As we approach the end of another year, I am thankful for the wonderful journey we've shared together. Through the dedication of our exceptional teachers, our infants children have blossomed into young learners with curious minds, ready to take on new adventures.

To our parents, your support and trust in our community have been the cornerstone of our success in fostering a love for faith, learning, and kindness. And to our students, you've filled our school with laughter, joy, and endless possibilities.

Our last few weeks of school have been busy with preparing for the Christmas Season. We have been focusing on preparing our hearts for Jesus during Advent. The children have visited the nativity in the chapel, where they have had the opportunity to reflect upon the Annunciation when Mary said “Yes” to being the Mother of Jesus.

A letter box from the North Pole appeared recently, which was for very special mail. The children wrote prayers and wishes for others. The intentions in the mailbox were sent directly to Heaven.

On behalf of the Infants team, I would like to wish you all a blessed and safe Christmas.

The academic year has ended in a burst of tinsel and singing! Schools are such busy places, but the busyness of Term 4 is a special type of busyness which is punctuated by gratitude and excitement.

Preparing for Christmas

We were lucky to have a beautiful Nativity scene as the central focus of our buildings in the Primary School. It was a lovely reminder of this special time of year. Some Year 6 girls welcomed the Year One students and helped them write a letter to Baby Jesus. It’s hard to know who enjoyed the experience more, the Year 6 girls or the little Year 1 students!

Special Awards

Congratulations to our very own Jasmine H from Year 5 who was presented with a Certificate of Commendation from IPSHA (Independent Primary School Heads of Australia), acknowledging her outstanding effort and active participation in Social Action projects.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Year 2 Stationery List

Year 3 Stationery List

Year 4 Stationery List

Year 5 Stationery List

Year 6 Stationery List

In the second last week of school, year 7 and 9 participated in a surf awareness program at Dee Why beach. The program aims to provide students with skills to remain safe in a water environment, particularly at the beach, including rip education and identification, sculling to survive, floatation to survive, still water assessment, and riding waves using foam boards and their own bodies to return to shore. Our students found some of the activities quite challenging, as the weather was not the best during the day. The waves were somewhat choppy, which meant it was difficult for some students to remain on their foam boards. However, I was so impressed with the determination our students demonstrated despite the cold and slightly windy conditions. They kept having a go at trying to improve their skill and ability in the surf. It was nice to end the program with a pizza lunch and a few games of cricket on the beach.

I would like to thank the following staff members for assisting me with supervision on the day:

On 20/11/23, our year 10 students attended a RYDA workshop at Cricket NSW, Sydney Olympic Park. RYDA is the leading national road safety education program for youth in Australia, providing young people with the skills and strategies they need to stay safe on our roads.

The RYDA program consists of six highly engaging sessions, including practical demonstrations, real-life narratives, videos, and quizzes. Created for senior high school students, RYDA supports youth development in a variety of areas including social resilience and anticipating and managing risk and gives students a unique chance to set road safety goals and build strategies alongside the friends they will most likely be riding with as drivers or passengers. It is a great opportunity for our year 10 students as almost half of them are already learning to drive! Here is what a few of our students thought about the day:

Tangara’s official textbook supplier is Five Senses Education. By purchasing from Five Senses, you will receive a 10% discount on your textbook order AND 10% off study guides purchased in-store in the back to school period. 

PLEASE PLACE YOUR ORDER BY 15 DECEMBER 2023.

To assist you in the ordering process, please find attached the booklists for 2024. 

All enquiries regarding the supply of textbooks should be directed to Five Senses.

Year 7 Booklist

Year 8 Booklist

Year 9 Booklist 

Year 10 Booklist

Year 11 Booklist

In REAL this week we followed up the amazing testimony of forgiveness from Danny and Leila Abdallah with a Workshop - Forgiveness in Action!

Forgiveness involves an intentional decision to let go of resentment and anger. In REAL , we learnt the three different ways people react to a hurtful situation. Some ignore it, some take revenge and others forgive. There’s always a choice of how we react to an offence against us. There’s always a space of freedom and that lies in how we choose to react. The greatest freedom comes from the choice to forgive!

We learnt that to forgive takes 3 steps.

Parents of students in Years 3-6 (2024) are reminded to complete the registration for the Junior Music Ensemble Program.

Please refer to the email sent on November 28th for the registration details.

Contact musicacademy@tangara.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

Registration is now open for Instrumental and Voice Lessons in 2024.

Meet our wonderfully talented Peripatetic Staff here: 

2024 Peripatetic Staff Bios

Access the following link to commence the registration and to confirm your spot:

2024 Peripatetic Music Tuition

Please note, if your daughter is in Year 3-6 in 2024, small group tuition is included in the program. Should you wish to have additional one-on-one lessons, there will be a separate cost associated with this.

2024 instrument hire applications for Secondary students are now open. Access the following form to apply for hire:

2024 Instrument Hire Form (Secondary)

Please note, hire for Primary is included in the Junior School Ensemble Program if you have chosen either the String/Wind Ensemble. 

Tangara does not hire instruments to year groups P-2.

On Monday, the Secondary Chapel Choir and the Primary Chapel Choir combined to perform Christmas carols.

Congratulations to all students involved for a wonderful morning of music!

A special mention to Mrs Roh, for leading and accompanying the girls through their rehearsals and performance.

Final overdue notices were emailed last week to students and their parents with books still outstanding from last term. Please ensure books are returned by Wednesday, 6 December. Books not returned will be assumed lost and charged to your account together with a $5 processing fee per item.

Thanking you for you co-operation in retreiving wandering books!

Last week, Yrs 5 and 6 joined us in the Library at lunchtime for our final Christmas craft session. They created some beautiful reindeer decorations, which I'm sure will have pride of place on your Christmas tree!

We wish you all a very happy and holy Christmas, and a relaxing break! We'll see you back in 2024!

The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) aims to encourage a love of reading. It focuses on getting students to read, read more and read widely. In order to get a certificate, students in Kindergarten to Year 2 need to read 30 books from the Premier's Reading Challenge list. In Years 3 to 4, students need to read 20 books.

Students who continue to do the challenge each year, get rewarded with different certificates or the ultimate, a medallion. A Gold Certificate is awarded to students who complete it for 4 years; a Platinum Certificate for those who complete it for 7 years and a Medallion is awarded to students who complete it from Year 3 to Year 9.

Congratulations to the following students:

Medallion - Grace Ferris (Year 9); Syona Nishant (Year 9) and Ruby Vassallo (Year 9)

Platinum Certificate - Ella Gray (Year 6); Rhea Jain (Year 6); Syona Nishant (Year 9); Avni Sharma (Year 8) and Carmel Zalloua (Year 7)

Congratulations to Harley & Kristy Aw who recently welcomed little Kolbe Athanasius into their family. A younger brother to Elise Year 2R and Campion KR.