Volume 31 Issue 16 03 Jun 2022 4 Sivan 5782

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Back to Pre-school visit

On Friday, a large group of very excited Year K students returned to Kornmehl for our Back to Pre-school visit. Everyone was so happy to see each other – teachers and children. We divided into two groups – Starfish and Dolphins and our Year K students each had a turn to share something special with us that they love about Year K and to show us their favourite page in their journals, that they had learnt at “Big school.”  We sang familiar songs and enjoyed seeing each other again.

The highlight of the visit was afternoon tea and time to play in our beautiful outdoor setting with friend’s past and present. This is always a special time to reconnect with the children and to make sure that the foundations and bonds formed at Pre-school remain a special part of each child’s time with us.

Arava Twining Program

The Pre-school for the second year running, continues its association and relationship with Gan Rimon in Ein Yahav in the Arava in the South of Israel. This is a very exciting partnership for us. We have set up an Arava corner in the classroom, to connect the children to this place and have discussed where it is on the map of Israel. Likewise, Gan Rimon have an Australian corner in their classroom. 

On Thursday afternoon we arranged a Zoom meeting with our buddies in the Arava. It was 3.00 pm in Australia and 8.00 am in Israel. We were all excited to see each other on the screen. We sang two songs for the Arava children, and they sang two songs for us too. It was lovely to chat, and our plan is to connect this year, through regular dialogue between educators (on our WhatsApp group), planning, sharing words of the week, artwork, songs and recipes. The Chagim also provide a wonderful platform for us to share our learning and we often send videos to each other showing the learning happening at Kornmehl for each Chag. This partnership enables the children to connect on a deeper level with their heritage and Israel as a country.

Playball

The Dolphins had an Open Session of Playball on Monday for parents to come and watch. Our visitors were all amazed at the great skills the children have developed since the start of the year and how good they are at listening to instructions from their coaches. This provided another opportunity for families to connect with their child’s learning in the Pre-school. Thank you to all the parents who came to watch.

Stories for Simon

Lisa Sarzin, a past Kornmehl parent and an Emanuel School parent of three beautiful boys, came to read a book she has written called Stories for Simon. It’s a beautiful story and picture book of acknowledging the past and working together for a brighter future. The story is about a boy called Simon that unwraps a beautiful boomerang wrapped in an old newspaper. He learns of the national apology to the Stolen Generations. Lisa began her lesson with an Acknowledgment of Country. She sensitively articulated the important messages in this wonderful book. A book that can bring on very strong emotions for young children as they grapple with the concept of children being taken from their families. The children’s comments and questions were deep and meaningful, and Lisa was able to answer them in an age appropriate way. The important message of the book is that this happened a very long time ago. So that the children can internalise that this will not happen again.

The book is beautifully illustrated by Lauren Biggs. The children enjoyed discussing the illustrations in the book with Lisa. Lisa unpacked the word sorry with the children.

Dylan: When my mum gives me cuddles, I feel better when I’m sad.
Noam: I cuddle my mummy and she has the softest skin in the world.
Allec: At night time I will tell my mum the story you told us.
Aliza: Why did they take the children away? They can tie a rope, so they don’t get hurt and they don’t take them away.

Care Pack project

As our Care Pack project draws to a close over the next week or so, I am always amazed at the generosity of families and schools in the area. This annual project is one that many can relate to on a deep level and the thought of young children, not having access to these basic care necessities is probably the driving force for the project and something that strikes a chord in our emotions to try to make a difference. A difference is certainly what we have all achieved. Thank you to all the Kornmehl and Emanuel school parents for their support of this worthwhile project.

To date we have collected 300 Care Packs from thirteen schools. Graham, the CEO of Gunawirra, collected one huge load last week Thursday and on Monday Michael Pollack, an Emanuel School parent, came to collect another huge carload to deliver to Gunawirra. We still have quite a few schools to still deliver their Care Packs, so I am feeling very confident that we will reach our target of 500 Care Packs. 

This is an incredible effort, and I am extremely grateful to everyone for their support of this worthwhile cause.

Shavuot

We have been learning about Shavuot and, in particular, we have been focusing on the story of Ruth, which is about kindness and loyalty, something we are constantly reflecting on and talking about with the children. We used puppets and props to bring the story to life. 

Through the senses the colour, song, tastes and smells of each Chag, creates positive memories for the children, that will hopefully instil a love and appreciation in their hearts for their Jewish heritage. We have explored drawing of fruits to decorate our Bikkurim boxes, talking about how Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai and what rules are written in the Torah.

We celebrated Shavuot today with a Bikkurim parade, singing and dancing, followed by a yummy milk lunch, consisting of macaroni cheese and ice cream. The children came to school dressed in red, orange, yellow or green. We made colourful crowns to wear on the day. We collected a generous supply of dried and tinned food to donate to Oz Harvest. 

Many thanks to our parent helpers Daniella Alhadeff and Sharon Campbell. Your support is very much appreciated.

A reminder that we are closed for Shavuot on Monday 6 June 2022. 

We wish all our Kornmehl families a Chag Sameach and happy Shavuot.

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to our wonderful Educator Julie Bowman. Happy birthday to Hudson Silver (4) and Asher Heyman (4). We hope you all had a special day. 

Vacation Care

Vacation Care will take place in the upcoming July school holidays from Monday 4 July 2022 – Friday 8 July 2022 and Monday 11 July 2022 – Friday 15 July 2022 from 8.00 am to 4.00 pm. The program and booking will open for Vacation Care this coming week.