It’s hard to believe we are actually at the end of the year. What a busy and exciting year we have had! So many beautiful and special moments and so much learning and development of skills in all areas – socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually and intellectually.

We have watched the children grow and mature and develop some wonderful relationships with both their peers and teachers. We know that the children are ready to take on new challenges next year, whether it’s going to Year K or moving up to be a Starfish or Dolphin. We look forward to 2018 and sharing another year together.

The concerts this week were another way to bring closure to the year as well as to highlight how far the children have come and grown in confidence and maturity. The children were all so excited to perform for their parents and we hope they made you all so proud.

At this time of the year it is important to thank so many people who have contributed to our program in so many different and positive ways.

Firstly, to Morah Anna, our amazing Hebrew teacher – a big thank you for your enthusiastic, interactive and fun Hebrew classes this year, the children loved seeing you and have learnt so much from you this year.

Our lovely music teacher Mrs Susan Longney, who left us in Term 4 to have a beautiful baby girl, Shoshana Dorothy (Shoshi). Mrs Longney has enthusiastically delivered her music lessons this year and the children have loved every minute and all the wonderful songs they have learnt. We wish you happiness always with your new bundle of joy.

We thank Yosiah Oshiro (Yoshi) for stepping in to continue music with us for the remainder of Term 4. The children have loved your fun and interactive lessons.

To Mrs Esti Lipson for her calm and friendly manner in which she always completes any photocopy task so effortlessly and capably.

To Mrs Deborah Beder and Mrs Gail MacKenzie for their collaboration and efficient manner in which they process enrolments for the Pre-school.

Thank you to our Year 2 buddies and their teachers, for coming down and reading to us each week.

Many thanks to Mrs Ginnette Cameron-Gardner and all her staff from the Primary School library, for welcoming the Kornmehl children and families into the library. They have loved their visits each week and we look forward to continuing with these visits next year.

Thank you to Tammy, Coach Al and Coach Jenny from Playball for another incredible year. The children’s gross-motor and ball skills have improved so much and along the way they have had a lot of fun and learnt many other important skills such as following instructions and listening.

Many thanks to the maintenance team – Mr Andrew Delany, Mr Peter Cummins, Mr Santiago Alfaro Mr Simon Hamilton and Mr Tom Katsimardos for their ability to get every job done so quickly and always with a smile. We really appreciate everything you do for us at Kornmehl.

Our thanks must also go to the IT department, with a special mention to Mr Zoran Taleski, Mr Nathanael Clarke, Mr Jackson Lee, Mr Ben Marshall and for constantly running up and down the hill to make sure all our IT glitches are sorted out in good time. You all do an amazing job behind the scenes and we are very grateful for your expertise and support.

We must also thank Tom and his team from security – Greg and Max, who make sure we are kept safe and sound every single day. Many thanks for all your hard work during the year, it is very much appreciated.

A huge thank you to our efficient Parent Club, capably led by Mrs Gail Stein, Mrs Lissa Prosser and Mrs Sharon Miller. Your support and help through the year have been invaluable and very much appreciated. I also especially thank – Mrs Mari Hill, Mrs Gina Becker and Mrs Tammy Golovsky for their endless hours spent collating and designing our soon-to-arrive photo books for each year group. This is a mammoth task and it is wonderful to have all the memories from 2017 captured in this way.

A big thank you to all our amazing Kornmehl staff, who have worked with complete commitment and dedication throughout the year to make 2017 such an amazing year of learning and discovery for all the children. Your expertise, knowledge and experience are valued by us all.

Chanukah

We have been learning about Chanukah – the story, the symbols and traditions. We have created beautiful art works of Chanukiot and dreidels. We have been singing and learning lots of Chanukah songs and will be eating yummy latkes and sufganiot next week.  What a joy it is to celebrate this beautiful and fun festival together.

Farewell to Anne Hastings

Sadly, we have to bid farewell to our amazing, dedicated and hard-working Principal, Mrs Anne Hastings. Mrs Hastings has capably led the school for the past eight years, making many big decisions and being involved in the incredible upgrade of the Emanuel School campus and facilities. Mrs Hastings has been a strong mentor and supporter of the Pre-school and has guided us throughout her tenure in so many positive ways. On Tuesday, we attended Mrs Hastings’ last school assembly and two Kornmehl children – Alfie Berger and Jordan Hill presented her with a special message book memoir.

On Friday, Mrs Hastings joined us for Shabbat and we presented her with four portraits produced by the children and framed beautifully for her to keep forever. We asked the children some thought-provoking questions about Mrs Hastings and we thought everyone would enjoy these insightful answers:

What does it mean to be the School’s Principal?

Tali – She’s the boss of all the teachers.

Ethan – To tell everyone what to do in the school.

Micah – She gets people in trouble.

Courtney – She makes sure people are doing good and to see what the people are doing.

Amy – She goes to the people and if she sees someone doing naughty things she says they must do good deeds.

Tomer – If someone gets in trouble, she takes them somewhere at the office. They have to say sorry to the person.  

What does it mean ‘to retire’?

Tali – She’s having a baby.

Noam – She’s leaving the school.

Eden – She won’t be going to school.

Nathan S – She might be going to a different school. 

Nathan P – She’s doing nothing…She’s going home and doing nothing. Maybe she can have a little lie down and watch her favourite movie on the TV.

Alfie – My grandpa is retired. That means he’s not working anymore.

Ruby – You retire when you’re tired…

Dalia – She can work. She can write anything.

What do you think Mrs Hastings will be doing when she retires?

Eli – She might go shopping.

Tali – When her kids come back from school, she might play with them.

Nathan P- She could play with one of her toys in her bedroom.

Henry – She can sleep for the whole day 

 From the entire Kornmehl Family – Anne, we wish you a happy, exciting and wonderful retirement.

Shabbat and Bush School

On Monday, we will be visiting Bush School for the last time this year, together with all our Kornmehl children and their families for a bumper Bush School family picnic.

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Jonathan K (4), Grace Botsman (4), Jonathan L (4), Tali Strous (5), David Lazarus (5). We hope you all have a special birthday.

We wish all our Dolphins and Starfish moving on to Year K next year much success and happiness as they embark on the next leg of their educational journey. We hope you will all still come and visit us in the years to come.

We wish all our Kornmehl families a peaceful, safe and restful holiday.

We look forward to welcoming you all back on Wednesday 31 January 2018.