Andrew Watt – Principal

Lord of the Flies

The audience on the opening night were treated to an outstanding production, a culmination of many hours of dedicated rehearsal and expert directing and choreography. Despite illness in the lead up, with no full cast rehearsal possible until two weeks before the opening night, our talented thespians put on a lively and polished performance. I echo the words of our Co-Directors, Samantha Bauer and David Camp:

“Our vision to direct Lord of the Flies has finally come to fruition. We are so proud of our absolutely amazing cast for their enthusiasm and dedication to this play. It is no easy feat to perform a serious dramatic work. This group of talented actors has worked tirelessly to bring Goldings’ themes alive beautifully on stage. The cast’s sensitivity to the content of the play and maturity in dealing with confronting themes was truly admirable”.

Kol hakavod to Directors, Samantha Bauer and David Camp and Choreographer Laura Scahill – and to the magnificent cast and crew. Thank you to Ofer Levy for taking such magnificent photos which will be shared in next week’s edition of Ma Nishma.

A hotel for a busy bee

On Tuesday I was invited to join Year 3 students in their Sustainable Garden Kitchen, planting carrots to accompany the varieties of lettuce that are already flourishing.

The Sustainable Garden Kitchen was developed following a successful application for a Woolworths Landcare Grant and I was delighted to see the veggies already growing under the guidance of our ‘green-thumbed’ students.

The outdoor classroom’s aim is to provide opportunities for students to grow, harvest and reap the tasty rewards of their efforts while concurrently learning about life cycles and sustainability. Whilst the garden is growing day by day, it has taken much planning, teamwork and to get to this point. In Term 1, the students investigated and researched companion plants, interdependence between pollinators and plants, and created a garden plan. They also developed a pitch for their garden which was presented to their peers who then voted on the winning team’s garden plan.

The Sustainable Garden Kitchen brings more than ‘just’ tasty, nutritious and fresh produce – it provides opportunities for the curriculum to be taught in an active and engaging way that encourages students to apply their classroom skills to real life experiences. The young gardeners will learn the names of the plants in Hebrew; use the garden as a source of inspiration for Art; study the benefits of growing food and sustainable farming in Health and use their Science and Technology skills to discuss water systems. I believe that a suitably sized, five-star bee hotel is also planned, to encourage busy pollinators to the garden. I can’t think of a better home for a busy bee!

I love how the garden is a place of nature and peace. Jemima Shraibman
I love learning about how much space each plant needs and how they grow. Isabella Laurence
I like going to the gardening club each week and seeing how much our plants have grown. Alessandra Healy
It’s really fun and interesting to learn about plants. Raphael Itzkowic

Understanding Equality

Pride Month is a time to specifically recognise and celebrate LGBTQIA+ people and commemorate the long journey that has been travelled by so many. Our School’s values, which include respect, compassion and community, translate to a commitment to equality and diversity. Adam Majsay, Deputy Principal (Teaching & Learning) K-12 has been invited by the Sydney Jewish Museum to share our School’s commitment to LGBTQIA+ diversity. Adam will also conduct The Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir who will perform at the event. Bookings can be made here for what promises to be a moving and uplifting experience. 

Mazal tov and good luck

On Tuesday, our Primary Chess Team placed first overall in the school’s division and will now progress to the Regional Semi-Finals in Term 3. A range of schools attended the event, with over 100 participants competing on the day. This tournament is run as an individual event, with the winning school determined by adding the four highest scorers from each school. Mazal tov to William Yu for placing 2^nd individually overall! The chess tournament is a 7-round ‘Swiss’ competition. This means that all players play seven games, and no-one is ‘knocked out’ of the tournament. Our victorious team includes Jesse Churnin, Liam Frankham, Raphael Itzkowic, Joshua Marishel, Ryan Miller, Judah Olian, Leo Phillips, Brody Reid, Jonah Vitek and Alexander Yu.

Congratulations to Phoebe Machlin (Year 8) who represented Emanuel at the Northwest Equestrian Expo. Phoebe finished equal reserve champion in the Opens Show Jumping, and achieved outstanding results across the many other events that she competed in across the five days of the Expo.

Best of luck to Cooper Rosen (Year 5) who is headed to Melbourne this weekend to play in the prestigious basketball National Classic with his Comets representative team.

Quote of the week

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero