From the Principal

Anne Hastings – Principal

I have felt greatly supported by our community over the past two weeks since my mother passed away and would like to express my gratitude to all those who have sent their condolences and helped out in so many ways over this time. My mother had a long and very fulfilling life, passing away at 92, but it is always difficult to experience the death of a loved one. To see so many Emanuel people, along with a group of Year 11 students, representing our School so proudly and thoughtfully at her funeral last Monday was heart-warming and meant a great deal to me. It is another reminder of the warmth and support provided so readily by members of our School and I am privileged to be part of it. Thank you!

Year 9 electives 2018

During the week we held an information evening for current Year 8 students to familiarise them and their parents about the elective subjects on offer for next year. Our students select three electives in Years 9 & 10 from a large number of subjects. We are proud to be offering two new subjects next year, one focusing on entrepreneurship called Business Creators and one encompassing STE(A)M objectives that is cross-curricular and problem based. These two new subjects reflect our strategic plan to develop our students’ innovative thinking and are part of our ongoing aim to offer an education that is broad, up-to-date, engaging and supportive of the development of the skills they will need for the future. We will also be changing the Design & Technology elective to Food Technology for Year 9 next year.

 Leo Baeck students

Leo Baeck Education Centre students and teachers at the Waradah Education Centre in Katoomba

The 24 students from Leo Baeck Education Centre in Haifa completed their visit to Sydney on Wednesday and would now be back home. We are particularly grateful to all the families who billeted these students, providing them a glimpse of our culture and life in Sydney. Having an unfamiliar young person in one’s home can be challenging as well as enlightening, but always brings an element of worry and additional effort for the adults in the family. Thank you all for the important part you’ve played in supporting this program and for the effort you put into helping your billet enjoy their time here.

A huge thank you also goes to Michelle Favero who accomplished the majority of the organisation of the program with her usual competence and attention to detail. A great deal of effort went in to building a program to engage our visitors and we very much appreciate Michelle’s work. Thanks also go to Deborah Beder, Genevieve Radnan, Daniel Samowitz and Donny Janks for their assistance with accompanying the group on various activities.

Parent Survey

Last week every parent was sent a link to our biannual survey to help us evaluate our various programs. We are very keen to have your feedback and this is your opportunity. Please take the time to complete the survey so that we can gauge the success of our endeavours.

P&F

The P&F major fundraising event for the year has opened for bookings. This is the Comedy for a Cause Night, at the School on Saturday 19 August. This promises to be a very entertaining evening, and also brings the opportunity to connect with friends, make new ones and partake of some of our canteen’s delicious food.

Please support their initiative and the School. You can book at  comedyforacause.net/ES

 Mazal Tov to

• All Year 9 who managed Ski camp so masterfully last week and returned without injury, after having participated fully (see the story and photos in this edition of Ma Nishma)
• The Senior Debating team, (Beau Glass, Rebekah Goldsworthy, Isabella Flax and Isabella Reichel, who have moved through to the quarter finals in the HICES competition
• Sophie Poisel, teacher of Year 5, for gaining the NSW Premier’s Scholarship to investigate STEM initiatives in north America (see the Primary page for more details)
• Colleen Elkins, teacher in our Gifted and Talented program, for attaining her Masters degree recently (also on the Primary page)

Coming up

• East Timor Trip, 30 July – 9 August
• HSC Trial Examinations 31 July – 11 August
• Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll, an essential talk for parents of teenagers by Dani Klein, Tuesday 8 August, 7 pm, Millie Phillips Theatre
• Invitational Parent Teacher evening for Years 8 – 12 and Year 7 Three Way Learning Conversations, Thursday 10 August, 4 – 8 pm, MPH
• EZone, careers inspiration for Years 11 and 12 students, Monday 14 August, 11.10 am – 12.30 pm
• HSC Visual Arts and Drama Exhibitions, Wednesday 16 August, from 6 pm, Angles Leadership and Learning Centre and Millie Phillips Theatre 
• Night of Song, Thursday 17 August, 6.30 pm, MPH
• Comedy for a Cause, Saturday 19 August, 7 pm, MPH

Quote of the week

‘The research is clear: nothing motivates a child more than when learning is valued by schools and families/community working together in partnership.’ [Michael Fullan]

Best wishes for an enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

Shabbat Shalom

The Krispy Kreme Kashrut Krisis

Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

The Krispy Kreme Kashrut Krisis

Wednesday last, I had the privilege of accompanying our Year 7 students on our Term 3 Interfaith Program. In Auburn, our Emanuel students joined their Christian and Muslim peers from Auburn Girls and Granville Boys High Schools.

As quickly as we settled in the site’s organiser of this event happily announced to all of us present that “there was a special surprise for all our students today”, Krispy Kreme donuts of all delectable varieties. Then, with the oozing Krispy Kremes but moments from their lips, a voice from the front of the room rang out, soaring over the students’ heads and greeting a surprised Rabbi Siegel with the words:

“Rabbi, can the Emanuel students eat these Krispy Kreme donuts? Are they Kosher?”

A hush descended upon all, as a box with its precious cargo of multi-colored sprinkled sweets was hurriedly, yet delicately, placed before me, with the beseeching eyes of students and teachers beckoning for a favorable ruling.

My mind went back to earlier that morning, when I was assured that all students would be bringing their own lunch and snacks and fruit would be available for all to share. But, fruit was nowhere to be found, nor would it likely curry much favour considering the sugary savories now before us.

Then, a moment of hope. I pointed out that the box had a symbol of Hallal certification. Immediately, the same voice, carrying the prayers of our students in tow, sought confirmation: “So, you are saying it’s Kosher”?! And, in an instant the Krispy Kreme Krisis was upon us. “No, actually it would need a Kashrut certification, like the Hallal certification, for it to be Kosher for us”.

And, then, a most wondrous dialogue ensued. Supportive voices among our Muslim and Christian counterparts shared their understanding of our sensibilities in light of their own observances and religious practices. Not the “Rabbi”, but our Emanuel students explained Kashrut considerations for the Jewish community with one student adding that while the ingredients listed on the Krispy Kreme box might be Kosher, the utensils in which the product was made should be kept in mind, as well.

Our students felt they were honouring our Jewish tradition and received recognition and support in doing so when it was announced that our non-Jewish peers, in partnership with us, would put aside the Krispy Kremes in respect of our decision. I shared, as well, the Kashrut policy of Emanuel, when we are on excursion and the challenges we sometimes face when off campus and away from certified Kosher food.

The Krispy Kreme website says: “Krispy Kreme Australia respects the dietary customs of our valued customers and has achieved Halal Certification across all of our stores for our doughnuts”. Our next interfaith meeting will be at Emanuel and while I note that we might want to consider if food injurious to our health can be deemed ‘Kosher’, I suggested our students might want to explore if some Sydney-based Krispy Kreme outlets are under, or could be persuaded to come under, Kashrut supervision.

I am proud of our students who wisely and engagingly presented their perspectives and understandings of Judaism with the students of Auburn and Granville. In good humour, several of our students gave voice to the Krispy Kreme Konundrum with the following poem.

Krispy Kreme Rebellion

By Lori Allen, Maya Barnett, Lily Berger and Rachel Joseph

I am so small but mean so much

Full of cream to fill your heart

Chocolate nuts, sprinkles and more

But of these we have been deprived, though they are kosher and from the store

Even though we love to be a Jew

Sometimes the rules must go askew

Others missed out on this glorious treat

It doesn’t even have any meat!

The generosity of others, though was so kind

Alas, this is not to be

This is the rebellion of the Krispy Kreme

From the Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

/לב שומעתLev Shoma’at

A Hearing Heart 

This week’s parashah, VaEtchanan, is perhaps most well-known for containing the seminal Jewish prayer, the/שמע Shema. Significantly, the root word שמע/Shema appears repeatedly throughout this Torah reading.

שמע/Shema means ‘hear’ in the sense of ‘understand’. Indeed, the שמע/Shema prayer itself is not to be said in a language one does not understand. Similarly, one is not considered to hear the voice of the shofar (לשמוע קול שופר) if it is not accompanied by mindful intent (כוונת הלב). To hear/לשמוע, in Judaism, means to understand and to truly understand requires mindfulness. This is also the explanation for covering our eyes when reciting the שמע/Shema, true hearing entails full focus of being.

Accordingly, a life informed by ‘hearing’ requires an impassioned state of being. It is not coincidental, therefore, that our parashah couples hearing with fire: “Through fire have we heard the divine voice today?”; “Through fire do you hear the voice of God’s words?” and “Has a people heard the voice of God speaking through fire as you have heard?”. Moshe, who first hears the divine call through the ‘burning bush’, here reminds the people that one is summoned to a life of meaning and purpose only through a life ablaze with passion. True hearing/heeding requires one’s fully invested being.

It is instructive that the the שמע/Shema is to be the last words we say before our death and is the final prayer we recite on Yom Kippur, bringing to a close the challenge of authentic personal living and reflection. As Jews, we are to live a life of שמע/Shema – an impassioned response to the divine call to be present to the unique promise within ourselves and others. Thus King Shelomo, reputed to be the wisest of all humans, asked for, and was granted, the greatest blessing one can receive: ונתת לעבדך לב שומע – “Bestow upon your servant a hearing heart”.

As teachers we are challenged to discern and foster the individual voice of each of our students through a hearing heart. With the words of the Shema, Moshe Rabbeinu, our teacher, calls upon us to be present to the singularity of soul within each of us, honouring our diverse and unique expressions of the divine image. As the Rabbis note, the last letter of the first word of the Shema prayer, שמע and the last letter of the last word of the Shema prayer, אחד form the word ‘witness’/עד – reminding us that we give witness to the existence of God in being present to the promise within each of us.

Student Devar Torah

Devar Torah – VaEtchanan

Jade Reuveny – Year 11

In this week’s parashah, Moshe continues his attempt to stress upon the Israelites the importance of following God’s mitsvot; the rewards that will result upon obeying God’s commandments and the punishments they will incur if they neglect to do so. Moshe recounts the Aseret HaDibrot and shares the message of what has become our Shema prayer, making this is a very important and pivotal parashah in our tradition. But let’s break it down.

Moshe relates how he pleaded with God to allow him to enter Israel (which he was denied after becoming embittered with the thirsty Israelites and angrily hit the rock). To his dismay, Moshe’s plea is rejected, and instead he is instructed to climb a mountain from where he would be able to see the Promised Land. He instructs the people to follow God’s law and to never add or detract from it.

As he looks upon the Promised Land, he reflects upon the reasons as to why he is unable to enjoy such beauty. Like in Primary, when you would disregard the whole ‘no hat no play’ rule in a bid to initiate a revolution, only to find yourself sitting in the Reflection Room, next to the teacher on playground duty, or outside Mr Pallo’s office. It is inferred that Moshe shared similar feelings of regret. But when seen in a different light, the Israelites probably wouldn’t have had such motivation to abide by God’s commandments, if Moshe hadn’t been punished in this way.

Now, regardless of whether you do or don’t believe in the historicity of these events, it is easy to understand and apply this scenario into our own lives. When we are denied or rejected what we wish, we always encourage others to abide by the rules, as we know first-hand what you can miss out on if you disobey them. It’s like when you reminded your friends on your way to Waxman Dr, before having a mad game of handball, to put their hat on because sitting next to the teacher on duty is just not as good as getting into kings and being reigning champion.

For Moshe, looking into the Promised Land made him want to impress the words of God onto the mind, spirit and being of the Israelites whilst also praising its wisdom, righteous, fair teachings, and the closeness to God it affords. He reminds the Israelites to continue to recount the time they were given the Torah as well as focusing on the divine revelation, reminding the Israelites that God does not appear in any image or form, but is rather a part of everything we might experience in our world.

Moshe designates 6 cities of refuge, providing protection for individuals who inadvertently kill someone, enforcing the divide between people who willfully disobey the laws and commandments God sets for them and those who accidentally do so. Moshe, as noted, recites the Aseret HaDibrot, reminding the Israelites that the covenant made on Mount Sinai includes them and is not limited to only those who were physically present at the mountain.

As our term as Jewish Life Madrichim begins, we don’t wish to impact only the current students of our School, but hopefully leave a legacy of an enriched Jewish experience, thus impacting generations of future Emanuel students, much like the commandments have been remembered in the past and are to be observed for future generations of our people.

Moshe could not lead if it wasn’t for the Israelites’ constant devotion to the teachings he shared as well as their willingness to impart the ways of Torah, together leaving a legacy for future generations of our Jewish people. We, as Jewish Life Madrichim, likewise, will be unable to lead and fulfill our goals if you are not by our side, willing to take this journey with us.

Help us in making Emanuel a Jewish school, rather than just a school for Jews.

Devar Torah – VaEtchanan

Sonia Redman – Year 11

Of central significance in this week’s parashah is the Shema passage.

The Shema, as we know, has become the centrepiece of the daily morning and evening prayer services and is considered by some as the most essential prayer in all of Judaism. A primary theme of the first verse is the Oneness of God: “Shema, Yisrael, Adonai Eleoheinu, Adonia Echad” – “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One”.

Why is ‘oneness’ so central to Jewish belief? Does it necessarily mean we have to believe in God? Certainly, the Shema can and has been understood to mean that God is a single entity. But there is more than one understanding of this prayer.

There is a ‘new’ approach to this idea for those who maybe do not believe in the God of the Torah, as ‘traditionally’ perceived, but still accept the presence of a force that exists within everything. Reform Rabbi David Nelson explains this, saying: “The oneness of God can now be understood as indicating that everything, is, in a sense, God”. So the phrase “God is one” can mean that God is a term that signifies the unity of existence. So when we say, “The Lord is One”, it could really mean, “the earth, our world, all peoples and all beings are One”, because God is everything.

Another interpretation of the notion of ‘oneness’ is in relation to community. Jewish life revolves around the institutions of home and community. Biblical and modern history demonstrates that Jewish unity and oneness has brought security and fulfillment to the Jewish people. We have seen this through the uniting of Jews around the world despite persecution and oppression, and we experience it in our own lives perhaps through connecting with family for Shabbat. 

We could also read the Shema as referring to ‘oneness’ in the sense that it celebrates equality. Human life and its protection stands at the centre of our religion, and no matter what race, gender, sexuality one may be, all life is of equal value, and so we are all one. So a new interpretation of the words could be, “Hear O Israel, Humanity is One, the World is One”.

Ultimately, our relationship with God is personal. No matter our connection to the Shema, one thing is clear – this prayer celebrates our unity as a Jewish people, a unity that embraces and contains our diversity and that connects all things to each other.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KQLOuIKaRA

Ma Koreh

Adam Carpenter – Head of Jewish Life Studies Primary

Weekly Torah Portion

Parashat VeEtchanan Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11

In this week’s Torah portion Moshe stresses to the Israelites the importance of keeping God’s commandments and ethical teachings when they enter the Land of Israel. Moshe recounts the Aseret HaDibrot  – the 10 Utterances (commonly referred to as the 10 Commandments). We also read the opening paragraph of the Shema. 

Family discussion: The Shema begins with an instruction to ‘love God’

• What does it mean to love God? It is possible to command someone to love another? What words and actions express feeling of love? When is it easy to love others? When is it difficult to love others?

Hatred and love in the month of Av

In Hebrew, there is no word for history. 

In Hebrew, the words we use to talk about the past are all connected to the shoresh (root letters) ז.כ.ר, memory. History is something that happened, memory is something that happened to us. Our memories shape who we are and how we see the world. 

Tuesday was Tish’ah BeAv (the 9th of Av), a significant and sad day in Jewish history and memory. Many atrocities have befallen the Jewish people on this day that remain part of our collective memory and psyche. Both the First and the Second Temple, according to Jewish tradition, were destroyed on this day and the Jewish people were exiled from the Land of Israel. 

During a Tish’ah BeAv ceremony on Tuesday, Primary students reflected on the concept of שנאת חינם/sinat chinam – baseless hatred of others – which is an explanation in our tradition for the cause of the destruction of the Second Temple. In thinking about the destructive power of hatred in our lives and the world, students were asked to think of the constructive power of love and how we can all bring love and kindness into our lives. To work towards building a feeling of love and kindness, students in Years 3-6 created ‘hesed (kindness) cards’ sharing words of love and kindness to share with their fellow students.

Emanuel in Israel

Over the school holidays and during the first week of Term 3, Morah Bar-On and I had the privilege of attending the Legacy Heritage Teacher Institute’s Summer Program based at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Participating in the Program were around 30 educators from a variety of schools and backgrounds. The Hebrew and Jewish Studies teachers came mainly from North America, with a strong Australian contingent from Emanuel School, Moriah College and Bialik in Melbourne, and even one teacher from Mexico.

The program is generously supported by the Legacy Heritage Fund and provides mentoring, leadership training, project implementation support and professional development for senior Jewish educators. During our time in Israel, Morah Bar-On and I began work on a long-term project for the Primary School to develop our Chaggim Program in Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

Whilst at Hebrew University, we collaborated with academics and expert educators on a variety of topics including:

• Tanakh study and engagement through Bibliodrama, artistic interpretation and an approach based on Philosophy for Children.
• Literary approaches to Tanakh study.
• Chavruta (paired learning of Jewish texts) study techniques
• Utilising the latest ICT in the Jewish Studies and Hebrew classroom
• Israel’s unique political system.

The program also provided a rich array of experiential educational opportunities, allowing participants to reflect on their own understandings of Judaism and Israel and what we in turn present to our students. These activities included:

• A Shabbat musical and learning experience with Rav David Menachem, an amazing scholar, musician and singer from the Sephardi world.
• Listening to the famous Israeli author Etgar Keret speak about his development as a writer and reflect on his work as representing both Jewish and Israeli literary characteristics.
• A ‘Walking the Bible’ tour led by Reb Menachem Leibtag, who connected the stories of the Tanakh (Bible) to its historic and geographic setting of Jerusalem and the Jordan valley.
• A visit to the Neot Kedumim Biblical Park, to learn about the flora of the region and its ecological and symbolic significance in the Tanakh and for the lives of the ancient Israelites.
• A night tour of graffiti of the Machaneh Yehudah Shuk and how it tells a story of this developing neighbourhood and of Israel itself
• A visit to the Kotel to hear from Shulamit Magnus, a founder of the Original Women of the Wall, and to then explore the different voices and visions for the Kotel in the Jewish world and Israel.

When in Israel, you never know who you might meet. During our time in Israel we created new connections and friendships, whilst also meeting some familiar Emanuel School faces, including:

• Udi Cohen: a former Emanuel School teacher who now directs several kindergartens in Jerusalem and does amazing work supporting disadvantaged refugee families and their children
• Avia Madar: an Emanuel alum, leading an Australian Birthright Tour
• Shiri Nassi:  an Emanuel alum and madricha with Habonim Dror, who was leading a North American group at the Kotel
• Emanuel parents and students who were part of the Australia’s Maccabiah Games team.

Both Morah Bar-On and I found Legacy Heritage Teacher Institute’s Summer Program personally and professionally enriching and we look forward to sharing our learning and experiences with both our colleagues and students.

From the Primary School

Natanya Milner – Head of Primary

Maths Basic Skills Program

In today’s world things are continually changing. When we compare our children’s education to ours, the classroom and curriculum are vastly different. Blackboards are out and interactive whiteboards are in. Traditional textbook work is out and computers and ipads are in.  Encyclopedias are out and the internet is in.

However, one thing that remains the same is the need for children to have the fundamental basic skills of Mathematics. Building a solid foundation is vital for children to succeed.

Basic facts knowledge is important because it:

Ø Aids estimation and mental calculation

Ø Develops conceptual understanding

Ø Strengthens connections within and between strategies

Ø Is key to working confidently with operations

Ø Aids speed, automaticity and accuracy

Ø Allows for students to more readily and easily apply their knowledge in higher order tasks.

This year, Katie Narunsky and Stacey Rosenfeld have spent many, many hours preparing a program for the class teachers to use with their students to strengthen the automaticity of the children’s basic skills. I am so grateful to Katie and Stacey for their time and expertise. The early feedback has been hugely successful. We have piloted the Back to Basic Skills Program with Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) and now Stages 2 and 3 (Years 3 – 6) have been added.

Last term when the program was rolled out in Years 1 and 2, we witnessed great success. The data showed improvements in all classes, and we saw a huge 40% average improvement in one class alone.

We look forward to the students benefiting from the program and sharing with you their successes. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Mathematics teachers for embracing this program but HUGE thanks must go to Katie and Stacey for their incredible efforts to create, share and monitor the progress of this program.

Staffing news

Jackie Blum

Jackie Blum has been working at Emanuel School in various roles since 2008. She began as a classroom teacher and has more recently been working part time in the Primary library. Jackie will be leaving Emanuel on 9 August. We wish her all the very best in her next steps and thank her for her work and support over the years.

Roslynn Pardy

Roslynn Pardy returned to Emanuel this year as an extension Mathematics teacher with a loading of one day per week. I’m pleased to advise that she will be here for an additional two days per week in the role as Primary Library teacher until the end of the year. We are thrilled that Roslynn will be returning to us for more days per week and I know she will be an asset to our library.

Colleen Elkins

I wish Colleen a huge mazal tov on recently completing her Masters of Education (Gifted Specialisation) at UNSW. Colleen has managed her role at Emanuel and her studies with absolute grace and we are thrilled that she has been able to achieve this wonderful outcome. Well done, Colleen!

Sophie Poisel

Another big congratulations goes to Sophie Poisel, our Year 5Y teacher and innovation leader. Sophie has recently been awarded the NSW Premier’s Commonwealth Bank STEM Scholarship. Sophie’s work and passion in the area of innovation have led to an outstanding application for her to visit a number of schools and conferences throughout America and Canada over a three-week period next year. Her topic is ‘Reimagining education through innovative curriculum design and new pedagogies’. The $15000 scholarship is an exciting opportunity to develop Sophie’s knowledge further and we are excited for her to return and share her learning with us. Watch this space as there are wonderful innovations being planned for 2018 at Emanuel.

Project Heritage has begun

It has been fantastic to begin this year’s Project Heritage program. The Year 6 children have been busily preparing for and conducting their interviews with various important members of our community. We received a lovely email from one of our Living Historians, Heather Joffe, who wrote, “I congratulate Emanuel’s Year 6 group who interviewed me yesterday. They were all interested, respectful, friendly and a pleasure to talk to. I look forward to my next interview.” Thank you, Heather and well done to our Year 6 students.

Mitzvah Meals

Thank you to Hazel Gordon and all of the Mitzvah Meal cooking team who volunteer and lovingly prepare meals for our community when they are experiencing challenging times. I receive such heart-felt emails and phone calls from the families who receive them. Thank you so much.

State Futsal Competition

Futsal players (L to R) Ethan Hirst, Jesse Gothelf, Coby New, Shai Farhy and Leo Latter

This week a group of Years 5 and 6 students attended the State Futsal Competition in Penrith. Congratulations to the boys who represented the School so well and experienced wonderful successes in games throughout the day. Thank you to Adam Ezekiel and Stuart Taylor for organising the team’s participation.

Dates and events

Deborah Blackman – Keep Them Safe parent presentation

When: Thursday 10 August 7.30-8.30 am

Where: Primary Library

Who: All parents who have not attended in the past or parents who would like a refresher

Why: Essential strategies for child protection and protective behaviours as well as offering ways to raise these conversations with children

Students: Supervision will be provided for K-6 children

BBQ Day

When: Monday 21 August

Why: Raising money for Prince of Wales Children’s Hospital

Cost: $3.50 for sausage sizzle

Booking: On the day, students need to bring a sealed envelope with the correct money inside (no change will be given). On the front, please write the child’s name and the order. The options are listed below:

Canteen: The canteen will be closed and we request that students do not bring dairy.

1. Sausage sizzle $3.50
2. Gluten free sausage sizzle $3.50
3. Vegetarian sausage sizzle $3.50

Circle of Friendship Day

When: Monday 29 August

Why: Raising money for Sydney Friendship Circle

Cost: Gold coin donation

Dress: Plain clothes day, purple theme

Calendar links

Next Week’s Calendar Link

2017 Calendar Link

 Term 3 K-2 Assembly items

• 11 August (Week 4): 1B Miss Hynek’s Class
• 25 August (Week 6): YK Hebrew
• 8 September (Week 8): KH Ms Yunis’ Class
• 22 September (Week 10): School closed for Rosh Hashanah

ICAS Competitions

Helen Maynard – Director of Studies K-6

International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS)

Some students in Years 3 to 6 have elected to undertake some or all of the 2017 ICAS Competitions. These international competitions are administered to provide students an opportunity to compete at a high level in their fields of interest. 

Results are awarded according to the following scale:

High Distinction Certificate         the top 1% of participants

Distinction Certificate                  the next 10% of participants

Credit Certificate                         the next 25% of participants

Merit Certificate                           the next 10% of participants

We have received the results for Digital Technologies and the Science Competitions. We congratulate all those students who participated for their wonderful efforts. Certificates will be distributed when they arrive. We especially like to commend the following students for their outstanding efforts:

Digital Technologies

Distinction: Elias Davis and Raphael Harpaz (Year 4), Alix Cane, Samuel Garvin and Isaac Gorelik (Year 6)

Credit: Declan Christie, Sophia Garvin, Avalon Gold and Gabriel Pozniak (Year 3), Joel Allen, Aiden Kanevsky, Gideon Pozniak and Miriam Stubbs-Goulston (Year 5), Dan Blecher, Jake Fleischer, Noah Klisser and Aiden Merten (Year 6).

Merit: Ashley Cohn (Year 4), Toby Danon and Eden Levit (Year 6)

Science

Distinction: Declan Christie, Sophia Garvin, Avalon Gold and Gideon Owen (Year 3), Elias Davis and Daliah Smagarinsky (Year 4), Joel Allen and Miriam Stubbs-Goulston (Year 5), Dan Blecher, Toby Danon, Samuel Garvin, Jesse Gothelf, Joshua Leslie, Aiden Merten and Jake Newfield (Year 6)

Credit: Kira Levin-Kahn, Gabriel Pozniak and Noa Rosenzveig (Year 3), Aaron Berkowitz, Raphael Harpaz and Violet Nathanson (Year 4), Valerie Aronov, Aiden Kanevsky, Oren Levin-Kahn, and Gideon Pozniak (Year 5), Alix Cane, Aron Harpaz, Jake Sharp and Jett Sher (Year 6)

Merit: Oliver Allen (Year 3), Leah Grunseit (Year 4), Alice Milner (Year 5) and Jake Fleischer (Year 6)

Enthusiastic Primary Reading

Ginnette Cameron-Gardner – Primary Teacher/Librarian

Hitler’s Canary by Sandi Toksvig

Year 6 students are currently reading Holocaust Fiction and one of the many such novels that we hold in the Primary Library that are in this category is ‘Hitler’s Canary’ by Sandi Toksvig, located at JF TOK, barcode 064267. This novel is based upon historical events and the experiences of the author’s family during WWII.

The book begins in April 1940 when the Germans invaded Denmark. Ten-year-old Bamse, the youngest son of an actress and an artist, has grown up surrounded by theatre people. 

His family’s involvement in the war escalates swiftly from the fun tricks that Bamse and his best friend, Anton, a Jew, play on the German soldiers to a more serious situation when his older brother, Orlando, joins the Resistance and is increasingly involved in more dangerous activities. Bamse’s father remained cautious of getting involved.

One year after the Germans invade, the British are referring to the Danes on radio as ‘Hitler’s canary’ saying: “Hitler has them in a cage and they sing any tune he wants”. 

This is an inspiring story of the courage of ordinary citizens rallying to save their Jewish countrymen from deportation and extermination under the noses of their Nazi occupiers.

Many citizens willingly put their lives at risk to participate in the ten-day rescue of the Danish Jews during the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur holidays of 1943. Close to 7200 Jews escaped to Sweden. Sandi Toksvig expertly balances the seriousness of the situation with humour and adventure, as she depicts the war through the eyes of a remarkably brave boy.

Suitable for readers aged 10-14.

Enthusiastic Readers Challenge

So many students came asking, “What can I do now that I have completed the Challenge?” that I created an Enthusiastic Readers Challenge.

This Challenge is for those who have completed the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge. The books they read must not be books entered for the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge, must be suitable for the students own age group and do not have to be on the PRC Booklist.

Saskia Esra – Year 1

The first student to achieve the newly formed Challenge is Saskia Esra who completed the 20 book reading challenge on 27 July 2017. Mazal tov Saskia.

NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge

Year 6 students Brooke Rosen, Jordin Sank, Clio Stockley,  Ava Rose and Tobias Topolinsky completed the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge. Well done!

There is still time for students to enter their reading and complete the Challenge.

Year 9 Ski Camp

Ray Francis – Head of PDHPE

Year 9 set new Ski Camp standards

Congratulations to Year 9 students who completed a challenging Ski Camp last week at Thredbo. With hours of lessons each day, plus 2×2 hours of practice time, Year 9 needed to access all of the fitness they have developed through those runs to Bondi in PDHPE lessons.

Four days of 6.15 am wake ups and skiing all day certainly take their toll on a young body, and young and not so young were all feeling the pace by the end of the week.

Year 9 set new standards this year, with every student completing 100% of their ski lessons.

A few tried their luck at “the dog ate my homework” excuses, but were given no quarter by this crop of Emanuel Ski Camp staff.

So a new benchmark has been set, and it will be interesting to see if the current Year 8 students are up to the challenge in 2018!

To all of Year 9 and the staff, Garry Case, Lara Ephron, Kristy Reed, Lauren Adelstein and Kobi Bloom a very big well done and thank you.

Rabin Bugle

Hello and welcome back to another week of the Rabin Bugle. 

Last week, Rabin was crowned the winners of the Ezekiel Cup. Thank you to both the House Captains (Gabriel and Erin) and Mr Rembson (Mr Ezekiel too) for the amazing work they put into Rabin House in the last 12 months. Winning the Ezekiel Cup is a well earned reward for our awesome leaders.

Richard Yavits, Gabriel Kichkin and Darren Sacks

Tai Oshlack and Alanah Borman

This also marked the initiation for our two new House Captains –  Tai Oshlack and Alanah Borman as well as our new House Music Captain, Adam Cranko. On behalf of all Rabin students I congratulate them and I am sure they will lead Rabin to another victory. 

A few members of Rabin did not get to witness this great moment because they were representing Australia at the Maccabiah Games in Israel. Mazal tov to:

Lara Rutstein, Ethan De Melo, Leo Lipman, Danielle Rutstein, Nadia Coburn, Jordan Weizman, Reece Berelowitz and Gabriella Goodridge.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you soon.

Dan, Editor in Chief

Gifted and Talented News

Colleen Elkins – G&T Co-ordinator

Suzanne Plume and I were most fortunate to be able to attend the 22^nd Biennial World Conference for the Gifted at The UNSW recently. The theme was ‘Global Perspectives in Gifted Education’.

Presenters from all over the globe flew in to present workshops and their latest research on Gifted Education. We spent 4 days with the ‘giants’ of Gifted Education, listening to and lunching with people like Professor Karen Rogers, Professor June Maker and Emeritus Professor Mirica Gross. The event afforded us the invaluable opportunity to exchange ideas with educators of the gifted – inspiring each other with every word and setting up connections for the future. We were able to ponder possible new directions, discuss strategies and reflect on our practice.

Mrs Suzanne Plume (a veritable giant on the subject herself) with Professor Karen Rodgers, University of St Thomas’ Minnesota (invited keynote speaker).

We heard, too, from exciting local advocates of Gifted and Talented Education, like Dr Ben North who is amongst other things, consulting with the NSW Educational Standards Authority on the policy writing surrounding the implementation of gifted provisions within schools.

Dr Susan Smith introducing Professor Karen Rogers

We are most grateful for the opportunity afforded us and look forward to ensuring that we are applying best practice in our roles.

Colleen Elkins

Goodfellas Workshop for Year 7 boys

Maxine Chopard – Assistant to the Deputy Principal

Goodfellas Workshop 

Today, the ‘Goodfellas’ Team presented to our Year 7 boys a highly-acclaimed program supporting boys in a variety of ‘conversations that matter’. Danielle Miller, founder and program designer, states “disengagement from school, the pressure to look buffed, feeling like they cannot express the full range of emotions, fall-out with mates, limiting gender stereotypes…are all issues plaguing our boys” and the Goodfellas Team addressed these issues through discussions and guided conversations, empowering our Year 7 boys to have conversations around such issues. The team also touched on the busting of myths that harm boys, as well as social issues such as violence against women.

The highly interactive session ran for 4 periods and some or our male staff were present to offer further support and continue some of the conversations initiated at this session. Hopefully, our boys will initiate and inspire ‘conversations that matter’ in the home environment and continue to empower themselves to be ‘goodfellas’.

High School Debating

HICES Senior Debating

On 2 August, the Senior Debating Team undertook the long trip to St Paul’s Grammar School for the elimination finals of the HICES debating competition. It was a fascinating debate with the topic ‘That all Australian people should learn their local indigenous language’. As the negative team, we proposed a counter model which supported more indigenous cultural education for Australian students. With an all Szenes team: Beau Glass first speaker, Rebekah Goldsworthy second speaker and Isabella Flax third speaker, with Isabella Reichel as team advisor, we emerged victorious, advancing to the quarter finals of the competition. We look forward to the next round of debating. Thanks to our coach Danielle Santos and Mrs Plume for supporting us.

Beau Glass, Year 9

Beau Glass, Isabella Reichel, Isabella Flax, Rebekah Goldsworthy and Danielle Santos (coach)

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Breakfast and Pyjama day

What a fabulous and much anticipated morning we all had. The weather was just right for snuggling up and keeping warm in our pyjamas. The children and teachers were so excited and looked fabulous in their pyjamas. We started the day on our beds hugging a special soft toy, playing with our torches and making patterns on the ceiling while listening to relaxing music. We watched two Aboriginal Dreamtime stories on the big screen: “Tiddalick the frog” and “How the moon was made”. This proved to be a big hit! This was followed by sharing two very special shadow books on the overhead projector: “The game of light” and “The game of shadows”. Finally, we were woken up with fairy dust by our fairy teachers, who invited us to a very special and delicious Kornmehl breakfast. The breakfast consisted of cereals, dinner rolls and spreads, fruit, banana muffins and a glass of milo. We all had a lot of fun and a most enjoyable morning.

Thank you to Mrs Zhana Miron, Mrs Lisa Sarzin, Mrs Patricia Speiser and Mrs Amanda Isenberg for your help in getting ready for the day.

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day

On Friday, we remembered and reflected on National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s day. On this day families celebrate the strengths and culture of their children. The day is an opportunity for all Australians to show their support for Aboriginal Children, as well as learn about the crucial impact that community, culture and family play in the life of every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child.

This year, the theme for Children’s Day is “Value Our Rights, Respect Our Culture, Bring us Home.” It recognises the many benefits children experience when they are raised with strong connections to family and culture. This is something we, in the Jewish community can identify strongly with.

The children made lovely crowns, using the colours of the Aboriginal flag – red, yellow and black in the morning and we wore these to Shabbat. We acknowledged the traditional owners of the land during Shabbat and chatted to the children about why this is a special day.

Jeans for Genes day

We collected Tzedakah on Friday for this very worthwhile cause – genetic research. Thank you to all our Kornmehl families for their generous support.

Recycling Building Challenge

On Sunday 27 August, families are invited to a fun, exciting and creative morning from 10am to 12 noon on the basketball court. Families will work in teams and have 45 minutes to create and make something using recycled materials.

Prizes will be awarded for the most creative and innovative designs. We have lots of wonderful prizes and morning tea will be served. Please make sure you diarise this date and come along and join in the fun!

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Savannah Jochelson (4). We hope you had a very special day.

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

E-Zone 2017

This year I am trying a new format in our Annual Careers E-Zone Event. This is now my fourth Annual Emanuel Careers event and each year we tweak the format to see what engages students the most.

This year we have 22 Alumni Emanuel professionals to come in to School to showcase their industry knowledge and experience. Sonia Newell (Development officer) and I have secured speakers from a range of occupations including Archaeology, Sociology, Science, Engineering, Business, Finance, Real Estate, Media, Health, Music, Architecture, Teaching, Human Resources, Visual Arts to mention a few.

The speakers are coming in during Week 5 and Year 11 and Year 12 have completed choices of speakers. A snapshot of these speakers are below and we are really excited to host them here at Emanuel so our students can pick their brains about their current careers, how they got to where they are and what have been career high and low lights.

STEM Room
Ari Shammay		Waste Water Engineer
Sonia Isaacs		PhD Science
Carla Frankel		Environmental Engineer
Cody Aaron		Engineer & Business Consultant
Jerome Bowman		UX Designer
Arts/Humanities/Law/ Sociology Room
Eve Guerry		Archaeologist
Michele Levine		Lawyer
Leo Kohn		Overseas Volunteer & Lawyer
Diana Borinski		Sociologist and Psychology Counselling
Talia Hynek		Primary Teacher
Business/Finance/Real Estate Room
Craig and Darren Fine		Real Estate
Shaun Katz		Asset Management
Justin Doobov		Finance
Leigh Golombick		Human Resources
Marc Jocum		Business
Silvia Malki		Property Recruitment
Media/Health/Music/Design/ Photography/Visual Arts Room
Alan Harca		Director
Guy Fenton		Media/Health
Sam Weiss		Composer/Musician
Alex Weltlinger		Photographer/Director
Rachel Buch		Visual Artist

This will be a great spread of professionals across many areas who we hope will inspire and educate our students about the world of work and what to look forward to in life after Emanuel!

NOTICES

UNSW – Law Admissions Test. Register with ACER website ACER website. Registrations close at Friday 11 August 2017.
UNSW – Elite Athlete and Performers. Every year I am asked about this and as UNSW is so popular for Emanuel students please enquire about their very specific requirements at unsw.edu.au/eap which requires a separate application for Year 12s applying for their courses.

UAC – Open for business. UAC is officially open for business today at time of writing (Wednesday 2 August). As Year 12s are in trials we won’t be registering or looking into this until Week 5 where I will do a walk through. PIN numbers were sent to all year 12s via email, so please check this in your email inbox and keep the details as they are very important.

Connecting our Community – Gesher

Sonia Newell – Development Officer

Interesting reading

For parents who don’t know me or what I do at the School, just one of the many things I am responsible for as Development Officer is to prepare and produce two bi-annual newsletters.  One is for alumni (distributed by email only) and the other for our grandparents and friends, which goes out by email to the grandparents with an email address on our database, no matter where in the world they live, and by post to the others who live in anywhere in Australia.  However, there are many grandparents for whom we have no contact details at all. We would love to connect with them too, so please forward the newsletter to them and send their email/postal address to me at snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au so they too can receive the newsletters and other correspondence direct, including invitations to Grandparents and Friends Day and other events we hold from time to time. I promise not to bombarded them with mail.

Here now are the links, so you too can see the latest newsletters:

www.emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Alumni-News_Volume_9_issue_1.pdf

www.emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/GF-News_Vol_9_issue_1.pdf

You can also read all past issues of these newsletters on: www.emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au/Gesher

I appreciate the updates and contributions that were sent my way by numerous staff members and others – too many to name individually, but they know who they are – thank you! 

A huge thank you to everyone for your continued support with these publications, which are just one of the many amazing ways to showcase our wonderful School and its close and connected community.

 BREAKFAST WITH EMANUEL SESSIONS POSTPONED

Our apologies for having to postpone our Breakfast with Emanuel sessions scheduled for Wednesday this week and for next Wednesday 9 August.  We will let you know new dates for the next sessions once they are confirmed.

Save the dates

Sunday 27 August – Grandparent Committee inaugural event, 2.30 – 4.30 pm in the Primary Library.  Guest speaker is Adi Gefen-Adler, UIA Executive Director/Shaliach (pictured opposite). Adi is a tour guide by profession, a Captain Reserve in the IDF and is married with two daughters. He specialises in speaking about Israeli history and comparative theology and his topics for our session are: ‘Is Jerusalem holy to Islam? What about the ongoing conflict on Temple Mount? What geopolitical issues exist with Jerusalem?’.  Parents and grandparents are all welcome to attend and you might like to then stay on for an enchanting hour and a half of beautiful voices, at our Emanuel School Senior Chamber Choir and Alumni Concert 2017. 

Sunday 27 August – 5pm to 6.30 pm, Millie Phillips Theatre – Emanuel School Senior Chamber Choir and Alumni Concert 2017

Friday 15 September – Primary Grandparents and Friends Day

Invitations will be out soon for this morning event which celebrates Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah, with time for grandparents to share in classroom activities with their grandchildren, followed by morning tea.

If you have news/photos to share with our community, please send to:  snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Bus 697 and Priority Bus Lines

Maxine Chopard – Assistant to Deputy Principal

Information and update to Bus 697 and the new priority bus lines

Bus 697

Thank you to parents who adhered to my request to document through emails their concerns about the new scheduled times for the School Special 697. I spent Term 2 in discussion with the Regional Business Manager to try to address some of the concerns raised. His last email based on his analysis of schedules and records since the introduction of the new run times includes:

• The departures from the first bus stop is averaging 72 seconds late, no services left more than 60 seconds early. 
• The possibility of the starting time from South Head Cemetery to be moved to 7.12 am. This may only take effect late in Term 4.

According to his data the bus is scheduled to arrive at Emanuel at 7.49 am, one minute earlier than the previous schedule of 7.50 am. The new start time, approximately 12 minutes earlier seems to bring students to Emanuel earlier than 7.49 am. Hopefully, the Emanuel arrival time data (I am collecting this) can be submitted to suggest a later start time at the bus starting at South Head cemetery. Unfortunately, the traffic between Emanuel and Mt Sinai may continue to be problematic, and if data shows their arrival times are on schedule, then there may be very little movement for us. I will continue to be in discussion with him and keep you posted on developments.

Priority bus lines

We have set up the priority bus lines and most students are adjusting to the expectations. Unfortunately, there are  a few students who disregard the expectations and are ‘sneaking’ out the gate without queuing up, or are racing ahead of the queue and overtaking the students ahead of them. The expectations are:

• Students walk down the Waxman Drive in an orderly manner. No running is permitted.
• Five students leave the queue at a time, when the first batch is half way down the hill, the next 5 students are sent. Any student caught running ahead is sent back to the queue and repeated offences will result in escalated consequences.
• All students have their Opal Card ready to show the teacher on duty they are in the correct queue.

Students are aware there are rules governing the use of the Opal Card, behaviour on state buses and Emanuel expectations with regard to queuing for buses prior to boarding.

Students are also aware they may lose the privilege of having an Opal Card for breaching expectations and have been told that their parents will be contacted if they disregard Emanuel expectations.

Night of Song

HSC Showcase

Invitation: A Delicious Book Week talk

From the Parents and Friends

Ruby Berkovic and Jennifer Opit

HI All

• Friday 1 September (morning): Fathers Day Breakfast and Stalls
• Tuesday 12  September (evening): Monday Morning Cooking Club Event
• November 3-5: School Camping Trip