Andrew Watt – Principal

Growing the next generation of entrepreneurs

Our current strategic plan seeks to unleash the potential of every student, to enable them to make a difference in our world. Our ‘Emanuel Graduate Attributes’ reflect the value we place on encouraging an entrepreneurial and inquiry mindset, on seeking new ways of thinking and doing that will enable them to adapt and thrive in a fast-paced and rapidly changing world. We view entrepreneurship as an important vehicle for change, providing an opportunity for our students to live a life filled with passion and creativity, solving problems and making a positive impact on our society.

To this end, our bespoke Business Creators Course in Years 9 and 10 explores innovative and entrepreneurial practices, providing practical applications across a range of business start-up models. Our students discover that, even with a great idea…. the road to entrepreneurship is often a treacherous one, filled with unexpected detours, roadblocks and dead ends. There are many sleepless nights, plans that do not work out, funding that does not come through and customers that never materialise (Generation Entrepreneur).

Students workshopping business ideas

This week our Business Creator classes participated in our annual Generation Entrepreneur Competition. This one-day workshop is conducted by Generation Entrepreneur, a Not-For-Profit that aspires to instil an entrepreneurial spirit within the future generation of young Australians. The competition program required students to work in teams, with the aim of building a business. Our students were encouraged to brainstorm, research, design and present their ideas to a panel. This workshop provided a unique opportunity to gain an insight into an entrepreneurial mindset, and to develop and apply creativity, critical thinking, leadership and public speaking skills, within a high-pressure environment.

Some of the business ideas that surfaced include:

• Paper IT: A business that works to reduce office waste by recycling paper into items such as notebooks, grocery bags, toilet paper and tissues.
• Vitality: A company that utilises AI technology to develop personalised fitness, workout and diet plans for unique goals and environments.

The winning team was Vitality, who will progress to the next stage of the competition, where they will compete with students from all over NSW. Mazal tov to Zachary Sherman, Dean Stein and Liam Danon. Thank you to Max Friend for leading this annual event and to Shane Ryan for his help on the day.

Israel Expo 

What better way to learn about the food, culture, commerce, defence, performing arts, technology, environmentalism and sport within Israel? This past week saw the culmination of a term’s worth of research on Israel for our Year 8 students, across niche areas of interest in Israel. These findings were developed and presented as individual showcases. All the projects were put on display in stalls within the Lehrer Family Multi-Purpose Hall on Wednesday. Each stall shared Israel’s industry and development across every area of life from medicine to food, from agriculture to water salination. Parents and grandparents walked through the displays, engaged with the students and felt as if they were in a branch of the Tel Aviv Museum. Many enjoyed a falafel from the canteen at the same time.  

The Annual School Cross Country Carnival

Students from Years 3 – 10 competed in a challenging course around Queens Park. Only those students with a high level of fitness could traverse the course at a consistently fast pace, and we congratulate those students who will represent our School at the CDSSA Championships. A full report, with details of our top place-getters, is included this issue. Many thanks to our K-12 Director of Sport, Heath Morley, and to our PDHPE and Sport staff.

Mazal Tov

Aaron Berkowitz at the ANZAC Day Services. Image from the Sydney Morning Herald’s Instagram page

• To the winners of the K-12 Music Performance and Composition Competition: Koben Benko and Arielle Shalem (Years K-2); Zella Benko and Nathan Shammay (Years 3-6); Reuben Durbach and Benjamin Fram (Years 7-10) and Jamie Schneider and Mariah Lewy (Years 11-12).
• To Aaron Berkowitz (Year 10) who participated in both the ANZAC Day Coogee Dawn Service and the Sydney CBD March with the Air Force Cadets 3 Wing (NSW and ACT) Band, playing on the tuba. His photo was posted on the Sydney Morning Herald’s Instagram page. 
• To Jonathan Levy (Year 10) who played solo saxophone for over an hour on the forecourt of the new wing to the Art Gallery of NSW, welcoming donors to the JCA Major Donors Fundraiser dinner.

Quote of the week

“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there will be no hope for it.”~ Albert Einstein