From the Principal
Andrew Watt – Principal
What have ethics and human rights to do with Artificial Intelligence?
We encourage our students to be future-focused, informed and ethical change makers, open-minded thinkers and adaptable innovators. Understanding the ethical implications of introducing new technologies into our sometimes volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world is important. This week, we took time to reflect on the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence on human rights.
It seems that the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology race continues to gather speed! ChatGPT was just a taster, followed closely by Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word and Google’s Bard, a conversational AI language program.
It is hoped that the advent of AI systems will benefit individuals, our society and our environment. However, there are a range of issues that stakeholders, from engineers to government officials, need to consider, to ensure that AI technology is developed and used responsibly. These issues include AI bias, concerns that AI could replace human jobs, privacy concerns, human rights, diversity, autonomy issues, and using AI to deceive or manipulate. Ideally, AI systems should be used to benefit all human beings, including future generations. At school, we are exploring positive and productive ways to harness rather than simply ban generative AI technologies.
At assembly this week, our High School students were privileged to have Ed Santow, a past Human Rights Commissioner, provide his insights and experiences in responding to human rights issues, particularly in relation to war crimes. Ed also presented to our Legal Studies classes on the ethics of AI. He is the Director of Policy and Governance at the Human Technology Institute, and Industry Professor for Responsible Technology at UTS, and co-founded the Human Technology Institute (HTI). The HTI aims to promote human-centred AI, upholding human rights by ensuring that new technology delivers outcomes that are fair, accurate and accountable.
The B’Yachad Building takes shape
My tour of the B’Yachad Building this week was exciting, as the complex architectural design has started to come to life on each level. The roof installation is now complete with work on the façade and a watertight building envelope well advanced. Installation of finishes including significant and detailed joinery will then follow. The learning spaces are now clearly defined and the work on installing electricals, audio-visual, air conditioning and plumbing is well underway.
The view on the top level is stunning, and our hopes for a capacious, light-filled and technology-rich building have been realised. The landscape has been set out with large sandstone blocks and some of the playground features have been installed.
Work in the Imaginarium will continue after the main building is completed. There is still much to do!
Anne Angles
We were saddened to hear of the passing of Anne Angles, just shy of her 100th Birthday. Anne and her late husband, Emery Angles, have been long-time friends and supporters of our School, from it’s establishment in 1983. Anne will be sorely missed. We wish the Angles family long life. May Anne’s memory be for a blessing now and always.
Ma Nishma – where to from here?
Thank you to the 318 Ma Nishma readers who responded to our questionnaire. We asked for your opinion on our newsletter, your likes and dislikes, your reading habits and suggestions. Once we collate this important data we’ll be working on a new Ma Nishma reading experience, based on your responses. Thank you for taking the time to share your opinions.
Everybody needs good neighbours
I suspect that each of our families would hope to be surrounded by good neighbours – people who are friendly and treat us with respect – people who appreciate the importance of maintaining clean, orderly and safe streets. Our school community has neighbours on all sides, who are impacted (for good or otherwise) by the behaviour of our drivers and our parents and students as they walk to school. Sadly, the reputation of our School as a good neighbour suffers each and every time a driver (parent, grandparent or student) does not follow our prescribed traffic safety protocols. Our neighbours would hope that we would:
- Use our Go with the Flow process in a calm and orderly manner.
- Turn your car off whilst waiting in a car park space.
- Travel at moderate speeds and obey road rules (no U turns etc).
- Avoid encroaching on their driveways when parking.
- Respond politely to our traffic wardens or neighbours.
- Avoid dropping litter around outside of the School campus.
It would be appreciated if parents could communicate this request to grandparents if they drop off or collect your children from school.
Which gate?
On Wednesday, Margaret Lowe emailed new and important information to you about changes to the use of the Kornmehl Pre-school gates.
From Monday 27 March 2023, the Kornmehl Pre-school gate will not open until 8.00 am, and then ONLY for the use of Kornmehl families and staff. No other staff or students will be able to enter or exit from the Kornmehl Pre-school gate at any time. The Kornmehl Pre-school gate may not be used after 5.00 pm.
To assist staff, students and parents with making this change, the following will also occur from Monday 27 March:
1. Avoca Street Gate will open from 7.00 am.
2. A staff member will be available at Waxman and Avoca Gates from 7.00 am to assist students with large musical instruments.
We ask Kornmehl parents arriving prior to the gate opening at 8.00 am to park nearby and walk into the Pre-school, rather than queuing down the road which is likely to cause traffic jams.
We are obliged to comply with the requirements of Randwick Council and want to be good neighbours to the residents around the School. We will be assessing the impact of the change to the use of the Kornmehl Pre-school gate and whether or not our mitigation measures are helpful. Parents will receive a survey about this mid Term 2…
… we understand why some parents, students and staff will find this difficult and potentially inexplicable. However, the Council requirements that are in place are currently inflexible and hence our need to comply.
Erev Pesach
Please note that the School will be closed on 5 April, which is Erev Pesach.
Mazal tov
- The Emanuel Swim Team competed at the CDSSA Championships, placing 3rd to Pittwater and Moriah – a fantastic result for us as we have a small team compared to the other CDSSA Schools. A second mazal tov to our two CDSSA Age Champions Aviv Farhy (U14) and Jake Rosenfield (U12).
- Every Wednesday in Term 1 our Firsts Basketball team has competed in the CDSSA Firsts Basketball Competition. This week the team won the semi-final with an impressive score of 55-46 in a strongly contested match against SEDA College. This is a significant win for the team and we wish them all the best for the finals.
Quote of the week
“The coming era of Artificial Intelligence will not be the era of war, but be the era of deep compassion, non-violence, and love.” ~ Amit Ray, Pioneer of Compassionate AI Movement