Michelle Kay-Browning - Chaplain | Director of Christian Faith and Values

Do you remember where you were when the news broke of the Wild Boars Soccer team’s successful rescue from the flooded Thai Cave?

I do. 

How good was that news?

I remember being absolutely glued to the TV, regularly watching continuous updates on my news feed, talking about it in everyday conversation. I remember praying for the boys and for their rescuers, anxiously hoping, against hope it would seem, that this complicated mission would be a success. I remember that hope fading when journalist reports outlined the increasing and ever-changing complexities of the narrow, flooded tunnels, the catastrophic weather, the dire circumstances, and time that was hurriedly running out. And I remember the incredible elation, the absolute joy when they were all finally freed. One by one, each boy was saved. All around the world people shared in that joy. I was ecstatic, so incredibly happy at the good news of the boys’ rescue, and the mission’s success - for people I didn’t know and would probably never meet. According to renowned journalists, it was the ‘good news story of the year’.

I wondered what the good news, according to the rescued boys would be? Or what the good news, according to their families would have meant; parents, siblings, grandparents, whole communities, countries even, who waited, anxiously watching, many without food, or sleep for days and days on end?

The ‘good news of great joy’ that we remember at this time of year holds very many thematic similarities to that of the Thai Cave Rescue. Themes of sacrifice, love, mission, rescue, and ultimately, freedom. But this Gospel, this good news, is not just a rescue mission for 13 adolescents and their families. It is for all.

"Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy”

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people”

(Luke 2: 10 CEV, NIV)

This term in Chapel, our theme has been ‘The Gospel according to…’  and we have shared in the good news themes according to different movies and movie characters. Marlin’s search for Nemo reminded us of the depths and breadth of the Father’s love, that he would search until his missing son is found. John 3:16 and 17 as summarised according to Frozen, demonstrated Anna’s absolute, sacrificial love: 

Elsa: ‘You would sacrifice yourself for me?’

Anna: ‘I love you’

Shrek taught us about transformation from the inside out, and love that is all encompassing and inclusive. Whilst kingdoms like Duloc seek perfection, and banish everyone that doesn’t make the grade, Christ’s kingdom includes the whoever, this gospel leader identifying with, and including the outcasts, misfits, and anyone and everyone in between.  

The Gospel according to Jesus, however, is no fairy tale. It is the same message, the same power, and the same wonderful gift that arrived in a small package in a manger many years ago. The good news of great joy is a Christmas gift of enormous proportions, a life-changing, trajectory-altering gift, literally from heaven to earth. All we need to do is accept and open the present.

May God bless you and yours, this Christmas season.

A very Happy Christmas Tara!!!

Paul Ryan - Chief Financial Officer | Director of Operations 

Praise God for fine weather! There has been significant progress made over the last month on the Tara Aquatic Centre and Sports Complex project. Tiling is all but complete on both pools, and the internal tiered seating, the gallery, the foyer and office areas have been poured. The roofing for these areas and those connecting the Aquatic Centre to the Fitness Centre are on track to be completed by their due date.   

Our original program for this build had assumed a mid-2022 completion date. Forty five days were added to the program due to the 2021 COVID restrictions, and BOM data for North Parramatta shows almost 200 calendar days of rain in 2022. The fact that we got the roof over the main pool structure meant that some work was able to continue on some of these wet days, but there were also periods when the rain was so bad and the site so wet that work was impacted for several days after the rain stopped. In many ways, the fact that so much work has been completed should be very encouraging. 

I have walked the site many times over the past 18 months, and I really am filled with excitement to see it all coming together now. This is the School’s most ambitious building project in our 125 year history, and I am confident that no one will be disappointed when we open it in 2023. 

On Saturday 26 November, the Tara Carols in the Colonnade was back after two years!

Members of the Tara Community gathered for an evening of fun and festivities as we celebrated the beginning of the Christmas season.

The night was filled with joyful music, delicious food, and great company. There was even a special visit from Santa!

The Tara Uniform Shop opening hours for 2023 are as follow:

The last day for 2022 is Wednesday 7 December, 7:30am – 12:00pm and 1:00pm – 5:00 pm.

Thursday 19 and Friday 20 January 2023, the Uniform Shop will be open between 10:00am – 4:00 pm.

Monday 23, Tuesday 24, Wednesday 25 and Friday 27 January 2023, the Uniform Shop will be open between 10:00 – 4:00 pm.

The Uniform Shop will resume regular website advertised hours from 30 January 2023.

During Year 4’s last Unit of Inquiry, the girls inquired into consumerism being at the centre of production and distribution.

With inspiration from artist Jeff McCann, the students designed, produced and distributed their own product, a House brooch. The girls in Junior School purchased hundreds of brooches and helped raise nearly $500.00, which will be donated to the RSPCA as chosen by the Year 4 girls.

Thank you to all who supported Year 4!

Congratulations to the 59 girls who completed the challenge this year.  You will receive your certificates early next year.

Even though the challenge has closed for 2022, you can start recording your holiday reading in preparation for the challenge which opens in March next year.  So, keep reading over the holidays because it all counts.

Not challenged yourself before? Keep a record of your reading and get registered next year!

Thank you to all the girls from ELC to Year 6 for their enthusiastic participation in this year’s read-a-thon. Our highest readers in Years 2-6 managed up to 16,000 pages and our highest readers in ELC to Year 1 managed 60 books. Congratulations to you all.  

In addition to their extraordinary reading efforts, the girls also had 34 useful gifts purchased by their sponsors which will be given to communities in need this Christmas period. 

Looking for a gift that keeps giving this Christmas? Check out the wonderful work of Tearfund on their website

https://www.usefulgifts.org/

From Wednesday 23 to Friday 25 November, Years 3 and 4 attended their first overnight Crusaders Camp at Galston Gorge. 

The two night experience started on Wednesday morning, where we eagerly boarded the buses and made our way to the camp location. Our teachers were very impressed that we did not say the words, ‘Are we there yet?’. On arrival, we were greeted by the high spirited, waving CRU leaders who made us smile and feel immediately connected. The journey from the bus to the hall seemed like a very long distance with all our luggage, which included our sleeping bags and pillows, but with help from our friends, we managed.

After we lugged our belongings, the leaders introduced themselves to us one by one, including what their names were and their favourite movie character. One leader even said that they would love to be Rapunzel from Tangled, because she’s tough, determined, and has gorgeous hair.

Before we started any of the activities, we had an inspirational talk from one of the leaders about being ‘resilient’ and being able to ‘bounce back’ if setbacks occurred. This meant that we had to think about our Learner Profile Attributes and consider how we could be courageous, reflective, and open-minded. 

Throughout camp we were able to participate in a range of activities, such as kite making, archery, walking on the low ropes, bushwalking, bushcraft, score orienteering, and rock climbing. As we joined in on the experiences, we used all of the Learner Profile Attributes. Here are some examples;

Courageous – “I was being courageous by climbing up the rock climbing wall, even though it was a little bit scary.” (Mara)

Open-minded - “I was open-minded by trying new activities for the first time. I went higher than I expected on the climbing wall.” (Simren)

Caring - “When I was getting a little frustrated during bushcraft, Anneliese checked in to see if I needed some help.” (Miss Gambrill)

Balanced – “I enjoyed sharing a room with my friends and managing when we slept so we could enjoy the following day.” (Cathy)

Inquirer - “I enjoyed inquiring about different ways to create a kite that flies.” (Mackenzie)

Thinker – “We thought carefully about some inspiring Bible verses that helped us learn more about Jesus.” (Elise)

Knowledgeable - "I saw lots of Year 3 girls using their knowledge of the European settlement during our damper making session.” (Ravan)

Communicator – “During orienteering, we had to work well as a team and communicate our ideas about where the map points would be.” (Chloe)

Reflective – “During circle time, we had to reflect on good questions to ask about the Bible passages we learnt about.” (Nicole)

Principled - “I was being principled when I closed my eyes when the lights went out during the game Spotto” (Cherie)

Break times were particularly enjoyable as we ate some delicious food provided by Cru camp, played giant chess, played Gagaball, and got to hang out with our leaders and teachers. We loved being able to oppose the teachers and leaders at table tennis!

Each night, after some games and praying to God, we headed to our sleeping quarters to rest. We understood how important rest was for our bodies, as we knew that the next day would be filled with another round of excitement and activities.  

Here are some quotes from Stage 2 girls about their camping experience;

“My favourite activity was archery because we got to make a cake by using the target.” (Aiza)

“I really enjoyed making kites, because we got to make our own design and fly them.” (Evie)

“It was great to sit with Mrs Middlebrook as I ate my lunch. The food was delicious!” (Ellie)

We are so thankful that we could experience a wonderful camp. 

Thank you to the teachers and leaders who made camp possible.

Five girls from the Year 10 Elective Science class were awarded first place in the Australian Virtual Astronaut Challenge at the Great Science Pitch on Friday. 

170 schools, submitted design ideas that aimed at making living on the Moon sustainable. Our girls were placed in the top four and were invited to pitch their design to a panel of industry judges. The girls’ redesigned wheel, aimed at solving issues with wheel degradation, was a hit with the judges due to the team’s highly successfully presentation and team work. 

Well done, Natalie, Arya, Jaskirit, Ella, and Monica, perhaps you will be Tara’s first astronauts!

Year 8 SRC 

Last Thursday, the amazing incoming Year 8 SRC hosted their first Together Thursday, and also the last for the year! This was a very successful event! Many girls from each grade came along and had so much fun dancing to a variety of Just Dances. We had a signup sheet and the girls wrote their names down, however Year 7 won with the most participation! As well as various prizes for ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘Best Duo’. We would also like to thank Mrs Losco, Nikhita and Faith who were a huge help during this process, but also those behind the scenes, IT and Mrs Maruca!

This was such a great way to finish the year and see everyone coming together!

In connection with Together Thursday, the Leadership Team has introduced the Tara Cup. The Tara Cup is for the winning grade with the most participation at each Together Thursday, hence the sign-up sheets. We encourage all girls to attend and support their grade as there will be a prize at the end of the year!

Imogen - Liaison Prefect 

This past term the 2022/23 Year 12 Leadership Team have undertaken many initiatives and have begun to lead and foster our core goal of school spirit, taking steps towards our vision for the upcoming year. 

2022/23 Leadership Team Vision:

“We strive to strengthen the School spirit established by past student leaders to reinforce broader connections. Through a Christian model of servant leadership, we aim to continue to foster an inclusive environment that focuses on rebuilding sisterhood and culture in the school to increase school spirit which has been hindered by the past years of COVID restrictions.”

Anika - Year 9

Throughout the year, Year 9 has been presented with numerous leadership opportunities including the opportunity to participate in the Student Representative Council and training to become Year 10 Peer Support Leaders. On 14 November, Year 9 was involved in Peer Support Training Day, a session held at Tara to help prepare future Peer Support Leaders. Peer Support is a mentoring program run by Year 10 students with the aid of the Year 12 Leadership Team, where new Year 7 students are welcomed and supported in their new mentor groups. The program focuses on friendship, belonging and wellbeing. The aim of the program is to introduce Year 7 students to Tara’s accepting and nurturing community and to help students feel included, understood, and connected with their peers.

The Peer Support Training Day was a fun, engaging and immensely educational program that was packed with activities, games and problem solving. In the morning session, Year 9 was introduced to the current Peer Support Leaders. Through an engaging presentation, we were introduced to the program and given insights from the pre-existing Year 10 leaders. After the presentation, students were divided into groups where we were all presented with numerous opportunities to display and strengthen our leadership skills and connections with peers. With the guidance of the Year 10 Peer Support Leaders, we assessed potential situations surrounding student wellbeing and friendships to determine what actions we would take to help students. We also ran icebreaker games that would help us create and maintain connections with our peers. The sessions, games, and activities were planned so that Year 9 students were each given the opportunity to show leadership skills and run sessions similar to what would be held for new Year 7 students. 

The Peer Support Day was an all round enjoyable, interesting, and informative experience for us Year 9 students. It gave us the chance to show off our leadership abilities, try something new, and engage in some friendly competition with our peers while also learning how to introduce others into the welcoming and supportive Tara Community.

Diya - Year 9 

The Ethics Olympiad was a fun experience that selected students took part in, Zoe, Diya, Amelie, Shirley, and Anjali. This was Tara’s first year participating, and the Middle Years Ethics Olympiad is an event that will be continued and become more known in the Tara Community. The Ethics Olympiad is an extracurricular opportunity where teams of students come together to discuss ethical issues and matters around the world. Both teams are asked questions relating to social, political, and ethical issues by an adjudicator, and then scored by a judge on their responses both to the question and the rebuttals that both teams give. This year more than 200 schools participated! 

Jaskirit and Sylvia - Year 10 

Year 10 Commerce students held a Market Day on Wednesday 16 November. There were so many different stalls ranging from refreshing drinks to Mexican and Italian cuisine. So much preparation had gone into this day; planning what to sell and implementing different business strategies. Altogether, $3000 was fundraised on the day, which was donated to the Parramatta Women’s Shelter. 

Year 10 have been strongly supporting this non-government organisation throughout this year. Parramatta Women’s Shelter support women who have had to flee their homes due to domestic violence and provide them with the housing and financial support that they need. 

This whole experience has been so enjoyable for all the 50 girls that ran a stall on that day. So much positive feedback was given by teachers and other students. Everyone enjoyed the afternoon and had a great time eating delicious snacks and food. 

On 24 November, two representatives from the Parramatta Women’s Shelter visited us in our Year Meeting where we presented the $3000 cheque to them. We did a short questions and answers session with them, and they explained to us how much of a positive impact this has on all the women and children in their shelters. 

Overall, it has been such a fun and successful experience for the girls, supporting and providing for other women!

Mrs Cropper, Mrs Madigan, Mrs Guy & Mrs Napier

After a lot of relocating of resources and equipment, our new Hospitality Practical area is finally underway in T8. 

We are looking forward to christening this new area at the beginning of Term 1 2023 (hopefully). 

Thank you to Scot Foley for the "unenviable" job of getting this project off the ground. We are sure the girls will enjoy working in this new space, and with three Hospitality classes in Year 11 next year, we're going to need it!  

Best Wishes to all for Christmas & the New Year. 

Four years waiting and Year 10 Tara Formal finally arrives. With COVID no longer our main concern, we were able to invite a partner and celebrate the completion of Year 10 and MYP! It was a night filled with laughter, smiles, food, and plenty of dancing. 

The day began with a normal School day, trying to concentrate through four periods whilst our minds were bubbling with excitement. All we could think about were the nails, hair, dress, bag, shoes, and makeup. By the time it reached 12:22pm, we were already on our way to our long-awaited appointments. 

With our hair done and dresses on, we made our way to Lauriston House - some of us drove in flashy cars. We took hundreds upon hundreds of photos capturing the event with mocktails in our hands. 

The night was spectacular to say the least. We walked into a beautiful twilight, spring garden with fairy lights and petals. The food was both generous and delicious and the music had us dancing from the second we walked in until it was time to leave. We also had a disposable camera on each table and a photo booth with props to capture funny and cute little moments throughout the night. 

The highlight of the evening was when Mrs George went up against Abby and her partner in a dance-off, with Mrs George winning an international trip. 

We would like to thank our Formal Committee, Mentors, and Year Coordinator, Mrs Chaiban for organising such a wonderful night. 

Round 6

S04 Tara 1 vs PLC Sydney 2, Loss, 4-5
J04 Tara 2 vs PLC Sydney 3, Loss, 8-9
J06 Tara 3 vs Wenona 6, Loss, 2-23
Y703 Tara 4 vs Loreto Normanhurst 7, Loss, 1-22

The Firsts - The water polo firsts had a great game, losing by just 1 point in the last quarter. Evie did a great job in goals whilst Allison and Charlotte played a fabulous game in attack!

The Junior Firsts - Team 2 had a close game, unfortunately losing the game in the last quarter. Gemma had a great game in goals, keeping lots of goals and even some 5 metres!

Junior Seconds - Team 3 played a great game on Saturday where they achieved their highest number of goals this season, scored by Carol and Melanie. The rest of the team collaborated to defend our goal and assist in attack. 

Year 7 - Our Year 7 team played a great game, showing great improvement. The team all worked together to play a cohesive and fast game. The game was off to a slow start but as the team gained momentum, they found their rhythm and played wonderfully! 

Tara rowers recently competed in their first large regatta of the season; The Independent Schools Championships (ISRA) held at SIRC in Penrith. The scorching hot weather didn’t stop us from getting more amazing results from the girls.

🥇1st Year 9 Double Scull: Amy and Olivia

🥈2nd Year 11 Single Scull: Charlotte

🥉3rd School Girl Single Scull: Caitlin

🥉3rd Year 9 Single Scull: Leila

🥉3rd Year 8 Single Scull: Victoria

🥉3rd School Girl Four: Arushi, Caitlin, Krishnaa, Charlotte, and Mackenzie

Being cheered on by parents, coaches, pets and having a barbecue run by parents to come back to between races, definitely made the experience unforgettable.

Tara Rowing held their first ever pasta night the night before the Loreto weekend regattas. 35 of the 37 rowers gathered in The Bowern Room, sat with our crews and enjoyed some delicious food (and tutus) while talking and getting to know some other crews and our coaches a lot better.

The two long days of racing were carefully thought out by each crew with arrival times and race plans being the topic of many conversations. On Saturday we competed at the Loreto Normanhurst regatta, followed by the Loreto Kirribilli regatta on Sunday.

Amazing improvements were made to the times of many crews' races with some crews taking over 15 seconds off their time compared to their ISRA times. Most notable races from the weekend were on Sunday when Charlotte and Caitlin both earned gold in their Schoolgirl Single Scull races.

Congratulations to all the girls for getting through a very tiring weekend.

Cameron - Touch Football Captain 

Round 6

S02 Tara 1 vs MLC 1, Win, 3-1
S09 Tara 2 vs Brigidine 5, Draw, 3-3
J03 Tara 3 vs PLC Sydney 6, Loss, 2-3
J07 Tara 4 vs Loreto Normanhurst 18, Win, 7-3
J10 Tara 5 vs PLC Sydney 8, Win, 3-1

Tara 01 - Tara firsts secured a win again this weekend against MLC at Tara Mouleric Oval. The game required a big effort from each player, particularly in the heat! Overall, the defensive efforts of the firsts team allowed them to finish on top! 

Tara 02 - Tara 02 tied with Brigdine 3 all. The game was a tough competition between the two schools with Maleeha being a star player scoring the team two tries! 

Tara 03 - On Saturday 19 November, we played PLC Sydney. The game was harder than our others because the opposing team was quite fast, though we still had great offense. Overall, we held up strongly against their team.

Tara 04 - The TAR04 touch football team played an amazing game this weekend, with a 7-3 win against Loreto Normanhurst. The girls worked very well together despite the heat and had great communication and attacking techniques.

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