From the Principal
Andrew Watt
Our busy and fruitful 11-week term has concluded with a range of activities to celebrate Pesach. Our Years K-2 students and their parents enjoyed a Family Pesach Seder and our Year 3 and 4 students participated in Family Pesach Workshops, involving making Matzah and clay Pesach cups (Year 3) and student displays and presentation on their learning, followed by a Pesach Art activity (Year 4). Our Years 5 and 6 students enjoyed a Pesach Seder experience earlier in the week. In the High School, our students enjoyed a variety of Pesach Pe’ulot:
- Year 7: Seder and Substance
- Year 8: Dayeinu – excess or sufficiency
- Year 9: Social Action – from Mitstrayim to Yerushalayim
- Year 10: Mitsri to Ivri
- Year 11: Me-MeiAvdut LeCheirut
During the break some of our staff and students will be departing on the March of the Living trip to Poland and the Year 6 trip to the Northern Territory. We wish them a safe and happy trip and look forward to their return next term.
I hope that this break provides you with an opportunity to pause, breathe and enjoy a more slow-paced approach to life, hopefully with sleep-ins, family time, friend time and time to exercise, read or simply relax. I am looking forward to the return of a much refreshed and rested school community!
Chag Pesach Sameach
CABARET…. a showcase of incredible talent
On Tuesday night The Aron Kleinlehrer Performing Arts Centre was adorned with fairy lights flowers and candles. The perfect setting and mood created for a CABARET….. and the audience were not disappointed. The performers were incredible. We were treated to a variety of show tunes from the students favourite musicals such as Hamilton, Les Misérables and even Shrek!
Congratulations to all the singers for their commitment and professionalism – they were amazing. Thank you to Samantha Bauer for her outstanding leadership of the event, to our amazing accompanists, Michelle Lowy and Ezra Hersch (Year 10), and to Alumna Genevieve Goldman who opened the show with the aptly named number We’ve got some magic to do. Thank you also to Lara Rutstein and Rachel Turtledove: organisers and “hosts with the most,” for all their hard work in making the show the success it was. Echoing your sentiments from last night – I too hope the CABARET becomes another wonderful Emanuel School tradition. Congratulations and “Thank you for the Music”.
Author Talk
I was privileged to attend a talk at the School by South African, Beryl Crosher-Segers, author of A Darker Shade of Pale. Beryl shared her story of growing up as a child of mixed race in Cape Town during the Apartheid-era. The audience of Emanuel parents, grandparents and staff were left reeling from Beryl’s memories of her life during this awful time in history. A Darker Shade of Pale is a number one bestseller on the Australian Amazon list in four categories and Beryl has been recognised as one of the 100 most influential Africans in Australia. I can understand why.
Our sibling waitlist priority
The School Board has made amendments to the sibling waitlist priority, given that current enrolments at the School are strong and places are limited. This new policy addresses the circumstance where a family will enrol a child in an early year, in order to fast-track a place for a second child through gaining a priority place on the waitlist. It also brings equity into the enrolment process for those families with no prior connection to Emanuel School, who have submitted their applications in good time. Whereas in previous years their children’s applications would be gazumped by late sibling applications, they are now being afforded the opportunity to join the Emanuel Community. If you wish to have your child attend Emanuel School, we encourage you to submit your applications as early as possible.
Sibling Priority
All applicants within a family group need to be on the waiting list for a minimum of two years before the sibling priority is activated. In the case of a new enrolment where there is a sibling on the waiting list, the sibling priority for the child on the waiting list is only activated once the enrolled student has attended Emanuel School for two years.
Years 1-2 Swimming Carnival
On Wednesday, Years 1-2 students attended their swimming carnival at Des Renford Leisure Centre. The students participated in a range of 25-metre races, including freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke. There was also a number of races across the pool including kickboard, doggie paddle, duck diving and a cork scramble. It was lovely to have parents involved in the parent-student races and relays. The Year 6 House Captains did a wonderful job running the events and supporting the younger students. Thank you also to Stuart Taylor and Sharon Fairfax for planning and facilitating such an excellent carnival.
Mazal tov
Last weekend four Year 6 leaders, Sam Salamon, Max Salamon, Raphael Harpaz and Jayden Segal, did volunteer community service with Stand Up, working with Thread Together. They are a non-profit organisation that fights fashion waste by taking clothes that stores are going to throw away, and giving them to people in need.
Ariella Tracton in Year 10 recently performed both Advance Australia Fair and Hatikvah at UIA NSW Women’s Division major campaign event in front of 600 women! She not only volunteered her time on a Sunday morning and sang beautifully, but they said she was very professional and lovely to work with.
Liat Granot in Year 10 was accepted into the Great Jewish Books Summer Program run by the Yiddish Book Center out of Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, USA
Debating: All of our 5 HICES Debating teams won their debates in Round 3 of the competition. Our Senior Year 10 team and our opens team are undefeated so far this year.
Quote of the week
“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better that you found it.”
Marian Wright Edelman