Andrew Watt

Welcome to Meir House!

The launch of a new House is a rare event in a school’s history; the last time was 16 years ago, when Rashi, Rabin and Szenes were introduced. The ceremonial change of House was marked by changing out of the old House t-shirt, into the emerald green and silver Meir House t-shirt. It is our hope that, as with all of our Houses, the new community will nurture and guide each student to be the best that they can be. Meir House, led by Adam Ezekiel, will now commence their preparations for domination of the Inter-House competition! We look forward to appointing our new House leaders in the near future.

 Only at Emanuel…

We conducted a very fast and efficient lockdown drill during the lunch break last Friday. Upon the onset of the alarm, 2 of our Primary School students (who will remain nameless) calmly ate their lunch and continued their chess game, under the reception desk, in the dark and in absolute silence. After the drill, they did however request that we purchase a softer carpet and a less shrill emergency alarm!

 The impact of student leadership

Our student leaders play a significant role in maintaining a positive and caring school culture, in which their peers feel a strong sense of connection and belonging. They are also involved in leading a wide range of activities that engage and empower their fellow students. In contrast to a ‘command and control’ approach, our leaders are supported to encourage and serve those around them. We value integrity and respect over popularity and our hope is that leaders are chosen who will enable each student to thrive and flourish at Emanuel. Nominations for Madrichim, House Captains and the Student Representative Council (SRC) closed this week, marking the commencement of the leadership election process.

Next week students will be presented to the School at assemblies and Year meetings and voting will open. Our online voting system is being prepared as I type! Finally, the votes will be tallied and, in some cases weighted. Who will be student leaders for 2018-2019?

Remaining true to our values

It appears that a small number of our students are bringing meat products to school. In accordance with our kashrut policy and to ensure that we respect the kashrut sensibilities of all students within our pluralistic community, meat products and derivatives are not to be brought on to our Emanuel campus, with the exception of school-sponsored events where the food supplied is kosher.

Student initiative

Isabella Flax has started a new initiative for the High School – Open Mic Thursdays. This provides anyone in Years 7-12 an opportunity to perform live music every Thursday Week A on the Basketball courts. If students are interested in participating, please email Isabella.

Baby Sitting Registry

Emanuel School Babysitting Registry has been updated for 2018. This is a list of students in Years 9-12 who are interested in babysitting for members of the Emanuel community. The document can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eD06SsnryYEghNio9pojRNv0u9T1kkDJ9P47vB0H6bw/edit?usp=sharing.

For any enquiries regarding the registry, contact Isabella Flax by email: flax.isabella@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Mazal tov

• Adena Sheps in Year 11, has won 1^st place in the senior category of the Waverley Youth Art Prize. Adena’s oil painting is titled Budgie Love and depicts the friendship between her brother Aidan and a budgie.
• Moshe Rosenzweig, parent of Noa in Year 4, who was awarded an OAM in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honour List for his service to the Visual Arts, particularly to Photography.
• Ezra Hersch, Year 9, recently entered a National Fanfare Composing competition. His composition has been selected as one of only 8 across Australia. He will now be mentored by Australian composers and his composition will be played at performance venues across Australia.
• Alex Placek, Year 10, won the under 16s title at the recent Australian ranking tennis tournament in Foster.
• Our 16 boys futsal team, they won the NSW Schools Regional Championships on Thursday

Quote of the week

“Learning is like rowing upstream; not to advance is to drop back.”

Chinese Proverb