Andrew Watt – Principal

Changing the mood

As Week 6 of Term 3 draws to an end, we find ourselves in a relatively calm space, with no immediate threat of a return to remote learning and a clearer picture, in terms of COVID-19 restrictions. As a result of many of our highlights and special events being cancelled, we acknowledge the need for a ‘mood lifter.’ Our Strategic Advisory Team (SAT) have introduced Casual Fridays, for both staff and students, until the end of term. Students will be allowed to wear casual clothing (comfortable, modest and appropriate) to School each Friday. We will also explore introducing music (selected by students) for our period change bells, to change things up a little. Let’s aim to finish the term with energy and joy!

The benefits of debating at Emanuel

Unsurprisingly, our students have proved to be adept at putting forward a convincing argument, often with our trademark chutzpah! Participating in debating can bring about many benefits, including enhanced reasoning, research and public speaking skills. From planning your argument (even if you don’t agree with it) to choosing your words wisely, debating is an important life skill as our students transition to the workplace. “Debating is by no means the same as entering into a full-on argument. In fact, you will need to develop a succinct, effective argument, which will gain you support and kudos, rather than blindly attacking your opponent. From Cicero to Churchill, history’s great debaters have helped shape the world we live in and resolve many of society’s issues.” (Excerpt from St John’s-Ravenscourt School, World Debating Champions on 14 occasions).

Our current High School debating team, under the leadership of Yael Grunseit (Co-ordinator), is thriving in their local online debating competition, recently winning each debate against Moriah College, and Rose Bay Secondary College.

Mazal tov to:
Year 7/8: Liberty Waldner, Jayden Segal, Ariel Bloom and Benjamin Fram; Coach Sienna Amoils (Emanuel School alumna)
Year 9/10: Jesse Herdan, Eden Glass, Maayan Granot, Arielle Melamed; Coach Matthew Friedman (Emanuel School alumnus)
Year 11/12: Chloe Miller, Lara Fosbery, Liat Granot, Ruby Hurwitz; Coach Yael Grunseit (Emanuel School alumna)

Year 8 Hebrew Camp: Machaneh Krembo 

Fun at Machaneh Krembo

Our Year 8 Hebrew students engaged in a two-day Hebrew camp at school last week, where they engaged with, practised and learned Hebrew in an informal group setting. The theme was Trust, Belief and Faith, which was covered through various activities such as: The Amazing Krembo Race, Jeopardy, group games, Hebrew Scattergories and drama skits, as well as preparing and serving pizzas for dinner. An Israeli lunch was served on Friday by students and teachers to ‘customers’ who ordered their food in Hebrew. Our students also enjoyed a Kabbalat Shabbat experience in Centennial Park. The Machaneh was led by Ruth Harvey and her team of teachers (Oren Thaler, Miri Heitner and Bec Gaida. Our Year 11 students (Ezra Hersch, Lara Fosbery, Ariella Tracton, Michael Heymann, Noam Meretz, Yonatan Amsalem) and our incredible alumni (Zev Shteinman, Josh New, Rachel Turtledove, and Edan Amsalem) all worked tirelessly to plan and deliver this memorable ‘on-campus’ Camp.

Write A Book In A Day – deep discussions

Write a Book In a Day

Our enterprising Year 6 students faced the mammoth task of writing and illustrating a story across one day. They laboured in collaborative groups from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm (with the occasional break for games and pizza) to produce some outstanding work. The stories were creative and the synergy within each group was impressive. Thank you to our Year 6 teachers, Eamon Lukins, Kim Haddix and Renee Segal.

Reminder: Illness and COVID tests

We are very grateful that families have been vigilant in keeping their children at home if they are unwell. We ask that if any students have COVID-19 symptoms that they have a test and await a negative result prior to returning to school. Similarly, if a member of your household has gone for a COVID test, please await a negative result before sending your child/ren back to school. Your support is greatly appreciated as we take as many measures as possible to keep our community safe. 

Quote the week

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
C.S. Lewis