Kornmehl
Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl
Yom Ha’atzmaut
Last week the Pre-school was immersed in blue and white and lots of lovely discovery and exploration around Israel, as well as our twinning school in the Arava – Gan Pashosh.
Our intention is to gain a sense of history, belonging and pride in the land of Israel, as we make connections from Pesach (the exodus out of Egypt) into our next celebration of Yom Ha’azmaut (Israel’s day of independence).
The children got to eat yummy pita, humus, and Israeli salad, as well as a delicious cake baked fresh in the morning by our Educator, Julie with a bunch of helpful young chefs in tow. We celebrated with a flag parade, Israeli dancing and lighting the candles on our birthday cake to celebrate Israel’s 75th birthday.
Some comments:
Renee: Why are we celebrating Israel’s birthday today?
Noam: “Because we love Israel and my dad, and my sister were born there.”
Hudson: “Because it’s a special place. Well, my cousin’s been to Israel. That’s why I’ve got an Israel hat!”
Alma: “Because my cousins were born in Israel, and my dad. Because Israel has had many fights in these years and armies, because some people volunteered to help them.”
Ziggy: “Because Israel is a paradise. That means a really beautiful place.”
Noam: “You know, I went to Israel once.”
Oscar: “Because it’s very special, because we love Israel so much.”
Freddy: “Because the Jewish people got away from King Pharaoh and went to Israel.”
This week on Wednesday we were lucky enough to visit the Year 8 Israel Expo. This is always a highlight for us and a great opportunity to connect with our Emanuel School community. The Year 8 students were warm, welcoming and patient as they engaged the Pre-schoolers and explained their displays to the children. What a wonderful learning opportunity for both parties.
The Recycleman
On Thursday we enjoyed an interactive, educational show from the Recycleman.
The show educated children on the importance of recycling and ongoing sustainability. Through the show the children gained an understanding of environmental awareness and learnt how our recycling bin system works and what they can do every day to help.
The passion and excitement expressed by the Recycleman coupled with the use of costumes, games and visual aids kept the children engaged throughout the 40-minute sustainability show. The show addressed the Early Years Learning Framework outcomes perfectly:
Element 3.3.1: Develop and implement sustainable practices in physical environment.
Element 3.3.2: Children are supported to become environmentally responsible and show respect for the environment.
Element 6.3.4: Children are connected with and contribute to their world.
Aboriginal wall mural
Garry Purchase
Our long-awaited wall mural will begin in the Kornmehl car park on Monday. This project was supposed to be completed in 2021, but sadly, COVID came along and put a halt to it. We have been working closely with Aboriginal artist Garry Purchase. Garry is a proud Aboriginal man of Dharawal, Bidjigal and Dhungutti descent. He grew up in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs in Botany and was raised amongst the Aboriginal community of La Perouse.
Garry has always had a creative passion and was a musician for many years playing drums in a few Sydney rock bands.
His creative style is a more modern take on traditional Aboriginal art, steering away from the common dreamtime stories and focusing on his own personal journey, experiences and social issues that pushes a lot of creative boundaries as he stretches the limits of what Aboriginal art can be.
His works have attracted a lot of attention and have also earned Garry a few awards. He took out the major first prize Tony Donovan Award at Reconciliation Exhibition at Gosford Regional Gallery in both 2014 and 2016 with “One Nation” and “Under The Southern Cross” respectively.
You can catch a sneak peak of our designs for the wall mural in this week’s photos. Garry has worked hard to combine both his Aboriginal heritage and our Jewish heritage in the designs. We are delighted with the designs and look forward to seeing them come to life through his amazing talent.
Aboriginal art explorations
At Kornmehl, we want the children to be aware of and develop an understanding of Aboriginal culture and heritage and include Aboriginal perspectives into our centre. Some of the ways we have been doing this is through discussions, reading stories and Acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the Land.
We are linking into the designs for the wall mural for the Kornmehl car park, by looking closely at the art works planned and together with the children discussing the symbols and their significance in Aboriginal art and how they tell stories through their artwork.
Neave: “I can see a star in the middle. It reminds me of little dots. The dots are different colours and sizes. They are around the big circle.”
Zac: “It is like the Israeli flag.”
Drew: “There is a circle there and they are the same shape as on the painting.”
We invited the children to make up and tell their own stories using the symbols on a set of wooden blocks. Here are some of their stories:
Drew: “Once an upon a time there was a girl and a boy.They were gathering around. All of a sudden it started to rain. Then they saw a rainbow. They walked around. There was a river and they saw a goanna in the river. Then they saw an emu in the river. There were kangaroos having a dance. The had a little bit of a walk.”
Neave: “Once upon a time, there was a boy and girl gathering around the circle. They saw a kangaroo. Then they had a little swim. They saw a goanna and emus. Then they had a little walk down the track.”
James: “Once there was a River Nile and a boy, the rain came down and the boy hid in a tree. When it stopped, he didn’t know and then a rainbow came. A girl came along and wanted to play with the boy. He was stuck. So, the girl helped him, and she played with him. The kangaroo came and said, I want to play with you and then they gathered round and played. The emu came and he said he wanted to play with them. Then the goanna came along and said can I play too, and they said no no no.”
