out of our comfort zones and challenged us to adapt quickly to the environment we were in. We are incredibly thankful to everyone who contributed to make this trip possible, including Mrs Nguyen who travelled with us, as well as the opportunity we have been given to participate in the Future Problem Solving National Finals competition. It was an incredible experience, and we hope to be able to take what we have learnt from the trip and apply it to our daily lives. 

Cameron - Touch Football Captain

Round 2

S02 Tara 1 vs Meriden 1, Loss, 3-4
S09 Tara 2 vs Meriden 3, Loss, 0-4
J03 Tara 3 vs Abbotsleigh 12, Win, 3-2
J07 Tara 4 vs PLC Sydney 7, Draw, 4-4
J10 Tara 5 vs Ravenswood 15, Win, 8-1

Tara girls competed in the second round of IGSA Saturday Sport for touch football. Round Two touch football games were played excellently from all Tara teams as they were able to build upon and improve from round one games. 

Tara Firsts - The firsts team had a great game which showed significant improvement in their defence with a star defensive player being Rhema C. The team worked well together and the wingers played incredibly despite having no subs.

Tara Seconds - On Saturday, Tara Seconds played against Meriden and although the team didn't win, they had a good game and significantly improved team working skills such as communication on the field. The team is excited to continue improving their skills at training for the game next weekend.  

Tara Thirds - The thirds team secured a win with a stellar performance from Zayla T after scoring two tries throughout the game. 

Tara Fourths - The fourths side worked hard throughout the entirety of the game resulting in a draw showing grand improvement in defence compared to last week.

Tara Fifths - The fifths team had a sensational game winning 8-1 after exhibiting fantastic ball work and teamwork. Special mention to Emily L who scored two tries down the wing.

Meghaan and Janice - Year 10 

On Friday 28 October, Tara's gymnasts had the opportunity to compete in the 51st Annual, 2022 IGSA Gymnastics Competition, held at PLC Sydney and Abbotsleigh. This event was finally up and running again after a two year break due to Covid. These girls have been training for months, to practice and feel confident in their skills. It was great to see all their hard work pay off. The girls competed with and against other gymnasts from their level and were incredibly supportive towards one another. Tara was lucky enough to achieve the Division 2 trophy for Artistic Gymnastics, 6th in Division 2 Rhythmic Gymnastics, and placed tied 9th overall. 

Thank you to all our coaches for preparing us for the competition. 

Notable individual achievements:

Artistic Gymnastics

Orla A (Level 4): Tied 1st Vault, tied 4th Beam
Amarlie S (Level 4): Tied 7th Vault, 10th Bars, 6th Beam, tied 6th Floor
Antonia S (Level 4): Tied 5th Vault, tied 10th Beam
Abigail R (Level 4): Tied 10th Beam
Piper W (Level 4): 3rd Vault
Alisha S (Level 4): Tied 7th Vault
Ruti S (Level 4): Tied 9th Vault
Josephine B (Level 4): Tied 9th Floor
Cameron K (Level 5): Tied 8th Vault
Meghann B (Level 6): Tied 2nd Vault, tied 5th Beam
Veronika A (Level 6): Tied 5th Vault, tied 1st Bars, tied 5th Beam, 4th Floor
Chelsea C (Level 6): Tied 8th Vault

Rhythmic Gymnastics

Lucinda P (Level 4): 3rd hoop, 3rd ribbon
Nikhita G (Level 8): 8th clubs, 8th hoop, 8th ribbon

Henrietta - Water Polo Captain

Round 2

S04 Tara 1 vs St Catherine’s 2, Loss, 2-15
J04 Tara 2 vs Santa Sabina 2, Win, 18-8
J06 Tara 3 vs Loreto Normanhurst 6, Loss, 2-15
Y703 Tara 4 vs Wenona 8, Loss, 3-24
Waterpolo Report Round 2

Firsts - The Water Polo firsts had a hard game versing St Catherine’s in their new pool. Charlotte M took the five metre shot and scored a goal whilst Henrietta MH also scored a goal. 

Junior Firsts - Team 2 had an amazing game, winning their first game. Verity A and Grace T shot the goals whilst the rest of the team worked together to upkeep their defence, good job girls!

Junior Seconds - The Junior seconds had a challenging game however worked together to defend the opposition. The Junior Seconds showed great improvement since the first game, their passing was outstanding!

Year 7 - Our Year 7 team had a hard game but played very well against a hard team. The girls worked together to try their best and defend their hard opponents. 

The Friends of Tara Rowing are fundraising with The Entertainment Book!! 

Entertainment is the easy-to-use App packed with incredible savings of up to 50% off and 2-for-1 offers, so you can save on takeaway, dining, shopping, groceries, gift cards, activities and more! 

And what’s even better, 20% of every membership purchased goes to support Tara Rowing! 

To purchase a membership, click here.

Tara Supporter Polo Shirts and Jackets are now available to purchase!

Items are sold via Trybooking using the link below. 

Senior School Students - Tara Supporter Wear (Incl GST) Tickets, Tara Anglican School For Girls, North Parramatta | TryBooking Australia

Booking link will close end of Term 4 2022. Orders are for pre-order only and are not available through the Uniform Shop. 

Order yours today! 

Huge congratulations to all our Tara gymnasts. Girls have competed in several competitions over the past month including Regional Challenge, IGSA, IPSHA and State Championships. 

All girls performed beautifully and represented Tara Gymnastics amazingly. Many invdividual places were achieved as well as teams placing overall. We are very proud of all the girls and are excited and looking forward to Gymnastics at Tara in 2023. WELL DONE GIRLS!! 

All girls in Years 7-12 are encouraged to read this newsletter every week on the Canvas Careers page.

Careers Newsletter -  1 June 2023

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