From the Principal

Andrew Watt

Showcase of talent and perseverance

Mazal tov to Saachi Owen for receiving the Emanuel School Visual Arts Acquisition Prize

The HSC Visual and Performing Arts Showcase is one of the highlights of the school calendar, where our Year 12 Drama, Dance and Visual Arts students present their major works to a large audience. Teachers, students, parents and grandparents were privileged to view a range of outstanding artistic creations and performances and hear from our our Guest of Honour, Ashanti Fogden.

Albert Einstein once said that the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination. Very few people who have not gone through the process of creating a Major Work will fully appreciate the creativity and imagination required, to design something fresh and unique. Add to this the huge commitment of time, thought, design, effort and perseverance that is required to finish this task. Inevitably, things will go wrong somewhere in the creative process. We are very proud of the way that our students have displayed resilience and grit, to finish the job. I am in awe of these students, and of their capacity to sustain a rigorous and authentic creative process, all the way through to this point. The works of art and performances this year are outstanding.

Mazal tov to those Year 12 Visual Arts students who received the following Awards for their work:
Olyvea Akres – The S&S Prize – Display of Technical Sensitivity
Sarah Sharwood – The Eckersley’s Prize – Articulation of Ideas & Concepts
Saachi Owen – The HSC Visual Arts Acquisition Prize

Parents play a pivotal role in supporting their children through the entire process; when they are tired, anxious and emotional, or when they are ready to give up and pack it all in. Parents share the load and feel the pain, and we remain very grateful for all that they have done in supporting their children to bring these performances and works of art to life. We also owe a debt of thanks to Samantha Bauer, Eytan Messiah and their team of staff, who have worked tirelessly to support and inspire our students throughout the creative and design process.

Erin Nabarro, Lara Rutstein, Noah Klein and Tia Mallinick performing their original work, Hear to Help

The Future of Education Study

Social researcher, Mark McCrindle, conducts regular surveys of both education leaders and parents, to assist schools to make informed strategic decisions regarding the future of education in Australia. In an age of digital disruption and rapid automation, employers are looking for workers who possess a broad range of transferable skills. These adaptive skills require creativity, problem solving, effective communication and critical thinking. It is expected that by 2030, workers will spend 30% more time learning on the job; 100% more time at work solving problems, 41% more-time critically thinking, 77% more time using science and maths skills and 17% more time using verbal communication and interpersonal skills.

McCrindle’s findings reinforce the need for schools to adapt to these challenges and engage students, by incorporating teaching methods and styles of learning that promote greater interaction and collaboration in lessons. Schools that foster an experiential, hands-on approach to learning will help students cultivate the skills they need to be workplace ready. An important function of our School is to provide students with life-long skills that they can apply in all situations. The report reinforces the need to prioritise the development of problem-solving, communication, creativity and critical-thinking skills in students, to enable teachers to meet the growing demand for valuable life-long skills, which will also equip them for the changing workforce. Our strategic roadmap, with its focus on driving deep and authentic learning, seeks to develop the 6 C’s – adding collaboration, citizenship and character to the above list.

Night of Song

A large and appreciative audience were treated to a wonderful range of performances at our major annual choral concert. In total, 155 students performed, and this year, for the first time, the concert had a theme, with all items coming from the genre of ‘musical theatre’. The evening featured all our choirs, from Kindergarten to our Senior Chamber Choir, as well as some soloists and duets. Our student musicians accompanied many of the performances. The enjoyment of the performers was evident and the depth of talent across age groups was also impressive. Our choral music program is very strong, and we are grateful for the leadership of Danny Burley, the architect of this evening, and to Adam Majsay, Elizabeth Birrell, Alex Hone and Alice Girle. Click on the Music Matters page for a galley of photos.

Mazal tov

Year 3 teacher, Julia Tritsch, has been selected to participate in a Teacher Exchange Program in Israel in December with The Australian Arava Partnership. Julia will work in the Primary School in Sapir in the Central Arava.
Ashley Kim, Year 7 and Gideon Grunseit, Year 10, auditioned successfully to participate in the 3-day HICES Music Camp and performed at different concerts on Wednesday evening: Ashley performed at Town Hall, while Gidon performed at Foundry 616.
Jewish Care’s entire Love Bites team were so impressed with how the Love Bites sessions were received last Friday. They said the students were completely engaged with them and the content of the program (which can be very confronting at times) and were respectful throughout all the classes and workshops.
Outstanding performances at the CDSSA Athletics Championships from our four Age Champions, Aiden Kanevsky 12 years, Eden Levit 14 years, Georgia Kahane 16 years and Greg Allen 18 years. Also an amazing performance from Danielle Rutstein breaking the longstanding 16 years high jump record with a 1.54m jump.

Quote of the Week

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

Andy McIntyre

Primary News

Natanya (Tany) Milner

IPSHA Performing Arts Festival

Last Thursday evening, a large number of Years 3-6 students performed at the IPSHA Performing Arts Festival at Town Hall. It was such a special opportunity for our children to showcase their musical talent (and they were very impressive!) as well as perform with children from other schools. It was a massive amount of work for our wonderful music staff including Alex Hone and Liz Birrell who prepared our students for this event. A big thank you to all staff involved including Di Springford, Joanne De Araujo, Alice Grile and Brendan Mahony. Thank you all and a huge mazal tov to all the children involved on their wonderful success!

Science Week

Last week, the Primary School celebrated Science Week. There was an exciting range of activities on offer during class and lunch times as well as a wonderful Year 3-6 assembly to celebrate the week. Ma Nishma has highlighted some of these fantastic events and I thank Sophie Poisel for her creativity, vision and organisation to prepare for Science Week. The children were so enthusiastic and engaged.

Book Week and Book Fair

This week’s Book Week was celebrated with a wonderful Book Fair in the Primary Library. The children loved exploring the books on offer and working in the library on interesting Book Week activities. I would like to thank Ginnette Cameron-Gardner and Fiona Singer for organising the activities and fundraiser for Emanuel.

Friendship Circle Fundraiser

This week’s BBQ Day and Purple Plain Clothes Day were to raise funds for the Friendship Circle. I would like to thank Karon Rom, Diane Clennar, Chelsea Trotter, the Tzedakah Leaders and the P&F for coordinating and organising this event.

Night of Song

Night of Song is always such a highlight in our calendar and this year certainly didn’t disappoint. The choirs and soloists performed beautifully and the musical theatre theme was a wonderful success. Congratulations to all the children who were involved for their outstanding performances and a huge thank you to the music staff, choir leaders and especially to Danny Burley, for a sensational evening.

7 Habits of Happy Families

Over the past 2 weeks, we were pleased to present the 7 Habits of Happy Families program to a group of Primary School parents. We really enjoyed sharing our insights on the 7 Habits and ways we can use them to promote our children’s effectiveness, productivity and relationships. I would like to thank Meghan Carroll, Belinda Gold and Kim Slender for their huge efforts to prepare for these evenings and for giving up their time to present. Here are some of the key takeaways from the evenings:

Be Proactive:

Try to focus your energy on things you can influence/control rather than things that are out of your control
Work to build a space between a stimulus and your response. It is always important to choose your reaction rather than just being reactive

Begin with the End in Mind:

Think about how you would like to be remembered on your 80th birthday and act in ways that build towards that goal
Consider what you would like your family to stand for – creating a family mission statement can support this.

Put First Things First:

Consider what are your ‘big rocks’ or priorities and act in ways that achieve these first, before spending time on other areas/activities
Try to ensure you are building time to work on proactive tasks that are creative and innovative

Think Win Win:

It is important to consider what is a ‘win’ for all the people involved in a situation and create new alternatives that were not previously considered by others (rather than only compromise solutions)
Try to balance courage (speaking your mind) with consideration (listening and respecting the thoughts and feelings of others) in order to respond in ‘brave but thoughtful’ ways

Seek First to Understand and then to be Understood:

Listening carefully in order to ‘diagnose before prescribing’ will ensure more meaningful connections and relationships (listen first and talk second)
Empathic listening involves an intent to listen in order to understand and the skill of reflecting feelings and words rather than evaluating, advising and interpreting

Synergise:

Synergising involves celebrating differences, being open-minded and finding new or better ways to work with others
Synergising involves recognising strengths and valuing other people

Sharpen the Saw:

This habit focuses on the importance of taking care of you and your family
It is important to balance taking care of the body, the mind, the heart and the spirit.

From the Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel

“Man does not live on bread alone”

It is said that upon hearing that the poor had no bread, Marie Antoinette remarked: “Let them eat cake” (Qu’ils mangent de la brioche).

While this story, first reported by the philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, is almost certainly apocryphal (it was most likely said by an earlier French Queen, Marie-Therese), there is no doubt that this is not what our Torah has in mind when it says, in this week’s parashah, “Man does not live on bread (לחם/ lechem) alone”.

Indeed, if we consider the Arabic cognate of “lehem”, which means meat, lechem here does not mean only bread, but food of subsistence, one’s staple diet. While brioche cannot replace “bread” (and surely if you can’t afford the latter, you will not be eating the former), “bread”, only the most basic of human needs (Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs”), is in no wise sufficient for personal self – fulfillment and actualisation.

Significantly, the Hebrew word for war, מלחמה/milchamah is of the same root word for “bread”,לחם/lechem. History is marked with battles for “bread”. As parents and educators, we seek to have our children and students look beyond a future that is focused on and limited to “bread”, whether understood literally or in its slang connotation of money -“dough”.

What “man cannot live on bread alone” means, in our parashah, is indicated by the words that immediately follow: “But on all that the Divine brings forth”. Considering this specific Biblical context within our contemporary society, one may read this as saying manna (מן/man) means more than money (ממון/mamon).

The following video, by the renowned Australian philosopher and ethicist Peter Singer, currently professor at Princeton University, provides a context for us to consider further how we might understand the words of our Torah, “Man does not live on bread alone”, and what might make for manna in today’s world.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=onsIdBanynY

Ma Koreh

Adam Carpenter | Head of Jewish Life Primary

Celebrating the letter Lamed ל with גלידה – ice cream

Year 1 are continuing their learning journey through the letters ב- א and having just completed the letter lamed ל their focus is now on the letter mem מ.

Students have been writing the letter lamed ל and developing their reading and writing skills with words that include the letter.

Students ordered their flavour/colour גלידה – ice cream in Hebrew and used Hebrew phrases to describe the taste and how they love to eat גלידה – ice cream.

ZDVO at Emanuel: If you are alive, LIVE

Yonatan Amsalem – Year 10

In our Jewish Studies lesson today, we had the privilege of listening to a very special guest speaker, Ido Lazan, who shared his experience of overcoming adversity, his bravery and resilience, as he described his journey to recovery following his near fatal injury, in a terrorist attack in Tel-Aviv, January 2016. Ido, like many Israelis, was enjoying a beer at an outdoor café/pub in central Tel-Aviv, celebrating a friend’s birthday. Suddenly, the street was filled with the sound of gunfire, as people reacted with shock and horror. Ido was shot in the chest and his upper leg, severing his femoral artery, leaving him at imminent risk of bleeding to death. Luckily, many civilians jumped to his aid and saved his life.

Ido then shared his experience of hospitalisation and rehabilitation. He emphasised the importance of life and gave an excellent analogy that resonated with me. When your life has been threatened and you are posed with giving up or moving forward, there is only black and white. It is as if you are in between a “Mountain and a Black Hole”. If you choose to climb the mountain, you will be rewarded with positivity, however if you fall into the black hole, it is near impossible to recover. Despite his long and painful recovery, Ido reflected on some simple pleasures such as the taste of a drop of water and the joy of being able to breathe without tubes.

In the following months, Ido decided to revisit the bar where he had been injured during the attack, and to finish the celebration that was interrupted. Whilst Ido was heading home, he noticed a small store for sale right by where he had been shot and he bought it without a defined plan for its use. Prior to the terrorist attack, Ido had redeveloped a passion for fitness which informed his decision to create his own gym in that store, fittingly known as “Bulletproof”. Today, Ido has over 250 employees in his fitness company and is well-known in Israel.

Ido’s experience has inspired him to help others and he devotes time and energy to assisting injured soldiers at Beit Halochem (ZDVO) with their rehabilitation through fitness. In recognition of Ido’s special qualities and, in his honour, his table at the bar where he was injured is permanently reserved for him alone.

Music Matters

Diana Springford – Head of Music

Night of Instrumental Music: Wednesday 4 September

Our instrumental ensembles have been working hard to prepare for the annual Night of Instrumental Music (NOIM) in Week 7. This wonderful (also popular!) concert is our main showcase for all our small, medium and large instrumental ensembles. NOIM is also a compulsory component of the Primary Instrumental Program (IP). All students from Years 3-6 will perform at the concert in their Year Group ensembles.

For many of our younger musicians it is their first performance for an audience other than their family. This is also a lovely opportunity to see the younger and older musicians perform on the same evening. Parents of performers have received an information letter and a request to grant online permission via the Parent Portal.

The concert is in two halves, with a brief interval in the middle. The first half, from 6.00 pm to 6.50 pm is for every student who plays a string instrument (violin, viola or cello). The second half, from 7.15 pm to 8.30 pm, is for all the other concert band instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone, euphonium, tuba and percussion) and all our Concert Bands, Stage Bands, Jazz Ensembles and the Clarinet Ensemble.

It is important that all members of participating ensembles perform in this event. Please encourage students to practise their parts at home to ensure the event is satisfying and enjoyable for them.

All parents and friends are welcome to attend this free concert. Please note that siblings of performers are most welcome but should sit quietly with their parents and should not roam around during the performance.

HICES Music Camp: Sunday Sunday 18 – Wednesday 21 August 2019

Ashley Kim (centre) playing violin

The HICES Music Camp and Jazz Camp ran through freezing windy weather in the comfortable “Tops” conference centre in Stanwell Tops. Gidon Grunseit (Year 10) and Ashley Kim (Year 7) are to be congratulated for making it through the competitive audition process required to be invited to these camps, and then for participating in the work and fun of long days of intensive rehearsing and learning with students from schools all over NSW. Gidon’s Jazz Camp experience culminated in a concert in the well-known jazz venue “Foundry 616” whilst Ashely’s String Orchestra experience culminated in a concert at the beautiful Sydney Town Hall.

Night of Song

On Thursday 22 August 2019, over 150 students from Years K-12 performed in our Night of Song. This is our main annual event featuring choirs and vocal soloists and it was a beautiful and inspiring concert. We commend all the performers, conductors and accompanists for their hard work and enthusiasm. Special thanks to Mr Burley for organising the event and to everyone who worked behind-the-scenes to produce this wonderful evening.

Year 9 Ski Camp 2019

Ray Francis – Head of PDHPE

Thredbo really turned it on for the Year 9 Ski camp, with 1m of fresh snow arriving over the weekend before we arrived.

Year 9 students were treated to perfect snow conditions and 4 blue sky days in a row!

Perfect conditions for learning a new sport, or further developing skills, so it was great to see all of our students grasp this opportunity.

The group worked diligently during 4 hours of lessons each day to overcome fears, and develop their skiing or snow-boarding skills.

This Year 9 group represented themselves and Emanuel School impeccably during the week.

They were punctual at all meeting points and followed the guidelines designed to keep them safe whilst also allowing them some freedom and responsibility.

A big ‘pat on the back’ to the excellent staff who helped to make the trip such a success: Mr Furman, Ms Shanahan, Mr Gilhooly, Mrs Bishop, Mr Friend, Ms Norman and Mrs Laumberg.

The students are very fortunate to have such caring and supportive teachers, and it was a pleasure to spend the week with them and all of the Year 9 students.

CDSSA Athletics Championships

Sharon Fairfax | PDHPE Teacher Aide | Gymnastics Coordinator

Emanuel School’s finest athletes joined together at Sydney Olympic Park Homebush on Monday to compete in the annual CDSSA (Combined Districts Secondary School Sports Association) Athletics Championships.

Our team produced some wonderful athleticism, under extremely windy conditions .

Outstanding performances from our four Age Champions, Aiden Kanevsky 12 years, Eden Levit 14 years, Georgia Kahane 16 years and Greg Allen 18 years. Also an amazing performance from Danielle Rutstein breaking the longstanding 16 years high jump record with a 1.54m jump.

Blue ribbons were in abundance on the day:

Danielle Rutstein 1^stHigh Jump, Javelin, Shot Put and Discus

Greg Allen 1^st100m, 200m, 400m and Long Jump

Eden Levit 1^st100m, 200m and 400m

Zac Urbach 1^st100m and 200m

Brooke Rosen 1^stShot Put and Javelin

Shai Farhy 1^st800m and Long Jump

Jared Elbourne 1^st3000m

Brody Elbourne 1^st800m

Jonah Trope 1^st800m

Tia Mallinick 1st High Jump

Leo Lipman 1^stDiscus

Mariah Lewy 1^stShot Put

Our overall score tally placed us in 3^rdplace behind Pittwater House and International Grammar School.

Congratulations to all of our athletes who competed on the day with great spirit, helping our School achieve our best ever results!

Special mention and thank you to the Year 12 students who competed on the day amidst a demanding academic load.

A well structured pre carnival training programme run by Kristy Genc at ES Marks Field certainly gave our athletes an edge.

Rashi Times

This week’s agenda consisted of Science Week, an annual event which all the students anticipately wait for each year. Some incredible activities and experiments were done that left everyone with high expectations for the following day. It commenced with a scavenger hunt that consisted of students running all over the school using hinted clues given to them.

There was also the famous science show on Wednesday where everybody who attended received some delicious ice cream made from liquid nitrogen. On Tuesday, an amazing opportunity to help the less fortunate was opened up to the school as part of the science week event.

Students took part in making solar powered lamps for students in Zimbabwe so that they could study at night. Being able to assist people to have a better education was quite powerful for some of the students.

On another note, in our House session this week, two best friends in Rabin teamed up against two best friends from the mighty Rashi. This game was to test how well the students knew each other all in contribution to the week of Tu B’Av. Successfully, it is to my belief, that Rashi pulled through the win for us yet again, although Rabin did put in a solid effort. As the term is now reaching its half-life, it is great to see that all the students are so passionate and engaged in the House activities.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend and the Year 10s luck on their “Ayekah” camp next week.

Jono Schach

Emanuel News Network

Sophie Poisel | Innovation Leader K – 6

This year we started our first ever Emanuel School News Network. As part of this, we have had experts from the field of Media come to speak to students who are interested in journalism, news presenting and more general media.

Before our first episode of Emanuel News was created, we needed to learn about what was involved. In Term 1, ABC 7:30 Reporter Julia Holman, came to speak to us about what is involved in making television news. She talked to us about the complexities involved in creating television news content. Some of the key take away messages included:

Use images to help drive the story (called a shooting script), like a story map, what do you want your story to look like.
Set the scene with a sizzling start. Some ideas Julia gave us for our first episode which involved filming the in-school Climate Rally were: Marching feet, clapping hands, signs, noise. Or start with images that show the impact of Climate Change then cut to .. but here in Sydney students are taking action against about climate inaction. You could also use a view of Sydney from the school.
Include location shots, long shots, drone footage, footage from Parliament House (politicians arguing different viewpoints), speak to experts and people who are experiencing the problem in their lives.
Importance of good footage, audible sound in recordings. Use music and voice overs.
Answer, who, what, when, where and why do we care? Why should your audience care?

When Interviewing: Have an idea of what you would like your interviewees to say. If they take too long, ask them to do it again more clearly, concisely. Connect with people – be polite and respectful, but keep asking for an interview if the initial response is no. Start the interview by saying “We are doing a story on ….. would you mind if we ask you a few questions.” Ask for permission before filming.

This week, we were excited to welcome Channel 9 News Chief Reporter, Peter Overton.

Mia Chesler, Year 3 and Archie Ernster and Talia Pollack, Year 4, reflect on his visit below:

Peter Overton came to visit us on Tuesday. We were lucky enough to be there to learn about what a day in the life of a news reporter looks like, what skills you need in this job and ask him some questions.

Peter Overton is the Chief Reporter on Channel 9 News. He also reports on 60 Minutes. He said he usually wakes up at 3am and reads news websites and he reads the paper when it is delivered to his house. After he has all the information he needs, he goes to the studio and gets into a suit, has his make-up done and gets ready for filming. He has travelled the world and met lots of different people.

He told us about some of the skills you need to be a news reporter. He said that you need to be a good listener to tell a good story but also to do a good interview. One student said that listening might help to ask follow up questions. He said it is important that you keep the stories real, don’t exaggerate but make sure you keep it interesting. He said it is good to use humour and a tone of voice that matches the scene. For example if it was a really sad story, he wouldn’t speak in a happy tone of voice. Sometimes on the news, when he is presenting, he gets sad when he is talking about something bad that happens, especially when it is about children. This is because it reminds him of his two children. He said you need to keep your emotions in check so the audience is free to feel their own emotions.

We asked him about the most inspiring person he has met and he told us it was a man without arms and legs that he had interviewed 3 times. He found him inspiring because he made his own dreams come true. This included having a family and walking his daughter down the aisle. Most recently he interviewed him and his wife on Malibu beach.

Some students were able to ask questions at the end of the session, and some students were able to high five him. When we asked Peter if he would say he met us on the news, sadly he told us he couldn’t. But he told us that he would wear an Emanuel coloured tie when he read the news that night. And he did! See photo below.

You can watch a preview of a bigger project our Innovation Leaders are working on, which includes them interviewing Peter Overton: https://tinyurl.com/PeterO-INT

Sydney Schools Futsal Cup

Sharon Fairfax | PDHPE Teacher Aide | Gymnastics Coordinator

The SSC Futsal competition is played in Terms 2 and 3 at All Sorts Indoor Stadium Alexandria on Tuesday afternoons. The teams are made up of Year 7 and 8 students and it has proved to be a great success.

This Term our boys have defeated International Grammar School 9-4 and this week Moriah College 4-3, with some outstanding plays under the experienced coaching by Jordan Kerry.

This is a great way for our young players to bond as a team for future Emanuel School representative games.

Front row L-R: Oren Levin-Kahn, Ben Maserow, Adam Rothschild and Gideon Pozniak

Back row L-R: Daniel Solomon, Saul Magner, Shai Farhy and Joshua Fraser

National Science Week

Sophie Poisel | Innovation Leader K – 6

Primary students celebrated National Science Week last week. The theme for 2019 was Destination Moon: More Missions, More Science, which connected to the recent 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. I was impressed to see a number of Emanuel School students at Science Week events across Sydney. A special thank you needs to be said to the parents who enabled their children to attend – our students are very lucky to have such engaged parents.

As mentioned last week, Monday involved experiments on how craters are made on the Moon’s surface and on Tuesday we were lucky to welcome Artist and Engineer Nathan Guerry to talk about his work and how it intersects Engineering, Science, Maths and Art. Lily and Elise interviewed Nathan for our expert speakers film and you can watch a preview here: https://tinyurl.com/NathGuerryInt

Some of the students reflected on this session:

“Oh my gosh – that is so cool” – Mirabella, Year 3

“Code is just 01010101 in the magic school bus – they get stuck in the internet” I liked that we learnt how to make a triangular based pyramid. I thought it was cool that he made a box that had lots of cables inside it and made the lights change to all the colours of the rainbow and go faster and slower. Iliana, Year 1

We used pipe cleaners to make a 3D shape. I love how he made and coded the thing that made the light change colour. I have coded robots to do things before too. Stella, Year 1

It was cool how he coded a pattern. It was squares and a spiral and when you zoomed in it turned into an illusion. Noah, Year 4

On Wednesday to Friday, students designed and built rovers, rockets and lunar habitats inspired by the gallery of student work, books and clips they watched each morning. See the students’ creations here: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceWeekGallery

Our Year 6 Innovation Leaders, Jonah Ernster, Liam Winter, Kaila Nabarro and Toby Seeman played an instrumental role in helping the younger students throughout the week and ran a successful Celebration of Learning on Friday afternoon for all students in Years 3-6. Other speakers at this celebration included: Ashley Cohn, Elisa Davis, Daliah Smagarinski, Lia McLellan, Suzanna Garbuz, Elise Goldberg, Lily Foltyn and Jasper Shraibman. See the slides to gain an understanding of the celebration: https://tinyurl.com/ScienceWeekCoL

On Friday afternoon, students engaged in a range of science-related activities with their classroom teachers. They took home a set of Jasper magazines (organised by Leigh Goldberg) that focus on the range of professions that use STEM skills and what a day in the life of one of these professionals is like, painting a very different picture to the ‘person in the white lab coat’ stereotype. I hope these provided some great reading and hands-on fun over the weekend and weekends to come.

We are excited to announce that Simon Rippingale, the artist, animator and director of Jasper ,will be coming to speak to Emanuel School students at lunchtime on Monday 2 September 2019. All students interested in drawing, animation, directing and film making are encouraged to attend.

Vanessa Pirotta visits Emanuel

Lia McLellan – Year 5

Suzanna Garbuz – Year 5

We had the honour of welcoming Vanessa Pirotta to Emanuel School on Wednesday. She talked to the Imaginarium After Hours Club about her career in the field of marine biology, where she mainly focuses on whales.

Vanessa was born on a farm near Canberra and had a cow as a pet. She lived three hours from the nearest coastline but has always loved whales and been interested in their features and personalities. Today her job and life is mainly based near water, it is amazing that she kept her passion all the way through her life. She is so happy that her job involves her favourite animal, a whale. At school she loved Science and Maths and in High School her favourite subjects were Chemistry and Biology.

After completing her Masters and PhD, she wanted to create a device to collect whale snot so that scientists could further investigate whales. She teamed up with a drone engineer to create a drone that goes up close to a whale and waits for it to spout. Once it had spouted the drone would fly as close as 1 metre away from the whale, right through the spout and collect the whale snot on a petrie dish. Her day consists of being out on the ocean, collecting the whale snot with her drone and then going into her lab and using a special machine to seperate the bacteria and viruses from the whale snot. In the process, Vanessa has discovered 6 new viruses inside whales by using her drone.

As well as all of that, Vanessa talked to us about the different skills needed to become a scientist. The first skill was teamwork. She said this was relevant to her life because she wanted to build a drone but had no idea whatsoever on how to do it. So she teamed up with an expert drone engineer to create a drone that has helped scientists around the world make many new discoveries on whales. That is the result of excellent teamwork!

The second skill she talked to us about was consideration. Vanessa said that consideration helped her in STEAM because she needed to consider all possible outcomes of her experiments. As well as that, consideration is an important attribute in her life because she needs to listen to all perspectives and ideas around her field of expertise – by doing this she gains lots of new information and ideas.

The final skill she told us about was patience. According to Vanessa this is vital because some results for the experiments she conducts take a long time to be revealed. In general, patience is an important and useful skill and in STEAM even more so.

Vanessa’s story was really interesting, we all were involved and we were captivated by her communication skills and stories. She told us what it’s like to be a scientist, and her path to now. She also told us what she had accomplished and how it wasn’t always easy – that you need to put in effort and show determination. She told us about the skills we needed as a scientist to succeed. We were really engaged the whole time and we asked some really good questions. Overall it was a pleasure to meet Vanessa Pirrota and we learnt a lot. We are excited to welcome Vanessa back to Emanuel School on 11 September 2019 for the Innovation Festival panel.

From the Primary Library

Ginnette Cameron-Gardner | Primary Teacher/Librarian

There are so few days to go until 29 August 2019 for students to complete this year’s NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge. The students in this school are such enthusiastic readers, so many students have only one or two more books to enter and they too will have completed it.

Congratulations to the most recent completers of the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge:

Year 5: Ezra Glover-Sanders, Hannah Greengarten, Noa Rosenzveig and Benjamin Vernik

Year 7: Willow Gelin

One of my favourite authors is Sir Michael Morpurgo. He is the author of many well-known works including War Horse with its sequel Farm Boy, and Kensuke’s Kingdom. Many of the Primary students have read one or both of these. Many of his works are suspenseful and often include tragic elements.

The Butterfly Lion is the winner of the Smarties Prize and Writers Guild award.

As Millie, an elderly widow, retells the story of her husband Bertie’s relationship with a rare white lion, the reader experiences many moods, from the sadness of loss and then through the happiness of triumph and finally there is a bit of a twist at the end. There is a great deal of detail which helps to draw the reader into the story.

A boy called Bertie rescues an orphaned white lion cub from the African Veldt. They are inseparable until Bertie is sent to boarding school far away in England and the lion is sold to a circus. Bertie swears that one day they will see one another again, but the butterfly lion never forgets their friendship. They reunite years later in war-torn Europe, as grown man and adult lion. Read the story and find out what happens next.

Sir Michel Morpurgo has written two books that include Whales. We hold both, This morning I met a whale and Why the whales came.

This morning I met a whale This is another lovely story by Michael Morpurgo, beautifully illustrated by Christian Birmingham. This is the story of one boy’s special relationship with the whale that swam up the Thames and provides a powerful plea to save the environment.

A fictional account of the day a whale swam up the Thames, in which the whale makes an environmental plea to young Michael, the boy who first sees him. Living in Battersea, London, Michael often goes early morning bird watching down by the River Thames. At sunrise, Michael spots a whale on the shores of the Thames and thinks he must be dreaming, but the whale is real – and it needs Michael’s help. Boy and whale share a moment of intense communication. The whale shows Michael scenes of the damage that humans are doing to the environment and makes Michael promise to spread the message that the damage has to stop.

At school that day he writes about this meeting …

Why the whales came. This book is best suited to Upper Primary students. The scary tales told about the Birdman make the two young children, Gracie Jenkins and Daniel Pender nervous of Zachariah Woodcock, also known as the Birdman. But, they make toy sail boats and want to sail them in a cove near the Birdman’s cottage. They learn that he is really just a deaf old man that lives with his dog Prince in a cottage away from all the island people. He is a wonderful wood worker who makes bird sculptures. The whales in the novel are narwhals, a type of whale with a long, spiralling horn on the front of its head. The children have an exciting adventure.

An intriguing tale is An Eagle in the Snow illustrated by Michael Foreman. Winner of the Federation of Children’s Book Groups Children’s Book Award 2017.

A book that is action-packed and filled with tension. Barney is on a train with his mother when a siren sounds and the journey grinds to a halt. Sitting in the darkness, a stranger in their cabin offers to tell the true story of a highly decorated World War I soldier, who had a chance to kill a young Adolf Hitler – but let him go.

Barney is held rapt by the man’s story of his old friend’s life, but how does the stranger know so many personal details? And why does he feel compelled to share this story now?

This short but immersive novel has some classic illustrations from Michael Foreman, which could encourage some reluctant readers to read the story. The text is short and easy to read but no less descriptive or spellbinding for it. A thought-provoking story that young history enthusiasts especially will welcome.(www.booktrust.org.uk/book/a/an-eagle-in-the-snow/)

The Primary Library holds fifty eight of Sir Michael Morpurgo’s books, such a wealth of exciting well written literature, which is why so many awards have been won by these stories. Please come and browse the collection, there is sure to be something there that will appeal to even the most reluctant reader.

Careers

Claire Pech | Careers Advisor

Ari Lobel Jewish Studies and Open Days

This week we were delighted to host Dr Lobel from the University of Sydney, who told our students how easy it is to study in the department of Biblical Studies, Jewish History and Hebrew. Dr Lobel outlined how these courses can be studied whilst studying at any other institution in Sydney, and can be chosen as electives, with small class sizes, and personalised teaching, usually proving it much easier to gain higher marks as a result. I encourage anyone next year (or beyond) to seek out this department if they are interested in these subjects, regardless of their main degree or major.

Over the next few weeks I will be highlighting the UAC process in terms of what happens next, now that students will be finalising courses and making more concrete decisions in light of Open Day attendance: www.uac.edu.au/assets/documents/schools/uni-open-days-2019.pdf

TAFE or University

This question comes up often for me, which to go for, TAFE or University study? There is a huge difference and students need to be aware of the difference in teaching, skills taught, and job potential at the end. Read here for a good article outlining the difference. Also TAFE are now offering early offers to the following degrees:

www.tafensw.edu.au/early-entry-program. Students can visit www.tafensw.edu.au/degrees and apply for participating degrees. The TAFE interactive Career Guide and Prospectus has also just been released with all of their latest offerings.

Westmead Social Work Careers Day

19 September 2019, 9:30 am – 2:00 pm

Only 40 spots are available for interested Year 11 and Year 12 students. To find out more email: JessicaAnneParker.Elliott@health.nsw.gov.au

University of Sydney | Visual Arts Portfolio and Workshops Day

12 October 2019, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm, The University of Sydney, Camperdown

Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney will hold a Portfolio and Workshops Day to assist students preparing their portfolios: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/visual-arts-portfolio-and-workshops-day-tickets-64220021814

Dietetics – your guide to the ATAR for every dietetics course in Australia in 2019

There are courses in dietetics offered at universities in every Australian state. It is important that you select a course that is accredited by the Dieticians Association of Australia https://www.myhealthcareer.com.au/dietetics/atar-for-dietetics-2019/

Interested in a career in acting, music, theatre or dance?

A good place to start researching universities would be institutions that are listed in the performing arts rankings (according to QS World University rankings):

www.crimsoneducation.org/au/blog/interested-in-a-career-in-acting-music-theatre-or-dance-heres-what-the-worlds-best-performing-arts-schools-have-to-offer

(Source: www.jobjump.com.au – August, and CAA Monthly 2019)

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen | Director Kornmehl

Grandparents Day

We celebrated Grandparents Day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning this week. All three groups delighted their appreciative audience with their songs and dances sang so confidently. Our special visitors were invited to join in some craft activities together with their grandchild. We made clay pots, decorated bookmarks and threaded bead bracelets. Even though the room was full, it was quiet too, with the sweet sounds of lovely conversations and the business of sharing, enjoyment and learning.

We all enjoyed a delicious morning tea together on the deck.

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

Many thanks to all our parent helpers – Karen Drutman, Cara Frank, Niva Burke, Ali Benzaquen, Naomi Benko and Sharon Miller for their help setting up on the day, as well as the canteen for their delicious catering. Thank you to the maintenance team for their help with chairs and tables.

We appreciate and value the special relationship we have with the grandparents at Kornmehl and feel privileged that they can be involved in the daily lives of their grandchildren as well as attend our special Grandparents day events. Such a significant and memorable time of being together indeed!

This year we did a live stream of the concerts to all our overseas grandparents, enabling them to stay connected and be a part of their grandchildren’s lives from far away. Many thanks to Ben Marshall for setting up this live stream.

Kornmehl Karnival

On Sunday, 150 Kornmehl children and parents will gather in the MPH and on the basketball court for an afternoon of fun, games, physical challenges, and carnival atmosphere for our exciting annual social event of the year – The Kornmehl Karnival. The event will take place from 3.00 pm. Please bring lots of energy, water and your smiles.

Burger Centre

The Dolphins and Starfish will visit the Burger Centre on Tuesday 27 August 2019 and Thursday 29 August 2019 respectively. We are looking forward to singing and dancing for all the elderly visitors. This opportunity is a way for us to brighten the day of other elderly people in our local community and bring some joy into their day.

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Kobe Freedman (5), Koben Benko (4) and Sierra Miller (5). We hope you all had a very special day.

Connecting our Community – Gesher

Sonia Newell | Development Officer

Sydney Jewish Writers Festival (SJWF) 2019

On now until 26 August 2019.

Book tickets for SJWF online: www.shalom.edu.au/sjwf2019

Friendship Circle Walk (FCW) – 1 September 2019

Many of our students and alumni have, for years, supported Friendship Circle as volunteers at weekend and holiday camps and Emanuel School families will be part of the 10th anniversary of the Sydney Friendship Circle Walk on Sunday 1 September 2019. Funds raised so far: $55,812 of the $100,000 target. We hope you will join us for a morning of fun and activities for everyone, young and old.

To register for FCW on 1 September 2019 or to make a donation: click here.

Australian Jewish News (AJN) Rosh Hashanah Card Competition – calling children aged 5 to 12

This year is the 10^thanniversary of the annual AJN Rosh Hashanah card competition. We hope some of our students aged 5 to 12 will enter, as many have done in past years. The brief is to create a design that captures the spirit of Rosh Hashanah and the winning entry becomes the newspaper’s official new year card, sent to a host of VIPs both locally and overseas, including the Prime Minister of Australia and the President of Israel. Entries should be submitted on an A4 sheet of paper, with the entrant’s name, age, school and contact details written on the back to: Rosh Hashanah Card Competition, PO Box 1000, Caulfield South VIC 3162. The closing date for entries is Friday 6 September 2019.

Good luck!

A message from the UIA Office

We hope you can join us at one of our September UIA Israel Updates. Please note that this month the updates are being held a week later than usual: instead of the first Tuesday and Wednesday, the second Tuesday and Wednesday.

We have two guest speakers, both of whom are articulate and knowledgeable to provide engaging updates on what’s currently happening in Israel and the surrounding region.

Dr Ron Weiser AM has been actively involved in our community for over 35 years, encompassing a variety of organisations. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, a Past President of the Zionist Federation of Australia and Honorary Life President of the Zionist Council of NSW.

Yair Miller OAM is the CEO of the United Israel Appeal and Immediate Past President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies. He is on the Board of Trustees of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, a Director of the NSW Council for Jewish Communal Security and Honorary Secretary of Kehillat Masada.

Tuesday 10 September 2019, 10.00am – 12.00 noon, guest speaker: Yair Miller OAM

Wednesday 11 September 2019, 10.30am – 12.00 noon, guest speaker: Dr Ron Weiser AM

If any of your family or friends would like to attend, just let us know and bring them along!

Please let us know which session you would like to attend by calling 9361 4273 or click here.

Looking forward to welcoming you.

The UIA Team

Primary Grandparents and Friends Day – Monday 16 September 2019

See invitation on next page for details

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

From the Parents and Friends

Ruby Berkovic and Jennifer Opit

Happy Friday everyone!

Father’s Day Breakfast and Stalls

It is an Emanuel School tradition to celebrate Father’s Day with a beautiful breakfast for fathers, grandfathers and special friends.

Our Annual Father’s Day breakfast will be on Friday 30 August 2019.

Time: 7.00am – 8.20am in the MPH

Cost: Adults $15 ($20 on the day), Children $10 ($15 on the day)

Bookings: www.trybooking.com/BEJNR

To assist us with catering, please be sure to book early. Gift stalls will be held on the same day so please send $10 (exact change) per gift. If you are available to help on the day, please email rubykb@gmail.com

P&F Camping Trip

Booking is now open for the second camping trip of the year. It is at Bielany Camp on the Colo River. This is always a wonderful chance for Emanuel School families to bond and is a real highlight of the school year.

The date is Friday 8 November 2019 – Sunday 10 November 2019. Book now: www.trybooking.com/BEKEQ

P&F Theatre Fundraiser: School of Rock the Musical!

Join us for the Emanuel P&F theatre outing to see School of Rock the Musical! at 6.00 pm on Sunday 17 November 2019 at the Capital Theatre. Tickets are selling fast so don’t miss out!

There are limited tickets to this performance. Get the best priced A-reserve tickets available for $94.90 and a free program per booking donated by Playbill, plus a chance to win 2 x $100 merchandise packs!

This works as a group booking, so individual tickets will be allocated after sale period is completed and the P&F receives the tickets. Tickets are allocated based on date of purchase. If you have a large group and you want to sit together you need to purchase all the tickets in one booking. Book now: www.trybooking.com/BBAKH

Have a great weekend

Jen and Ruby

Parent Safety Group

Thank you to our volunteers from last week:

Jerome Abrahams, Adam Schwartz, Guy Joffe, Barry Sherman, Seth Itzkowitz, Jonathan Armstrong, Ilan Avshalom, Daniel Grynberg, Andrew Nabarro, Adam Tsipiris, Brett Adler, David Camiller, Haydn Lee, Bob Kummerfeld, Paul Biller, David Lavecky, Ian Kessell, Peter Nothman, Craig Forman, Jeffrey Abrahams, Olga Harrison and Brian Harrison