From the Primary School
Emma Clemens – Deputy Head of Primary
Seussical success by Ruby Miller
This week we had three fantastic performances of Seussical. The musical is about an elephant called Horton who finds a dust speck with little people who live on it called Whos. Horton tires to save the Whos but the Wickersham Brothers take Horton’s clover that has the dust speck with the Whos. Meanwhile Gertrude who is a bird with a one-feathered-tail, tries to impress Horton. She grows a tail in order to get his attention. Horton then lands up looking after an egg that has been laid by Mayzie La Bird. Horton faithfully looks after the egg until it hatches into an elephant bird. The story is about friendship and loyalty. As Horton says: “I meant what I said and I said what I meant, an elephant’s faithful one hundred percent”.
Being a member of the cast has been a wonderful experience. I played the role of the Cat In The Hat, acting as the narrator for the show. I really enjoyed playing this role because the character is really bubbly and full of excitement. It was difficult learning all the lines, but once I knew the script I could really focus on becoming the character. I’m extremely sad that the show has ended, but it was an amazing opportunity for all of the Primary School. It is very special to be able to perform as a whole school from Kindergarten to Year 6.
We thank Mrs Longney for producing the musical, Ms Buzo and Mrs Oldfield for directing the play, Ms Springford for conducting the band and Mr Burley for playing piano. Thank you to all the parent helpers who assisted with the costumes and makeup. Thank you to the Primary School teachers, in particular Mr Adrian and Ms Rosenfeld, for making the set. This musical was an unforgettable experience.
Innovation Showcase
We are very excited to host our inaugural Primary Innovation Showcase on Thursday 8 December. The purpose of this event is to provide an opportunity for our Primary School students to exhibit the projects they have been working on during ICT extra-curricular activities. Hannah Beder who graduated Emanuel in 2012 will be speaking about her experience completing an internship at Google in Seattle. Ethan Cohen, Year 12, will be speaking about how he has pursued his passion for ICT in High School. Avi Freed, Year 9, will exhibit the projects completed in Years 9 and 10 IST. Some of these projects include websites, virtual reality scenes with Google Cardboard, software games, 3D animations and a Lego robot. Showcasing these projects will provide the younger students with an opportunity to see how and where they can advance their passion for ICT in High School. The showcase will also include an exhibit from ASI Solutions demonstrating HP Sprout and zSpace. Our 3D printer will also be on display for students.
- When: Thursday 8 December 8:15-9:20 am Parent showcase
- When: Thursday 8 December 1:10-2:00 pm School student showcase
- Where: Angles Leadership and Learning Centre and Millie Phillips Theatre
- Who: Primary School ICT Clubs including Year 2 Coding Club, Years 3-6 ICT Club, Years 5-6 Coding Club, Years 3-6 Lego Robotics and Young Engineers Coding Club
Spotlight art exhibition
On Sunday we had the opening of the Primary School art exhibition, Spotlight. The exhibition showcased a selection of paintings, sculptures, drawings, ceramics, prints and fibre artworks created in Visual Arts classes this year. It was an honour to hear Rach Kirsten, Lecturer, School of Education from the University of New South Wales, present to the students, parents and staff at the opening. Her expertise and knowledge provided greater insight into the different artworks and their meaning. The Primary School students have had the privilege of visiting the exhibition in their classes throughout the week. Thank you to Louise Heilpern, Eytan Messiah and Nickcole McGlinn for organising such a fantastic exhibition.
Seven Habit Wars by Myles Cohn
A long long time ago at a school not very far away, there lived thirteen Madrichim. They were struggling to think of a creative idea to teach the kids about the 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People. Then they came up with the idea of making Star Wars parodies because there are 7 Habits that fit with the seven Star Wars movies. So they split into groups and got to work. Below are links to the videos for each of the 7 Habit Wars.
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The Proactive Menace (The Phantom Menace) – Eliza and Lori
The Evil Empire wants to trade with Planet Earth. But Planet Earth doesn’t want to trade with them. So the Evil Empire gets angry and sends robots to fight against them. The Evil Empire is reactive and lazy and don’t come to fight Planet Earth themselves. In this video we used the fact that the Jedi army was proactive and made up its own solutions, but the Evil Empire was reactive and didn’t come up with a solution.
- Attack of The Mind (Attack of the Clones) – Remy and Anton
The Clones want to attack the Evil Empire without planning ahead about how to defeat them. But the Jedi taught the clones about ‘beginning with the end in mind’ – by having a plan to defeat the Evil Empire.
- Revenge of the Organised (Revenge of the Sith) – Lily and Rachel
Obi-Wan needed to do his homework but Padme had this cool game that distracted Obi-Wan from ‘putting first things first’. Obi-Wan realised that if he ‘put first things first’ he would achieve his goals to become a Jedi knight.
- A New Win-Win, We Hope (A New Hope) – Amanda and Issy
Darth Vader has kidnapped Princess Leia and is only thinking of himself and how he could win. Obi-Wan shows Darth Vader about how he and Princess Leia could both win. This would make it a ‘win-win’ solution. Their ‘win-win’ is that Princess Leia is given some of the toys that are owned by Darth Vader and Princess Leia doesn’t tell the Jedi about the plans that could destroy his toys.
- To Understand You Must Seek First, Then To Be Understood (The Empire Strikes Back) – Vicky and Eden
Luke is very excited for his Jedi training but when he finally gets there he doesn’t listen to Yoda and instead follows what he thinks is right. In the end he learns that he should be listening to Yoda because once he listens he can be understood.
To Understand You Must Seek First, Then To Be Understood
- Return of Synergy (Return of the Jedi) – Eden and Myles
On the planet Endor, Luke and his friends get captured by the Ewoks. The Ewoks initially think that Luke and his friend are the enemy. They decide to work together and use their own special talents to defeat Darth Vader and his Storm Troopers.
- The Saw Awakens (The Force Awakens) – Myles, Casey and Vicky
Princess Leia finds a young girl named Rae who is ‘sharpening the saw’ by doing fun activities in her spare time. Princess Leia thinks that she will be able to destroy Kylo Ren who is destroying free time all over the galaxy. In the final battle Rae wins because she has spent time ‘sharpening the saw’.
Basketball competition
On Wednesday, 16 Years 5 and 6 students competed against Moriah College in a social basketball game. It was a wonderful opportunity for these students to have some additional game practise in a friendly but competitive setting. The students played extremely well and represented Emanuel proudly. Thank you to Adam Ezekiel and Stuart Taylor for organising these games amidst a very busy last few weeks of school.
Giving back
The students at Emanuel are renowned for finding opportunities to give back to the community and support those in need. I was so proud to hear that Jack Simon recently donated $200 to Generosity Abroad, a non-profit organisation that aims to provide education, skills and vocational training, health, literacy, clean water, employment, aid relief, and support to people in Africa. Generosity Abroad is run by our School Nurse, Genna Radnan, and is the focus of the Year 4 Make A Difference (MAD) project.
Upcomingdates
- 6 December: Catch up photo day
- 7 December: Year 6 Fete, Years K-5 attending
- 7 December: Gymnastics Display, 7:00 am Bunnerong Gym
- 8 December: Innovation Showcase, 8:15-9:30 am Angeles Leadership and Learning Centre and Millie Phillips Theatre
- 9 December: Year 6 Pathways, 12:45-4:00 pm MPH and Millie Phillips Theatre
- 9 December: Years K-2 Puppet Club assembly item
- 12 December: Year 6 Gratitude Day, Homebush Aquatic Centre
- 13 December: Years K-2 Presentation Day, 9:00-11:00 am MPH
- 13 December: Years 3-6 Presentation Evening, 6:00 pm MPH
- 14 December: Primary School Picnic Day at Centennial Park and Emanuel’s Got Talent Quest