Justine Hofman – Head of P&F

The end of the school year is upon us. The week has brought some hope with the return of the most vulnerable of hostages.

As we welcome in Chanukah next week, may more light continue to shine through. These times definitely shed light on what we are all grateful for and for me, one thing that I really appreciate being a part of our Emanuel community. Earlier this week, all the P&F Committee Heads met and shared a presentation highlighting our achievements this year. I so am proud of everyone who contributed and made these successes possible.

2023 Successes

• A new structure and new charter. We embarked on a significant project to determine the best new structure for the P&F moving forward. After much research and consultation we now are a committee under the school and with a new Charter to guide us.
• Raised over $25,000 with proceeds going to an array of projects including outdoor shade cover for new B’Yachad Building, a 40^th celebratory artwork created by students and a new commercial freezer to increase our capacity for Mitzvah Meals.
• Fully-fledged committees and 25% growth in participation in our initiatives and events. These initiatives are made possibly thanks to nine committees, 50 committee members, 250+ volunteers and 1400+ participants.
• A dedicated staff member supporting our efforts. Since mid-year Laura Hamilton has been working for the P&F as Administrator significantly lightening the load on committees and the P&F Executive. She is the parent of an Emanuel graduate, current administrative support to the SLC and has come from a career in event management.

As this is our last Ma Nishma update for the year, and the last for me as P&F President, I want to acknowledge some wonderful people.

Firstly, thank-you to every single person who works at Emanuel School. On behalf of all parents and friends, we know that this term has been full of strain and heightened emotion and we appreciate you for your teaching, supporting, administrating, managing, maintaining, securing, catering and everything else in between you’ve done to ensure our kids are happy and thriving in school.

I also want to acknowledge our School Board and Foundation Board, all of whom volunteer their expertise and time to build a bright future for our school and our community. In particular, thank you to outgoing Board President David New and Foundation Board President Marla Bozic.

For the P&F, there are a number of people who contributed significantly to make this year a success. I would like to express my biggest thank you to Lisa Strous who has done an incredible job this year as Treasurer but also being the driver of the P&F Structure project. You are a truly brilliant person to work alongside and such a giver to this school. Thank you also Lynn Ross who is our Secretary who has stepped up into this role with cool and a sense of humour.

Biggest thanks to our incredible team of class parents headed up by the wonderful Louise Romer and Amy Friedlander. You keep us all from forgetting mufti days, remembering when there’s a class excursion and everything else in between. Thanks to: Corinne Franks, Alisa Siale, Lisa Pillemer, Avital Melman, Fiona Aaron, Kirsty Greenfield, Anna-Lisa Palmer, Naomi Raiz, Jessie Kawolsky, Sally Greenberg, Alina Kirievsky and Ally Kuperman.

Thank you to our Committee Heads who have done an extraordinary job of creating initiatives with love and care: Ilan Bloom, Mary Glikin, David Eliovson, Lynn Ross, Carli Rothman Rebecca Pal, Elly Berger, Sharon Miller, Louise Romer, Melanie Shilbury and Sam Butt.

Thank you to Sam Butt, who is stepping down from her role as New Families liaison.Thank you for all your contributions over the years which helped to make our newest community members feel welcome.

On a personal level, I have gained so much in this role the past two years. I have loved seeing our community come together. The laughs, friendship and camaraderie on committees has been a highlight. I will continue to be involved and I am hoping to get some new projects for the P&F off the ground in 2024.

As a reminder, we are now calling on nominations for a new President or Co-Presidents (yes there can be two sharing this role) for the P&F in 2024.

You can nominate yourself or nominate someone else to our P&F Secretary, Lynn Ross by emailing pandfsecretary@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au . If you would like more information on what the role entails, Lynn can share further details.

For the Diary

• Friday Chills: 3.15 pm – 4.00 pm, Fridays (lat one on today)
• Pre-loved Uniform Shuk Collection: 7.30 am – 8.30 am, 4 December  2023 – 7 December 2023
• Pre-loved Uniform Shuk Sale: 8.00 am – 12.00 pm, Monday 29 January 2024