From the Principal

HSC Drama outstanding achievement

We heard this week that two of our HSC Drama students, Asher Klein and Dean Smuskowitz, have been nominated for OnSTAGE, the HSC exhibition of the top performers. External markers tour all the schools and view each performance, marking each one and nominating only the very best for OnSTAGE. To have two nominations from a group of eight students is an outstanding achievement for the students and our Drama teacher, Sam Bauer. We greatly appreciate the consistently superb guidance she gives her Drama students, and congratulate Asher and Dean on this wonderful achievement.

Evening of Song

Congratulations, admiration and thanks also go to Adam Majsay, our Senior Chamber Choir and the alumni who joined them last Sunday for a beautiful evening of song in our Millie Phillips Theatre (see the Gesher page for more on this event).

Photographs

This week Maxine Chopard, assisted by other staff members, has managed two full days of photographs. In these days all our extra-curricular groups were photographed and required a huge amount of organisation, since we have lots of students involved in many different activities. We thank Maxine for her outstanding efforts in ensuring the days ran smoothly and efficiently. I received a beautiful email from one of the photographers about his experience with the students and staff over these two days:

I simply felt compelled to pass on my admiration for your staff and students, the manner in which I was treated by both made me feel personally so welcome and I thoroughly enjoyed the happy interaction with children and young adults who are, in my humble opinion, exemplary human beings. I visit some 200 schools per year and would honestly say that Emanuel sets the benchmark for what can be achieved with nurturing and earning respect.

Thanks

The P & F Trivia night committee is keen to thank and pay tribute to their Year 11 helpers on the night, who helped make the evening such a huge success: Aarin Regan-Lacey, Asha Lancaster, Isabella Kidman, Max Woolf, Yael Grunseit, Chloe Corne, Dylan Kramer, Ethan Cohen, Kerryn Finn, Sophie Lew, Shoshana Blackman, Jordana Blackman, Karen Davids, Maya Burich, Pnina Hagege, Richard Yavits, Talia Rubinstein and Sophie Doctor.

Kindy rooms are coming!

Our new Kindergarten space is close to being finished. Next term Kindergarten students will return to their new, beautiful, colourful and welcoming classrooms. We look forward to seeing the children’s responses when they see their new rooms on their first day next term.

Go with the Flow reminder

Please note the signs for the bus stop in relation to the pick-up zone in Avoca Street. Cars have been fined in recent weeks for standing in the bus stop zone.

Mazal tov to:

• Lachlan Corne (Year 8) who won the premier league (top level) Maccabi tennis competition this week in straight sets
• Erik Unger who has been selected to participate in the New South Wales Schools Constitutional Conventionat Parliament House in November
• Gabriel Jammy (Year 12) who has been the Rabin reporter for Ma Nishma for the past 5 years, faithfully giving us the news from Rabin
• The Open boys and 14 years basketball teams who are playing in their grand finals this coming week. Good luck boys!
• The Year 11 Drama students who entertained the audience with their group and individual performances on Tuesday night. The evening was spectacular!

Anne Hastings – Principal

Coming up

• Year 6 Jilkminggan trip begins on Sunday 18 September
• Year 12 Farewell Assembly 8:20 am and Graduation Dinner 6 pm, Tuesday 20 September
• Grandparents Day and Rosh Hashanah celebration, Friday 23 September
• Last day of Term 3, Friday 23 September
• Students return to School for Term 4, Thursday 13 October
• HSC Examinations start Thursday 13 October.

Quote of the week

‘Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralising’ [Harriet Braiker]

From the Head of Jewish Life

ביטולה זהו קיומה

Abrogation of the Torah is its Fulfillment

Rabbi Daniel Sigel

Like the world in which we live, our Jewish tradition can only be enduring and thriving through constant and continual evolution. This is particularly evident with regard to this week’s parashah, Ki Teitsei.

Offensive to today’s sensibilities, we read the following command: “A mamzer (a child born of an ‘illicit union’) shall not be admitted into the community of the Lord, even unto the tenth generation (which the following verse makes clear means ‘forever’). The Rabbis present God as asserting that a Jewish community and its legislators that use the Torah to oppress, rather than comfort those in need, are not serving Me:

“I observed all the oppressions that are done under the sun; and behold the tears of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; but from the hand of their oppressors comes power, but they have no comforter” (Ecclesiastes 4:1).

Hanina the Tailor interpreted this verse: “All the oppressions” this refers (to what is being done) to the mamzerim (those illicitly conceived), “and behold the tears of the oppressed” (for) their mothers transgressed, but it is these humiliated ones that are being marginalised. This one’s father had illicit sexual relations, but what did he (the child) do? Why should it have consequence for him?

“They had no comforter” but “from the hand of the oppressor there comes power” – this refers to the Great Assembly of Israel which comes upon them with the power of the Torah and marginalises them in the name of “A mamzer shall not be admitted into the community of the Lord”. But, (since) “they have no comforter”, the Holy One Blessed be He says: “It is upon Me to comfort them”.

Proclaiming that, at times, the “abrogation of the Torah is its fulfilment”, our Rabbis, in the name of God, are referring to instances such as the “mamzer”. Today, in Israel the “pious” scrupulously maintain records of those born into “mamzerut” lest they, or their progeny, ever enter the “community of the Lord”.

The Rabbinic understanding that Jewish law must continually evolve, lest we blind rather than bind ourselves to the will of God finds support in the Biblical tradition itself. In this same parashah, Ki Teitsei, we find the following warning: “Children shall not be punished for the transgressions of their parents”. Beyond supporting the Rabbinic protest that a child of an “illicit union” should not suffer for the actions of his parents, this verse contradicts an earlier biblical declaration, appearing in the Book of Exodus: “The Lord visits the guilt of the parents upon the children”.

Our Rabbis, following upon the biblical tradition which, as an evolving tradition, may counteract its own no longer supportable teachings, presents our human community as making God’s law an obstacle to or a means of creating a truly divine community.

As we are reminded at the latter part of this parashah, we must seek to be ethically and morally just, which requires an evolving sensibility, if we wish to long endure as a people and tradition in this world.

Rabbi Daniel Siegel, Head of Jewish Life

Ma Koreh

Devar Torah

The following Devar Torah was written by Year 11 student, Eitan Meshel delivered in our High School tefillot this week. 
Rabbi Daniel Siegel

Ki Teitsei

Eitan Meshel

This parashah is both famous and infamous in its content, stating both some of the sincerest and philosophically thought-provoking rules, and some of its most ignorant and inconsiderate ones, all contained within the same paragraphs! People against the Torah as a guide would at some point quote from here, and those who find value in the Torah would do the same with different sections. Here, a long list of rules are stated.

It begins with a process to respect the death of someone killed in a field, where the perpetrator is undiscovered. The city nearest to the field will commemorate the individual’s death, while symbolically representing the unnecessary and unavenged death of a human life. This is a beautiful notion that suggests an appreciation and respect for life.

The portion then has two other processes that should happen. One is referring to falling in love with someone who is a prisoner of war, that shows that the partner may marry them, but is not to sell them as a slave if the relationship does not work out. This is because the prisoner has already paid you with the relationship you two had, and so it would not be right to then profit from them further. The second process shows that even an unloved first born child is to still inherit the land and money that a first born child should, as you should not favour one child over another. Both have good intentions and inherent values that are consistent with respectable elements of Judaism.

However, this is suddenly followed by the rule that if a child is rebellious or stubborn in relationship to his/her parents, he/she should be killed! Quite a heavy-handed notion that is rather unforgiving! Then, it kindly says to respect the body of even a criminal, and to bury the criminal, like all others, after death. This pattern continues, where it says that it is your duty to return lost possessions to your fellow human being, and to help him/her. It then states that a woman is not to wear men’s clothing, and that a man is not to wear women’s clothing, and that people who do so are worthy of death!

By this stage, you can probably already tell why this is such a strange portion of the Torah. On the one hand, there is a clear love for humanity, and on the other, a distaste for what is deemed poor behaviour, according to standards that it would have gathered from the common attitudes of the time, attitudes long-since outdated. It is these which are the pitfalls, and are the reasons we must apply our own logic and understanding to such an ancient text that has many invaluable pieces of moral and ethical worth, that may be shrouded in unfortunately inconsiderate writings that by our standards do not match.

In one example of blatant unfairness, if a man accuses his wife of dishonesty, and is proven to have lied about this, he is to be fined and cannot divorce his wife. However, if a man accuses dishonesty, and is proven to be correct about this, the wife is to be killed! This is a clear unbalance that must have been intentional, having been within the same lines of writing.

The question here lies in the intention – why is this the attitude? If there is such huge respect to the significance of death, why is death dealt so easily to rebellious women and children, and people of LGBT Plus nature? Why is their life disregarded? There are so many examples of kind-hearted writings in the Torah, that can so easily be lost when overshadowed by the unforgiving nature of others surrounding it.

Perhaps from this we can learn that people are so flawed, and that humanity is a complex network of contradictions, with the intention of doing well by the world, with the tempting nature of committing the opposite. This life demands both personal discipline, and open acceptance of others, and they should not need to contradict the intentions of one another. We can all learn from this – that we can support each other, and work through our misconceptions, and strive to find a way to love humanity without making exceptions.

From the Head of Science

View from the Kleinlehrer Family Science Building

Jennifer Selinger

“Bones, bones, bones, bones, the giant sea-dog moans,” says James Reeves and Year 10 would be forgiven for moaning similarly, as they have been looking at quite a lot of bones over the last few weeks. They took a field trip to the Australian Museum to do research into evolution, using the collection to deepen their understanding of Natural Selection and the Theory of Evolution by actually looking at real examples and life-sized models of the evidence. On the subject of bones, the Science department has recently been the grateful recipients of a box of real bones that will make our teaching that much more authentic and interesting for the students. Thank you to the anonymous donor – we were very excited to get the romantic-looking box and open it (with an appropriate creak) to see our gift!

Year 8 students have been visiting Mars, at least in their imaginations, and have been delving into such questions as how long a month should be (Mars has two moons and one circles in seven hours and the other takes a few days). Is a second a second and a minute a minute or do we make Mars Minutes? Is 24 hours a good length for a day? How are we going to work out school holidays? How about the Jewish Festivals – will Yom Yippur be even longer? They have also been considering the difficulty of representing the size of the planets in our Solar System and the distances between them on the same scale – a walk to Randwick is in their near future as we try to help them to visualise the distances involved. One interesting fact that emerged from a student’s question – the distance around Pluto at the equator is the same as the distance from Sydney to Darwin and back.

Things have been going up and down in Year 7 lately as they exercise their problem-solving skills and their construction ability in designing and making roller-coasters. The variety of design is amazing! Speaking of variety, Year 9 has been investigating biodiversity and ecology and there is no string left in the Science Department as it has all been used in showing the complexity of the energy relationships in even fairly straight-forward ecosystems.

Year 12 Biology got their thinking caps on (see picture) as Year 12 winds down to their graduation. The students are working hard, filling in the gaps and honing their skills ahead of the ordeal and we wish them all the best in their endeavours and for the future – we have really enjoyed having them in our classes over the years.

Jennifer Selinger – Head of Science

From the Head of Drama

Congratulations to Asher Klein and Dean Smuskowitz for their OnSTAGE nomination!

Each year the Board of Studies presents OnSTAGE, a selection of performances and projects from Higher School Certificate Drama students. Student selection is based on outstanding performances or projects in the subject. Each year our Drama excursion to OnSTAGE is one of the highlights and we are so proud that these two young actors are being considered as part of the program. OnSTAGE will be held at the Seymour Centre, Sydney from 4 February to 10 February 2017, so watch this space.

Asher Klein and Dean Smuskowitz

Samantha Bauer, Head of Drama

Year 11 Drama Showcase

Samantha Bauer – Head of Drama

Year 11 Showcase

A wonderful night of entertainment was provided by the Year 11 Drama class on Tuesday night.

The students presented a variety of group performances as well as monologues. Their work reflected a range of ideas from stereotypes through to parenting using both tragic character as well as comedic ones.

Well done Year 11!

Samantha Bauer – Head of Drama

Year 11 PDHPE Camp

Year 11 adventures in Bungonia National Park

Congratulations to the Year 11 PDHPE class who survived three days in the Bungonia National Park.

The group had to prepare and carry all the equipment, water and food needs for the three days, whilst participating in caving, absailing and one heck of a tough hike. The biggest challenge for some was surviving the three days without Facebook, YouTube or Snapchat. Whilst this enforced disconnection caused some anxiety, there were no major melt downs (but it was close!).

The weather was very kind to us and the group coped very well!

Ray Francis, Head of PDHPE

EActive Basketball

Kristy Reed

As part of the High School EActive program the Emanuel Open boys basketball team has been competing in both a Wednesday and Sunday opens competition through Easts Basketball League. These competitions are both very strong and the boys are playing against other school teams as well as men’s social teams. After the round stages of the Sunday competition, the Emanuel Tigers finished in second place and progressed to the semi final. They had a convincing win of 47-30 over ‘the Lions’ in this game and have now advanced to the grand final. I wish them the best of luck this weekend.

The Emanuel Intermediate boys basketball team have competed in the 16 years Easts Basketball League competition this term. Although they have unfortunately not progressed to the finals series, they have made exceptional improvements in their skill and teamwork this term. Well done to Joel Aaron, Greg Allen, Jared Elbourne, Oliver Evans, Matthew Joffe, Noah Klein and Joshua New on a great season.

Our most recent addition to the basketball program was the introduction of the 14 years boys team. This team consists of Years 7 and 8 students who have developed well as a team this term. After an impressive first season they finished in first place after the round stages. They will play in the final this weekend and I also wish them the best of luck.

Kristy Reed, Sports Co-ordinator and PDHPE Teacher

High School EActive Program Term 4

Kristy Reed

The Term 4 EActive Program will include many of the popular sports and activities as well as new fitness opportunities. The Term 4 program will run from Wednesday 19 October through to Friday 9 December. A letter has been emailed to all parents and students this week with a detailed outline of each of the EActive options. An outline of each activity is also provided on the Trybooking website. The first people to purchase their tickets will be accepted into the activity.

Tickets for all High School activities can be purchased using the link. www.trybooking.com/FNNJ

Activities offered in Term 4 include:

• Years 7/8 basketball skills program
• 14 years boys basketball competition
• 16 years boys basketball competition
• Open boys basketball competition
• Years 8 and 9 girls netball competition
• Years 10 and 11 girls netball competition
• Girls touch football competition
• Boys touch football competition
• Girls fitness
• Boys fitness
• Surfing
• Years 8-12 boxing fitness/kickboxing
• Pilates
• Rock climbing
• Beach volleyball
• Running Club
• Cricket Development Squad

If you have any questions please email Kristy Reed (High School Sports Co-ordinator) on: kreed@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

High School Rugby Challenge

David Horwitz Rugby 7s Challenge

Over the past month Emanuel School has taken part in the David Horwitz Rugby 7s Challenge. This tournament was initiated and convened by Emanuel School and this year the tournament was expanded to a three night series. The series involved Junior, Intermediate and Senior divisions and the participating schools included Moriah College, Kesser Torah and St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

The three Emanuel teams had been preparing for this tournament since the beginning of the term through weekly training sessions with Heath Morley. Many of the boys in the junior squad were new to Rugby and this tournament provided the perfect opportunity for them put their training to the test and to gain some much needed game experience. The team played exceptionally well, coming away with an impressive victory over Kesser Torah. Stand out players in this division included Alan Drannikov, Elijah Grynberg and Ari Karjalainen.

The Intermediate Boys team had a little more experience, as the majority of the squad played in this tournament in 2015. This experience proved to be vital, coming away with a win against Moriah in the first game of the competition. Leo Carroll is to be commended on his defensive effort and Jake Hyman led the team around the field with some impressive passing and footwork.

For many of the senior boys, this was their last opportunity to be involved in the representative sport program. It was a fantastic way to finish their school sporting experience, providing them with fond memories. Although the St Andrew’s and Moriah teams proved to be too strong for the Emanuel boys, all of the boys played with exceptional determination and sportsmanship. Etai Meretz worked hard in defence, Jake Kurlansky showed exceptional speed, Harry Buch was unstoppable in attack and Jacob Riesel scored the try of the tournament.

The tournament ended with presentations from official guests of David Horwitz from the Waratahs and a well known legend of the game, Simon Poidevin. I would like to congratulate all players on their effort and thank Heath Morley for coaching the teams and Sharon Fairfax for her assistance in organising the event.

Kristy Reed, Sports Co-ordinator and PDHPE Teacher

Senior boys team

Junior boys team

Frankel Book Exchange

Frankel Book Exchange

In Term 3 last year, Jessica Frankel (Year 12, 2016) brought me all her old text books, offering them to any student at Emanuel who would need them. This was the start of the Frankel Book Exchange. Hopefully, this will become a tradition of community caring and sharing when in Term 3 (mainly Year 11 and 12s) and in Week 8 and 9 of Term 4 (for Years 7, 8, 9 and 10) students will clean out their book shelves and drop their books into the marked crates outside the PAC. Early this term, an ex-student visited and dropped off two bags full of text books, stating he remembered the caring and sharing Frankel Book Exchange and wanted to still be a part of it.

I encourage all students to participate in the Frankel Book Exchange, which not only recycles pre-loved books, but also builds community consciousness at Emanuel.

It is also a good time to thank Jessica for this initiative.

Maxine Chopard, Assistant to the Deputy Principal

Kol Szenes

This week in Szenes House:

• House Captains for 2015-2016, Shanee Israeli and Dean Smuskowitz addressed the House Assembly this week; a gift of ‘Szenes logo’ earphones were given to students in Szenes House.
• Mazal tov to Szenesian Dean Smuskowitz who, along with Asher Klein, was nominated for HSC OnSTAGE Drama.
• Mazal tov to the students who performed in the Year 11 Drama showcase this week, especially Szenesian’s Charlie Wrublewski, Isabella Kidman, Shoshana Blackman, Paris Freed, Talia Rubinstein and Monica Pinchuk. The performances were impressive.
• Mazal tov to the Madrichim and House Captains for organising a successful Trivia Night to raise money for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)
• Year 12 finished formal classes this week. On Monday they will have a Day of Celebration followed by their Farewell assembly on Tuesday morning and Graduation dinner Thursday evening. Congratulations to the graduating 12 Szenes Tutor Group of 2016 – Szenes House thanks you for your House spirit and contribution to all things Szenesian. Thank you to: Matthew Angelis, Dylan Blecher, David Brockwell, Julie Epshteyn, Shir Erez-Rein, Shanee Israeli (House Captain), Chiara Kern, Nathaniel Knoll, Satchell Kolt, Nimrod Ktalav, Manon Lapidge, Jessica Lax (Head Madricha), Jamie Lipschitz (House Music Captain), Ella Michael, Daniel Rosengarten, Reede Rozowsky (Environmental Madrich), Ryan Shenfield, Dean Smuskowitz (House Captain), Rikki Stern and Ricky Studencki. We also sincerely thank their Tutor, Ms Miranda McMahon for her unwavering support and care of Year 12 over the past six years.
• I am sure Year 12 will remember their ‘birthday cupcake’ Tutor Group celebrations, baked by Ms McMahon fondly!

HICES Debating Grand Final Win

On Thursday 8 September the Middle Debating team went to the Powerhouse Museum to participate in the HSIES Grand Final. The team was handed the topic ‘That countries with poor human rights records should not be allowed to compete in the Olympics’.  They argued the affirmative and were given one hour to prepare our speeches. In the preparation room there were many ideas and examples thrown around until a good case was formed. The three speakers in the debate, Beau Glass, Rebekah Goldsworthy and Elijah Grynberg, were all from Szenes! They argued their case well and won the debate. It is a memory I am sure none of them will forget.

Elijah Grynberg and Issac Grove, Year 8

Quotation of the week

‘Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.’
Seneca

Enjoy the weekend.

Shabbat shalom

Szenes Tutor Group

Rabin Bugle

Gabriel Jammy

In 2012, a young boy with a passion for writing and House spirit heard that the position of Rabin Bugle Reporter had recently been vacated. That young boy emailed the Head of House straight away, and soon, the gig was his. He immediately set about crafting his first article, elated with his new role and filled with excitement. On 16 March, Ma Nishma published the first Bugle of, in his words, “a new era”. He wrote consistently, passionately and with zeal – for about a term or so.

I wish I could tell you that that young boy pursued his ‘career’ with the same vigour for the next five years of his secondary education. Unfortunately there have been some gaps in his reporting. Assignments happened, social arrangements sprung up – sometimes he just got lazy! But whenever he could, he put his fingers to the keys, crafting up another weekly column.

Rabin – it’s been a pleasure. The last five years have demonstrated to me what an unbelievable House we truly are. From charity events to sports awards, dance competitions to music performances and various academic achievements – we have seen it all! It has been a great honour to report on all these amazing students and their remarkable accolades, ensuring they get the recognition they deserve!

We may not have won every Inter-House competition, but nevertheless, every post-carnival Bugle lauded Rabin’s House spirit and amazing participation, each time as genuine as the last. I do not write fiction here – I write what I see, and what I see is astounding! I have seen various Heads of Houses and House Captains over the years, each leading the House with their own unique talent and dedication. I feel confident that leaving Rabin with Mr Rembson, Gabriel Kitchkin and Erin Radomsky will yield some excellent results!

That being said, it is now time for me to hand over to a new generation of Rabin Reporters, and in doing so, let me say that there are no prerequisites for this position. None. All I ask of you, the only thing I can ask – don’t let this column down. You may be a talented writer, have the most House spirit, an interest in interviewing people, keen photography skills, any of these or more! Whatever your motivation, email Mr Rembson, ask him what’s going on around the House, or even better, find out for yourself! Then, having done that, sit down for half an hour at most, and JUST WRITE. The more you get into this, the easier it will be to whip up an article at short notice!

Looking back on my years at Emanuel, particularly in Rabin House, there are so many amazing memories I have accumulated. Some I have, and possibly will forget in the coming years, others will remain with me forever. I am so incredibly glad that I have managed to capture some of them in writing, so that one day anyone can page through old Ma Nishmas and witness a generation past.

Some of the memories I have often failed to aptly document are the ones I have made with the Rabin Class of 2016. They may have been small, subtle, informal, everyday events, but each little quirk will remain in the recesses of my memory as long as I live. I implore my fellow Tutor Group members to retain as much of your bubbly, teasing, sarcastic and witty characteristics as possible, as they will truly make you unique and special in the wider world. I wish only the best for all of you and commend you on the amazing legacy you have left on this House and on the School!

But now – it is time for this reporter to step down and face the wider world himself. Rabin – thank you for being the best, craziest, most incredible House I could have ever asked to write about! And so, for the final time…

Gabriel Jammy, Rabin Bugle Reporter

From the Head of Primary

Head of Primary for the Day by Nicole Binetter

On Friday 9 September I was Head of Primary for the day. On Monday I made my first decision to have the whole of Year 6 wear plain clothes on Friday. The first part of the day was to have a Primary School Executive Meeting. Although I am only in Year 6 I caught on with what they were talking about. I got to make some decisions for 2017. After that I gave out a birthday card to one of my good friends, Isabella Knoll. When I came back I got to pack some things like pencils, rubbers, pens, glue sticks and much more for the trip to Northern Territory, which is very exciting. We then did a little visit to the new Kindergarten rooms to check if the floors and painting were going well. In the afternoon I presented awards at assembly and got to make a speech.  I went to a meeting in the Adler building to decide on the joinery for the Years 5 and 6 classrooms 2017. I really enjoyed this experience because I got to see what it was like to live in another person’s shoes. Here’s what I said at assembly:

“Today I am going to talk about the Leader in Me concept, Synergise. When you synergise, you work with others to make new, great ideas. When you are working in a group and you don’t like the other person’s idea you don’t say we are not doing it because I don’t like it, you have to Seek First to Understand and maybe you could say, “We can do this or maybe even this”. It is important to balance courage or be brave and speak your mind with consideration, which is being caring and kind. Remember that when you are working in a group it is always good to listen but make sure that you are not letting the other people do all of the work. It is great when you contribute and share your ideas.”

Natanya Milner – Head of Primary

P&F

Thank you to the P&F for their amazing support and efforts over the past term. They have co-ordinated the Fathers Day Stall, the Fathers Day Breakfast, our wonderful Trivia Night as well as a Primary School BBQ day. Thank you to all those involved. We really appreciate it!

Parent Teacher Night

Thank you for coming along to this week’s Parent Teacher Nights. These are wonderful opportunities to share insights about the children and ensure that we are able to celebrate achievements and consider goals and next steps. I hope you found the meetings to be informative and insightful. I would like to thank all the teachers for their efforts on the evenings and their preparation for these events.

Project Heritage

I was privileged to share in today’s Year 6 Project Heritage presentation. The children and teachers did an outstanding job to prepare for today. Project Heritage is an incredibly special program that involves a number of visits between groups of Year 6 students and their ‘living historian’. Over these sessions, very special bonds are formed as the students learn about their historian, recent history and important values that have guided each person’s life. I would like to thank each of our historians for their participation and enthusiasm: Ruth Barnett, Lena Goldstein, Robert Grynberg, Eddie Jaku, Kitty Lowinger, Gabriella Nash, George Nash, Katerine Passman and Vera Ranki. I would also like to thank our wonderful Year 6 teachers: Megan Best, Adam Carpenter, Diane Clennar, Anna Economou and Karon Rom and of course, all of our fantastic Year 6 students.

Great Mates Day

A highlight in the Year 3 calendar is our annual Great Mates Day. Over Term 3, the students have been learning about teamwork and co-operation. The focus of the program includes Habits 4-6 in The Leader in Me program (Think Win-Win, Seek First to Understand and then to be Understood and Synergise). Year 3 enjoyed a wonderful Great Mates Day this week – filled with team games and challenges.  Thank you to Emma Hill and Julia Tritsch as well as their team of support people including Hugo Adrian, Emma Clemens, Belinda Gold, Katie Narunsky and Claudia Sceats.

CIS Athletics

Mazal tov to all of our athletes who participated in this week’s CIS Athletics Carnival. We were thrilled to have so many participants take part in this event. Thank you to Stuart Taylor for co-ordinating our team and attending on the day.

Grandparents Day

We look forward to welcoming grandparents and special friends to our upcoming Rosh Hashanah Grandparents and Special Friends Day on the last day of term, Friday 23 September. Please feel free to invite grandparents and friends to join us from 9.30am to share a Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah ceremony, followed by activities with the children in the classrooms and then morning tea. To RSVP, please contact Sonia Newell on snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Jilkminggan

It’s that time again – as we look forward to our next group of Year 6 students and parents heading off on our Northern Territory adventure. On Sunday, our largest group of travellers will depart and spend time visiting Jilkminggan School and beautiful sites as well as meeting wonderful people. Wishing everyone safe travels – I cannot wait to share the experience with you all!

7 Habits for Jewish Parenting by Rabbi Michoel Gourarie

We were lucky to welcome Rabbi Gourarie from Bina to Emanuel School to present on the 7 Habits for Jewish Parenting. He discussed the links between Jewish learning and the 7 Habits/Leader in Me program. Rabbi Gourarie raised some of the challenges of parenting in today’s society. He focused upon the Habits of Being Proactive (Habit 1) and Seeking First to Understand, then to be Understood (Habit 5).

Rabbi Gourarie outlined that as parents, we are all leaders and therefore need to role model and take responsibility to teach our children our values. Any position of leadership requires an understanding of the difference between power and leadership. He explained that power is about control (this is about ‘me’ and controlling for my own benefit) and leadership is about influence (this is about ‘others’ and doing the best for those we are leading).

When focusing upon Habit 1, Rabbi Gourarie discussed a Talmudic concept that “everything is in the hands of heaven except the fear of heaven”. This illustrates that there are many elements in the world that are out of our control but yet we can always control our own reactions and actions. This aligns entirely with the concept of being proactive and trying to focus our efforts within our circle of control, rather than focusing our energy on elements of situations that are outside our circle of control and influence. The challenge within this space is that our emotions work faster than our brains and therefore, without pausing and choosing our responses, it is instinctive to react emotionally. It is our challenge as parents to manage our responses and pause in order to think and control our actions and words. Our thoughts should consider, as leaders (as parents), which reaction is in the best interests of the people we are leading (our children). This will help us to be respectful and considerate in our responses.

Rabbi Gourarie also spent time discussing Habit 5 (Seek First to Understand and Then to be Understood). This is the Habit of communication. Jewish mystics give the example of a horse and a rider. A horse can get you to a destination faster than travelling by foot but yet, if it is going in the wrong direction, the horse can also get lost faster. Similarly, words have an amazing power. With focus and direction, words are powerful and positive. Without effective communication, our words can ruin relationships. Relationships allow us to broaden ourselves and learn from others. The Talmud says that no two people in the world look alike, nor do any two people think alike. The greatness of relationships and true communication is about leaving one’s paradigm and learning from another. In order to do this, one must truly Seek First to Understand through real listening. We usually listen with the purpose of considering our own response. To ‘really listen’ requires us to be immersed in what the other person is saying. This does not necessarily mean we need to be quiet always but we should step inside the shoes of the other person to truly understand other perspectives and paradigms. This can be done through listening empathically and rephrasing what the person is saying to ensure we have understood before creating our responses that will resonate with their world.

Thank you to Hagit Bar-On for organising this informative and inspirational presentation.

Upcoming Dates

• 18-26 September: Year 6 Northern Territory trip
• 19 September: Year 2 Science incursion
• 20 September: Year 4 Guest Speaker, James Roy
• 21 September: Year 6 Make A Difference (MAD) excursion, Montifiore Home, Hunters Hill
• 22 September: Years K-2 Gala Day, Centennial Park
• 23 September: Rosh Hashanah and Grandparents and Friends Day, 9:30-11:45am MPH
• 13 October: Term 4 commences, Years K-6 Lice Check
• 19 October: Year 2 Pathways Parent Evening, 7:00-8:30pm in the Angles Leadership and Learning Centre
• 20 October: Year 1 Anna Fienberg incursion

Term 4 K-2 Assembly

• 14 October Week 1: No K-2 assembly
• 28 October Week 3: Music assembly
• 11 November Week 5: K Eilat (Mrs Buzo’s Class)
• 25 November Week 7: No K-2 assembly
• 9 December Week 9: K-2 Puppet Club

Natanya Milner, Head of Primary

Primary Musical

Night of Song

Gesher

Sonia Newell – Development Office

An Idea Turns into a Dream and then Becomes Reality

Adam Majsay, Director of Studies and previous Head of Music (2007 to 2012) had a dream – an evening of song, where  our alumni who were members of the Senior Chamber Choirs over the past eight or nine years, would join our current Senior Chamber Choir and other senior High School vocalists to perform in front of an audience here at school.  

After just a few short weeks of preparation and not too many very brief rehearsals this group of amazing singers came together last Sunday evening for a magical one and a half hours of entertainment in the Millie Phillips Theatre. It was pure delight to see and hear these talented young adults all on stage together. Eleven alum including Abigail (Abi) Smith from the Class of 2009, and more recent graduates from the Classes of 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, sang a variety of songs with the current students.  AJ Amercia and Rebecca Emder travelled from Canberra where they both now live and study full-time at ANU. Around 120 members of our community listened to an array of vocal performances by the whole group and some smaller groups of singers, showing their vocal talents. How good would it be to see this as an annual event and involve more of our past students in the future! 

Mr Majsay and the Alumni Choir

Senior Chamber Choir and Alumni

Primary and Grandparents and Friends Day

Primary Grandparents and Friends Day is just one week away.  The children are getting so excited as they prepare for this very special morning where they will share activities with their grandparents and other special visitors.  It is not too late to RSVP and we ask you to remind grandparents to do so.

Reply to snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au or call her on 8383 7350.  Please see the invitation below for further details.

Ben and Danny Wilheim

Remember September

We are now half way through September, so please Remember September and all the great work alum Ben Wilheim (Class of 2008) and his team are doing towards finding a cure for pancreatic cancer. Please support this initiative if you can: rememberseptember2016.gofundraise.com.au/

Friendship Circle

Friendship Circle, a non-profit organisation, provides support for families of children and young adults with special needs, servicing the community with exceptional respite and care. It was great to see so many of our current students and alumni as well as parents at the 2016 Friendship Circle Walk Sunday morning. It is not too late to donate to this most worthy cause: www.sydneyfc.org.au/walk

Shir Madness Festival

Our Emanuel community will be well represented in the line-up of artists this coming Sunday at Sydney’s Jewish Music Festival, Shir Madness, being held at Bondi Beach. Year 10 student Genevieve Goldman and ‘Before the King’ band members Year 12 students Gabriel Jammy, Asher Klein, Dean Smuskowitz and Daniel Radomsky are performing, whilst Paris Freed in Year 11 is on backing vocals with the band Azadoota.  Parent, Josh Oshlack and alum, Simon Jankelson – The Human Sound Project – are also performing at the event. Tickets still available online: www.shirmadness.com

If you have news you would like to share, please send to: snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Careers

Claire Pech

Careers

This was the last full week of school for our Year 12s and we have had our last Year 12 careers session. I will be officially sending them off into the big wide world of careers. This is a time of intense trepidation, fear, nerves, excitement and choice for them.

So it is tricky to think about what words of wisdom I will leave them with. One thing I notice about our growing youth (from social media) is that they are bombarded constantly with messages and mottos and I imagine any words of wisdom will become commonplace and lose their value or meaning.

Rather then send them on with my own words (which I did) I asked 20 friends and family and people I knew to pass on what they would have liked to have been told when they were in High School, leaving Year 12. Some of the answers were moving, some were obvious and some thought provoking. I hope the Year 12s managed to gain some perspective on tertiary choices, career diversity and choice of what lies ahead of them.  I would like to formally wish them all well on their various career paths. I am still going to be here in Term 4, so even though there is no school for them, they are more than welcome to book in a time to pop in and discuss preferences and courses.

UAC

Information on the UAC process and deferring your place and moving preferences:
www.makeyourmark.edu.au/i-want-study/getting-in/preparing-for-life-as-a-student/changing-or-deferring-your-course/

University World Rankings Released

University rankings for 2016/17 are broken down to overall rankings and rankings by subject area. The following universities ranked in the top 100 in the world: 22 – ANU, 42 – University of Melbourne, 46 – University of Sydney, 49 – UNSW, 51 – University of Queensland , 65 – Monash University. This site is very handy to dig deeper and look at certain subjects and faculties to see where different universities stack up against each other. I have been using it a lot this week so it may help with some UAC decisions: www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2016

Stay Motivated During STUVAC

unswfuturestudents.tumblr.com/post/129250036137/stay-motivated-during-stuvac-with-these-study

JobJump – My ATAR

This is a great ATAR filter to show you all of your options when you type in an ATAR and a field of interest. You can also filter by State. I find this more helpful at times than UAC, as it is more streamlined. jobjump.com.au/atar

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen, Director Kornmehl

Fathers Day Breakfast

We celebrated our Fathers Day breakfast last week with 60 very excited children and equally excited Dads. The atmosphere in the room was warm and filled with so much energy.

Dads and their kids enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast prepared by a few very capable mums. Thank you to Mel Shilbury, Caren Ottaviano, Sofia Husni, Alisa Pincus, Debbie Lyons, Leona McGee, Anita Weinberger and Ksenia Khersontseva for their help in preparing the breakfast. It was delicious and almost every last piece was consumed by our hungry kids and dads.

After breakfast, it was special to see the dads relaxing with their kids and reading a book, building with blocks, playing in the sandpit, flying paper aeroplanes, colouring in paper ties, having a back massage or doing woodwork and box construction together. Each dad received a beautiful personalised calendar as a special gift to treasure for the next year to come.

Rosh Chodesh Elul

The past two weeks Adam Carpenter has been popping into the Pre-school to blow the shofar for the children, talk to them about the sounds the shofar makes and why we blow the shofar in the month of Elul. Thank you Adam, we love it when you visit us.

Rosh Hashanah

We have been learning about the festival of Rosh Hashanah and all its beautiful rituals and traditions. We have been learning lots of new songs related to this rich festival. The children have been working on their shofar blowing skills and through perseverance and practice are beginning to master it.

On Tuesday next week we are walking to the post box to post our special Rosh Hashanah cards to our families to wish them a Shanah Tovah.

Next week Friday, we are visiting the shofar factory, where each child will learn how to make their own special shofar to keep and take home.

Mini Olympics

The past two weeks have been a frenzy of wonderful learning and investigation around the Olympic Games. The children have been highly charged with energy and enthusiasm and keen to share information and knowledge about the different sports.

Each group has been working on making their own Olympic torch and we have worked collaboratively on designing and making a cauldron out of paper mache to light at our Mini Olympics. We are looking forward to seeing all our Kornmehl families at our Mini Olympics on Sunday from 10am to 12.30pm on the basketball court.

Some of our events will include the egg and spoon race, the sack race, the hobby horse race, obstacle course, gymnastics, hurdle race, shot put and basketball shooting. The children and older and younger siblings will be divided into colour-coded teams to compete in each event. We are looking forward to a fun and wonderful morning together with all our Kornmehl families.

Shabbat

This term parents have been joining us for Shabbat each Friday morning when their child is sitting at the Shabbat table. It’s always very special to share our Shabbatot with parents and we value this time together. The children always feel so proud and happy to have their mishpacha join us and participate with enthusiasm and joy.

Parent Involvement

Involving parents and grandparents in the life of our Pre-school adds enormous benefits and value to our program. We work hard to establish collaborative partnerships with families, recognising how important this is for each child to thrive, gain confidence and develop their emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing.

We invite parents to be a part of this journey through many different and varied avenues including Parent Club, Parent Partnership forms, Parent surveys, baking and cooking, gardening, reading books, sharing a talent or hobby as well as inviting them to have input into our program through suggestions and ideas shared with educators.

Educators recognise that families are children’s first and most influential teachers. Partnerships are based on the foundations of understanding each other’s expectations and attitudes, and build on the strength of each other’s knowledge.

It is very clear and evident to see as we approach the end of the third term, how happy and settled the children are, how familiar they are with routines and expectations, how friendships have been established, how much trust each child shares with their educators and how much wonderful learning is taking place through the creative arts, through music and movement, through imaginative play and outdoor explorations. The list is endless…the possibilities endless…the fun and learning endless!

We are thrilled to have parents accompany us on this exciting journey with their children!

Work Experience Students

This week we have welcomed two Tear 10 work experience students from Moriah College to the Pre-school. Both Laila Reuven and Jenna Ziman have spent a busy week interacting with the children and learning about what it means to work in an Early Childhood setting.

Sunscreen

As the weather is warming up, we need to remind parents to please start their sunscreen regime again. All children need to have sunscreen applied before they come in the morning. If necessary, we will apply again after lunch. Please also remember our rule NO HAT – NO PLAY!

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Jessica Lopis (5), Jordan Hill (5), Ethan Kachtan (4) and Maayan Misrachi (4). We hope you all had a very special day.

Terry Aizen, Director of Kornmehl

From the Parents and Friends

Aladdin – The Hit Broadway Musical (Sunday 13 November at 6.30pm)

Bookings for Aladdin the Musical will be closing on 23 September.

P&F Camping Trip (28 – 30 October)

Aladdin

March of the Living

Canteen Corner

Canteen Corner

Thank you to all the students that have tried our fresh new daily menu this term. We have received great feedback on our new signature pasta sauce and our fresh daily counter salad specials. Both have become firm favourites.

Students have visited the canteen to offer feedback and suggestions for our Term 4 menu and we greatly appreciate the input and have put together a menu to reflect this.

Keep an eye out for our Student Summer Menu next term…

• sushi inspired salad bowls
• oat and coconut cookies
• frozen juice cups
• Acai breakfast bowls
• frozen watermelon slices
• gluten free bliss balls
• rice cracker snack packs
• freshly made wraps
• lamingtons
• roast potato bites
• Israeli couscous salad
• potato bake.

We appreciate your ongoing support and how you have welcomed us into your community. We look forward to seeing you in Term 4!

Dates For Your Calendar