From the Principal
Andrew Watt
Reflecting on the value of school sport
Many within our Emanuel community enjoy playing and/or watching sport. Part of the fabric of Australia’s national identity, sport has great value in building a strong sense of connection, belonging and shared purpose. It can promote social interactions and develop both leadership skills and the ability to play as part of a team. Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of sport is the reinforcement of a common set of values around fair play, the greater good, self-discipline and personal best. Many of the lessons of life can be taught on the sports field, such as learning to win and lose with grace; responding well to setbacks, such as injury; and developing and adjusting goals and strategies. At an individual level, sport can enhance physical fitness, develop skills, positional play and tactics specific to each game.
As a Director of Sport in my distant past, I have observed and enjoyed the wide range of benefits that a sport program provides, across a number of schools. Our students enjoy representing Emanuel in competitions and wear their distinctive uniform with pride. An increasing number of our students now progress along the representative pathway, from CDSSA and IPSHA to AICES and then to Combined Independent Schools (CIS), NSW. Emanuel’s Sport program continues to grow, under the leadership of Kristy Genc and her committed team. At a recent High School sport assembly, a large number of students came across the stage, to receive recognition for representing Emanuel or a higher pathway and for achieving outstanding results. The range and quality of sport competitions continues to improve, as does our collective fitness and performance. This is in part due to a more rigorous training program, conducted by excellent coaches and in part to an increasing confidence in our ability to beat our competitors. Our plan is twofold: for our players to enjoy and improve and, for Emanuel to be feared and respected by our opposition!
Emanuel students shine at the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards Ceremony
Left to right: Ray Francis, Samuel Dawson Kelly, Lara Rutstein, Rachel Jammy, Oliver Evans and Adam Riesel
Samuel Dawson-Kelly, Oliver Evans, Rachel Jammy, Adam Riesel and Lara Rutstein enjoyed the 60th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Awards evening. The ceremony was very well organised, with Prince Edward circulating the Town Hall, meeting all the students. Our students, with their distinctive Emanuel School colours, starred in the evening news! Each of the 16 student tables had a guest presenter – ours was Kirk Pengilly (from INXS). Congratulations to our Gold Award recipients – and thank you to our Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Co-ordinator, Ray Francis, who attended the event.
Grandparents and Friends Day
The Lehrer Family Building (MPH) was overflowing on Monday morning for our Rosh Hashanah Ceremony. An appreciative audience enjoyed a lively, student-led experience, including communal singing and prayers, the blowing of the shofar, a Junior Choir performance, a VOX POP video and perhaps the highlight, the “Hungry Caterpillar” drama, performed in Hebrew by our talented Year 2 students. The ceremony was followed by a morning tea and then our grandparents and friends participated in interactive workshops, involving apple and honey clay pots, shofar making, 3D card construction, Seder with symbolic foods, Al Kol Eleh Kululam lyrics and Kol HaOt paper Midrash art. A huge thank you to Adam Carpenter, Hagit Bar-On and their teams.
Back to Emanuel event
A large number of past parents, alumni teachers and friends of Emanuel braved the wet weather to visit our campus on Wednesday evening. They were hosted by our VET Hospitality students and entertained by our Green Man Jazz Band, as they enjoyed viewing the 18 School history storyboards and took a tour of our wonderful facilities. I have included a small excerpt of my welcome speech below:
“Whilst our numbers have grown and our facilities have been developed, the ‘essence’ of Emanuel – that which makes it special – has remained unchanged. I have heard students still refer to us as ‘the Emanuel family’! Our commitment to being small enough to know and care for everyone, whilst being large enough to enjoy diversity across year groups and an expansive range of subject offerings, also remains unchanged. We are and always have been, a safe, happy, caring and inclusive community of learners.”
The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) – a Federal Government requirement
The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with a Disability (NCCD) takes place every year. The information provided below is a reminder about this annual data collection process. The NCCD is a Federal Government initiative to collect data on:
- the number of school students receiving an adjustment due to disability*
- the level of adjustment they are receiving to access education on the same basis as other students.
Students are counted in the NCCD if they receive on-going adjustments at school due to a disability. The NCCD uses the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
*The definition of disability for the NCCD is based on the broad definition under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, so includes learning disorders and issues that could be classified via DSM-5 criteria (DSM-5 is a manual of diagnostic criteria covering learning, social-emotional, psychological, medical, physical and sensory disorders). The School is required to report on this basis if students satisfy set criteria, though staff might not use that language in internal discussions or meetings with parents and students.
Annually, all schools in Australia are required by law to collect and submit information on the number of students who have a disability that might affect their capacities at school including:
- their year of schooling
- the broad type of disability
- the level of adjustment received
This process is detailed in the Australian Education Regulation 2013. On the basis of the above, the Australian Government applies a ‘disability loading’ to monies that are allocated to schools. This funding may be used to cover additional professional learning for teachers, re-allocation of school resources and the development of new programs, processes or systems to address the range of students with disabilities within the School.
Protecting the privacy and confidentiality of all students is an essential part of the NCCD. Data is collected within each school. Personal details, such as student names or student identifiers, are not provided to Federal education authorities. Should you have any questions about this, please speak to staff in the Wolanski Family Specialist Learning Centre, the School Counselling Team or the Nurse. Further information can also be found in the 2019 Information notice or by accessing this Fact Sheet for Parents, Guardians and Carers.
Mazal tov
- Gabriella Freed and Alyssa Simmons (both Year 7) played in the Maccabi 13 Blue team that won the Randwick Netball Association’s Junior Netball grand final
- Jonah Trope has been selected to play in the 15 years NSW All Schools Cricket team.
- Congratulations to our Primary A Chess Team who has progressed to the Inter-Schools finals by winning their match against the South-West Region of Sydney. Our team has now reached the Inter-Schools NSW finals. Well done to Joshua Barnett and Oscar Salek for coming 1st and 2nd respectively in the East Sydney Junior Spring Tournament and to Joshua Ipp for coming in 5th in the Rookies Competition.
Quote of the week
“Education is the key to success on life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.”
Solomon Ortiz