Natanya Milner – Head of Primary

Another successful year and some farewells

At this time of year, I am filled with gratitude to everyone who has assisted in the success of 2016. I am so grateful to the Emanuel staff for their commitment over the year, as well as to the children for their outstanding efforts and energy. A special mention goes to Year 6 who have been outstanding leaders of the Primary School throughout 2016. I am also thankful to our parent body and community for their ongoing support of us. The coming week is filled with celebrations such as today’s Year 6 Pathways and the upcoming Presentation events, picnics and talent shows. I look forward to sharing the end of the year and celebrating with you all.

A special thank you to the people who will be leaving the Primary School at the end of this year. It has been wonderful to work with these special people and we have been so grateful for their dedication and many contributions over the years.

Corey Jamieson

Corey began at Emanuel School in 2012 and thought he would stay for a short stint while he was visiting from Spain. We have been thrilled that this ‘short stint’ grew into the 4 years that we have been lucky enough to enjoy. Corey has been a wonderful Year 5 teacher and has developed and innovated within the Year 5 curriculum. He has been involved in a number of extra-curricular activities including Lego Robotics and has led teachers through various Cultures of Thinking projects. Corey sees himself as a learner and has been involved in studies relating to gifted education and Science inquiry. I would like to thank Corey for his many contributions and wish him all the very best as he returns to Spain.

Emma Buzo

Emma first joined Emanuel as a Primary School Drama teacher in a maternity leave position in 2014. Whilst the maternity role came to an end, we did not want to let Emma go. This year she has been an outstanding Kindergarten teacher and has brought her passion and energy to all that she has done. She has a beautiful rapport with the children and a creative and fun spirit. Emma’s phenomenal contributions to our Primary musicals are so valued and appreciated. I wish her every success as she moves to the role of Head of Drama at another school. This is much deserved acknowledgment of her skills and expertise. We will miss her.

Jodi Cohen

Jodi started teaching at Emanuel in 2015 when she joined the Hebrew department. She has been a valued member of the team who has worked with various groups of children across the different year levels. Jodi has become well known for her organisation and we have appreciated her work within the Hebrew Department as well as with our puppet club. We wish Jodi all the very best for the future.

Megan Best

Megan taught Year 6 at Emanuel this year. She has been a wonderful asset to the School, having been an excellent Year 6 teacher as well as leading various peer support programs over the year. We have appreciated the fresh ideas and new perspectives that she has brought to the team. I would like to thank Megan for her thoroughness and diligence and wish her every success at her new school.

Desray Maltz

Desray has been working as a part-time teacher’s aide at Emanuel this year. She has been an outstanding addition to the team and as a teacher we have been lucky to benefit from her knowledge and expertise in the aide role. She has been an amazing support to the teachers and the children and we are grateful to her for assisting us. We look forward to Carol Lee returning to full time work next year and wish Desray every success at a teaching role at Masada.

Events this week

This week has been filled with wonderful events including our final Gymnastics display, the Year 6 fete, the Innovation Showcase and the Year 6 Pathways and Graduation Ceremony.

Thank you to Sharon Fairfax for her commitment to the gymnastics team over the year and for co-ordinating this final celebration of 2016. Please see her report in this Ma Nishma.

This week’s Year 6 Fete was a resounding success. The children organised fantastic stalls filled with fun and activity. They went to a huge effort to create engaging ideas and organised an excellent and enticing assortment of prizes. The fete raised over $3000 and I look forward to hearing the ideas for items to purchase from the students. Thank you to the Year 6 teachers, Megan Best, Diane Clennar, Anna Economou and Karon Rom for working with the students to make this day such a success.

The inaugural Innovation Showcase has been a collaborative effort that has brought together all the innovation-related extra-curricular activities on campus into one celebration and showcase. Please see the report specifically on this event for details. Thanks to the teachers involved including Emma Hill, Tracey Walker, Corey Jamieson, Hugo Adrian and Ryan Chadwick and also thanks to Emma Clemens for her huge effort, dedication and commitment to co-ordinating this event for our students and our community.

I am looking so forward to today’s Year 6 Pathways and Graduation Ceremony. It is always such a special opportunity to celebrate the end of Primary School with such a meaningful event. Thank you to Adam Carpenter, Rebecca Gaida and Lisa Weisner for organising the event.

As there will not be a Ma Nishma next week, I also wanted to add some thank you for the events that are yet to happen:

Our K-2 Presentation Day and 3-6 Presentation Evening require huge amounts of planning and preparation. Thank you to the teachers and the Music Department but especially Holly Dillon, who manages every tiny detail of these events to ensure that they are a success. Thank you, Holly.

The SRC has organised our Emanuel’s Got Talent quest for the final day of school. Julia Tritsch and Jennifer Udovich have been incredible supports as the staff leading the SRC and Julia in particular has worked tirelessly to make this talent event happen. Thank you, Julia.

Chess

We have welcomed our chess team back from the National competition in Perth. They represented both New South Wales and Emanuel School as they played each of the other states and territories in the competition. We are thrilled that our boys made it to this level and came overall fourth in the country. A huge mazal tov to Jesse Gothelf, Jesse Herdan, Daniel Melamed and Zac Sidley. Thank you to Colleen Elkins for accompanying the team to Perth and for being so devoted to the children throughout the entire chess competition. Thanks also to thank Michael Todd for being such a phenomenal coach for our team.

After school care

Bookings are now open for Emanuel OOSH (After School Care). Places are limited so if you are wishing to book for next year, please follow this link: https://myportal.emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au/parent/after-school-care/ or visit the website on:

www.emanueloosh.net.au The username and password for the login section is:

username: parent

password: Emanuel2031

Upcoming Dates

• 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
• 30 January 2017: Year 7 Orientation Day
• 31 January 2017: First Day Years 1-12, Primary Lice Check
• 1 February 2017: First Day Year K