Andrew Watt – Principal

A warm welcome to our families, as we commence the 2021 school year. Our students entered the gates on Thursday looking relaxed and refreshed, with much to share with their friends. They have settled down quickly into the familiar rhythms of school life. Our new students have been embraced into our School community and have been well looked after by their buddies. We are all looking forward to what we hope will be a more settled and positive year, as COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease and vaccinations shortly to commence. At the moment, our students (12 years old and older) should carry their face masks with them, as they need to be worn on public transport. Families need to provide masks for their children. We will still run larger-scale activities in stage groups, wherever possible. This grouping will be maintained at our swimming carnivals, where cheering will require face masks. We have also maintained large supplies of hand sanitiser and are encouraging regular use for all.

Introducing our new staff

We are fortunate to have attracted an experienced, high-calibre group of staff to commence the 2021 school year with us. A brief profile of each staff member is outlined below:

Ms Samantha Rogut will commence shortly as our Head of Library and Information Services K-6. This is a newly created leadership role where Sam, in addition to the teacher librarian role, will partner with the Director of Studies, our Innovation Leader and classroom teachers, to align library, information services and ICT integration with learning across the curriculum. Samantha started her career as a classroom teacher, then moved into the library. She comes to us with experience from Knox Grammar, Sydney Grammar Prep School, PLC Sydney and Shore.

Mr Alex Symonds is an Emanuel Alumnus (1999) who also completed a practicum with us in 2014. Alex has been working at Masada College as an Economics and HSIE teacher since 2015. He has created his own YouTube channel, with instructional videos, as part of his flipped learning pedagogy. Alex was appointed to the RBA Educators Advisory Panel in 2020. We are delighted to have him join us as our Business Studies Teacher.

Ms Julie Duncan joins our SLC team as a Specialist Teacher – Learning Differences and Disabilities. Julie spent 5 years at Tempe High School in their Learning Support area and most recently has been in the USA, where she completed her doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California with a focus on professional development of teachers. Her experience will be highly valued.

Ms Ellana Costa joins our HSIE and Studies of Religion teams. Ellana also worked at Masada College, where she taught HSIE, Studies of Religion and Drama and was the Year 7 Year Coordinator. She has been teaching on a casual basis after returning from maternity leave and we are very pleased to have Ellana as part of our HSIE team.

Ms Laura Scahill joins our PDHPE Department. She has recently returned from the UK where she was Head of Dance and taught PDHPE for the last 4 years at South Hampstead High School. Laura has also worked at Central Coast Grammar and the City of London School for Girls. She is a passionate dancer and we are excited about the opportunities that will open up for our students.

Ms Elizabeth Ben Gida joins us as a Geography and HSIE Teacher from One School Global, where she has been teaching since 2016. She has also taught at Rose Bay Secondary College and a number of Secondary Schools. Elizabeth is a passionate and experienced Geographer and will be an asset to our team.

Ms Lisa Connors joins our Primary Team as the Executive Assistant to the Head of Primary, supporting both Tany Milner and Meg Carroll. Lisa comes to us from Huawei, where she worked as an Executive Assistant for 10 years and has held various other roles throughout her career including event management, marketing and being a full-time mother to her two daughters.

Ms Seana Trehy will shortly commence as our Library Assistant (K-6). Seana joins us from Kambala, where she has been working across both the junior and senior libraries. She has also worked at Woollahra Library and Double Bay Public School library. Seana actually started her career in archaeology and has founded her own Boutique Clothing & Accessories Label for children.

Ms Emily Lawrence is joining our HSIE and English departments on a one-year contract, replacing Allison Lee. Emily is a talented early-career teacher coming to us from St Catherine’s, where she started one of her first teaching blocks right before going into online learning – quite an introduction to teaching!

Ms Janita Begic joins our Health Centre for 2 days per week, as part of a job share arrangement. Janita has been a registered nurse for over 15 years, working in hospitals across a variety of disciplines and wards. She has returned to the workforce after taking time off to look after her young family.

Ms Hayley Chester, an Emanuel Alumnus (2014) will take on a full-time teaching role in Year 1, after working in the Primary School as a casual teacher for the last few years. We look forward to her contribution to teaching and learning.

Ms Tamar Hoffman, another Emanuel Alumnus (2012) will be joining our Primary School team, teaching Hebrew through Drama. Tamar has been working at Burwood Girls High School for the last two years, across Drama and EALD. She is also currently studying a Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy, with a view to start a drama therapy clinic.

We also welcome back Joshua New and Mia Shapiro from our class of 2019, who will be joining our Jewish Life team as Informal Jewish Life Educators in the Primary School.

Mazal tov

Congratulations to Julian Baruch, Aaron Khedoori, Coby New and Jamie Schneider who recently won the 15 years All Sorts Futsal Competition. The boys had success in the semi-final against Waverley and then went on to beat Moriah in a thrilling penalty shoot out in the grand final. Well done!

Australia Day Honours

We are delighted that two members of our School community are recipients of Australia Day honours in 2021:

• Mr Ellis Janks received an OAM for service to people with a disability through exercise. Mr Janks is a past parent of Donny (Class of 2012) and Sally-Ann (Class of 2017).
• Mr Geoffrey Jochelson received an OAM for service to the building and construction industry, particularly security of payment. Mr Jochelson is a current grandparent to Jethro (Year 8) and Jonathan Igra (Year 6).

Kol Hakavod on this wonderful acknowledgement of distinguished service within the broader community.