Last week Lent started off. The tradition of the Catholic Church has always taught us to live this time according to certain practices. I think it is good for all of us to refresh them in order to prepare ourselves better for Easter.

1. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, abstinence from meat is to be observed by those who have completed their fourteenth year of age. Those who are aged between 18 and 60 are to fast on these days.

2. On all other Fridays of Lent the law of the common practice of penance is fulfilled by performing any one of the following:

2.1. Prayer – for example, Mass attendance; family prayer; a visit to a church or chapel; reading the Bible; making the Stations of the Cross; praying with Mary and the Saints, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Rosary, or in other ways;

2.2. Self-denial – for example, not eating meat; not eating sweets or desserts; giving up entertainment to spend time with the family; limiting food and drink so as to give to the poor in one’s own country and elsewhere; limiting screen time on social media, or in other ways;

It is a joy to spend time with our Prep children and observe them at ‘play’. Their laughter and interactions with one another is joyful to say the least. It is easy to forget they are only four years of age. Their language is rich, funny and often full of wisdom. The well planned and thoughtful lessons which the teachers present encourage not only engagement but a deep level of thinking for 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 the well planned and prepared structured activities that young children learn and thrive. As Jean Piaget stated, ‘Play is the work of children’.

It’s hard to believe we are only at the end of Week 4, as our Infants children have settled in beautifully.

Our Year 1 students are displaying wonderful leadership qualities as they support our kindergarten children with the changes in our playground.

Our playground for lunch is divided into four action packed play zones.

Zones 1 & 2 are in the back playground and Zones 3 & 4 are in the front playground.

The underpinning reason for the different zones in our playground is to promote Safe, Respectful Learners.

Classes have been partnered for the term and rotate between zones throughout the week. This allows for smaller groups to play safely whilst building relationships and friendships in a conducive environment.

We are learning to be Safe, Respectful Learners both in the classroom and out in the playground. Each class has discussed and shared ideas of what makes a Safe, Respectful Learner.

As we enter the Lenten season, we are once again inviting our students to take part in an initiative by Caritas Australia. Children are invited to bring in $5 to buy a water droplet, which will be added to our large “Tapitas Wall Display”. This money will be donated to those communities who are without clean drinking water.

We are also having a Gold Coin Colouring-In competition for our ‘artists in residence’. This competition will close on Friday 22 March and our Prep, Kindergarten and Year 1 winning artists will be announced Thursday 28 March.  The colouring-in page will be sent home in your child’s plastic pocket. Those children wishing to participate are to return their colouring- in with a gold coin. All money raised will also go to Project Compassion. 

We wish all our Birthday children a very happy day and wonderful year ahead!

Please only send cupcakes or small treats for your child’s class. We appreciate the excitement and kindness of sharing birthday treats with the whole grade; however it can become difficult to distribute. We also ask that you do not send ice blocks as this lovely treat takes time out of the children’s learning.

In the interest of safety, all children from Prep to Year 1 must be collected by a parent or approved adult during the school day. Children will not be released to older siblings. Please submit a Leave Early Departure Note via Engage Parent Portal.

Four Weeks so far

What a huge four weeks we have had! We celebrated Tangara's birthday, a beautiful Ash Wednesday Mass, the Swimming Carnival, the first KPF of the year and Open Day to name a few. Although there have been many happy distractions, it has also been business as usual in the Junior School. All classes have worked through various assessment that provide the teachers valuable information to assist in tailoring their programs.

Shrove Tuesday

Our Year 2 students celebrated Shrove Tuesday in style with a visit from Chef Verb and Mr Verb. What lucky girls to have such creative teachers! Please enjoy the article elsewhere in the Rust and Navy.

Monitors

During our Assembly last week Mrs Sakr presented our Semester 1 Monitors with their badges. We congratulate these girls on their leadership positions and will be relying on them to work together to support the running of the Junior School.

I’m a Tangara Girl Display

Inspired by Picasso, Year 6 have created self portraits in his abstract style, focusing on line and colour.

While Year 5 have been inspired by Pointillist George Seurat to create birds on watercolour backgrounds.

Well done girls!

The virtue we are studying in Junior School is Orderliness.

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 discipline Determination

Focus Perseverance

Persistence Stickability

Practical Tips

Last Tuesday the Year 2 girls had a special visit from famous chefs Mr and Mrs Chef Verb. They visited Tangara from a ‘faraway land’ to share their world famous pancake recipe. But, unfortunately on their flight to Australia the security x-ray machine wiped all the VERBS from their recipes! Luckily they trusted some wonderful, intelligent mini chefs ( 2N and 2R) to help figure out the missing verbs in order to cook their famous pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. The girls also focused on adjectives to describe the look, feel and smell of the batter versus the cooked pancake. The girls loved wearing their chef hats, which they took home with their pancake recipe.

Verbs have been a focus in grammar, 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 and with a treat to enjoy.

The children enjoyed helping the Chefs make the pancakes and loved having a pancake picnic on Shrove Tuesday. We had lots of requests for seconds, but interestingly no one was keen to eat the pancake that was flipped too high and hit the ceiling!

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.
• ISDA Debating - Rounds 1 and 2.
• Year 7-10 Elevate Study Skills Seminars.
• Year 11 Edrolo Session.
• Ash Wednesday Mass.
• Da Vinci Decathlon training.
• CIS/All Schools Triathlon.

Congratulations to our ISDA Debaters who versed Newington for Round 1 last week. Tangara won 4 out of 8 Debates, which is a great way to start the season. Well done to our Primary B, Year 8, Year 9 and Senior B Teams who all won last week. We look forward to hosting St Aloysius this Friday night for Round 2.

As the intensity of the term starts to increase, it is important that your daughter has a good routine in place which balances school and home life.  

We look forward to sharing the outcomes of the efforts and achievements of your daughters in our Secondary Assembly in Week 5, as our first Merit Awards for the year will be presented.

Year 11 and 12 students will be using Edrolo as an essential online HSC resource to support their studies in 2024. This resource has been comprehensively assessed and chosen by your child’s teachers and the school as a core teaching and learning resource.

You can see Edrolo in action by visiting this link: edrolo.com.au/parents/

How do students use Edrolo?

●Get proactive- watch videos before learning it in class

●Consolidation- to deepen understanding of content

●Revision- use lesson ratings and bookmarks to help plan their studying, ensuring their revision is more targeted

●Exam preparation- complete topic-level exams to build confidence, exam technique and improve results

●Self-marking- to deepen their understanding of how to structure their responses and self-reflect on what to do next time to improve their results

How can you support your child on Edrolo?

●Encourage the use of Edrolo- to assist with homework support, revision and exam preparation (login instructions are included below)

Following Mrs. Roh's insightful music seminar for Tangara parents and students, I read a study exploring the link between musical experience and cognitive function. As a school that takes pride in our extensive music program, it's wonderful to find research that underscores the benefits of such endeavours.

Here are the key takeaways from the study:

• Individuals with a background in music displayed enhanced memory and executive function compared to those with limited or no musical involvement.
• Among the participants, current amateur musicians exhibited the highest cognitive performance.
• Singing, especially in choirs, was linked to improved executive function.
• The study suggests that ongoing engagement in musical activities might contribute to brain health as we age

These findings underscore the cognitive and social advantages of learning an instrument or participating in choir, indicating the value of pursuing such activities throughout life.

Remember, it's never too late to sing, learn an instrument or perform in a music ensemble. If you're interested in learning more about our school ensembles, private tuition options, or upcoming performance opportunities, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at musicacademy@tangara.nsw.edu.au

Swimming Carnival

Thank you to all our staff, students and parents/carers who attended our Swimming Carnival at Hornsby Aquatic Centre on Tuesday 15th February. It was a fantastic day with high participation and some amazing talent on display. A special thank you to our House Captains for their enthusiasm, leadership and spirit.

We look forward to sharing the results of the carnival with you all shortly and wish those who will represent Tangara at the HZSA Carnival in March, the best of luck.

Cross Country Carnival

Our Cross Country Carnival for Years 3-12 will be held on Thursday 21st March at Edward Bennett Oval, Cherrybrook. More information will be shared soon.

HZSA Basketball

Congratulations to Yumin Oh (year 8) on her selection into the 16s HZSA Basketball Team. Yumin will attend the AICES Competition / Trials on Thursday 7th March. Congratulations also to Ava McAuley (year 6) who was selected at the HZSA trial to attend the upcoming CIS Trial on Friday March 8th.

Thank you also to Danielle Khoudair, Anastasia Limbers and Caitlin Nisbet who have offered to assist and train with the Opens team.

HZSA Futsal

Futsal commences on Tuesday 27th February at The Centre, Dural. Good luck to our Junior team for the season ahead!

Overdue notices have been emailed to all students and their parents with books still outstanding from last year. Books not returned by the end of term will be assumed lost and charged to your account together with a $5 processing fee per item. We would be grateful if you could assist your child in locating and returning the missing book/s as soon as possible. 

We have really enjoyed seeing the girls making good use of the Library, both for study and for fun at lunchtime! The Board Games are especially popular.

Last week was Library Lovers' Day and we marked the week by running a competition, Guess the Missing Word. We blanked out a word in the title of various books, and the girls had to fill in the blank! Thanks to the 42 girls who entered and our 12 winners!! Claire Cabela was our grand prize winner, as we raffled off the prize among the winners. 

In Primary, we are embracing the Book Week theme, Reading is Magic. A new display has gone up, inspired by the Enid Blyton series, The Magic Faraway Tree. Each term the tree will be visited by a different "land". This term it's the Land of Toys.

Happy reading, everyone!

Please join us for Alexandre Harvard’s Presentation this Wednesday 28 February

Next week on Wednesday 28 February we will have the opportunity to listen to Alexandre Havard at Chatswood on a Pared Academy event titled 'Pay Cheque with a Purpose', an opportunity to discover a new drive to do great things, attain genuine success at work, and unlock a flourishing personal life. In addition, I am proud to announce that we will host Alexandre Havard at Tangara on Friday 1 March, where our senior students will have the opportunity to meet him and listen to his presentation “Build your sense of self and reach your potential.” I look forward to seeing you at the concourse next Wednesday night!

Starting from Monday, February 26th, all Redfield students using buses to reach Tangara in the afternoon, whether it's the private connecting bus or public bus, are required to proceed directly to the Secondary Carline.

They will no longer be permitted to join the Primary Carline located adjacent to Yarra Hall.

We appreciate your support and understanding.

Buy final tickets now to this exclusive, one-night-only event with international speaker Alexandre Havard. Many school families and staff will be in attendance.

Wednesday, 28 February 2024

The Concourse, 409 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood 2067

7.00PM - 8.30PM

My name is Taylor Issa and I am the Vice School Captain for 2024.

My journey with Tangara started only a few years ago, yet I now feel like I have always belonged in this beautiful faith oriented community. Tangara has been an extension of my family life. Growing up surrounded by cousins and siblings, I see this reflected on the playground daily.

The wide range of extracurricular activities provided have helped me to further enjoy my time at the school. I encourage all the girls , especially those who are new to Tangara, to participate in as many activities as they can comfortably handle. I have personally tried public speaking, debating and singing in the contemporary ensembles but my absolute all time favourite was mock trial which further ignited my love for justice.

I also enjoyed playing futsal, tennis and kickboxing and discovered that whether it is playing the sport or supporting friends as they try their best. I will always treasure the memories we created together.

I am very excited to announce that Tangara School for Girls will once again be competing in the da Vinci Decathlon, which will he held at Knox Grammar School in May.

What is it?

The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: engineering, mathematics, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography and legacy.