Natanya Milner – Head of Primary School

Welcome to Term 2 

Term 2 has begun with e-Manuel continuing for the time being. We are currently discussing the best plans for a return to some on-campus learning and hope to communicate these to you in the near future. At this stage, no quote seems truer than:  

In such a short time, our community has embraced the ‘storm’ and is truly learning to ‘dance’. I cannot adequately express how grateful I am to all the members of our team who are contributing to the success of the current situation. Whilst we all realise it isn’t ideal, I continue to see wonderful things:

• Teachers who are constantly looking for ways to improve the quality of the education they deliver and the ways they can connect with their students. They have bravely tried new tools and embraced the situation with positivity and grace.

• Children who have shown adaptability and are managing to learn an amazing array of new skills as scenarios have been thrown at them. They have shown patience, resilience and good spirit and I am so proud of them.

• Parents who are supporting their children’s education in ways they had never imagined whilst also trying to manage houses and jobs. We truly couldn’t do it without you!

This truly is a combined effort. I would like to reiterate that we understand that everyone – students, teachers and parents – are all doing the best that they can. There will be easier and harder days but here are some tips we thought may be helpful to share:

Be kind to yourself and do what you can:

• No-one appreciates more than we do the work that you are doing at home. We are grateful to you for any support that you are able to offer and we also understand that there are many competing priorities in our families at the moment.

Feel free to look for the fun: 

• Feel free to take part when appropriate. Participate in active/fitness sessions with your children and enjoy some of the fun videos that are being posted by teachers. 

Let your child lead:

• As your children become more familiar with the routines, try to give them the opportunity to explain their understanding to you before stepping in to help or correct. If your child can read/listen to the instructions, then encourage them to use these prompts (even twice) – do not answer your child’s query about what to do if the answers are there. Guide your child to use the chat and interactive features appropriately. 

Set up and maintain expectations and boundaries:

• Come up with some rules collaboratively with your child that consider your needs and tasks for the day as well. If you are working, a visual symbol of when your child can/cannot interrupt you may help them to know. Feel free to remind the children of the posters that we have sent home.

Ensure your child takes regular breaks and keeps moving:

• Each 40 minute lesson should have 30 minutes of learning and 10 minutes to move and take a break. Some ideas for this time include getting a drink or snack, going to the bathroom, stretching and doing some exercise. If you are unable to prompt these breaks because you are working too, setting alarms that match the timetable can help children to know when they need to return for the next lesson.

• We are conscious to include screen and non-screen activities throughout the day. Having a list of non-screen activities that children can do in breaks or outside school time can help to keep screens limited in leisure time.

Yom Ha’atzmaut

A huge thank you to the Hebrew and Jewish Studies team for planning an engaging and fun array of activities for Yom Ha’atzmaut.  From cooking and craft through to Eurovision, there was something for everyone! A special thanks to Adam Carpenter and Hagit Bar-On for working with their team to create such wonderful ideas in our current situation.  I have seen some photos and videos of children from the day and I hope you all had some fun (again – despite the technical glitches!).

Book donations

Last term, an initiative led by Tracy Kluck, Fiona Singer and the Primary Library led to a huge number of books being donated to Books in Homes, Australia by the Emanuel community. Here is a message and some photos from them:  

“Thank you to Emanuel School, Randwick, who recently donated twelve boxes of children’s library books to be distributed to students and schools in socio-educationally disadvantaged areas, and Indigenous and remote communities around the country. Books in Homes’ vision is to create an Australia where every child and family has access to books in the home.”

For more information on Books in Homes click here