From the Principal

Andrew Watt

Investing in our Teaching and Learning

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Adam Majsay to the new position of Deputy Principal (Teaching and Learning), commencing in Term 4. This K-12 role will sit alongside our current Deputy Principal, Ms Margaret Lowe and provide strategic leadership of our teaching and learning programs and practices.

I am confident that Mr Majsay will provide visionary leadership and an exemplary understanding of best practice curriculum and pedagogy, to enhance the engagement and achievement of all learners. His significant experience and skill set will enable him to lead our strong academic team towards the development of effective, innovative, evidence-based and contemporary approaches to teaching and learning at Emanuel.

Our Directors of Studies, who will report to the Deputy Principal (Teaching and Learning), play an important role in completing the administrative ‘nuts and bolts’ of our academic programs, ensuring that we remain compliant in terms of NESA curriculum requirements (programs, registration, assessment and reporting). Additionally, they provide valuable pedagogical guidance, support and advice to our teachers and oversee our staff professional development program. We will advertise shortly for these two positions.

Science Week

A great deal of enjoyment was evident outside K20 as Science Week activities took Science to the playground. Bubble Science, a Science Show (including liquid nitrogen ice-cream, of course), craft and illusions and a secret STEM challenge provided many experiences, while the Annual Science/Maths House Trivia Competition gave students a chance to use their knowledge and skills to compete for their house.

 A sneak peek into our new Food Lab

Not only has the quality of coffee produced by our apprentice student baristas improved greatly, but the smells of good cuisine emanating from the Food Lab are enticing many to peer in, in the hope of a sample! Our Year 10 students are currently undertaking a unit on International Cuisine and are required to research their chosen country and submit and demonstrate recipes from that country for the entire class to follow. Last week, the cuisine was Thai and the students made vegetarian Pad Thai.

Emma Clemens, Deputy Head of Primary School

Ms Clemens visited us last week, to inform me of her intention to resign from her position and seek part-time work whilst she raises her young daughter. In her time at Emanuel, Ms Clemens made a significant contribution to the calm and efficient administration of our Primary School, coupled with her outstanding work in our academic and wellbeing programs. Her ongoing commitment to ensuring that our staff were well supported through clear and consistent procedures and communication, is also sincerely appreciated, and her contribution within the P-12 Executive and the Primary School Executive is also highly valued.

Success in Debating

Our debating teams have done us proud in recent weeks, performing admirably in the HICES Debating Championships. Five of our teams have progressed to the quarter-finals, with two progressing to semi-finals and one competition still to be decided. It is no small feat to reach the quarter-finals and we are delighted with the strength of our debating program. The results are as follows:

• Opens (Years 11-12) were narrowly defeated by Inaburra School
• Seniors (Year 10) defeated Scots Bathurst
• Seniors (Year 9) were defeated by Broughton College
• Middles (Year 7-8) defeated Kinross Wollaroi
• Juniors (Years 5-6) are hosting William Carey today (stay tuned!)

We are very grateful for our debating coordinators, Ms Plume, Ms Elkins, Ms Lopis, Ms Butler and staff debating coach, Mr Moses

Mazal Tov

Ben Torban in Year 9 recently competed in a national ballroom dancing competition and was placed third in Australia in his age group. 

Quote of the Week

Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death

Albert Einstein

From the Primary School

Natanya (Tany) Milner – Head of Primary

Science Week

In honour of Science Week, we were pleased to host Professor Toby Walsh and The Honourable Matt Thistlethwaite to Emanuel School. They spoke with Year 6 students about their journeys into their professions and their roles.

Professor Walsh is a prominent scientist, working with AI and UNSW. He did a wonderful job explaining to the students the importance of pursuing a job that they feel passionate about. He gave the following advice to the children:

–       Work hard in Mathematics as it is the core language of Science

–       Develop communication skills – presenting, writing and reading all lead to future success

–       Be a lifelong learner and always remain open to new ideas

–       Stay curious

–       Question assumptions

When asked about his greatest achievement, Professor Walsh replied that his students are his greatest achievement because their successes multiply his positive impact on the world.

Mr Matt Thisthlethwaite described his love of Physics, Economics and Mathematics as key contributors to his successes. He explained how he uses these skills in his every day work to manage traffic, transport and housing challenges. He also explained the importance of lifelong learning – fulfilling this by currently completing his third degree as he has embarked on studying Chinese at university.

The children then analysed the United Nations Global Goals to predict possible jobs of the future. They came up with some amazing ideas!

Thank you to Ms Sophie Poisel and the Year 6 teachers for making this event happen. Ms Poisel co-ordinated the event and we are very grateful to her for continuing to look for exciting opportunities to inspire the children.

Scholastic Book Fair

Thank you to Mrs Ginnette Cameron Gardner and the library staff for hosting another successful book fair. There were many children running around excitedly with their new books and stationery.

Primary School Roles

As you are aware, both the Director of Studies and Deputy Head of Primary roles will be advertised for 2019. It feels a little like the next chapter at Emanuel Primary is about to be written. Of course, I am so grateful to both Mrs Emma Clemens and Ms Helen Maynard for their ongoing contributions during their time at Emanuel. They have both been committed and energetic and have had a genuine love of the school. I know they will both stay closely in touch and I am sure our paths will cross again in the future. We will be advertising and interviewing shortly and look forward to sharing information with you in the coming months.

Primary School BBQ Day

On Tuesday, 21 August there is going to be a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer foundation. We are having a sausage sizzle. The cost is $3.50 per sausage (normal, gluten free and vegetarian). The canteen will be closed and we ask that students do not bring dairy to school. Students are also asked to bring their money in an envelope with their name and class clearly written on it. Statistics show that one in eight women get breast cancer, and money that we raise will go towards research and care.

2018 fundraising leaders – Boaz Hadad, Mia Vexler, Miri Hurwitz, Talia King, Willow Gelin and Yael Rembach.

From the Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel

The Heart of Writing

The last of our 613 mitsvot is that each of us is to write a Sefer Torah. Thus, the final mitsvah constitutes, through personal scripting, a subscribing to Scripture and its teachings.

In this week’s parashah, we find the distinct mitsvah that an Israelite king, himself, must write a Sefer Torah. Unlike the cultures of its neighbours, wherein the king was considered the source of, and, in some instances, above/beyond the law, the Torah radically proposes that the king is subject to the same law as his people. Moreover, in himself writing the Torah and in practicing it (“To observe all the words of this Torah”), he is modelling a life in fulfilment of the community’s shared religious and civic responsibilities and teachings. 

Today, for various reasons, one would be hard pressed to find a Jew (or a Jewish leader/king) himself “penning” a Sefer Torah. Yet, each of us, throughout our lives, is constantly writing one. As parents and teachers, consciously or not, we are writing and imparting our Torah to our children. We read in Proverbs: “My child, keep my words and internalise my commandments… Keep my commandments and make my teaching (Torah) the apple of your eye… write them upon the tablet of your heart”.

Our Torah becomes transcribed on the hearts of our children and students. Our tradition teaches, however, that each individual, while inheriting a Sefer Torah from his/her parents, must still write his/her own. Personally and consciously writing their own Torah is a challenge for our children and students and a mitsvah which we are called upon to encourage and promote.

Beyond transcribing an inherited tradition steeped in an accepted understanding, today many understand the command to write a Torah from, and upon, our hearts to be a call to “write” a teaching that makes for engaged and meaningful Jewish living for ourselves and our community.

The Torah of our children and students will be that of our parents and teachers if it is one of authenticity and vitality, no matter how it might, otherwise, differ. 

In our ongoing writing of Torah, may we, as we say in our Torah service, “renew our lives as (we have from) ancient times”.

Student Devar Torah

Oliver Evans – Year 11

This week’s parashah, Balak, is about this King of Moav summoning the prophet Bil’am to curse the people of Israel. However, this job isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially with God watching over the Jewish people. That night, Bil’am is visited by God who essentially says, “You better not curse these people or else”. So Bil’am tells Balak’s messengers that he isn’t going to do it. Balak responds with a little bribery to make the deal a little more enticing. After a ‘deep and meaningful’, God allows Bil’am to set out on his mission, but only if he says the words that God provides him with. Bil’am just smiles and waves with his fingers crossed behind his back, but little did he know that fingers crossed don’t work on God.

The next day Bil’am sets out to the Israelite people on his little donkey and some Moavite company. On his journey, God tries one last time to stop him by sending a malakh, a messenger, with a sword, but only Bil’am’s donkey sees it. The donkey knowing how dangerous swords can be, refused to continue, so Balaam struck his donkey. You would think that the donkey being the donkey wouldn’t reply because it can’t speak right? Wrong. The donkey turned its head and looked Bil’am straight in the eyes and said, “Sorry sir but that really hurt. Can you please not do that again.” Although this sounds very polite, it was in fact very angry. God seeing Bil’am not seeing the messenger, opens his eyes so he could. Balaam and the messenger have another ‘deep and meaningful’, where the end result was exactly the same as his conversation with God. Bil’am is feeling a little swayed by now and forgets to cross his fingers.

When he arrives in Moav, Balak greets him with open arms and builds several altars where he sacrifices stuff to God trying to get on his good side. Bil’am and Balak go to a location to curse the Jews, but rather than Bil’am speaking naughty words, he says beautiful blessings towards the Israelite people. Balak, taken a back, is like, “What are you doing? You were supposed to destroy the dark side not join it!” Bil’am just shrugs and says, “I think it was the location. The altitude is messing with my brain.” Balak sighs and takes him to another area, where Bil’am does the exact same thing again. Balak being very angry as he just sacrificed about a years worth of livestock, grabs Balaam and transports the altars and sacrifices to a third place as he mutters under his breath, “third time lucky…” Again, Bil’am says nothing but blessings. At this blessing, Balak undergoes an emotional breakdown and sends Bil’am on his way.

Although this parashah is strange it does have a message. It’s moral is basically that despite the evil that you may feel, your heart will prevail over all. This is shown through the portrayal of Bil’am throughout the parashah and the change of personality he undergoes. Sorry, that sentence was a bit too close to an English speech. But seriously, do you listen to your heart or your brain when you act?

Ma Koreh

Adam Carpenter | Head of Jewish Studies Primary

Jewish Educators Conference, Melbourne

Last Sunday and Monday, Jewish Educators from across Australia gathered together at Mount Scopus Memorial College in Melbourne for the biennial ZFA Jewish Educators Conference. This conference brought together principals, youth movement madrichim, informal educators, Hebrew and Jewish teachers from across the spectrum of Jewish educational organisations to engage in professional learning and networking.

A number of Emanuel teachers presented at the conference;

Mrs Daphna Levin-Kahn ran a workshop focused on sharing innovations in Emanuel School that have been designed to strengthen connections between our students, Judaism and Israel. The Year 8 Israel Expo, Year 9 Jewish Studies Electives and Year 11 Speaker Series were explained as examples of creating connections with our students to the Jewish world outside Emanuel School.

Mrs Hagit Bar-On presented two workshops at the conference. The first focused on the new iTalAM digital, online Hebrew and Jewish heritage learning environment. Hagit shared how it is being implemented at Emanuel School to provide enriching, interactive and personalised Hebrew teaching and learning experiences for both our students and teachers. The second focused on the challenges, methods and materials experienced in teaching Hebrew as a heritage language and in the teaching Jewish festivals or chaggim to students. 

The conference provided valuable opportunities for our teachers to engage in professional learning and development, hearing from International experts and local presenters sharing their own expertise and experiences of what is happening and working in their schools.

Kobi Bloom in dramatic action with actor Amichai Pardo from the Orna Porat Theater during the Janusz Korczak performance ‘Ten Matchboxes’.

Primary Innovation

Sophie Poisel | Innovation Leader K – 6

Innovation-a-thon

Year 6 meet Professor Toby Walsh and Hon Matt Thistlethaite

Year 1 Digital Technologies

Primary SRC

Julia Tritsch

Jennifer Udovich

SRC Update

Semester 1 was a busy time for the SRC. We have been involved in running competitions and also helping to establish the new Chill Zone – an area for quiet contemplation, reading and games.

We extend a huge thank you to the following Semester 1 representatives for all of their hard work.

Semester 1:

Micha Ezra

Rebecca Salamon

Sam Carpenter

Leah Joshua

Emma Butt

Phoebe Machlin

Declan Christie

David Miller

Oliver Novy

Chloe Csavas

Niek Nathan

Ariel Bloom

Gemma Wainstein

Sam Levi

A huge congratulations to the following students who have been voted by their class as SRC representatives for Semester 2.

Ella Dyce

Jordan Pal

Dean Stein

Lilly Besser

Daliah Smagarinsky

Shai Berkovic

Madi Narunsky

Noa Rosenzveig

Ezra Glover-Sanders

Jamie Nabarro

Asher Morris

Elise Goldberg

Eli Jocum

Indigo Joseph-Steward

We acknowledge the continued hard work of the SRC Year 6 leaders and look forward to working with them again this semester.

Year 6 SRC leaders:

Kian Hamburger

Lani Israel

David Hakim

Gabriel Lee

Koby Michal

2018 Primary Grandparents and Friends Day

Emanuel and King David School Music Exchange

Diana Springford – Acting Head of Music Performance

Emanuel School and King David School Music Exchange 2018 visit to Melbourne

In 2018 High School musicians from Emanuel School will visit The King David School (KDS) in Melbourne from Sunday 21 October until Tuesday 23 October. This will be the eighth music exchange and we are excited by the musical and cultural opportunities this event provides for our young musicians. During the exchange, students will experience interesting new music, be immersed in the culture of another progressive Jewish school, and develop new and old friendships. The exchange is open to High School students who are committed members of Copland Concert Band, Bernstein Concert Band, Senior Stage Band, Junior Stage Band, Senior Choir and Emanuel String Orchestras. Up to 40 students will be able to participate in this year’s exchange.

On Sunday 21 October, students will meet their Music teachers at the Sydney Domestic Airport at 2.00pm ready to receive their boarding pass for their flight to Melbourne. Students will be billeted with KDS families during their stay in Melbourne. The Music Exchange will conclude with a Showcase Concert at KDS on the afternoon of Tuesday 23 October. Students will return to Sydney Domestic Airport at 9pm after flying from Melbourne. Parents will pick up students from the Sydney airport.

The total cost to participate in the Music Exchange is $400.

Bookings open on Friday 17 August. Bookings must be completed by Sunday 2 September.

We are holding a group booking of 40 airline tickets, for which we have 14 days to pay.  To secure a place, please use the link below to pay the full cost of the exchange: https://www.trybooking.com/XPGB

The link will take you directly to the TryBooking website where you can follow the prompts to register your child’s full name, their 2018 year-group, and to pay in full by credit card. By booking in this way, you will receive confirmation that your payment has been accepted and that your child is registered for the Music Exchange. Please note: all payments are non-refundable.

At the end of the TryBooking process there is a link to a more detailed permission note requesting dietary requirements and medical information. This too should be completed by 2 September:  https://goo.gl/forms/oGg5yCF5eqOuhzwh1. A more detailed itinerary and information note will be sent to participants in Week 7 of Term 3.

This deadline of 2 September 2018 will be strictly adhered to, as we must pay the airline and release the unsold tickets on the following day.

Participation in the exchange is on a first-come-first-served basis so early response to this invitation is recommended. Once the 40 tickets are sold out, the TryBooking website will allow unsuccessful applicants to add their contact details to a waiting list so that we are aware of your desire to attend the exchange.

The Music Exchange will conclude with a Showcase Concert at King David School in Melbourne on the afternoon of Tuesday 23 October.  Emanuel parents are most welcome to attend and further information will be provided closer to the date.

Night of Song

Meir House

Adam Ezekiel – Head of Meir House

Last week students of Meir (better known as Meirians) received their Meir hats. Student’s were very excited to finally receive some Meir merchandise and have been wearing it proudly around the school. Thank you to all Year 11 Meirians who assisted in the design of the hats. There are 4 different types of hats, as you can see in the images.

Mr Gilhooly

Rabin Bugle

Shalom Shabbat Rabinites!

We hope you all have had a great couple of weeks and now settled into routines and schedules. The last couple of weeks have been engaging and fun with our new House Madrichim and Year 11 Rabin embracing their leadership roles and leading the way in style.

Preparations for the annual Inter-House Music competition have begun and Rabin House are very excited. House assemblies have over the last two weeks focused on teamwork and cooperation in musical settings and each Year Group have had their moment to shine. Congratulations to Year 8 and Year 9 who each won a Tutor Group music challenge over the last two weeks.

This year, there will be three categories to compete in at the Inter-House Music evening with the Big House item, X-Factor and a Small House item on the menu. Rabin House will hold auditions in Week 8 for the X-Factor representative for our House. Please email our House Madrichim, Tia Mallnick and Adam Riesel or Mr Rembson if you would like to enter. Do remember to include the name of the song and what music equipment that you would like to use on stage, so we can make timely preparations.  Tia’s and Adam’s email are:

mallinick.tia@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

riesel.adam@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Congratulations Ben Torban!

Ben Torban, Year 9 Rabin, (pictured opposite) competed in the National Ballroom Dancing Competition in Launceston this past weekend. Ben showed flair and skills and placed third in his age group. Quite an achievement! It is challenging competition, the Dance Review magazine covered the event and expressed that the high standard of performances made it the competition of the year. Well done Ben!!

Inter-House Science Competition

Rabin House was well represented in the Science Competition this week. It was great to see so many of you participate in a range of activities throughout the week and for doing so well on the Friday Inter-House competition. We are all looking forward to hearing Ms Selinger announce the results and to see if any House team was able to take an historic first win over the teachers’ team.

Reminder: We would love to acknowledge your achievements or celebrations. Please remember to email Mr. Rembson or the House Madrichim – Tia and Adam if you would like a mention or make an announcement.

Inter-schools Sports Competition

Kristy Reed | Head of Sport | PDHPE Teacher

Term 3 Sydney School Cup Inter-School Sports Competition

It has been an exciting start to the Term 3 Sydney Schools Cup Inter-school Sports Competition. This weekly sporting tournament provides inter-school matches for Years 7 and 8 students, with netball and futsal fixtures throughout this term.

The Emanuel boys futsal team compete each Tuesday afternoon at the All Sorts Sports Complex. The team started their season well, defeating International Grammar School, with Samuel Milner scoring a hat trick. In recent weeks they have faced tougher matches against Moriah College and Kesser Torah. However, the team is consistently improving and are working hard in their weekly training sessions.

Emanuel School is convening the girls netball competition and it has been lovely to have International Grammar School, Kesser Torah College and Moriah College, visiting our School each Tuesday afternoon. The Emanuel netball team has started the competition in fine form, winning all three of their matches thus far. I am looking forward to the remainder of the season and wish our teams the best of luck.

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

ATAR’s and Cut Off Points

UAC has been opened now for a few weeks. The display of their new cut off’s has changed and new types of data are now included. Anyone in Year 10, Year 11, Year 12 and parents will need to be aware of these changes. I will highlight the main differences below.

When we look at Engineering at UNSW, we will now say that the ATAR is 92 (the same as last year). But in order for Universities to show transparency, they are also showing what the lowest ATAR was, in order to get in and this was 82.45. What this means, is that someone with an 82.45 got in with added adjustment factors (bonus points). This may have been as they got a Band 5 or 6 in Extension Mathematics for example. Or it may have been if they are an elite athlete (state level), or had some extra bonus points for an Education Access Scheme application. This is where they were at an educational disadvantage for more than 6 months for reasons out of their control, for example a serious illness or a learning difficulty.

(https://www.uac.edu.au/future-applicants/scholarships-and-schemes/educational-access-schemesfor more information on EAS schemes.)

This table above now shows the ATAR profile for this course. It tells us that the median ATAR for this course was a 93.27, the highest was a 99.95 and the lowest as we know was a 82.45. It gives us an indication of the group that are studying this course. The 92 selection rank, means the lowest ATAR with added adjustment factors added on to it. It will become clear when researching UAC now, that a lot of courses are offered to students with these extra added adjustment factors.

UNSW LAT Test

Any students who would like to apply for LAW at UNSW, need to take the LAT (Law Admission Test). Students in Year 11 can apply and sit this test and potentially use that result to get into Law (along with their ATAR). This year that LAT is sitting on a Jewish holy day, Tuesday 25 September. This could either mean that attendance will be easier as students do not need to request a day off, or if students are fasting and would not like to sit it on this day, then a special consideration can be made by UNSW. Please see details about this at latreg.acer.edu.au. Late registrations will still be accepted until 5 September 2018.

Open Days 2018

Students need to check the Open Day list and make sure they have put the relevant dates in their diary. https://www.uac.edu.au/assets/documents/schools/uni-open-days-2018.pdf

Gesher – Connecting our Community

Sonia Newell – Development Officer

Remember September

Alumnus Ben Wilheim (Class of 2008) is a man on a mission. His father Danny died nearly 4 years ago from pancreatic cancer, just 9 months after diagnosis. Since then Ben set himself a mission to help raise awareness of and funds for much needed research to find a cure for this dreaded disease, with the creation of ‘Remember September’ in 2015.  Not only did Ben lose his beloved father to this hiddeous disease, but his first cousin Danielle Sirmai (nee Feller) at the age of 33 also died from pancreatic cancer (6 weeks after diagnosis) just one year prior to Danny falling ill.  Danielle attended Emanuel School up to Year 6 and her brother Ari Feller finished Year 12 here in 2000. 

We would love members of our Emanuel Community to get behind Ben’s amazing efforts and support this worthy cause.  My own father succumbed to pancreatic cancer 12 years ago and unfortunately, due to the nature of this cancer, it is rarely diagnosed early, so treatment is limited and outcomes are poor but with Ben and his friends’ help and our support, we hope that one day there will be a cure for pancreatic cancer and also for the many other cancers suffered by our loved ones and other members of the universe.

Remember September 2018 was launched a couple of weeks ago and registrations/sign-ups are now open! Here is the link: http://rememberseptember.gofundraise.com.au/ 

As Ben says “the campaign continues to double in size each year (2017 we had 82 challengers raised over $66,000, which brought our grand total to over $126,000), so I’m keen to continue the trend and turn this into the next big thing!

The concentration between now and September starting is of course promotion for people to sign-up for the challenge. Once September begins the promotion concentration then shifts toward donations/support.”

Enjoy a mid-week morning out 

We hope you can join us on Tuesday 28 August for our Archibald Prize private tour.  It is organised by the Grandparents Committee but is open to everyone in our Community. See poster for details and book your tickets online: www.tinyurl.com/archies2018

Primary Grandparents and Friends Day – 4 September

We look forward to this exciting annual event where grandparents and special friends spend time with our Year K to 6 students, sharing classroom activities along with Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat celebrations.

Save the Date

Wednesday 26 September –  Breakfast with Emanuel

Bondi Junction – The Little Space.

Details out soon

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

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director Kornmehl

ZFA Conference

On Sunday and Monday Alex Levy and myself attended the Zionist Federation of Australia Biennial Jewish Educators’ Conference in Melbourne. The conference was held at Mount Scopus Memorial College and catered for educators from the early years through to High School. The focus of the conference was Jewish studies, informal Jewish education, Hebrew, Israel studies, history etc. This year was the 20^th anniversary of the conference, which is well recognised internationally and attracts the highest calibre of presenters from around Australia and worldwide. The conference was inspiring, motivating and a wonderful event to be a part of. The aim is to provide continuing learning and development opportunities for educators who can then take back what they have learnt and instil knowledge, passion and deeper Jewish values to the students they encounter on a daily basis.

Alex and I presented to an audience of Early Childhood Educators on the topic of Enriching and Integrating Israel studies into the daily life of the Pre-school.We showcased what our wonderful educators do on a regular basis to teach and impart knowledge about Israel to the children. The presentation included hands on, practical and interactive learning, that allows each child to embrace the learning and internalise the knowledge through the use of all their senses. It incorporated dynamic art works created by the children to make their thinking visible.

Some of the sessions we attended included: Early Childhood Education: a Positive Learning Experience by Udi Cohen, A Shavuot Torah Bikkurim ceremony by Velvel Lederman, Celebrating the Chagim through the senses, A keynote address by Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein – The School of the 21^stCentury, To repair the world is to repair Education”: Janusz Korczak by Karen Morrison, Introduction to Dynamic Assessment by Rabbi Feuerstein, Age and appropriateness – at what age should we introduce Shoah education? by Sharon Kangisser Cohen, Jewish meditation by Orna Triguboff, 70 years of demography and the shaping of Israel’s borders by Yigal Nissel and Shai Israel, David Friedman: The Hebrew language – its meaning, symbolism and importance, and another keynote address by Ambassador Mark Sofer and Michael Soberman – Why be part of the Jewish Community? How do we inspire the next generation?

Both Alex and I came back feeling inspired, spiritually uplifted and eager to share what we have learnt with our team. We both feel incredibly privileged to have been given the opportunity not only to present at a conference of this nature but to have attended and been inspired by so many wonderful speakers and to have had the opportunity to network with so many like-minded educators. We found the conference both personally and professionally uplifting.

Bush School

This week the Dolphins and Starfish attended Bush School together to share and explore what our Bush Classroom has to offer. This is the first time the 2 groups have gone together, and it proved to be a wonderful opportunity to share, discover and learn from and with each other.

Grandparents and Special Friends day

Next week the Seashells, Starfish and Dolphins will be celebrating Grandparents and Special friend’s day. The Seashells will perform a short concert in the pre-school on Wednesday 22 August at 9.30am, followed by shared activities and morning tea. The Starfish and Dolphins will perform in the Millie Phillips Theatre on Thursday 23 August at 9.30am, followed by morning tea with their special visitors in the Pre-school. These special events are a highlight of our calendar and provide another opportunity for us to connect with the people, who play such an enormous role in the lives of the little children whom we teach.

Drought Collection

Last week Friday, the pre-school families all donated a “Fiver for a farmer” to support our farmers during this terrible drought. We raised $215 which will go towards helping to buy bales of hay to feed the animals.

The Dolphins and Starfish engaged in meaningful dialogue about the drought and what the farmers are experiencing. Here are some of their comments:

What does rain do for us?

Isaac:  It makes our world.

Harry:  It makes our trees and bamboo grow.

Tali:  It helps give us more water.

Leah: It makes our plants grow.

Aviv:  If we don’t have trees and water, we won’t get oxygen to breathe and will die.

Dalia:  Rain goes to plants and flowers and they won’t grow without rain.

What is drought?

Coby:  There’s a man with a cow and the cow is sad. Maybe all of his friends have gone.

Leah:  All the sheep are so sad cause there’s no more grass to eat.

Dalia:  The ground is so dry cause there’s no rain. It’s a tiny, bit bumpy.

Harry:  They’re worried about the water. I think a drought is coming.

Zella:  They make me feel sad because there is no water anywhere and nowhere to play. The children are sitting on the ground and they’re thinking, they wish they had a really good island with water to drink.

Tali:  It’s so cracky and it looks like it’s gonna break.

Nadav:  No grass, the sheep will die.

Vitaly:  The grass will not come if the rain doesn’t come.

Happy Birthday

This week we wish a very Happy Birthday to Ariel Greenberg (3), Jemima Shraibman (5), Joshua Kawalsky (5) and Jared Stein (4). We hope you all had a special birthday celebration.