Anne Hastings – Principal

This Ma Nishma provides many examples of how the education of this generation has broadened and developed over the years. Our students have such a wide range of educational experiences that extend beyond the classroom and engage them to want to learn more. Gone are the days when students sit at individual desks listening to the teacher and taking notes without talking. The way our students are educated is a reflection of the understanding, gained from research, that to learn effectively you need to be actively engaged, to talk about what you are learning and listen to others (not just the teacher), to delve deeper and think about connections, to portray and explain using a variety of media and to use well the readily-available connections to the world and seemingly endless knowledge accessible through the internet.

At our teachers’ meeting on Monday afternoon after school we viewed the film: ‘Most Likely to Succeed’, which addressed such changes in education and followed students from High Tech High in the US. This school has taken the giant step of moving away from the prescribed curriculum and providing in-depth learning experiences for the students who work together to create and present cross-curricular projects. Their view is that if students are only learning for examinations, they don’t really learn – they are only retaining information for the test and then they forget it – so in-depth learning on 50% of their recognised curriculum is a much better outcome than only 5% retained of the prescribed curriculum. They see that the sorts of skills and understandings that young people need for their workforce will be the ones gained through the experiences provided at the school.

While we are not considering such a giant step, we are certainly thinking about how we can add flexibility to our curriculum, while still remaining within the NSW HSC framework. The addition of two new electives at Years 9 and 10 level (Business Creators and STEAM), as mentioned in a previous article, is part of our drive towards continuing to review and expand what the students are learning. You can see from this and our other Ma Nishma newsletters the evidence of our approach to learning and our aim to ensure our students are engaged and learning effectively. We are committed to continuing to pursue such innovations so that our students have the preparation they need to be highly employable in their future, as well as contributing citizens who have a strong social conscience and understanding of the world.

I hope you enjoy the article in this newsletter on the students’ recent experiences in Timor Leste. Through many comments written by the students, you can see the impact of this experience on them, and the depth of learning beyond the prescribed curriculum that the students gained.

Progress on the building front

On Wednesday, we saw the last of the old High School Library building come down, in a giant leap forward towards our new three-story building on the same site, which should be completed by the end of May 2018. The children have been following the gradual demise of the old building and excitedly watched the final walls get pushed over this week.

Sydney University Research Project

I remind you that information about this project was sent to parents of Years 5 – 11 students this week, asking you to provide permission for your child/children to take undertake the online survey. The request was also for parents to undertake the survey yourselves. Please take the time to give the permission for the students and to assist in taking part in this project. While we get many requests to be part of research projects, we are unable to take up many of them because of time constraints. This project is specifically targeting what we do here and should benefit our and other Jewish students in the long run.

 Mazal Tov to

• Our Middle HICES Debating team who has progressed through to the Semi-Finals round in the HICES competition. Good luck for their debate against St Lukes on Tuesday afternoon next week.
• Adena Sheps (Year 10) for her third placing in the Harry Bell Memorial Art Competition (see the article in this edition)
• The P&F for a wonderful Comedy night last Saturday evening
• Our Science staff for bringing the exciting Science week to our students last week (see the Science article in this edition)
• Our new SRC students and Peer Support leaders for accepting the mantle of leadership for the next 12 months (names are included in the House pages in this edition).

Coming up

• ‘Jerusalem, Islam and the Temple Mount’, a talk by Adi Gefen-Adler, Sunday 27 August 2:30 – 4:30 pm, Primary Library
• Alumni and Senior Chamber Choir Concert, Sunday 27 August, 5 pm, Millie Phillips Theatre
• Year 10 Camp (Ayekah), Tuesday 29 August to Sunday 3 September
• Purple Plain Clothes day, a fundraiser for the Friendship Circle, Tuesday 29 August
• Safe Partying, a talk by Anne Ferfolya (Senior Constable, School Liaison) for all interested parents, Tuesday 29 August, 7 pm the Millie Phillips Theatre
• Fathers’ Day breakfast (7:00 am – 8:20 am, MPH) and stall, Friday 1 September

Quote of the week 

‘As we churn out millions of kids each year from an education system that teaches and tests them on narrow aspects of content retention that any smartphone can handle, we set them up for failure, unhappiness and social discontent.’ [Tony Wagner & Ted Dintersmith, in ‘Most Likely to Succeed’, Scribner].  

Best wishes for an enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

Shabbat Shalom