From the Principal

Anne Hastings – Principal

What a week it’s been for performances and exhibitions! I particularly enjoy this time of the year when our HSC students are exhibiting their works and demonstrating their skills and learning that they have accumulated over their years at our School.

HSC Visual Arts Exhibition

Wednesday evening saw the display of our 13 HSC Visual Arts Bodies of Work. Huge congratulations go to each of the students. The final results are stunning, showing such diversity, deep conceptual thinking and art making skills. These works are developed over many months and it takes great perseverance, courage and patience, along with creative skills, to bring each one to fruition. Each of the students started with a blank page, and have brought their works to fruition showing sensitive, artistic and thoughtful comments on their worlds. Congratulations to the Visual Arts class of 2017: Ricky Blank, Ronan Collins, Hannah Dukes, Jemima Firestone Greville, Brianna Gadeley, Lexee Gordoun, Pnina Hagege, Arthur Krite, Eitan Meshel, Aarin Regan-Lacey, Mikayla Sacks, Joel Shagrin and Sage Zimen.

Huge congratulations and thanks also go to their teacher, Eytan Messiah, for his tireless energy, encouragement, advice and patience throughout the process. The end result of the combined efforts is a diverse and meaningful HSC showcase of the culmination of artistic study over the years, of which we are very proud.

HSC Drama Showcase

Immediately after the Visual Arts Exhibition on Wednesday evening the HSC Drama class gave their individual and group-devised performances to a packed theatre. What an amazing night of entertainment it was. The students’ performances were so polished and confident. Congratulations to each student (Shoshana Blackman, Maya Burich, Paris Freed, Isabella Kidman, Monica Pinchuk, Talia Rubinstein and Charlie Wrublewski) for their great achievement and hard work in bringing their performances to this very entertaining and accomplished outcome. 

Huge thanks also go to their teacher, Sam Bauer, for her considered guidance, hard work and valuable feedback that helped this wonderful series of performances become so professional.

 Night of Song

What a delightful evening this was last night! From the very first song by Max Rose in Year 3 through to the last by the Junior Choir, the audience was enthralled by the polished, confident and engaging performances from students, young and ‘old’. I’ve always marveled that students can stand up in front of a large audience and sing with such accomplishment – clearly, they’ve been very well prepared and have rehearsed their performances to the point that they are confident in the outcome. And we witnessed the wonderful outcomes of their work and talent in an evening that entertained from start to finish.

Congratulations to each student who performed, whether individually or in a choir, and special thanks to Danny Burley who organised the whole event, along with accompanying, preparing and encouraging the students along the way. I’d like to especially mention our Year 12 singers, who have been involved in the choral side of the school for many years, and for whom this was their last Night of Song: Shoshana Blackman, Chloe Corne, Kerryn Finn, Sally-Ann Janks, Sophie Lew, Talia Rubinstein and Jesse van Proctor.

 HICES Music Camp

Benjamin Cohen, Casey Flior and Joshua Moses

We had a small number of students attend this camp. They joined with hundreds of students from other HICES (Heads of Independent Co-educational Schools) schools to learn new repertoire over three days and then perform at St Andrews or the Town Hall on Wednesday evening. I was lucky to be able to see the performances of one of the stage bands in the Jazz Academy, ably lead by our Mr Gwilliam. Adam Cranko (drums), Aron Jaffe (trumpet) and Joshua New (saxophone) gave polished performances and clearly made very valuable contributions to their bands. Three of our younger students, Benjamin Cohen, Casey Flior and Joshua Moses from Year 7 participated in the instrumental and choral section and performed superbly at the Town Hall the same night. Congratulations to the boys for their involvement in this large event and a big thank you to David Gwilliam for his leadership and commitment to Music and this event in our Music calendar.

 Sydney University Research

I would like to let you know that Dr Yona Gilead from the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies at the University of Sydney is carrying out a study into our students’ perspectives of the complexities of their Jewish, Australian and globalised identities. Yona is particularly looking at how Emanuel School is successful in imbuing a sense of pride in our students for their Jewish heritage. This study, which covers students in Years 5 through to 11, has the endorsement of the School. As well it has been approved by the University of Sydney’s Human Ethics committee.

As part of this study Yona Gilead will be inviting both you and your children to take part in this study. Being in this study is completely voluntary for both you and your children. You and your children’s decision to agree or disagree to participate in this study will not affect your relationship with the School, the researcher or anyone else at the University of Sydney now or in the future. Please read more details in the Sydney University Research page.

Mazal Tov to

• All of the students in each of our HICES Debating teams (Junior, Middle, Senior and Open), who have made it to the Quarter Finals round in the HICES competition – an amazing feat!
• Our HSC Visual Arts students for completing their Bodies of Work to such a high standard
• Our HSC Drama students for their polished performances in the Drama showcase
• All of the alumni who gave their time for our E-Zone Careers morning (see story in the Careers page)
• All of the students who presented solos at the Night of Song (Max Rose, Lara King, Lucy Klein, Noa Blair, Zoe Nebenzahl, Erin Nabarro, Coby and Joshua New, Angel Mitrani, Sally-Ann Janks and Talia Rubinstein)

Coming up

• Comedy for a Cause, Saturday 19 August, 7 pm, MPH
• Year 11 Examinations, 21 – 25 August
• Book Week, 21 – 25 August
• Book Week Author Talk – parents, grandparents and friends welcome – Wednesday 23 August, 1:10 pm, High School Library
• ‘Jerusalem, Islam and the Temple Mount’, a talk by Adi Gefen-Adler, Sunday 27 August 2:30 – 4:30 pm, Primary Library
• Alumni and Senior Chamber Choir Concert, Sunday 27 August, 5 pm, Millie Phillips Theatre
• Safe Partying, a talk by Anne Ferfolya (Senior Constable, School Liaison), Tuesday 29 August, 7 pm MP Theatre
• HSC Music Showcase, Thursday 31 August, 7 pm, MP Theatre
• Fathers’ Day breakfast (7:00 am – 8:20 am, MPH) and stall

Quote of the week

I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that. And then I realised I was somebody.” [Lily Tomlin]

 Best wishes for an enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

Shabbat Shalom

University of Sydney Jewish Studies Study

Dear Students and Parents

Dr Yona Gilead, from the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies at the University of Sydney, will be conducting a study regarding our students’ perspectives on their Jewish, Australian and global citizen identities. This study has been endorsed by Emanuel School and approved by the University of Sydney’s Human Ethics committee.

Dr Gilead will be inviting parents and children of Years 5-11 to take part in this study. This study is voluntary for you and your children. Whether you and/or your children agree or disagree to participate in this study it will not affect your relationship with the School, the researcher or anyone else at the University of Sydney now or in the future.

If you would like further information, please email Dr Gilead, yona.gilead@sydneyedu.au

An email will be sent to relevant families with more information in the near future.

Anne Hastings and Rabbi Siegel

From the Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

Seeing God

This week’s parashah is entitled ראה/Re’eih – ‘See’. In our Jewish tradition ‘seeing’ like ‘hearing’ connotes much more than physically registering sensory phenomena. True seeing, no less than meaningful hearing, penetrates and awakens our core being. It is an experience of our innermost self.

Our parashah opens with the exhortation, “See (ראה/Re’eih), I place (נתן/natan) before you blessing (ברכה/berakhah) and curse”, and closes with the admonition “Do not be seen (ראה/Re’eih), before the Lord (literally before God’s face), empty, but each with the blessing (ברכה/berakhah) bestowed נתן/natan) upon you”.

Considered together, these framing verses of our parashah teach us that in “seeing” our particular blessing we experience the divine presence in our lives. However, as the main content of this parashah bridging these two verses reveals, seeing the blessing placed (נתן/natan) before us is only made possible by bestowing (נתן/natan) the same upon the other.

The word נתן /natan is a palindrome, suggesting that what we receive is what we give. Thus, this parashah instructs us that you shall surely give נתון תתן (naton titen) to another, and this giving should not trouble your heart, for in return you shall be blessed.

In seeing another through the giving of ourselves, we are blessed with seeing God. Commenting on the statement of the psalmist בצדק אחזה פניך/ ”In righteousness (tsedek), I shall see Your face”, our Jewish tradition, therefore, explains that is only by means of צדקה/tsedakah, seeing and responding to the needs of another, that we experience God/see God’s face. When we remain empty before the needs of others, we render ourselves devoid of the divine presence.

The princess who wanted to see God

Once there was a princess who had never cried. She had never had anything to cry about. Whatever in the word she wanted, she got. One day she woke up and said that she wanted to see God.

“God?”, shouted her father. “You mean GOD? Don’t be silly, child. No one in the world has seen God”.

Princess Eleanor smiled a sweet smile. ”That is exactly why I want to see Him”, she said.

Her father threw up his hands. Though he often was impatient with his only daughter, he loved her very much. He knew that in the end he would do anything she asked of him. And Princess Eleanor knew it too.

The king called in his Chief of Law and Order. “My daughter demands to see God”, he said. “I order you to take care of it”.

The Chief of Law and Order nodded and smiled. He knew very well who God was, so far as he was concerned. He had no doubt that he could make the little princess see Him too.

So he led the princess to the highest tower in the palace. He showed her the great book of the land which listed all the laws the people in that kingdom must live by, and all the punishments for those who disobeyed. Solemnly, he said, “This book is as good as God in this kingdom”.

The king’s daughter pushed the great book onto the floor. “The law is not God!” she said, and she stamped her foot. “I want to see God!”

“Bah!” said the Chief of Law and Order, and he went off to tell the king that his daughter was rude and wilful.

So the king called his Chief of the Treasury. He had charge of all the gold in the kingdom. “My daughter demands to see God”, said the king. “I order you to take care of it”.

The Chief of the Treasury nodded and smiled. For he knew very well who God was, so far as he was concerned. He had no doubt that he could make the little princess see Him too.

He led the princess down to the deepest dungeon of the castle. There he took out a great key and unlocked a thick door. As the big door swung open the glitter of gold inside made the princess blink.

“There,” the treasurer said, clasping his hands under his chin. “That, my dear, is the most money you’ll ever see in your whole life!”

“But, I want to see God!” The princess stamped her foot. “Not just a lot of old money”!”

The treasurer looked at her flushed cheeks and laid his hand on her forehead. Then he hurried off to the king to say that the princess must certainly be suffering from a strange kind of sickness.

Because neither of his two chiefs had been able to handle the job at all, the king decided to do it himself. He began to look around for God.

Thinking about it, it occurred to him that he didn’t know what God looked like. Of course, he had never bothered to look for Him either. So he looked in the royal corners, and under the royal bed, and even down in the royal kitchen. But he couldn’t find God anywhere in the palace.

At last, he went out to the palace gates and trudged down the road to the village. On his way he looked up into trees, and around hedges, and under rocks. He looked everywhere. But since he was not sure just exactly what it was he was looking for, he didn’t find anything.

Soon he came to an old man. The man was so old that he hardly had a breath left in his body. The king smiled and he sat down to rest a moment.

“Say old man, do you know God?”

“Of course,” he said. “Don’t you?”

The king stroked his royal chin. “I’m really not at all sure. But my daughter wants more than anything in the world to see God. Can you show Him to her?”

The old man straightened up. He had often heard of the little princess who had never cried. He looked up the road toward the palace. Then he looked down the road to a little house close to the roadside.

“Maybe I can,” he said, thoughtfully.

When the king brought the old man before the princess, she looked at him suspiciously.

“Have you ever really seen God, old man?” she asked. The old man nodded, smiling a little.

“Then show Him to me!” she ordered in a hard little voice, for she didn’t believe he had at all.

“First you must do something”, the old man said.

“What do you mean?” said the princess. “What do I have to do?”

“You will only have to come with me to visit someone you don’t know.”

“Then will you show me God?”

The old man nodded. “If God wills it, I will”.

“And if He doesn’t”, she scolded, “you’ll be sorry!”

She followed the old man out of the palace, down the road and toward the village. But they did not go all the way. They stopped at a small, poor house, close to the road.

The old man sat down on a box in the yard. “Go in”, he said.

The princess looked at him in surprise. She had never been in a place so poor as this before. Timidly, she pushed open the door and stepped in.

A poor girl sat in a chair at the table. Though her smile was bright, her face was quite dirty.

“I am Princess Eleanor”, the princess said a little haughtily, and she wrinkled her nose at the smell of something cooking on the stove.

The girl only looked at her. She did not move.

“You’re supposed to get up and bow when you meet a princess!” the princess said.

The girls’ smile slipped off her face. “I can’t”, she whispered.

“What do you mean you can’t!” the princess said, and she frowned.

The girl pulled at her skirt. She pointed to her legs. “I can’t walk,” she whispered. “I never could walk – ever”.

“Oh!” said Princess Eleanor. She looked at the girl’s legs, and then looked quickly away. Hastily, she stepped out and closed the door.

Silently, she followed the old man back up the road to the palace.

When they reached the palace hall, the old man turned to her.

“Are you ready?” he said.

“Ready? For what?” asked the princess. She had been so busy thinking of the other girl that she had forgotten all about herself.

The old man smiled. “You are ready,” he said. To the princess’ surprise, he put a mirror in her hand.

“Now close your eyes, hold up the mirror, and look deep into your heart.”

The princess closed her eyes and held up the mirror. Suddenly tears began to roll down the cheeks of the princess who had never cried.

“Why are you crying?” asked the old man.

“I have been selfish all my life”, she said, “and I did not know it until I saw that poor girl”. She put the mirror down and opened her eyes.

“Oh sir, do you think it would help if I brought her some warm food and some nice clothes to wear? Do you think that would help?’

The old man smiled. He took the mirror from her hand and put it carefully away.

“You have seen God”, he said.

By Molly Cone, Adapted

Student’s Divrei Torah

Re’eih, Devar Torah

Rayah Moses – Year 9

This week’s parashah is Re’eih. Re’eih explores the idea of a blessing and a curse. Moshe, speaking for God, states, “See, I place before you today a blessing and a curse” – the blessing that will come when you fulfil God’s commandments, and the curse if you abandon them. 

Moshe coaches them to choose the blessings. But did he really need to give them that advice? Wouldn’t anyone choose blessings over curses? Just like if you were offered your favourite food or something you don’t really like, which one would you really choose?

You see, sometimes we make choices that we may think are wise, but could limit our choices or our future, for example, if you decide to stay up that extra hour or so because you really wanted to finish your movie or TV show. It may seem like a great idea at the time until the next day at school when you get tired half way through the day, which could have a detrimental affect on your learning.

So the lesson would be to simply make good decisions now, so that later in life you will realise that you did ‘choose your blessing’.

When we think about this ‘blessing’ and ‘curse’, can we relate it to our world today?

With this question in mind, why do we do good things? Do we do good things to avoid punishment? When, for example, we wear school uniform, do we do that by choice or because if we don’t, there will be consequences, which can be seen as a curse. Alternatively, do we do good things for a reward, such as helping around the house, just to receive the reward. Or, do we do things purely based on morals and the desire to help others. 

Mishnah Avot teaches us: “Who is wise? One who sees the future”. When Moshe used the word Re’eih he didn’t just want the Israelites to ‘listen’ to his words but to ‘see’ what the outcome would be of either obeying or disobeying them.

Therefore, if we see the potential outcome of our actions would we choose to act differently?

Re’eih, Devar Torah

Liahm Simon – Year 11

Prior to parashat Re’eih, Moshe learned his fate, and came to terms with the fact that he will never set foot in the Promised Land of Israel. He now uses the twilight of his life to deliver a series of final speeches to the Children of Israel.

The parashah starts with Moshe telling the children of Israel: “רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה, see, this day I set before you blessing (berakhah) and curse”. The irony of the obvious paradox set before the Jewish nation is compounded by the fact that Moshe, the leader of the Jewish people, is speaking these words from his deathbed. He is essentially showing the people of Israel the consequences of not listening to God’s commands.

Initially the phrase can be understood to mean that you will suffer the consequences of both the blessing and the curse, not the understanding that we have come to: “I am placing before you either the blessing or the curse, and each person can choose as to whether he/she receives the blessing of being part of the Jewish nation, or the feel the might of God if you betray Him.

The children of Israel are continually reminded that: “It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land” (Deut. 9: 5), that no Jew is better than any other non-Jew but that our ancestors, Avraham, Yitschak, Ya’akov, Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah were the first believers – they chose God, God did not choose the Jewish nation.

This sentiment is echoed throughout the rest of the parashah as the laws of kashrut are again recited as well as the laws of shemittah, along with the continual recital throughout the rest of Devarim of the laws of which we should live by. These laws are repeated because a person’s ability to be observant should not be impinged upon by anything, and repeating the mitzvot increases the possibility of these commandments not being forgotten. In relation to the opening lines of this week’s parashah, one can understand that God does not want to impose his wrath upon us, but instead being a Jew should be considered a berakhah.

The final aliyah of the parashah highlights how the Israelites are to celebrate the three Pilgrimage Festivals of Pesach, Shavu’ot and Sukkot and that during these times everyone must be joyous. Joy is not the first word that naturally comes to mind when we think of the severity of Judaism as a moral code or the tear-stained pages of Jewish history.

As Jews, we have degrees in misery, postgraduate qualifications in guilt, and gold-medal performances in excuse implementation. Someone once summed the Jewish experience in three sentences: “They tried to kill us. We survived. Let’s eat.” Yet in truth what shines through so many of the Psalms is pure, radiant joy. And joy is one of the keywords of the book of Devarim, of which parashat Re’eih is a part. The root word “smkh” (joy) appears once in each of the first 4 books of the Bible, Bereishit, Shemot, VaYikra and BeMidbar, but 12 times in the fifth and final book, Devarim, with 7 of these in our parashah.

We might think of Judaism as a set of laws to live by, and we might be taught to be good God fearing Jews. But, that is not the essence of Judaism. The core of our religion is that together we celebrate, unite and stand up as one joint community and, sometimes in the face of adversity, we celebrate our freedom in joy and in the land of Israel.

Ma Koreh – Israeli podcasts and hard hearts

Adam Carpenter – Head of Jewish Life Primary

Weekly Torah Portion

Parashat Re’eih Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17

In this week’s Torah portion, Moshe continues to remind the people of the importance of observing the laws and the rules of the Torah and to separate themselves from the idol worshipping practices of other people. Moshe reaffirms the principles of kashrut and exhorts the people not to harden their hearts nor close their hands to the needy in the community.

Family discussion: Are we what we eat? What does it mean to have ‘hard heart’?

• The Jewish dietary laws are known as kashrut, a word that means ‘fit’ or ‘proper’, prepared according to a set of rules. Are there certain kinds of food we should avoid consuming and for what reason?
• What does it mean to ‘harden your heart’? What kinds of thinking or activities could people do to help them not have ‘hard hearts’?

A world of Jewish and Israeli-themed podcasts

Over the coming weeks we will be sharing a variety of Jewish- and- Israeli-themed podcasts.

The week’s recommendations:

Israel Story

Everyday stories, told by, and about, regular Israelis. Israel Story shines a spotlight on the little (and big!) dramas that comprise Israeli life, to tell the story of a different, diverse Israel and to amplify voices that are rarely heard on the mainstream media. By sharing multi-faceted narratives on thought-provoking themes, Israel Story aims to become a refreshing alternative. www.tabletmag.com/author/israel-story

Unorthodox:  a smart, fresh, fun weekly take on Jewish news and culture: www.tabletmag.com/tag/unorthodox

From the Primary School

Natanya Milner – Head of Primary

Deborah Blackman – Talking To Children About Difficult Topics

Last week, Deborah Blackman presented ‘Talking To Children About Difficult Topics’. Deborah uses a three-tiered approach to educate students, parents and staff. Therefore, the presentation is run in conjunction with lessons taught to students in Years K, 1, 3 and 5. In her lessons, Deborah teaches students about feelings, secrets, good touch and bad touch and useful skills for child protection.

Sexual abuse is any sexual activity between an adult and a child below the age of consent, or non-consensual activity between minors. In the parent information session, Deborah explained that sexual abuse often involves more than a single incident. Sexual abuse is not a private issue, it is a community issue that we all need to take responsibility for. When educating about sexual abuse, it is important that we don’t overemphasise the idea of ‘stranger danger’. In fact 85-90% of perpetrators of child sexual assault are known to their victims. Furthermore they specifically target their victims and can go through a very intentional process of getting close to the child (‘grooming process’).

Deborah teaches a number of matter-of-fact rules for ‘personal safety skills’ to students. The key messages for the children include:

• You have the right to feel safe
• There is a difference between appropriate and inappropriate touch
• You have the right to say “no” to a person who touches you inappropriately or threatens your safety
• It is important to tell well-trusted adults if you do not feel safe.

Deborah also teaches students strategies for preventing sexual approach. Students learn about how to identify feelings as comfortable and uncomfortable, or ‘yes’ and ‘no’ feelings. They then learn about warning signals using the illustration of a traffic light. Children are taught that if they are feeling unsafe or scared they might have a ‘no’ signal such as trembling, sweating, goose bumps or butterflies in their tummy. These are feelings that are red in a traffic light, a warning signal to tell an adult. The students repeat the message “Say no, go away and tell an adult”.

The students then learn about good secrets and bad secrets. A bad secret makes you feel unsafe or scared and this must not remain a secret, it has to be told to a trusted adult. They learn to identify comfortable and uncomfortable touch and understand how some touches such as a hug or a kiss can be comfortable or uncomfortable depending on the person giving the touch. Another key message is understanding the difference between public and private parts of the body. The students learn that nobody is allowed to look or touch their private parts and that nobody should show them their private parts. Of course, Deborah is clear about exceptions to these rules, including medical care. She also discussed that children should always ensure their parents know where they are going and who they are with.

Deborah highlights the importance of children having a number of safe, ‘go to’ adults who they can go to to discuss issues. It is a good idea to discuss this with your children and ensure they have a number of adults they could contact if they ever felt unsafe or scared or if they have a ‘bad secret’ that needs to be told.

If a child makes a disclosure to you as a parent it is important to be open and available. As the adult, it is important that you stay calm and ensure that you don’t overreact or underreact. It can be helpful to say: “I’m sorry that this happened to you, but it is good that you told me”. It is also important to believe what the child tells you. While children are sometimes confused about the details, they rarely lie about sexual abuse. Children also need to understand the message that nothing is too terrible to tell an adult and that they are not at fault. Children must know that they are never responsible for abuse.

In the presentation Deborah recommended a range of strategies for parents:

• Always believe your child
• Validate your child’s feelings
• Facilitate open communication, they can talk about anything
• Validate that your child can trust you
• Discuss who else your child can trust
• Develop a list of safe people with your child
• Define boundaries and the roles of the adults in your child’s life
• Minimise opportunity – reduce one-adult/child-situations
• Discuss and role-play scenarios
• Find teachable moments such as bath time or going to a public toilet
• Define boundaries such as roles of adults in their life.

 Deborah also suggested story books that may provide teachable moments at home:

• ‘Let’s stay safe’ The Malka and Arthur Krausman Edition, by Artscroll
• ‘How are you peeling? Foods with moods’ by Saxton Freyman and Joost Elffers
• ‘Everyone’s got a bottom’ by Tess Rowley
• ‘The trouble with secrets’ by Karen Johnson
• ‘Mr Jelly’ by Roger Hargreaves
• ‘The cuddliest cuddle in the World’ by Sarah Nash and Daniel Howarth
• ‘When I feel sad’ by Cornelia Maude Spelman

Carol Lee

Carol Lee has been unwell and is currently recovering at home. We wish her a speedy recovery and look forward to her return to Emanuel next term.

Parent Teacher Nights

We look forward to seeing you at our Parent Teacher Evenings on Monday 28 and Wednesday 30 August. In Semester 2, the Years K-2 parents are able to meet with all the specialist teachers and Years 3-6 parents are able to meet with their class teachers as well as the Hebrew, Jewish Studies, Specialist Learning Centre and Extension staff.

Talia Hynek

Talia has requested a year’s leave for 2018 so she is able to explore the world. We will miss Talia next year but wish her all the best for her year of adventure.

Milo Cricket

This Tuesday, 38 of our Year 5 students enjoyed the Milo T20 Blast Cricket Gala Day against other local schools. There were cricket games and fun competitions to be played and for many, this was a wonderful introduction to cricket. It sounds like the students had a ball! Thank you to Adam Ezekiel, Stuart Taylor and Tanya Jeckeln for organising our participation in the event, as well as supervising for the day.

Night of Song

What a wonderful evening we had, filled with talent and entertainment. The range of choirs and solos showcased an incredible amount of talent from both the Primary and High School students. Thank you to all the children who rehearsed and performed for us at the Night of Song, thank you to Danny Burley and the music staff and assisting teachers for their organisation and support.

HICES Debating

The Emanuel B Junior HICES Debating team remain undefeated as they progressed through to last Friday’s round. After having won this Preliminary Final – an impromptu debate against Broughton Anglican School – they are set to compete in the Quarter Final in the coming weeks. The topic that they debated affirmative for was “that the government should provide free wireless services to all people”. The team members are Jake Newfield, Alix Cane, Miriam Stubbs-Goulston and Oren Levin-Kahn. Thank you to Lauren Wigan who continues to enthusiastically guide and support the team.

Gan Kef

This week we were thrilled to open our newest garden area, Gan Kef (Fun Garden) outside the Kindergarten classrooms. We had a lovely ceremony with our Kindy and SRC students as well as the classes of our 2 guests of honour, Lara Isenberg and Leah Grunseit. Lara won the SRC competition to name the garden and Leah won the SRC competition to create an illustration for the garden’s sign. Mazal tov to Lara and Leah. Thank you to Michelle Favero for organising this special event for us.

Dates and events

BBQ and Crazy Hair 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 it is requested 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

Night of Song moments

Primary Debating

Ethan Zines – Year 6

HICES Debating

On Friday 11 August 2017, the HICES Emanuel B Debating Team progressed into the elimination final of the Interschool HICES Debating Competition. It was the first impromptu debate for Emanuel; a debate where we only find out the topic one hour before the debate actually starts.

The topic was ‘the government should provide free wireless service for everybody’. Prior to being told the topic, the Emanuel team was chosen to be affirmative, meaning we agreed with the statement.

After a very close debate with Broughton A from Broughton Anglican School in Glen Alpine, the debate was awarded to the affirmative team, Emanuel! Both teams brought up some very logical, tight, and clever arguments, and it was a pleasure to compete. We have now made it into the Quarter Final against debaters from Penrith Anglican College.

Here is what a few people who watched the debate said…

“It was interesting and a learning experience for everybody.” – Ma’ayan Granot

‘”It was a close and interesting Debate.” – Zak Michalson

By Ethan Zines, Debating leader 

Spotlight on Seesaw

Seesaw helps Emanuel Primary School give students an authentic audience, differentiate instruction and empower parents to be effective partners in student success.

We value the partnership we have with parents. We share an important role in educating Emanuel’s children and so want to form rich, working partnerships between our teachers and parents. Seesaw gives us the capacity to do this in a unique and effective way.

Replacing paper portfolios and giving students an authentic audience

We traditionally have used paper portfolios that were very one-dimensional, paper-and-pencil-type evidence and not reflective of the rich learning experiences our students are engaged in. It made sharing anything with parents that was digital or creative, difficult to achieve.

Seesaw gives students a legitimate publishing space and a real audience to share their work and get feedback. There is a real sense of pride when they know they are going to be sharing their work with their parents, teachers and the community.

Not only have teachers embraced Seesaw, but so have students. Seesaw has made them think about the quality of their work and who will see it. It has also given increased opportunities to collaborate with their classmates.

“I really enjoy using Seesaw as a tool for digital learning and thinking. It provides an engaging and user-friendly platform for students and teachers to share, reflect on and celebrate achievements. Seesaw offers my students a safe and interactive learning environment where they have opportunities to select and personalise uploads, comment on their work, provide feedback on or ask questions about their learning and view progress over a period of time across all subject areas.”

Meghan Carroll, Year 4 Class Teacher

Using Seesaw for differentiating instruction and assessment

Teachers have found creative ways to use Seesaw across the curriculum, such as for differentiating instruction.

Seesaw makes it easier for teachers and students to collect evidence of learning and student achievement. Often in the past students needed a certain level of literacy to demonstrate any skill, even a Mathematics skill. Teachers can now differentiate more and students can record their work in the way that suits them – a photo, a drawing, a voice recording, or typing. They have more choice. Teachers are using Seesaw to show evidence of the progression of learning or ‘distance travelled’, not just the summative or end assessment.

“Seesaw allows me to show snapshots of student learning and monitor growth of learning over a period of time.”

Karon Rom, Year 6 Class Teacher

Deeper insight in Hebrew language learning

The Hebrew Department has found this tool especially useful, as they are able to capture student language development in their classes. Students are able to show their ability to read, write and speak in Hebrew and share this with their classmates and teachers. It gives the students time and space to reflect on their language development so that they can continue to improve.

If you have not joined Seesaw (Years 3 to 6 at this point) please take the time to do so and share in your child’s school day. This link will help you: https://help.seesaw.me/hc/en-us/articles/206514655-How-do-I-sign-up-as-a-parent-

If your child cannot find their QR Code please ask them to get one from their class teacher.

Parents of students in Years K, 1 and 2 will be asked to join Seesaw later in the year.

Helen Maynard, Director of Studies K-6

Primary Mathematics Challenge

Colleen Elkins

Mathematics Challenge for Young Australians

Our Year 5 and 6 Extension Mathematics students participated in the Mathematics Challenge for Young Australians, run by the Australian Mathematics Trust in Term 2. This involved students working on extensive problems over a 3-week period, with access to two peers for assistance and no other outside input. Students showed strong resolve and great collaboration skills during this process, learning much about Mathematics and themselves along the way!

Well done to everyone who participated and congratulations to the following people who earned awards in the following divisions:

Bracelet challenge

Give it a try! Warning: No responsibility is taken for any brain explosions that may occur!

From the Primary Library

Escape to everywhere

The Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Week is from 19 to 26 August. The theme this year is ‘Escape to Everywhere’, which is alluding to the avenue of escape into the worlds in which novels are set. There have been displays and banners in the Primary Library using this theme.

The students are always keen to purchase a book for their home bookshelf. Students volunteered for a working Bee on 14 August, assembling the flyers which have now been distributed. The Primary Library gratefully receives commission on sales which it uses to buy books for the Primary Library.

NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge closing on Friday 25 August at midnight. 

There are still some students who have 4 or less books to enter to achieve the Challenge.

Perhaps the challenge is now to those students who have not achieved the Challenge yet to access their record on the website for NSW PRC and enter a few more of those books they have been reading.

https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html

Congratulations to the following students who have recently completed the NSW Premiers Reading Challenge 2017

Year 1 – Cooper Adler, Cameron Barel, Lexi Butt, Phoenix Gien, Jack Harrison, Allana Litvak, Grace Lyons, Mirabella Marshall, Edan Merritt, Jake Rosenfeld, Elah Sharabi, Maia Sharabi, Jasper Schraibman, Noaa Smily, Kayla Strous, Nathaniel Weinberger, Dean Wolf and Jacob Yakubson.

Year 2 – Ethan Gross, Misha Grynberg, Jonathan Igra, Indigo Joseph Steward, Tyson Latter, Seth Nachman, Isaac Nurick, Noah Revelman, Emily Seemann, Gabrielle Seemann, Brandon Shevelev, Benjamin Utian, Xavier Wilson and Jacob Zyl.

Year 3 – Oliver Allen, Joshua Barnett, Lia Brock, Declan Christie, Ariella Cohen, Samuel Dworkin, Louis Faktor, Alexander Gellert, Orlando Gien, Jake Isenberg, Yael Joffe, Gabriella Karro, Xander Keller, Phoebe Machlin, David Miller, Josephine Miron, Amelie Mueller, Rory Nathan, Gideon Owen, Max Rose, Nova Rosenzveig, Toni Sher, Ari Smaller, Jacob Solomon, Max Tsipris, Noah Vexler, Lara Yakubson, and Daniel Zipser.

Year 4 – Sahara Afutu, Shai Berkovic and Elias Davis.

Year 5 – Willow Gelin and Joshua Gordon.

Year 6 – Alexi Bader, Julian Baruch, Ethan Berkovic, Dan Blecher, Isabelle Cahn, Alix Cane, Jesse Carpenter, Shai Farhy, Aden Goodridge, Isaac Gorelik, Jesse Gothelf, Maayan Granot, Alexander Itzkowitz, Aaron Khedoori, Ella Kirschner, Lucy Klein, Noah Klisser, Daniel Langman, Joshua Leslie, Eden Levit, Mariah Lewy, Claire Madziar, Arielle Melamed, Lucia Meyer, Georgia Meyerowitz, Ruby Miller, Amber Mitrani, Daniella Nesher, Coby New, Talia Rabin, Lewis Saul, Jake Sharp, Jett Sher, Jack Simon, Lotus Van der Starre, Yana Vitkind and Leah Wolf.

Book review

We have many of Colin Thiele’s books but ‘Jodie’s Journey’ is a personal favourite. It is particularly suitable for upper Primary students as a novel about handling and overcoming adversity. It is sad but amazing, somewhat reminiscent of Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, which we also hold.

Colin Thiele had a lifelong struggle with rheumatoid arthritis and drew upon his own experiences when writing this fictional account of a girl’s struggle to live with this painful disease. As a champion horse rider Jodie at first assumes that the excruciating joint pain she is experiencing is due to having injured herself in some way during her training with Monarch, her beloved horse. After suffering for weeks while her condition is misdiagnosed it is finally correctly diagnosed. However, she receives little understanding from her peers and teachers at school as they do not understand this invisible illness. She suffers emotionally as well as physically as her plans for the future are in tatters. Not only does she now have none of those planned events to look forward to, her parents even talk of selling her horse!  Her heroic struggle to build a new life is informative and movingly told and communicates effectively with the reader as a strong piece of authentic writing. 

Ginette Cameron-Gardner, Primary Teacher Librarian

Primary Scholastic Book Fair

Fun in the Gan

Gan Kef is officially open

Last term the Primary SRC ran a competition with the Years K-6 students to find a name and to design a sign for the new Kindergarten playground/garden. 

Members of the Primary SRC

Mazal tov to Lara Eisenberg, Year 1, who came up with the name of Gan Kef / Garden of Fun and Leah Grunseit, Year 4, who designed the winning sign.

Leah and Lara with their certificates

The new Gan was officially opened on Wednesday with the ribbon cutting and unveiling taking place in glorious sunshine and warm weather. Adam Carpenter and Hagit Bar-On led the students in prayers and shared stories about gardens, the sky, ground, water and of course, humans. The students then blessed the Gan Kef with the Shehecheyanu prayer.

Judd Karro, Year K, told us: “I love playing in the new garden. There is so much equipment to play on and it’s so much fun to go on the slide and pole”.

Talia Gellert, also in Year K, loves to play in the Gan and especially likes the monkey bars.

Talia and Judd enjoying the monkey bars

When you are next at school, have a wander around the garden, enjoy the peaceful sitting areas and have a look at the sign which clearly shows just how much fun the Gan is.

Michelle Favero, Manager of Marketing and Communications

Year 7 Hebrew

זמן/Time. We all want more of it.

Year 7 Hebrew students have completed a unit of study about the concept of Time: Nature’s time of seasons and festivals, biological time of humans and animals, and wo/man-made time of schedules and calendars. Time seems to control every aspect of our lives. What would we do if we had more time? Students read a poem called ‘Request’ by Arianna Haran-HaCohen, asking for time for different things. It is written in a form of a prayer and begins with the words:

הייה טוב אלינו ותן לנו הרבה הרבה זמן – Be good to us and give us lots and lots of time.

Students had to write their own poem using a similar structure. It is my pleasure to share some of these insightful and thoughtful creations with you. I did not write a poem of my own, but had I done so I would have asked for more time to read Ma Nishma.

Book Week

BOOK WEEK … Escape to everywhere

“When you watch TV or see a film, you are looking at things happening to other people. Prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world and people it and look out through other eyes. You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You’re being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you’re going to be slightly changed.” (Neil Gaiman, 2013)

Karen McAndrew

Teacher/Librarian

Books for Children of Africa

From the Head of Music

David William – Head of Music

Deadline – Private music tuition and Infant Strings Program

The due date for new enrolments, notification of changes or intention to discontinue private tuition or Infants String Program for Term 4, is the end of Week 6 (Friday 25 August). All students currently receiving private music tuition and students participating in the Infant Strings Program will be automatically entered into tutor schedules for next term and committed to the full term of lessons. Parents who wish to advise us of discontinuations or new enrolments should do so using one of the online forms which can be accessed from the links below.  If your child intends to discontinue, formal notification must be given using the online discontinuation form, otherwise parents will be liable for fees for next term.  Please contact David Gwilliam, Head of Music, by email to music@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

Links to online forms  

New enrolment requests for private tuition: tinyurl.com/PrivateTuitionEnrolment

To discontinue private tuition for Term 4 tinyurl.com/PrivateTuitionDiscontinuation

To enrol into the Infant Strings Program: tinyurl.com/InfantStringsEnrolment

To discontinue Infant Strings Program for Term 4: tinyurl.com/InfantStringsDiscontinuations

Emanuel School/King David School Music Exchange 2017 

It will soon be Emanuel School’s turn to host the 6^th annual Music Exchange with King David School (KDS), Melbourne. We are looking forward to repeating the educational success of previous Music Exchanges. This event has proved to be a wonderful opportunity for students to forge long-lasting interstate friendships and we are excited about the ongoing relationship our schools are building with each other.  

High School musicians and staff from KDS will arrive on Sunday 22 October (Week 3 of Term 4) to join with Emanuel’s student musicians in a combined music workshop, culminating in a combined schools’ concert on the evening of Tuesday 24 October. The visitors will depart early in the morning, before school commences, on Wednesday 25 October.  It is anticipated that all members of the following extra-curricular music ensembles will participate in this exciting event: Senior Choir, Senior Chamber Choir, Copland Concert Band, Emanuel String Orchestra and Senior Stage Band.  

While there is no cost to parents associated with the 2017 Emanuel/KDS Music Exchange, we rely on the generosity and hospitality of Emanuel families to host King David School students as billets during their stay in Sydney. Our task of matching visiting student musicians with a suitable host student is made easier when we have plenty of Emanuel families offering to host, because that allows the most flexibility in pairing students of the same gender and age. Sometimes students are more comfortable to be billeted in pairs, so please let us know if you are able to host more than 1 student. Not every student participating in the Music Exchange is allocated a billet, as this depends on the age and gender of visiting students.

A detailed itinerary will be provided to host families closer to the event. Essentially, the commitment is to collect King David School students from Emanuel School on the Sunday and provide accommodation, breakfasts and evening meals during their stay. Hosts would also need to bring them to school in time for their bus departure for their return flight on the morning of Wednesday 25 October. The visiting students would commute to school on Monday and Tuesday in the same manner as host students and the KDS visitors will have their lunches provided by the Canteen.  

While we are not seeking definitive commitments to participate in the Music Exchange workshop, we are very keen to tentatively establish the billeting offers for the visiting students from King David School before the end of this term.  

I trust you share the Music Department’s commitment to building our relationship with King David School, and in so doing, providing another outstanding opportunity for our student musicians to remain inspired and challenged in their love and enthusiasm for music.

Here is the link for a brief online billeting form which will also be emailed to all current members of eligible ensembles: tinyurl.com/MusicExchangeBilleting

Please complete the form or email Mrs Joanne De Araujo, PA to Head of Music on jdearaujo@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Featured photo by Ofer Levy

Kol Szenes

This term in Szenes House….

• Miriam Itzkowitz (9) has written the following articles for Kol Szenes. Thank you for your contribution to Szenes House!
• Year 12 sat their Pre-Trial HSC examinations and are awaiting their results and feedback.
• Year 11 will be sitting their Preliminary HSC examinations next week. We wish them every success.
• Students from the East Timor trip returned to school at the end of last week with tales of adventure.
• Year 9 had a memorable time at Ski Camp.
• SRC voting was recently completed. Representatives for each Year Group will be announced today.
• Year 11 Peer Support Leadership team to aid in the transition of Year 7, 2018 will be announced today.

Ski Camp

On 23 July, Year 9 embarked on a six-hour bus ride to Ski Camp. For many of us, this was our first time seeing snow, let alone skiing. I was no exception. We were divided into groups based on ability, and because of my lack of experience in the snow sport, I was placed in the beginners group. However, I proved to be even worse than the other beginners, so I was moved to a smaller group for people who couldn’t pick skiing up fast enough (story of my life). This was actually really good for me because my new coach was much more supportive than my first one. By the end of camp, my confidence on the snow had improved significantly. But that’s not to say it was easy. Every single day, I fell over and banged my head constantly, always falling backwards. I embarrassed myself severely on the 3^rd day when I wanted to put my skis away and instead of skiing to the ski rack, I skied into the ski rack. I was stuck there for a good 5 minutes. Other than those few minor incidents, I really enjoyed Ski Camp and can definitely say, thus far, it is one of my High School highlights.

East Timor

On 30 July, 2 days after Ski Camp finished, a group of us travelled to East Timor to teach English to children in a suco called Gildapil. There were 5 Szenesians who went (plus Ms Philp), including myself, Tali Blackman, Elijah Grynberg, Mia Gold and Erin Forman. The trip really gave all of us great insight into other people’s culture and a first-hand idea of what extreme poverty is. We learnt a lot about East Timor’s history and Australia’s significance as well as learning how to live in an extremely different way to our usual lives. Once we arrived in Gildapil we knew that there was something different about the attitude of the people living there. The people in Gildapil were much more content with what they had, unlike in Australia, where there’s minimal optimism. We taught at the school there, played sport with them and really bonded with them. It was so hard leaving the village after our fantastic 6 days there, knowing that we may not see them for a while or even ever again, and all of our extremely emotional goodbyes showed how great our memories there were and how greatly this amazing place would be missed. We also did a lot of sightseeing in Dili, Balibo and Maliana which gave us a deep understanding into this country’s history as well as Australia’s involvement in it. This trip was so fantastic and educational and I highly recommend people go because the pricelessness of what you learn can never be taught in a classroom and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience that should definitely not be missed out on.

Debating

On Tuesday, Moriah College came to Emanuel compete in debates with the Middles and Seniors teams. Our Senior team is completely comprised of Szenesians: Beau Glass (9) as First Speaker, Isaac Grove (9) as Second Speaker, Isabella Flax (10) as Third Speaker and Rebekah Goldsworthy (9) as Team Advisor. The topic was “that we should prohibit statements that are offensive“. Emanuel was the Affirmative Team and won (yay!). The  Middles Team’s topic was “that community service should be part of the secondary school curriculum”. While the team was not completely comprised of Szenesians, a quarter of the team was. Eden Glass (7) was the team’s First Speaker, and subsequently, Emanuel won (must run in the Glass family). We are so proud of both Emanuel teams and commend Moriah for their efforts in a such challenging and competitive debates on some pretty tricky topics.

Quotation of the week

“Travel teaches toleration.” – Benjamin Disraeli

Enjoy the weekend.

Shabbat Shalom

Szenes House

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

EZone

This week was an exciting one in the Careers calendar. We had 22 Emanuel alumni who came to speak to our Year 11 and 12 students about their career experiences, their career paths and their tertiary choices. We ran a subject-based careers event with 4 areas including STEM, Arts and Humanities, Business and Finance, and Media and 
Creative Industries. Students got to choose their areas of interest prior to the event and listen to a panel of experts who answered questions from the floor.

Diana Borinski (Class of 1996): “It’s great to see how the School has grown and how many more students are here now compared to when I was here as a student. There were just 20 in my Year Group!  How wonderful that the School is doing so much more to help students make decisions about career choices. It’s so helpful for students to hear from graduates of their own school and their career path after school, some straightforward and others not so!”

Jerome Bowman (Class of 2005): “I’m so glad to be included for this event. What a great approach to alternative vs traditional career path information.  This is an opportunity to give real-world advice on career paths and choices, and provide students with a forum to see where some Emanuel past students end up and ask questions about all that.”

The Emanuel Alumni who shared their wisdom at the EZone event

UAC process

This week with our Year 12s back and fresh from HSC trials, we went through the UAC process. I have given them all a handout that I would love to see pinned to a fridge or a noticeboard at home, to help everyone stay on track. Here is a copy below of what they were given.

Below is a link to a great video. It shows in only five minutes how easy it is to apply to UAC for university. Students who have already applied took about 5 to 10 minutes to apply. This year a lot of information is already pre-written so you don’t have to fill in personal address details and so on, so don’t let the process daunt you. It is as easy as signing up for an Ebay account.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNfj92S8rbs

I have also set up a discussion page where Year 12s can ask questions in the coming months and the threads can be followed by the whole group: https://emanuel.instructure.com/courses/1261/discussion_topics/2339

Notices

University of Western Sydney Early Offer Program 2018

HSC students can now start planning their futures early by registering with Western Sydney University’s Early Offer Program. Register online with your details today and get advance notifications about their exciting offers program.

www.westernsydney.edu.au/informationabout/bonuspoints/early_offer_2018#.WYfhibUPS3s.facebook

How to be ready for exam time: Our top 7 study tips

http://studyworkgrow.com.au/how-to-be-ready-for-exam-time-our-top-7-study-tips/

Choosing a TAFE

This page from Youth Central has information and advice about choosing a TAFE course and how to apply: www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/studying-training/tertiary-study/tafe-training

Study snacks

https://magoosh.com/blog/the-best-and-easiest-study-snacks/

Macquarie University Open Day – this weekend

Please download the day layout so you can plan your day as there are lots of lectures and Q&A session http://openday.mq.edu.au/

Parents and Friends Camping Weekend

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Clay workshop

Last week the Kornmehl staff were lucky enough to take part in an interactive workshop on how to work with clay and its possibilities.

Rachel Buch, a past Emanuel School student, conducted the workshop, imparting her passion, knowledge and creativity to the teachers. The workshop started with mindfulness exercises using the clay. We know from past experiences that clay has therapeutic properties and can be used to work with children to calm, regulate and reduce anxiety.

The aim of the workshop was to develop an understanding of the multiple stages of working with ceramics and to practise using a wide range of tools. It was also to develop knowledge that clay can be used for creative and educational purposes and to explore different ideas for clay-based projects using mixed media. We learnt about the different types of clay including paper clay, rake clay and terracotta clay and how to knead the material to get the air bubbles out and work with slurry to join pieces together.

We have another two more workshops to follow and are excited to see what we learn and make.

Grandparents Day

We celebrated Grandparents Day on Wednesday and Thursday morning this week. The Seashells delighted their appreciative audience with their cute songs and dances and then enjoyed craft activities and morning tea together with their special guests.

The Dolphins and Starfish sang on the stage in the The Aron Kleinlehrer Performing Arts Centre to a full audience with confidence and enthusiasm. Our special guests joined us for morning tea on the Kornmehl Deck. Our thanks go to the canteen and to all our wonderful parent helpers who assisted with the shopping and setting up, especially Janice Eliovson, who spent all day on Monday baking for both concerts. Your support and help are very much appreciated.

The feedback received from grandparents was very positive and the smiles on their faces during this time together was evident of a very special and beautiful time shared together.

We are privileged to have daily contact with many of our special grandparents. We have grandparents doing pick up and drop offs, coming in to cook, bake and read to the children, and we have grandparents helping with Bush School visits. How lucky we are to be able to share, collaborate and develop relationships with the grandparents in our centre. We recognise and encourage their involvement in our program and know how important they are for the wellbeing and development of the children in our care.

Pasta making

What an amazing cooking experience we had today. Thank you to Janice Eliovson for coming in and showing us all how to make pasta….yes, real pasta. It was certainly a very interactive and hands on experience for all of us. The joy and excitement on the children’s faces and educators too, was priceless.   

Janice had already prepared the pasta dough which was made using flour, egg yolks, oil and a dash of milk.

After kneading the dough, “It’s very hard, it’s hard work,” said Leah, the children were required to flatten it using their hands. This piece was then fed into the pasta making machine.  

The children took on different roles….’The Turner: as the pasta was being fed into the machine one child had to turn the handle. ‘The Catcher’ then had to watch and catch onto the piece of pasta as it was coming through. It was definitely a team effort. This process was repeated a number of times and each time the piece of pasta became thinner and thinner. Aviv likened it to a pancake. Once the sheet of pasta was thin enough, it was then fed into another section which made it into spaghetti or fettuccine. We learnt that fettuccine pieces were wider than spaghetti.

Other comparisons were being made, noticing the pasta becoming longer as it became thinner. And so we moved to the cooking process which was very quick. The pasta was put into a pot of boiling water for a short time. It was then drained and served into bowls. Tomato sauce was available for those who wanted it. As soon as the pasta was served, it was only moments and then it was gone. The children just devoured it.

Burger Centre

The Dolphins and Starfish will be visiting the Burger Centre on Tuesday and Thursday next week to sing and dance for their appreciative audience with their sensitive, moving and caring songs. Taking the children out into the community helps to build relationships and develop a sense of belonging, empathy and respect for others.

Fathers Day Breakfast

We invite all our special dads to join us on Monday 4 September from 8.30 am to 9.30 am for breakfast and a chance to share some special time with your child at Pre-school.

We still need 3 more mums to come in from 7.30 am to 8.30 am to help with the set up for Fathers Day breakfast. Please let me know if you can help.

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to our special educator Claudia. We hope you have a great birthday.

Connecting our Community – Gesher

Life is hectic

There are so many amazing events happening in our community, both at the School and in the wider Jewish Community.

On Monday, we held our annual E-Zone careers event for Years 11 and 12 students.  Nineteen alumni volunteered their time to come to school for this event, which inspired our senior students as they heard the many varied paths taken by our presenters to an array of interesting careers. Below is a photo of our STEM presenters: Sonia Isaacs (Class of 2011), Ari Shammay (Class of 2002), Cody Aaron (Class of 2005), Jerome Bowman (Class of 2005) and Carla Frankel (Class of 2010), with Michal Wolstein, Szenes House Captain.  Read more about this event on the Careers page.

We hope you and your friends can join us on Sunday 27 August for an exciting afternoon with Adi Gefen-Adler, UIA Shaliach when he will explore Jerusalem, Islam and the Temple Mount. Please see the invitation below for more details: 

Please put your walking shoes on and join the Friendship Circle for their annual walk on Sunday 10 September.  Our School community has always been a huge supporter of this not-for-profit organisation (www.sydneyfc.org.au) that assists children and young adults with disabilities and their families.  

Primary Grandparents and Friends Day

Friday 15 September is our annual Primary Grandparents and Friends Day – please pass this invitation on to your children’s grandparents. We will also be sending it out to grandparents for whom we have contact details. We look forward to welcoming our visitors that morning, where they will have the opportunity to share special time with their grandchildren. 

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

From Parents and Friends

Ruby Berkovic and Jennifer Opit

Fathers Day Breakfast on 1 September 

Fathers Day Gift Stall on 1 September

Help please

Food for thought

Mums at the Movies

Monday Morning Cooking Club