Kornmehl
Terry Aizen – Director Kornmehl
ZFA Conference
On Sunday and Monday Alex Levy and myself attended the Zionist Federation of Australia Biennial Jewish Educators’ Conference in Melbourne. The conference was held at Mount Scopus Memorial College and catered for educators from the early years through to High School. The focus of the conference was Jewish studies, informal Jewish education, Hebrew, Israel studies, history etc. This year was the 20th anniversary of the conference, which is well recognised internationally and attracts the highest calibre of presenters from around Australia and worldwide. The conference was inspiring, motivating and a wonderful event to be a part of. The aim is to provide continuing learning and development opportunities for educators who can then take back what they have learnt and instil knowledge, passion and deeper Jewish values to the students they encounter on a daily basis.
Alex and I presented to an audience of Early Childhood Educators on the topic of Enriching and Integrating Israel studies into the daily life of the Pre-school.We showcased what our wonderful educators do on a regular basis to teach and impart knowledge about Israel to the children. The presentation included hands on, practical and interactive learning, that allows each child to embrace the learning and internalise the knowledge through the use of all their senses. It incorporated dynamic art works created by the children to make their thinking visible.
Some of the sessions we attended included: Early Childhood Education: a Positive Learning Experience by Udi Cohen, A Shavuot Torah Bikkurim ceremony by Velvel Lederman, Celebrating the Chagim through the senses, A keynote address by Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein – The School of the 21stCentury, To repair the world is to repair Education”: Janusz Korczak by Karen Morrison, Introduction to Dynamic Assessment by Rabbi Feuerstein, Age and appropriateness – at what age should we introduce Shoah education? by Sharon Kangisser Cohen, Jewish meditation by Orna Triguboff, 70 years of demography and the shaping of Israel’s borders by Yigal Nissel and Shai Israel, David Friedman: The Hebrew language – its meaning, symbolism and importance, and another keynote address by Ambassador Mark Sofer and Michael Soberman – Why be part of the Jewish Community? How do we inspire the next generation?
Both Alex and I came back feeling inspired, spiritually uplifted and eager to share what we have learnt with our team. We both feel incredibly privileged to have been given the opportunity not only to present at a conference of this nature but to have attended and been inspired by so many wonderful speakers and to have had the opportunity to network with so many like-minded educators. We found the conference both personally and professionally uplifting.
Bush School
This week the Dolphins and Starfish attended Bush School together to share and explore what our Bush Classroom has to offer. This is the first time the 2 groups have gone together, and it proved to be a wonderful opportunity to share, discover and learn from and with each other.
Grandparents and Special Friends day
Next week the Seashells, Starfish and Dolphins will be celebrating Grandparents and Special friend’s day. The Seashells will perform a short concert in the pre-school on Wednesday 22 August at 9.30am, followed by shared activities and morning tea. The Starfish and Dolphins will perform in the Millie Phillips Theatre on Thursday 23 August at 9.30am, followed by morning tea with their special visitors in the Pre-school. These special events are a highlight of our calendar and provide another opportunity for us to connect with the people, who play such an enormous role in the lives of the little children whom we teach.
Drought Collection
Last week Friday, the pre-school families all donated a “Fiver for a farmer” to support our farmers during this terrible drought. We raised $215 which will go towards helping to buy bales of hay to feed the animals.
The Dolphins and Starfish engaged in meaningful dialogue about the drought and what the farmers are experiencing. Here are some of their comments:
What does rain do for us?
Isaac: It makes our world.
Harry: It makes our trees and bamboo grow.
Tali: It helps give us more water.
Leah: It makes our plants grow.
Aviv: If we don’t have trees and water, we won’t get oxygen to breathe and will die.
Dalia: Rain goes to plants and flowers and they won’t grow without rain.
What is drought?
Coby: There’s a man with a cow and the cow is sad. Maybe all of his friends have gone.
Leah: All the sheep are so sad cause there’s no more grass to eat.
Dalia: The ground is so dry cause there’s no rain. It’s a tiny, bit bumpy.
Harry: They’re worried about the water. I think a drought is coming.
Zella: They make me feel sad because there is no water anywhere and nowhere to play. The children are sitting on the ground and they’re thinking, they wish they had a really good island with water to drink.
Tali: It’s so cracky and it looks like it’s gonna break.
Nadav: No grass, the sheep will die.
Vitaly: The grass will not come if the rain doesn’t come.
Happy Birthday
This week we wish a very Happy Birthday to Ariel Greenberg (3), Jemima Shraibman (5), Joshua Kawalsky (5) and Jared Stein (4). We hope you all had a special birthday celebration.
