Fantastic success for HSC Visual Arts!

We heard this week that the HSC Visual Arts major works of Sara Ehrlich and Carla Ryan have both been nominated for ARTEXPRESS. Sara’s work was a 3-dimensional portrayal of a story she heard while on the school trip to East Timor last year and Carla’s work was an engaging film. To have two students nominated in a class of 13 is a very special achievement. Congratulations to both Sara and Carla for their concepts and devotion to working to perfect their products over the year, along with their teacher Nickcole McGlinn, for her amazing teaching and many hours of guidance along the way over this year of artmaking, and also to Eytan Messiah, the Head of Visual Arts, for his considerable support.

House Music

On Tuesday night the MPH was filled with the sounds of small and large House choirs, rock bands and X-factor competitors in the annual High School House Music competition. Sometimes raucous as the students in the Houses vied for the loudest cheer, but always supportive and joyous, the evening is always a wonderful testament to the spirit and collaboration of our students. The students had been practising for weeks, led by their House Captains and supported by their Heads of House and Tutors, and each House performed their songs and dances superbly. Congratulations to all involved, and particularly the House Captains who had arranged the items and spent hours developing and teaching the choreography and singing, and the Heads of House (Natalie Lijovic, Tina Greenhill and Martin Rembson) and Tutors who supported them throughout the rehearsals. Many thanks also to our resident performer, Michael Bartels, who entertained the audience while the judges were deliberating the results.

AHISA Principals’ Meeting

Last Monday saw 80 Principals from other independent schools around NSW meeting at our School. Our Millie Phillips Theatre and Angles Leadership and Learning Centre were ideal venues for a day of meetings and professional learning and I received so many complimentary comments from other Principals about the School and our students. The last time Emanuel School had hosted this group was back in 2009, so many of them recognised the great enhancements that have been made to the campus. However, it was the chance conversations with our students who ushered the Principals to the venue that most impressed. This was a big event for our School and I thank all those who contributed to its great success, such as the Maintenance and ICT staff, the Admin staff, and particularly my Personal Assistant, Darryl Bourke, who had done the lion’s share of the organisation for the event.

Online ordering of uniform has come to Emanuel School!

Midfords have been developing a system for online ordering of uniform items and it is now ready to go. Make sure you read the item in this newsletter to find out how to use the new system.

 HSC Examination Feedback from Teachers

This is the final in the series. Students completed their final HSC Examination last week.

Business Studies

The students enjoyed the challenge of the Business Studies examination and especially liked the extended-response and business-report components of the paper. They found the short-answer and multiple-choice section fairly ‘straight-forward.’ A couple of the students thought that some of the multiple-choice questions were worded in a challenging way but that is usually the case with these types of examinations.

The paper was well balanced and challenged the students in all four topics of our course (operations, financial management, marketing and human resource management). There was a slightly stronger emphasis on financial management than in the two previous years. The short-answer section gave the students a chance to display a broad skillset and their understanding of inventory management, corporate social responsibility, the implications of outsourcing business elements, the use of internal and external sources of funds and the relationship between cost and quality in business operations. The report component focused on financial management and marketing. It required the students to explain potential limitations of financial reports, discuss working capital strategies and evaluate potential pricing policies for a business. The extended response section gave the students an opportunity to either evaluate the operations or the human resource management of a business of their choice.

[Martin Rembson]

Society and Culture

The Society and Culture HSC examination was very straight-forward and fair. The multiple-choice section challenged the students to apply social theory to a given scenario and utilise their understanding of westernisation and globalisation. The short-answer section used one of the longer questions to focus on ethical research; our students had applied this concept to their Personal Interest Project. 
The depth-study questions provided students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of censorship and the popular culture of rock music. The Belief System questions focused on gender and power.

[Allison Lee]

Economics

The Economics examination assessed knowledge of the domestic and global economy. Students were given a range of topics for the extended responses, including the impact of labour market reform on individuals, and another essay asked about the factors that can change Australia’s trade flows. There was also an essay question on the recent reductions in interest rates in Australia. This was a popular choice for Emanuel students as many had a genuine interest in monetary policy and Glenn Steven’s monthly press releases. The short-answer component of the examination enabled students to write about industry protection, environmental stability, economic growth and exchange rates. 

The multiple-choice questions quizzed students on their understanding of many parts of the syllabus including the concept of the natural rate of unemployment, factors that affect income equality and even more questions on monetary policy. In Economics students do not simply select a correct answer but need to choose the most correct answer from a range of answers that all have some degree of being correct. A 1-mark question can require an in-depth knowledge of government policy if it is to be answered successfully. 

Emanuel students enjoyed the examination. For some students it marked the last day they will study the subject. For others the HSC Examination is only the beginning of their academic connection to Economics. 

[David Bartlett]

Studies of Religion (SOR)

The SOR examination this year proved to be very challenging, but for the most part, fair. There were certainly surprises in this examination, such as asking a 5-mark question on Aboriginal Spirituality rather than the expected Post-45 topic, but the students should have been able to answer this question successfully. The other 5-mark question asked for the impact of religions on social transformation.

For the first time in many years, the Judaism 20-mark question was written from a Jewish rather than Christian perspective. This was welcome, however, the Judaism topics were not specifically detailed, because the question referenced Preliminary Course topics. The 20-mark Religion and Peace question was also vague about the topics and used a stimulus that was not addressed in the syllabus points (“love of power vs power of love”).

Overall, it seems that BOSTES has been listening to the complaints from previous years and has incorporated a more careful and just approach to questions. This examination was geared to the lateral thinkers who could reason beyond the confines of the syllabus points. It was a very fitting, challenging and even exciting way to assess two years of intense studies about religions and their impact on history and society.

[Elena Rosin]

Software Design and Development

The multiple-choice questions contained a good mix of theory and skills with no real surprises thrown in.  There was also a good spread of difficulty between the questions.

The extended-answer questions were also written with a good spread of difficulty. Several of the skills-based questions posed interesting problems for the students to tackle. One question asked students to write an algorithm to check if a given solution to a number puzzle was valid. A variety of valid and creative solutions was available. The final question in the option topic was a little tricky but once understood was fairly straight-forward. The paper as a whole had an even mix of applying knowledge and demonstrating problem solving ability. The questions were varied and interesting and it was a fair paper.

[Ryan Chadwick]

Biology

The HSC Biology examination was fair in terms of difficulty and length according to many of the students. The questions covered a range of syllabus topics and ranged in complexity. The examination had a focus on both the knowledge and investigation syllabus points rather than on skills, which has been a heavy focus in previous years. Many of the extended questions required critical thinking and for students to draw on knowledge from more than one of the course topics. Students mostly felt confident after the examination and relieved that their preparation had paid off. 

[Sarah Jenkins]

Physics

The Physics paper was quite difficult this year. There were a number of tricks in the questions which could trap unwary students, as well as some questions that required the students to synthesise information from a number of topics. There was a heavy emphasis on practical work and the relationship between Physics and technology, including three high mark longer-answer questions. The students were happy with the paper and felt that it was fair and gave them a chance to write down what they knew.

[Jenny Selinger]

Mazal tov to:

• Max Woolf and Yael Grunseit (Year 12 2017) for representing Emanuel School and laying the floral tribute at the NAJEX Remembrance Day ceremony at the Jewish Museum last Sunday
• Our Jazz Ensemble (Robert Feher, Adam Cranko, Matthew Doust, Aaron Ellis-Bloor and Darren Sacks), supported by David Gwilliam, who entertained the AHISA Principals on Sunday evening
• Jamie Lipschitz (Class of 2016) who has been accepted into AMDA, the performing arts college in New York, along with a scholarship
• Sara Ehrlich and Carla Ryan (Class of 2016) for their nominations for ARTEXPRESS for their Visual Arts Major Works
• Kim Slender, for running a Mindfulness and Jewish Meditation session for the AHISA Principals on Sunday afternoon.

Coming up

• Year 12 2017 Parent Information Evening with Dani Klein, 14 November, 7 pm
• Years 9 and 10 Yearly Examinations, Tuesday 15 – Friday 18 November
• Year 10 Drama Showcase, 21 November, 7 pm, Millie Phillips Theatre
• Year 10 Chavayah leave for Israel, Wednesday 23 November

Quote of the week

‘We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.’ [Franklin D. Roosevelt ]

Best wishes for a relaxing weekend.

Anne Hastings