The past two weeks have been filled with wonderful opportunities for learning, laughter, and memory-making moments.

100 Days of School

Kindergarten and Year 1 celebrated reaching 100 days of school! They had so much fun dressing up as their 100-year-old selves. Thank you to all the parents for helping them look fabulous at 100 years of age. The day was packed with activities exploring the infamous number 100, including fairy bread making, scavenger hunts and art projects.

Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross

We celebrated the feast day of St Mary of the Cross with hearts full of kindness. The high school students showered the children with ‘care’ by visiting during lunch to read them beautiful stories. Thank you to our wonderful high school students for making I-Care week so special!

Author Visit

We were lucky to welcome the talented author and illustrator Sara Acton to our Infants library. Sara shared how she uses her ideas and imagination to create stories and illustrations. Students had the exciting opportunity to join in a drawing session and become illustrators themselves.

I-Care Week

Last week, our students were deeply immersed in the life and legacy of Australia’s first saint, St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Each day was filled with activities that brought her spirit to life, from craft sessions in the library to special prayers offered across the school. In Religion lessons, students explored her inspiring story and values, engaging in creative experiences such as dressing as Saint Mary, reading imaginative letters from her, and retelling key moments from her life. Many classes reflected on her powerful message: “Never see a need without doing something about it,” It was so pleasing to see how many students entered the St Mary Mackillop exhibition with some very creative entries such as a crocheted Mary and a clay model.

Science Week

The virtue we are working on in the Junior School is Respect.

Respect means always acting with deep consideration for others and being thoughtful to the feelings, rights or wishes of someone. It can also mean giving them honour or regard because of their position, abilities or relationship to you.

I am practicing respect when I:

· Treat everyone the way I would like to be treated

· Speak courteously to everyone

· Honour the rules of my family, school and country

· Act with the needs, feeling and rights of others in mind

· Show kindness to others

Discussion Points:

😊Are there any situations where I find it difficult to show respect? How do I handle that?

😊 Are there any incidents of disrespect recently that I need to say sorry for?

Building Resilience and Curiosity: Science Week & the Rock and Water Program
This year’s Science week in 5Navy was filled with hands-on learning and exciting challenges for our girls. Alongside their exploration of scientific principles, the students participated in the Rock and Water Resilience Program, an initiative that helps build emotional strength and resilience. From constructing paper bridges that tested their engineering skills to engaging in activities that promote mental resilience, Year 5 students had the chance to strengthen both their minds and bodies. Read on to discover how these two programs complemented each other to foster teamwork, creativity, and perseverance!

Science Week Spotlight: Year 5 Girls Take on the Paper Bridge Challenge!

As part of our exciting Science Week celebrations, the Year 5 Navy girls stepped into the shoes of young engineers with a thrilling Paper Bridge Building Challenge! The classroom was buzzing with creativity, teamwork, and scientific thinking as students explored the world of structures and forces.

In a recent Science lesson, students had the chance to explore static electricity using our Van de Graaff generator. Hair stood on end and tiny sparks jumped between fingertips. Beyond the fun, students learned how static electricity works and how like charges repel.

On Monday 4th August, the two year 11 Biology classes went on an excursion to the mangroves at Bobbin Head.

After an introduction to Ku-ring-gai National Park, we had a discussion about the human impacts and threats that the mangrove ecosystems were under. Then we ventured outside, along a lovely boardwalk, into the mangroves.

The next activity involved counting the number of crab holes using a square frame called a quadrat. This enabled us to estimate the size of the crab population as we moved inland and away from the water. It was interesting to see how the numbers changed depending on where we were.

We then walked along a transect of the mangrove ecosystem, recording the plants we saw along the way. It was a great way to visualise the distribution of the many plant species that are found.

Along the way, we also encountered a friendly wild possum on the boardwalk! There were many different animals such as lizards and bush turkeys within the mangrove ecosystem, showcasing how important mangroves are to wildlife in Australia.

Students in Year 9 attended the Great Aussie Bush Camp at Tea Gardens this week, where they embraced the opportunity to challenge themselves and step beyond their comfort zones. Through a variety of adventurous activities, they worked to overcome fears, build resilience, and support one another. The girls approached each challenge with enthusiasm, teamwork, and a positive spirit, making the most of every experience. From high ropes and the giant swing to pioneering activities, the camp encouraged personal growth, strengthened friendships, and made memories they’ll treasure long after camp.

Mrs Lela Vukovic
Deputy Principal

The Great Aussie Bush Camp at Lake Macquarie  was an unforgettable experience for the Year 8 students. It was impressive how the girls rose up to the challenge of trying out the different adventure activities such as  high ropes, power fan, and rock climbing. These activities pushed students to overcome their fears (climbing up to 12.5 metres for the power fan can be a frightful experience!) and to challenge themselves to just give it a go. This resulted in the girls often surprising themselves with what they could do! These shared challenges and experiences helped forge new friendships and strengthened existing ones. 

Congratulations to Siena House on winning the Athletics Carnival House Champion and to La Mancha for winning the Spirit Award.

Good luck to our students that are representing Tangara at the upcoming HZSA Athletics Carnivals at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre on Monday 25th (Primary) & Tuesday 26th (Secondary) August.

Primary

Maya Arvind, Lilymarie Assaf, Lucia Assaf, Bridgette Bazouni, Scarlett Bechara, Emily Bissaker, Angelique Chan, Jamie Dahdah, Talitha Gregory, Miriam Grzech, Isla Iglesia, Tess Kennedy, Olivia Liu, Sherlyn Liu, Annarose Nassif, Isabella Nisbet, Ivy Niu, Sienna Castelino, Serah Silva, Elaine Sun & Mari Sun

Secondary

Maria Arentz, Amelie Assaf, Felicity Barbero, Esther Bou-Samra, Margot Bou-Samra, Alannah Chen, Erene D Souza, Angelique Daher, Ava De-Fina, Jasmine Doueihi, Elizabeth D'Souza, Mary-Faye Farhart, Kristina Frangi, Gabriela Greenfield, Isabella Greenfield, Desiree Hachem, Taylor Jane Haifa, Jo Harb, Ana Heeney, Shannon Heeney, Yuxin Jiang, Chetsa Khanduja, Emily Kwon, Anastasia Limbers, Ava McAuley, Joann Min, Clara Mulkeen-Suarez, Charlize Nassif, Yumin Oh, Emilija Pavlovic, Liana Perisa, Rachel Rossi, Anobelle Saad, Jaime Saliba, Sonya Saliba, Vanessa Sarkis, Sophie Setoh, Olivia Siau, Clare Tanna, Mary Vieira, Stella Yu, Emma Zagari, Ella Zeaiter & Taylor Zeaiter

Kindy, Yr 1 and Yr 2 enjoyed a lovely visit from Picture Book author and illustrator, Sara Acton.

Sara read her book, Poppy Cat to Kindy and taught them how to draw the cat from the story. Yr 1 were excited to learn how to draw a dinosaur from Sara's book, Dinosaur Day Out.

Yr 2 loved hearing the true story behind the Mr Walker books, and after learning how to show different expressions on faces, created some wonderful dogs.

All the children were inspired to be able to practice drawing different animals! Thanks Sara!

PRC Reminder - Just over a month away!

The Premier's Reading Challenge will be finishing this term on the 19th of September. While this does seem a while away, we want to make sure that each of you is able to add your books with enough time. To support you in recording the books you have read, I have included a link to a step-by-step instructional guide. The second link is to the PRC login page. You need to click the login button on the top right.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at samantha.ellis@tangara.nsw.edu.au

PRC Website Guide - Click Here

PRC login page - Click Here

Our Year 8 students recently completed their Fusion Fakeaway unit with outstanding results, leaving teachers and food tasters thoroughly impressed. In this creative cooking challenge, students combined two different cultural cuisines to design and cook their own Fusion Fakeaway meals and packaging.