Term 4

We return for a busy term including our Lion King Musical and Presentation Day and Night events. I would like to remind everyone that the students return on Tuesday 16 October in summer uniform. As always, there will be a lice check on this day. Please refer to the calendar on the portal for next Term’s important dates. I wish you all a happy and safe holiday break with your children.

Carmen Yunis

After much consideration, Carmen has decided to resign at the end of this year in order to be closer to her home and family. We will be so sad to farewell Carmen as she is a much loved member of our team and has made such wonderful contributions to so many children’s and families lives over the past seven years. We will farewell her officially at the end of the year. She will be very missed by us all!

Jemma Lopis

Jemma Lopis and her husband are expecting their third child later in the year. Jemma begins her maternity leave at the end of this term and we would like to thank her for her many contributions to Emanuel over recent years, particularly in Hebrew and Jewish Studies teaching in the Primary School and Debating in the High School. We wish Jemma and her family “b’sha’ah tova” and all the very best for the coming years and look forward to her return in 2021.

Jemma’s classes will be taught by Michal Eilon for the rest of 2018. Michal began teaching at Emanuel earlier this term and is therefore able to have a thorough handover with Jemma. She is an experienced teacher and we trust that there will be a smooth transition for the students.

P&F contribution

I am delighted to announce that the P&F has made a generous donation to the School as a result of their successful fundraising events this year. The P&F has contributed $10 000 towards new reading materials for the Primary School. We have begun ordering and processing these books which will make a huge difference, particularly to our Years K-2 home reading and guided reading programs. Thank you to Ruby, Jen and the entire P&F and parent body for their on-going support!

Northern Territory Trip

We are looking forward to our second NT trip for 2018. In the first week of Term 4, forty two Year 6 children and their parents will be heading to Darwin, Litchfield, Katherine, Mataranka and of course, to Jilkminggan School, for a week of learning, connection-building and exploration. I will be attending this trip with Gabrielle Wynhausen and Adam Carpenter. I look forward to a wonderful week!

Athon

This week had an exciting buzz in the air as we held our Years K-6 Innovation-athon. The event saw all the Primary School students involved in Innovation-based activities as a part of our JCA fundraising event for 2018. I would like to thank Sophie Poisel for organising this event with the support of Stacey Rosenfeld, Katie Narunsky, Meghan Carroll and all the Years K-6 teachers. I encourage all families to support this initiative through sponsorship as the JCA will match all funds raised, allowing the School to have double the amount to put towards our 2019 initiatives?

K-2 Gala Sports Day

What a wonderful way to end the term! Thank you to Stuart Taylor for organising this event and to all the teachers, House captains and madrichim for assisting in the smooth running of the day. It was great to see all the students participate with enthusiasm. Thanks to all the parents and community members who came along to join in with the fun!

Great Mates Day

The Year 3 Great Mates Day is a wonderful opportunity for the students to practice The Leader in Me 7 Habits in action. The main focus of the day includes Habits 4-6, those involved in collaboration and team work such as ‘Think Win Win’, ‘Seek First to Understand and then to be Understood’ and ‘Synergise’. The children participated in groups to complete team challenges and tasks after a term of activities focussed on friendship-building and collaborative skills. Thank you to Emma Hill, Julia Tritsch and the Year 3 team for their efforts and support.

Connections and stories 

Last week’s Project Heritage event was a wonderful success and a showcase of the students learning together and being able to learn important lessons from members of our broader community. Nine community members supported our students in learning about their life stories. The children not only learned about the past and the values of these people but also learned important skills in writing, interviewing, collaboration and presentation skills.

I have included this excerpt from an email received from Mr Peter Philippsohn OAM, who was one of this year’s Living Historians:

“I was ‘blown away’ on Friday. I know that I used that expression a few times as all the amazing things that you conceived and produced as a team were unveiled. When I came home and read through the biography and the album, the smile on my face got even broader. 

“In the words of Rabbi Chanina in the Talmud:  ‘I have learned much from my teachers. I have learned more from my colleagues. But I have learned most from my students’.”

Thank you. I won’t forget what you gave me.

Peter Philippsohn OAM

I would like to thank all of the class teachers, Holly Dillon, the mentors, music teachers and support staff for all their hard work to make this program so meaningful. After the event, Liz Birrell, who attended her first Project Heritage event this year, sent me this New York Times article about the importance of sharing our family stories with our children – both the high and the lows. I thought it was interesting food for thought as we enter the next holiday period and have a little extra time with our children. Enjoy! 

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/fashion/the-family-stories-that-bind-us-this-life.html

Chess News

Joshua Barnett, Daniel Zipser, Gabriel Pozniak and Jayden Segal