Today is Ash Wednesday. And with it comes Lent, 40 days in which we can follow Jesus to the fulness of love and friendship. On Good Friday we will see Jesus giving up his life for us, for you and me. So what can we do to imitate Jesus? Probably we are thinking of giving up certain things. That is great. However, Jesus reminds us today that whatever we decide to do and to give up, it has to be linked to love for God and love for others.

Visiting our Prep children over the last couple of weeks has been a wonderful experience. To observe our young students ‘at play’ and listen to their interactions is joyful, and it is easy to forget that these children are only 4 years of age. Their language is rich and at times funny, to say the least. The well-planned and thoughtful lessons presented by the teachers encourage engagement, as well as a deep level of thinking in our Prep students. If viewed by a stranger, it may appear that the children are simply playing and having fun, but as we know, it is through well-planned and prepared structured activities that learning thrives for our young children. As Jean Piaget stated, ‘Play is the work of children.’

Our Infants children have also settled in beautifully to our school routines.

Having only been at school for 4 weeks, our Year 1 students are displaying wonderful leadership qualities as they support our Kindergarten children with the changes in our playground.

For lunch, our playground is now divided into 4 action-packed play zones:

We would like to thank Mrs Arrastia, Mrs Anna Jean’s mum, for covering our home readers throughout the holiday break. She covered hundreds of home readers during the break to ensure they were ready for our children to take home.

In year 5 Religion we have been learning about the magnificence of God our father and creator. We have learnt new words like omnipotent and omniscient as attributes of God,

We have also been learning about the order in Creation and our nature and gifts as human persons. God is AWESOME!

Semester 1 Monitors

There was much excitement when the Semester 1 Junior Monitors were announced last week. These girls take on leadership roles in the Primary and help with the smooth running of our school. We rely on each and everyone of them.

Being Positive

Earlier in the week, I received a wonderful reminder from the Big Life Journal company which is an organisation that creates tools and resources that help children develop a Growth Mindset. They suggested a fabulous way to nurture our children’s self-awareness, positivity and joy. The idea is having GLAD conversations to frame the questions we ask our children.

At the end of the day, you and your family can use “GLAD” conversation. Focusing on Gratitude, Learning, Accomplishment, Delight.

Gratitude: One thing you’re grateful for today

Learning: One thing you’ve learned today

Accomplishment: One thing you’ve accomplished today

Delighted: One thing that brought you joy today

What a practical way to assist children to focus on the positives in life!

Generosity in the Lenten Season

The Year 2 girls had a special visit from Chef Verb, a famous chef who visited from a 'far away land' to share her world famous recipes. But, unfortunately on Chef Verb's flight to Australia the security x-ray machine wiped all the VERBS from her recipes!

Luckily she trusted some wonderful, intelligent Year 2 mini chefs to help figure out the missing verbs in order to make her famous pancakes for them all to enjoy on Shrove Tuesday.

The girls also focused on adjectives to describe the look, feel of the batter versus the cooked pancake. The girls loved wearing their chef hats, which they have taken home with their pancake recipe to make pancakes with their family. 

Verbs have been a focus in Year 2 Grammar lessons, so it was great to highlight the importance of verbs in procedural texts, such as recipes, in a real world context - linked to Shrove Tuesday. The Year 2 girls loved their pancakes, drizzled with maple syrup and devoured together at a picnic. 

Thank you so much Mrs Hirsch for such a rich and rewarding learning experience!

Definition:

A place for everything . Keeping my environment well arranged, so I can be effective and reach my full potential.

I am practicing orderliness when I:

· Have a place to put each of my things

· Put my things away in the same place when I am finished with them

· Solve problems step by step

· Have a plan before I start a job

· Create a harmonious space that makes my soul peaceful.

Synonyms:

Self Mastery - Orderliness

Self disciplineDetermination

FocusPerseverance

PersistenceStickability

Practical Tips

It has been another busy fortnight in the Secondary School with a range of curricular and co-curricular activities taking place. Our girls have been engaged in their learning both inside and outside the classroom.

Some highlights from the past fortnight for Secondary have been:

• Tangara's Swimming Carnival.
• Smart Farmer Incursion for Year 7,8, 11 and 12.
• ISDA Debating - Rounds 1 and 2.
• Year 7-10 Elevate Study Skills Seminars.
• Year 12 Cake Stall Fundraiser.
• Ash Wednesday Mass.
• CIS/All Schools Triathlon.

Every class, with the help of their REAL teacher, collaboratively reflects and decides on what aspects of learning, work and behaviour they want to focus on to be the best learners they can be!

Design thinking in Technology encourages students to stretch their minds. Building on the work of Guy Claxton we know that the capacity to learn is elastic and there is a good deal of research to show that we need to stretch our learners. Technology studies can set young people up to meet life’s challenges with greater confidence and capacity.

The Tangara Basketball winter 2023 registration is NOW open (for Terms 2&3 2023). Registrations will close at midnight Monday 27 February 2023. NO LATE REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Winter Season 2023 Tryouts: It is compulsory for all registered players to attend the tryout session to be considered into a team. A player who is unable to attend may miss out to be placed in a team or be allocated in a team at the discretion of the club committee/coaches. Independent and team coaches will be invited to the tryout sessions. No other spectators are permitted. Once teams are announced, no changes will be made. 

Please refer to attached flyer for more information.

It is now compulsory for all students to have a Tnagara or Redfield Library bag to borrow from the Library. Redfield has a new bag (pictured). This style is waterproof and protects books from leaking drink bottles, rain etc. Please ensure your child has the appropriate bag so they can continue to borrow. Thank you.

Overdue notices have been emailed to all students and parents with books outstanding from last year. 

If you have received an email, could you please assist your child in locating the item/s and returning them as soon as possible? 

The cost of any items not returned by the end of term will be added to school fees for next year, together with a $5 processing fee per item. 

Your assistance in returning wandering items would be greatly appreciated! 

From 2023 you can provide consent online for your child’s routine school vaccinations.

The following vaccines are offered free to students at school:

•in Year 7 - diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (dTpa) and human papillomavirus (HPV)*

•in Year 10 - meningococcal ACWY vaccine

Vaccination will only be provided at school if consent has been received.

To provide consent for vaccination online go to https://nswhealth.service-now.com/school, you will need:

•your ServiceNSW log-in details, or to create an account with ServiceNSWif you don’t already have one

•Medicare details for parents/carers and your child

Benefits of online consent for parents/carers:

•SMS notifications when vaccinations are given

•easy updating of your child’s details online

•faster upload of your child’s vaccination records to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)

If you or your child do not have a Medicare card, consent can still be provided by requesting a paper-based consent form directly from our school.

To help answer questions you may have regarding providing vaccination and online consent, please visit the NSW Health website atwww.health.nsw.gov.au/schoolvaccination

From February 2023, children in year 7 (aged 12-13) will be offered a single dose course of HPV vaccine at school vaccination clinics. (The Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis booster is also still offered.) Previously, students were offered two doses of the HPV vaccine in the NSW school vaccination program. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has reviewed recent international evidence and has advised that a single dose of the HPV vaccine gives the same protection as two dose course.  

Students in Year 8 who have already received one dose of HPV vaccine but who have missed their second dose will now be considered fully vaccinated and do not require any further doses. An SMS message will be sent to their parent/guardian advising of this. 

We’re excited to announce that on the 1st March Elevate Education will be hosting its first free webinar of the year for parents.

Elevate Education works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school:  

Wednesday 1st March
How to Help Your Child Manage Their Time

In this webinar Elevate will be showing parents how to:

 Align family expectations on homework

 Work with your child on managing other activities such as your child's hobbies or sports

 Create the best weekly planner tool for your child

We hope to see you there!

Congratulations to the Rabahi family on the arrival of their baby boy over the weekend. A baby brother to Aaliyah in Kindergarten.