Andrew Watt – Principal

What do we want most for our children?

In my 40-plus years in education, parents have consistently indicated that their highest priority is for their children to be safe, happy and well connected, at a school that aligns with their values and enjoys a strong sense of community. Academic success, as a gateway into the future workplace, would also be valued highly.

Keeping our students safe is very important to us, and we aspire to maintain a child safe culture, aligned to the following values:

• The best interests of children and their protection from harm is paramount.
• Child abuse is not tolerated and must not happen.
• Children’s rights are understood and respected.
• Concerns about child safety raised by children and their parents are acted upon; and
• Reporting abuse is not obstructed or prevented.

The Office of the Children’s Guardian, in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, developed 10 Child Safe Standards as a framework to ensure that our schools keep child safety at the forefront. Standard 6 requires a child safe culture that encourages the reporting of child abuse and ensures the effective handling of all complaints and investigations. We would expect our students to know who to talk to if they felt uncomfortable or unsafe. In turn, our students would expect to be believed if they spoke up, and that action would be taken because of it. They would expect not to get in trouble if they spoke up.

A child-focused complaint process

Once a year, our reporting process is reinforced at our High School Assembly. Excerpts from my presentation are outlined below:

I would love it if every student here today could say: “I feel safe when I’m here” and “I know that they take my safety seriously”. It would also be great if everyone understood their basic rights: the right to be heard, the right to be listened to and the right to be believed. We want to respond appropriately if you report an incident of abuse, or if you feel that you are unsafe. We want our reporting process to be consistent, clear and supportive. We want you to be assured that our investigations would be carried out confidentially.

It takes great courage to report – and we want students who report to know that they will be taken seriously and not dismissed. All staff are mandatory reporters, which means that if you report something to us, we have to report the information to the correct authorities. This should not stop you from reporting – as our process is designed to make sure that the right people know, so that they can help. We will commit to a swift, fair and thorough follow up of all reports. Importantly, you too have a role to play – we would ask that you report any incidents where you have felt unsafe – and to be honest and up-front. Even if you are not sure if something is true, it may be worth discussing it with a trusted adult, as long as you don’t report it as a fact. You may want to say “I have heard this, but I am not 100% sure that it is true.”

Our School has a Complaints Handling Policy that will give you a clear picture of our reporting process. It is on the student portal. You can report to your House Tutor, your Head of House, a Counsellor, or to a trusted staff member. I want to finish on a positive note – we should be very thankful that we have a very caring and supportive staff team We will continue to do all that we can to make Emanuel a happy, busy and joyful learning community, where students feel valued and staff feel that they are making a difference.

A music-filled week 

Our Annual Music Camp was held at Lake Macquarie Outdoor Recreation Centre. Over 200 students enjoyed sunshine, music rehearsals, talent shows and fellowship over the three days. Well over 100 rehearsal sessions took place, across our instrumental ensembles, orchestra and our choral groups. It was great to see how our more advanced musicians encouraged and supported our younger ‘apprentices’.

Our Music Showcase Concert, held on Thursday evening, was the culmination of many hours of rehearsing musical items that were new to the students on Monday. The audience of Emanuel and Mt Sinai families and students were entertained by a captivating array of individual and group performances. All would agree that the end product was impressive and a reflection of the value of the Music Camp. We owe a debt of gratitude to Diana Springford for so ably organising this complex event, held jointly with students from Mt Sinai. She was well supported by Jo De Araujo. Thanks also to our outstanding team of music teachers and peripatetic staff. We are grateful to Sharon Arnott for capturing our students’ performances so beautifully at the Concert. Look out for more photos on Facebook today and in Ma Nishma next week. 

P&F Years K-6 40th Anniversary Kabbalat Shabbat and Challah Make

To celebrate our 40th anniversary, the P&F will be hosting a Kabbalat Shabbat and Challah Make for all K-6 students and their parents. The event, which will be held on Friday 4 August 2023, is going to be a wonderful opportunity for our Primary community to celebrate this important milestone together. It’s vital for parents to RSVP by 21 July 2023 so we can order sufficient challah dough for all. Unfortunately due to space limitations, we can only accommodate one adult per family group. I wonder how big a challah we can make with 350kg of dough!

Primary School Athletics Carnival 

Our students from Years 3 to 6 engaged in the fierce but friendly Inter-House Athletics Carnival. The event was a great success, attributed to exceptional organisation and support from parents and staff, coupled with perfect weather conditions. Exemplary sportsmanship was exhibited by our students, who displayed unwavering support and encouragement for one another. Our Year 6 House Captains demonstrated commendable leadership skills, leading the cheers and fostering an atmosphere of excitement. Many of our students demonstrated both determination and resilience throughout the events, challenging themselves beyond their comfort zone or their previous best performances. Many thanks to Stuart Taylor and the Primary School staff. Please read the K-12 Sport article for photos. Thank you to Ofer Levy for capturing these memorable moments. 

Mazal tov

Dylan Fisher and Gia Jocum at the Giant Steps fundraiser

Year 11 students, Gia Jocum and Dylan Fisher, recently volunteered at a Giant Steps fundraising event. The charity’s representative sent me the following messaage: “I was incredibly impressed by their attitude, their hard work and their willingness to support the event in any way possible. They were a credit to their school, their families and most importantly to themselves. It was a pleasure to have their support”. It’s wonderful to see our students being active participants in Tikkun Olam. 

Quote of the week

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” ~ Plato, ancient Greek philosopher