Natanya Milner – Head of Primary

The past week or so has been incredibly busy and when I consider all that has happened, I can’t help but think how lucky we are to be a part of this special school. When I meet prospective families, I am often asked about the size of the school. I truly believe we are the ‘perfect’ size. We are small enough to know and care for our students as individuals but large enough to offer a range of social choices and extra-curricular opportunities. The reality is though, that we are not a huge staff and therefore, each staff member works so hard to ensure all these events and activities happen. The result is an incredible outcome for our students. Let’s take a look at the past week or so.

 Excursions, incursions and experiential learning

Last week, Years 3-5 attend a fabulous Sport and Recreation Camp. I have been on many of these over the years and this one was absolutely wonderful. It was so special to see the children challenge themselves and support each other. The teachers really enjoyed watching the children interact in this unique environment and I was so proud of how well the children represented Emanuel by displaying respect and responsibility. Enjoy these photos:

Other opportunities over the past week have included the Year 6 visit to the Sydney Jewish Museum, the Year 3 Science incursion and Year 4 students meeting the author, James Roy. Each of these opportunities connects with the Grade’s learning to build deeper and more meaningful connections and understandings.

Connections and community

As you are well aware, Emanuel has a strong commitment to community building and values connections with our parents and friends. It is remarkable when I reflect on the past week but here is just a taste of what has taken place.

Year 6 students’ Project Heritage was a magnificent showcase of student learning at its best. The children interviewed their Living Historians and spent the term preparing biographies, poems and a range of other activities to form the basis of their presentations. They learnt so much about world and Jewish history, values and traditions. These presentations were such special tributes to the historians and their connections with the children. Thank you to the Year 6 children, class teachers, Music, Art and Jewish Studies Teachers for bringing this project to life.

This week’s Parent Curriculum Conference was a new event that we trialled as a way to offer parents a range of topics connecting to our current foci at Emanuel. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to share our programs across Years K-12 and explain our future priorities and directions. Thank you to Adam Majsay and Helen Maynard for leading this event and to all the Emanuel teachers who prepared and presented on the evening.

Friday’s Grandparents and Friends Day is a highlight in our calendar and it is heartwarming to see the children share Shabbat- and Rosh Hashanah-themed activities with their special visitors. It was a beautiful way to end the week and begin our Rosh Hashanah celebrations. Thank you to Hagit Bar-On, Adam Carpenter, Sonia Newell and all the Hebrew, Jewish Studies and Class Teachers who were involved in this event.

Our wonderful Year 4 Teacher, Lauren Wigan, is getting married in the holidays and the Year 4 parents and students organised a beautiful celebration for Lauren that included songs and dances, videos, gifts and beautiful warm wishes. Mazal tov, Lauren. We wish you and Tony a lifetime of happiness and health.

Year 4 celebrate with Lauren Wigan

The P&F’s Monday Morning Cooking Club demonstration on Tuesday night was a fantastic night of cooking, eating and laughing. We all walked away inspired to try some great new recipes for Rosh Hashanah. Thank you so much to our P&F presidents, Ruby Berkovic and Jen Opit, for their amazing commitment, energy and ideas.

RUOK? Day has become a tradition at Emanuel and this year saw the High School organise fruit as a kind gesture for the Primary School children. Thank you to Ashne Amoils for her wonderful efforts. The staff were also lucky to have a lovely event to remind us all to take care of each other and ourselves. Thank you, Michelle Favero, Charlie McAskill and Genna Radnan for organising this.

Photo days are always a hectic time but allow us to have such special memories of the activities in which our children have been involved. Thank you to Maxine Chopard and Emma Clemens for organising these for us all.

I could not possibly mention all the above events without thanking Holly. She is involved in all that happens across the Primary School and has made so many of this week’s events a reality. From co-ordinating Project Heritage to assisting with the Parent Curriculum Conference organisation, I really don’t know what I would do without her. Thank you, Holly.

Pursuit of excellence

Whilst each of the above events includes an element of the pursuit of excellence, this was truly highlighted this week in our participation in the CIS Athletics Carnival. Mazal tov to each of the children who represented ASISSA at CIS. A special mention goes to Alexander Kirievsky who came first in the junior discus and Eden Levit who was a 100m finalist and came third in the 200m final. Thank you to Stuart Taylor for organising this event for us.

Emanuel’s Debating Cup has also become a highlight in our week and this week’s debate was no exception. Mazal tov to all the children involved and thank you to Lauren Wigan for her organisation of this internal debating competition.

Some 2018 staffing news

I am thrilled to announce some of the staffing news for 2018.

As you are aware, Emma Clemens will be on maternity leave next year. We are excited to welcome Meghan Carroll (currently teaching Year 4) into the Deputy Head of Primary role for 2018. Emma and Meghan will work closely together in Term 4 and I have no doubt that Meghan will be wonderful in this new position. Roslynn Pardy will replace Meghan as a classroom teacher for 2018. We look forward to welcoming Roslynn back to a full-time classroom teaching position.

Sophie Poisel has recently been appointed to a new role for 2018 as the Primary School Innovation Leader. This role will include working with teachers on STEAM-related units and introducing various curricular and extra-curricular opportunities in innovation, design and computational thinking into the School. We also look forward to opening our ‘Imaginarium’ or ‘Maker Space’ in 2018. We will share more ideas at the beginning of next year. 

Frozen Nudie juices

The Primary School teachers have made the decision to stop Nudies being sold at the canteen for Primary School students. We apologise for any inconvenience as we know they are popular but from Term 4, we ask parents to only order unfrozen juices or ice blocks for Primary students. The reason for this decision is because they require scissors to be opened and this is problematic on the playground. Also, the students are usually unable to finish these in the designated time and are returning to class with half-eaten, melting juices. We appreciate your support and understanding with this as we are aware it will not be a popular decision.

Holiday time

As there won’t be a Ma Nishma next week, I wish you all a happy and safe holiday break. Shana Tova to you all and I wish you well over the Fast. May you have a meaningful and special Yom Kippur. We look forward to seeing students return to school on Tuesday 10 October in summer uniform. This will be the day of our Term 4 lice check. I would also like to remind parents that this is a short week as we close at 2.50 pm on 11 October and remain closed on 12 and 13 October for the end of Sukkot.

Shana Tova u’metuka