TAS Talks Term 2 Week 3

Last weekend I watched the finale of our much-anticipated senior production of Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros. It was certainly a brave choice for a school production and quite a departure from the more usual musical productions, but I can absolutely say that those who didn’t manage to see it missed out on something quite special. The production was funny, incredibly clever, superbly produced and it showcased the amazing talent of TAS students on stage and behind the scenes. While TAS performances are always student driven, this year offered more opportunity than usual to represent student voice and the outcome was both hilarious and soberingly thought provoking in equal measure. Congratulations to everyone involved!

With Green House winning the hotly contested Junior School athletics carnival last week, Monday saw multiple school records broken in the Middle and Senior School carnival. While the overall winning house will have to wait to be announced, I hope every competitor is proud of their contribution to their House regardless of their placing.

The day also finished with some horrendous haircuts being sported by staff and prefects alike, all in the name of a good cause. The prefect driven fundraiser raised nearly $12,000 to support research into ovarian cancer. A huge thank you to everyone who donated, small or large, and of course to those who parted with their hair. I believe the donation page is still open for those who might have missed the opportunity so far.

Dr Rachel Horton
Principal

Last week I outlined our behaviour management policy at TAS focusing on the framework that categorises school expectations around being Thoughtful, Accountable and Safe.

‘Safe’ relates to behaviour that impacts on others and just as importantly on self. When considering how this may apply to our students  I considered a recent conversation I had with students about the prevalence of vaping in society. I must admit it surprises me that vaping is an issue with young people in Australia. Through effective education smoking has reduced from one quarter of the Australian population over the age of 18 smoking daily in 1991 to now only 10 percent, and that 60 percent of Australian adults have never smoked (AIHW, 2021). You would be hard-pressed to find someone, especially a teenager who disagrees that smoking cigarettes is bad for you and leads to serious health implications later in life. Perhaps we can just put it down to normal risk-taking behaviour. 

It is widely acknowledged that risk-taking is a normal part of adolescence. It is our collective role as educators and parents to empower our inquisitive young people with knowledge to ensure the decisions they make are informed. We can also encourage positive risk-taking and turn mistakes into learning opportunities. It is important to be clear though that positive risk-taking doesn’t include hurting others, jeopardising health or feeding addiction.

I imagine that if the prospect of purchasing new shoes, a bike or even a car was given; a fair amount of research would go into selecting the most desired one. It isn’t hard to start with a google search to find out which are best for quality, performance or style. Why then wouldn’t the same effort go into finding out what is in a substance being put into one’s body? 

Purchasing a vape or associated products is illegal in Australia for those under the age of 18. We of course have clear rules on vaping and the use of other banned substances at School; it is not permitted for any student wearing our uniform or on our grounds. We consider it to be a serious breach of the rules and the consequences are significant. These reasons should not however be the key deterrent to taking a risk such as using a vape. Understanding that vaping is addictive and that you are inhaling propylene glycol, pulegone (insecticide) acetone (nail polish remover), acrolein (weed killer) and 2-chlorophenol (bug killer) should be (NSW Health, 2022). 

Ultimately, we all have a responsibility to our own personal safety and at a fundamental level, this must involve knowing exactly what it is that we are putting into our bodies. As a School, we understand our responsibility to provide the necessary guidelines and information around the risks impacting our students at school and in society. We do this to ensure that decisions made are planned, have an understanding of the consequences and that safety is always a consideration. 

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2021. Tobacco smoking – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. [online] Available at https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/tobacco-smoking

NSW Health. 2022. Vaping – Frequently asked questions – Tobacco and smoking. [online] Available at: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/tobacco/pages/vaping-faqs.aspx

Mr Ray Pearson
Deputy Principal

Middle School / Senior School Athletics Carnival

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped at the P&F Kiosk on Monday. Without the continued support of TAS Parents we wouldn’t be able to provide our services.

Next Meeting – P&F AGM

Wednesday 18 May 2022 at 7:00 pm is the P&F AGM. The meeting will be held in Upper Maxwell and on Zoom (TAS P&F Zoom Meeting / Meeting ID: 215 517 2798 / Password: parents / Dial in phone number:  +61 2 8015 6011)

If you would like to get more involved with the P&F and become a voting member, please find the P&F Membership Application Form on the Parent Portal. If you would like to become a member of the P&F Executive team, then please complete the P&F AGM Executive Nomination Form also. Both of these can be emailed to the P&F Exec team at the address below.

Wallabies Jersey Raffle

For those of you who attended TASRC this year, you might have seen a group of students around selling raffle tickets for an original Wallabies jersey.

This is a 2012 Australian Wallabies Rugby Jersey signed by the team and coach. It’s now a collector’s item being the 10th anniversary of the season of the Spring Tour played during November and December in France (Stade de France), England (Twickenham), Italy (Stade Artemio), & Wales (Millenium Stadium).

If you would like to purchase a ticket for $5 each then please visit Wallabies Raffle Tickets. The raffle will be drawn in September 2022 at the end of the season with proceeds to the TAS P&F and ultimately back to the students.

Contact the P&F Executive

If you have anything you would like to raise with the P&F Executive, please send us an email at [email protected]

Mr Paul Gaddes
P&F President

What a spectacular performance from our cast and crew of Rhinoceros. The tireless work from Mr O’Connell and his team of students and staff came to life last week with five performances. The overall performance was outstanding, the adaptation relevant and the message was real. Don’t be a Rhinoceros, stand up for what you believe in and always seek to make informed decisions.

The annual Cloisters Run relay through the heart of the school took place on Friday and this event is always exciting to watch. Congratulations to Broughton who won the girls relay, and Croft House which took out the boys.

The Middle School/Senior School Athletics Championships took place on Monday and I was particularly pleased with the level of participation from our student body. It was fantastic to have parents back on-site, which always adds to the atmosphere of the day. A big thank you to the grounds team, housekeeping, kitchen staff, P & F and teaching and admin staff for their support of the carnival. Photos of the carnival can be found on the school website.

The results of the Carnival (Age Champions and Champion House) will not be presented until the Week 6 Assembly.

Friday 13 May we will be taking on Farrer and NEGS in an afternoon of sport. This year the Farrer fixtures will take place at Farrer and the NEGS fixtures will be divided between TAS and NEGS (Hockey at NEGS, 15s – 2.00 pm, and Open – 3.00 pm, Netball at TAS, 15s – 2.00 pm, and Open – 3.00 pm). A draw has been provided through the link below and more information has been circulated through the MIC’c of Sports. Parents are welcome at Farrer and a canteen will be operating until 4.00 pm, only students will be provided with dinner following the fixtures.
 
Farrer/NEGS Fixture Information
 
Mr Huon Barrett
Director of Co-curricular

Rhinoceros wrapped up to a rapturous reception on Saturday night after an incredible performance run last week. A work beyond ambitious, it wowed audiences with its complexity, thoughtfulness, and creative spectacle, and it shall go down as an unforgettably special experience for all involved. We have never staged a work like it and it is a wonderful way to celebrate the return of the Arts after many difficult years. Congratulations have already been given but again we acknowledge the staff, student leaders, cast, crew, and volunteers who worked on the show and for the amazing support given by family, friends, and the broader community. How truly fortunate we are to work in this space, with these students, supported by this school.

We stand at the edge of Eisteddfod and the many performance opportunities for our students over the coming weeks. All the best for those preparations and the many staff and peripatetics who will be giving their all to ensure Music can return to the lives of our students.

With Rhinoceros done attentions shift to the Middle School Play and the Shakespeare Carnival – information on both will be coming soon so keep an eye on emails and TAS Talks.

Mr Andrew O’Connell
Head of Creative Arts

Junior School Athletics and Mothers Day

I would like to thank all our wonderful parents who were able to attend (and assist) what was a fantastic day last week, our Athletics Carnival and our Mothers’ Day celebrations. Again, these days are impossible without the expert guidance from Mrs Christine Wright, our wonderful teachers and the incredible Gappies we have this year. The weather was kind to us (fortunately) and while we weren’t able to get to all the planned activities, it was great to see so many children with their wonderful supporters being kept so busy. You may have seen some of the photos?

On the School website, there is a gallery called Junior School 2022 which contains a growing number of photos from throughout the year…..there are some rather special ones and well worth the look.

I have included a couple here…

Activities Day – Monday 23 May

Our next Activities Day will be a very special one focussing on the Round Square pillar, “The Spirit of Internationalism” and we are inviting parental input where possible. Junior School teachers are putting together ideas and they will be approaching you to see if there may be a way you would like to contribute. In the past, we have highlighted our cultural differences through food, national costume and dress, slide shows, music, song and dance and if you have something that you may be able to contribute it would be greatly appreciated. It has been a fantastic day in years gone by and we hope this will be another wonderful way to celebrate and share our cultural differences. Please contact your teacher if you feel you can assist.

Junior School Assembly

This week, Kindergarten will be hosting our first assembly for the term…very brave?! We will be livestreaming all assemblies this term and reviewing whether this will continue throughout the year – the link for tomorrow should have been received through the mailout yesterday – https://youtu.be/68JQ0Z8IzhA

Please let me know if you did not receive it.

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea

Each year, Junior School has as its 2 major annual fundraisers, “Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea” and “Jump Rope for Heart.” Next Friday May 20, we will be hosting morning tea throughout the school and all teachers and students at TAS get involved by making a gold coin donation. For this, we ask for our families to prepare and provide some morning tea brought from home…it doesn’t have to be extravagant, but it all goes to a fantastic cause so we hope you will be able to contribute. More detail will follow from your teachers.

NAPLAN

Much has been made of this year’s NAPLAN assessments being online for the first time but you will be glad to know our students have taken it all in their stride. With thorough preparation, Yr 3 & 5 completed their writing today and will continue tomorrow and Thursday all going well. NAPLAN is a useful diagnostic tool and the school looks closely at these results to assist with determining our programs in a holistic way. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at school.

Happy Birthday

Birthday wishes go out to Edward Gillman, Levi Watts and Olivia Whysall for their special days this week.

Mr Ian Lloyd
Head of Junior School

Upcoming Events

K-2 Snapshot

Our students in Kindergarten to Year 2 have been engaged in a variety of activities as part of their current unit of inquiry. It was wonderful to visit their classrooms and observe such a variety of learning experiences.

Kindergarten have been exploring the following key concepts: form, function and causation.

Year 1

Mr Arndt has been guiding the Year 1 students to create a cubby house using Minecraft. This has been a wonderful opportunity to develop their IT skills. They have also designed a collage of a cubby house and will conclude the unit by constructing a cubby house using a range of boxes and other materials.

Year 2

When exploring the transdisciplinary theme ‘How the world works’, Hussain and Finley both wanted to know what makes the seasons. They answered their question by exploring and interacting with a model that demonstrated this concept.

Mrs Veronica Waters
PYP Coordinator