From the Principal

Andrew Watt- Principal

Innovation

Innovation remains a strong focus for Emanuel School and is integral to our Strategic Roadmap, which seeks to promote curiosity and adaptability. According to Nick Skillicorn, founder of Idea to Value, innovation is all about “executing an idea that addresses a specific challenge and achieves value for both the company and the customer.” In a school context, our students participate in experiences designed to take their ideas or inventions through a process, towards producing a product or service.

Our Primary School Innovation Leader, Sophie Poisel, and her team led a number of student events, including Destination Moon: more missions, more Science, during Science Week. Students attended Women in Space and RoboCup, and enjoyed a range of speakers, from NASA JPL, STEAM and Media.

Our annual Primary School Innovation Festival was held on Wednesday and the large number of parents, staff and students who attended enjoyed a Dramatic Action performance on “Emerging Technologies and Sustainable Futures,” followed by an impressive panel of award-winning STEAM Professionals who discussed the problems they solve within their work setting. The panel consisted of an archaeobiologist, a marine biologist working with drones, a chemical engineer and a social-roboticist.

A key part of the Festival was to celebrate the innovative thinking that our students engaged in this year, through a range of projects in our classrooms. Our students led their parents through a parent learning activity and parents viewed a range of projects they had been creating, including works in progress. Parents were very proud the project showcase!

Our Primary School students have also enjoyed working with new technologies in the Imaginarium, as part of the academic program and in our club program. These new technologies include: Hummingbird (Years 4 and 6 and MakerSpace); EV3 (Year 6); VEX Robotics (Pilot Program); VR using CoSpaces (Pilot Program); Creating Emanuel Expert Speaker posters using a drawing app (Pilot Program); Minecraft Club (Imaginarium Leader initiative) and: Laser cutting (Imaginarium Leader pilot). We owe a huge debt of thanks to Sophie Poisel for her significant contribution to promoting innovative practices across both our staff and students.

The focus within our High School has been on equipping and inspiring our teachers. We are currently involved in the Deep Learning project, which seeks to build the role of teachers “to that of architects of learning, designing experiences that build global competencies.” This project commenced last October, with the Deep Learning Network Capacity Building Forum. After a visit to the Imaginarium and Design Lab from St Philip’s Christian College and working with Michael Burden (Director of Innovation at St. Clare’s College), we have sought to extend our network of innovation-focused schools and leaders. This took the form of a school tour of two seminal independent schools on the Mornington Peninsula – Toorak College – working with Phil Carew (Head of E-Learning) and Peninsula Grammar – working with Dean Pearman (Director of Learning Technologies and Innovation).

Our High School and Primary Innovation leaders, Eytan Messiah and Sophie Poisel, conducted a Digi Tech Deep Dive Conference, with international speakers, for teachers from all education sectors. The High School innovation team has been working with teachers across HSIE and Mathematics, to formulate the Brand Development Project; a discrete unit of work that spans across the Year 9 Business Creators, Extension Maths and Year 10 Photographic & Digital Media courses. Students are given a brief to develop the branding of a business. They then collaborate with students across curriculums to develop their work from concept to final design and pitch back to their ‘client’. Eytan Messiah is currently working with Primary Director of Studies, Katie Brody, to develop and facilitate a workshop at the upcoming AISNSW Igniting Learning Lab 2019. We will join “world-class experts and passionate educators for a day focusing on how students ignite their own learning”.

HSC Music Showcase 

Family, friends and staff were treated to an outstanding series of performances from our talented Year 12 musicians: Isabella Flax, Joel Ehrlich, Chloe Ben-Mayor, Joshua New and Esther Reznikov. We enjoyed an impressive array of vocal, acoustic and electric guitar, violin, piano and flute items. The actual HSC performance was held the next morning. Thanks to Danny Burley for his support of our students and leadership of this special event.

Night of Science and Wonder

Our Year 10 students enjoyed the opportunity to showcase and explain their Independent Research Project on Monday evening. Across each of the four rooms, the audience of staff, parents and students encountered very engaged students and a range of interesting projects. We have some highly gifted, budding scientists! Thanks to our Science teachers for guiding our students so ably through the scientific enquiry process.

Project Heritage

This year’s Project Heritage program saw nine groups of Year 6 students spend time with different older members of our community. The program involves multiple interviews and opportunities for the students to question, engage with and learn from their ‘living historians’. The children then worked to create many individual and collaborative responses including biographies, poems and the final presentations. It was a pleasure to see the children share their learning in such respectful and engaging ways.

RUOK Day

On Thursday we marked RUOK Day with baskets of fresh fruit for staff, along with messages to encourage positive wellbeing and mental health. It is a day to encourage us to connect meaningfully and start a conversation with colleagues who may need a friendly ear. The last few weeks of term are always very busy and RUOK Day is a reminder of the positive effect of a heartfelt “Hello, are you OK?”.

Mazal tov

• Our HSC Music students: Isabella Flax, Joel Ehrlich, Chloe Ben-Mayor, Joshua New and Esther Reznikov were outstanding at our HSC Showcase.
• Jonah Trope (Year 9) has been selected to trial for the Under 15 Boys All-Schools cricket team for the Tour to Queensland.
• Ethan De Melo (Year 11) was included in the Australian Men’s train-on squad for the AFF Futsal Championships.
• Michael Khedoori was invited and competed in the AAPES (Australian Academy of Parkour Exercise & Self-Defence) in Singapore recently and placed 3^rd amongst 74 athletes from across the world in the ‘speed run’ challenge.
• Chelsea Rutstein won 1^st place and 3^rd place in the ladies division fishing against all of NSW at the Australian National Sportfishing Association (ANSA) NSW awards.
• Well done to our Primary School Chess Team on becoming the champions of the Metropolitan East Region. The team comprised Daniel Zipser, Joshua Barnett, Oscar Salek, Max Tsipris, Dylan Vitek and Gabriel Pozniak. They will now progress to play in the Inter-Region finals. We wish them all the best.

Daniel Zipser, Joshua Barnett, Max Tsipris, Gabriel Pozniak and Dylan Vitek. Absent: Oscar Salek.

Quote of the week

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”

B.B. King

Safe Partying

Margaret Lowe – Deputy Principal

Safe partying

Do you know the laws pertaining to you when you host a party for people under 18 years of age? The link below takes you to the NSW Police website that provides up-to-date advice for members of the public.

www.police.nsw.gov.au/online_services/party_safety/safe_party_tips

Here are a few very important things to know (taken from the website):

Let the police know that you are having a party by completing the Party Registration Form online. Access the form through the NSW Police Force website and lodge it at least 72 hours prior to the party being held.

Consider how the party will be advertised. Don’t use the internet, SMS or email distribution lists, online noticeboards or social networking sites. If word of the party has spread, you will need to take extra preventative measures (i.e. change venue, more adult supervisors, hire a security guard, ask neighbours to notify you of any unusual behaviour).

If uninvited people attend the party, ask them to leave. If they don’t leave contact the police on 131 444. If it is an emergency call Triple Zero (000).

Think about adult supervision/security for your party. Who will you use? How many? Have visible supervision or security.

Be aware that it is an offence for alcohol to be served or provided to people under the age of 18.

Ensure under 18s do not have access to alcohol. Confiscate BYO alcohol from under 18s.

If under 18s do consume alcohol/drugs, contact their parents and have them collected from the party.

From the Primary School

Meghan Carroll – Deputy Head of Primary

The past week has been filled with many events. Thank you to all students, staff and parents who participated in, attended and/or supported each initiative. Here is just a taste of what has taken place over the past few days as well as a couple of reminders for upcoming events.

Parent Teacher Night

Thank you for joining us for Parent Teacher Night on 9 September 2019 and 11 September 2019. We greatly appreciate you making an appointment to speak with us about your child’s progress so far. Thank you to Katie Brody, our K-6 Director of Studies, for organising these meaningful sessions for our learning community.

Innovation Festival

We welcomed special guests, parents and community members to join us for the K-6 Innovation Festival on Wednesday. This inspiring event celebrated student learning and featured a performance by Dramatic Action, an exciting panel of award-winning STEM professionals and opportunities for all Years K-6 students as well as parents to explore exhibits and a variety of activities focused on designing and creating. A big thank you to Sophie Poisel, our K-6 Innovation Leader, and her team of enthusiastic and passionate teachers for planning and organising this amazing event and for continuing to spark curiosity in this important area of education for our students.

Year 6 and Project Heritage

Year 6s Project Heritage was a brilliant showcase of student learning at its best. After interviewing their Living Historians, the children prepared biographies, poems and a range of activities to form the basis of their presentations and special tributes to the historians. They learnt so much about the world and Jewish history, values and traditions. Thank you to all of the Year 6 students, class teachers and mentors, Music, Art and Jewish Studies teachers for making this event a memorable one.

RUOK Day

RUOK Day has become a tradition at Emanuel School. It stands as a reminder for us all to check in with each other by listening, encouraging action and simply asking R U OK? Thank you to those staff members involved in organising awareness around this day.

Northern Territory Trip

This weekend we wish our second Northern Territory trip for 2019 safe travels as they embark on a week of learning, connection-building and exploration. We look forward to welcoming them back in Week 9 and hearing all about their experiences.

Deborah Blackman Parent Information Session – NEW DATE

On Wednesday 27 November 2019 (Term 4, Week 7) we welcome Deborah Blackman presenting on the topic ‘Talking To Children About Difficult Topics’. We highly recommend this session to parents who have not attended this talk in previous years.

In the parent presentation, Deborah will explore how to talk to your children about feelings, secrets, good touch and bad touch, and teach them some useful skills for child protection. We think that it is essential that home and school provide the same message about this very important topic. The presentation is from 8:30 am – 9:15 am in the Millie Phillips Theatre.

Please RSVP by clicking here no later than Friday 22 November 2019. If you have any questions please contact Meghan Carroll (mcarroll@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au).

From the Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel

Of parents and people

Of Biblical laws that we might find offensive, two examples can be found in this week’s parashah.

The first, well-known, example: An illicitly conceived child (one born of adultery or incest) can never enter the Israelite community, nor his descendants, until the tenth generation.

Why, it has often been asked, should a child innocent of any wrongdoing suffer, together with generations of his progeny, for an act of his parents?

The second, less-known example: A Moavite can never enter into the Israelite community, nor his descendants, until the tenth generation. We are told that this is because the Moavites did not meet the Israelites, with food and water, after they left Egypt, and because their king later hired Bil’am to curse them.

Again, one wonders why these children are made to suffer for the actions/inactions of their parents and, like the child born of an illicit union, are to be excluded “forever” from being a part of the Israelite community.

Yet these passages, indeed commandments, do not serve as our tradition’s final word on this subject.

The Scroll of Ruth celebrates a Moavite woman whom an Israelite marries. And, not only does this woman come into the Israelite community, but she converts and becomes an Israelite herself. When her husband dies, this woman, Ruth, marries a leading member of the Israelite community, Boaz, and it is from this union that King David, their great grandchild emerges.

On the basis of the above-cited laws of our parashah, King David should not be a member of the Israelite people, let alone its king, just as Ruth should not be in or part of this community.

On top of this, Boaz is a descendant of Perez who is born of an illicit union of Judah and Tamar (Tamar is his daughter-in-law).

And, on top of that, Moav is the son of Lot (the nephew of Avraham) through Lot’s illicit relationship with his daughter.

So, King David is a descendant of an illicit union on both his mother and father’s side and, therefore, to be doubly barred from the Israelite community. As well, he is to be excluded from this community as he is of Moavite ancestry.

But even as our parashah would write David out of our history, it us gives cause to welcome him as well.

This week’s Torah reading says: “Parents should not be punished on account of their children, nor children on account of their parents”.

For our people, the word of law cannot and should not blind us from the way of love and justice.

Indeed, it is the descendant of King David, the Messiah, that is to bring a world of universal peace and brotherhood in which no one, due to parents or people, will be excluded.

Student Devar Torah

Jayda Sacks – Year 9

Isabel Sarraf – Year 9

This week’s parashah, Ki Teitsei, contains 74 commandments that are based on a variety of different aspects explored throughout Judaism. This specific Torah portion contains more mitzvot than any other, covering a wide assortment of rules relating to ethical welfare, family life, burial of the deceased, property laws, the humane treatment of animals, fair labour practices and proper economic transactions for the Jewish people living in the Promised Land. These various laws are delivered by Moshe to the Jewish people and also involve many aspects of daily living, justice, family responsibility and work. The aim and motive behind these laws is to encourage the people of Israel to live a fulfilling life, where they treat those around them as equals and are concerned with the wellbeing of their surroundings.

This week’s parashah teaches us that giving back to others and helping those in need is one of the most important mitzvot. Sometimes, as we give, we subconsciously think about what we’ll receive in return. When we help someone, we often do so for personal benefits. As selfish as this may sound, Judaism actually teaches us that we should still lend a helping hand, regardless of any ulterior motives, as the main concern is the person being helped. A mitzvah is a mitzvah.

Our tradition also teaches us that if we do a good deed for someone regularly, even if it’s for personal gain, eventually we will find that we are just giving, purely for the sake of giving. For example, when you are walking down the street and you see an elderly person struggling to carry shopping bags, your parents may instruct you to go and help that person in need. You might be doing so just because your parents told you to. However, over time, you will begin to help the elderly carry their shopping bags without your parents’ instruction because you now see that as the right thing to do.

In my opinion, it is better to help someone out, for the sake of doing a good deed, without ulterior motives. However, as Judaism teaches us, it is important to just give or help whenever you can, whenever someone is in need.

Ma Koreh

Adam Carpenter – Head of Jewish Life Primary

We are looking forward to our Grandparents and Friends Rosh HaShanah Celebration on Monday. We have been busy preparing for the day, learning special songs and prayers and hearing the sound of the shofar every morning.

Some of our Year 2 students have been busy rehearsing their Rosh HaShanah themed Hebrew play, HaZachal HaRa-ev (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) they will perform on the day.

Grandparents and Friends Day Schedule

8.55 am: Students will be singing on the basketball steps. They can be collected by their grandparents/friends and sit together in the MPH

9.15 am: Ceremony begins in Lehrer Family Building, MPH

10.15 am: Morning Tea (and a play for the students)

10.15 am: Rosh HaShanah workshops/activities begin in the following locations:

Year K: Year 1 Rooms (Kleinlehrer Family LINC Building)

Year 1: Kindy Rooms

Year 2: Year 2 Rooms (LINC Building)

Year 3: Angels Leadership and Learning Centre – LLC (LINC Building)

Year 4: Millie Philips Theatre (LINC Building)

Year 5: Innovation Centre

Year 6: Year 6 Rooms (Adler Building)

We are excited to welcome our special guests to share, learn and celebrate Rosh HaShanah with you.

Shabbat Shalom

Music Matters

Diana Springford – Head of Music

HSC Music Showcase and Practical Examination

Five of our Year 12 students are breathing a sigh of relief with the performance component of their Music HSC now completed. On Tuesday evening we held our annual HSC Music Showcase followed by the HSC performance examinations the next morning. Congratulations to Esther Reznikov, Chloe Ben Mayor, Isabella Flax, Joshua New and Joel Ehrlich for their hard work and high quality performances. I would like to thank our regular private music tutors and the other professional musicians who accompanied the students for their HSC performances. It is a wonderful opportunity for our students to play with such fine professional musicians and this exciting interaction is a valuable component of their educational experience during their HSC Music course. Having completed the practical component of their Music HSC and having submitted their compositions, these students now have only a written examination to complete during the normal HSC examination period. Good luck to you all!

Private Music Tuition and Infant Strings Program

Thank you to those who have already advised us of changes to private tuition and Infant Strings Program enrolments for next term.  The deadline for new enrolments, notification of changes or intention to discontinue for Term 4 has now passed. All students currently receiving private music tuition and ISP will be automatically re-enrolled into tutor schedules for next term along with students commencing lessons for the first time and liable for fees.  f you have any questions please contact Matilda Grieve by email to music@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

The schedules for Term 4, 2019 will be created during term break and emailed prior to lessons resuming.

Links to online forms  

New enrolment requests for private tuition: http://tinyurl.com/NewPrivateTuitionEnrolment

To discontinue private tuition for next term: http://tinyurl.com/PrivateTuitionDiscontinuation

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

To discontinue ISP for next term: http://tinyurl.com/InfantStringsDiscontinuations

Year 11 Visual Arts

High School Drama – Grease Auditions

From the Head of Science

Jennifer Selinger – Head of Science

View from the Kleinlehrer Family Science Building

It wasn’t so much the view as the noise that would have caught your attention on Monday afternoon as you wandered past the Science Building. Eighty or so students all talking at once with much enthusiasm and some excited gesticulating generate a lot of hot air! The annual Night of Science and Wonder was on, and the projects were the usual eclectic mixture, reflecting the varied interests of Year 10. Various comments made to me were a good summary – people were impressed by the range of ideas, by the students’ impressive ability to describe their research and by their understanding and application of the scientific method. I was impressed by the energy and by the stamina of students who explained the ideas over and over again as more people came to chat!

Variety is also the name of the game in other areas in Science at the moment. Year 8 have been learning about various body systems and have reached the digestive system. It is always amusing to listen to the conversations about lesson plans at this time of year:

“What are you doing today in Year 8?” a teacher might ask.

“Making poo. How about you?”

“We are analysing the urine I put together yesterday – the yellow food dye was a good suggestion – thanks!”

Year 9 conversations are likely to be about some crazy Chemistry experiment or how not to blow up the lab while doing the Whoosh Bottle. In Year 7 discussions, teachers are working out when best to make the rollercoasters that form the culminating task for the Physics topic. Teaching Science is certainly rarely boring!

NOSW1

NOSW3

NOSW4

NOSW6

van der graff

van der graaf

NOSW2

ooblek

Innovation Festival

Sophie Poisel – Innovation Leader K – 6

Forth Annual Innovation Festival

On Wednesday we hosted our 4th annual K-6 Innovation Festival celebrating the innovative thinking our students have engaged in so far this year. As well as parents and community members, we also welcomed Majorie O’Neill, MP and four award winning STEAM Professionals: Dr Vanessa Pirotta, Associate Professor Ronika Power, Dr Katie Sizeland and Dr Meg Tonkin.

Our festival opened this year with a performance by Dramatic Action on emerging technologies, by our Creative Director Brooke Oldfield. Our Imaginarium Leaders Jonah Ernster and Kaila Nabarro led our celebration by introducing the theme for the year – designing and creating a better world. The audience was moved by Kaila Nabarro’s reflection on her Northern Territory experiences earlier in the year, before the acknowledgement to country. 

Following their introduction, our STEAM Professionals spoke about the problems they solve and what a day in the life of a STEAM Professional looks like. Years 1 – 6 students were engaged by these brilliant communicators who spoke about their work combining Science and Technology in Marine Biology, Archaeobiology, Chemical Engineering and Social Robotics. Liam Winter facilitated the panel discussion, to learn more about their pathway to now, the key skills that are involved in their work and messages our students need to hear from the adults in their lives.

Parent Learning Opportunities followed across K-6 classrooms, where students guided their parents through Visual Programming tutorials. This involved the students teaching their parents to program Spheros, Dash Robots, Micro:bits and to use the various functions Scratch.

2019 K-6 Classroom Projects, pilot programs and Imaginarium Leader Initiatives were exhibited in the Innovation Centre. It was a wonderful celebration of Making, Innovative Thinking and collaboration. Our students are so fortunate to have teachers who design such amazing learning experiences for them. 

You can access a digital copy of the program here: https://tinyurl.com/2019IFProgram 

Acknowledgement Kaila

Andrew and Ally, Maia Elah

VEX

Dramatic Action

Tech take apart

Year 4

Imaginarium

Meg Amelie Phoebe

Sports Awards

Kristy Genc – Head of Sport | PDHPE Teacher | Year 11 Tutor

The very first recipients of the new Emanuel Sports Colours Awards were presented with their badges at assembly this week.

These awards recognise those students who have had represented Emanuel School, across a variety of sports, and have excelled through the representative pathway over a number of years.

Recipients of the awards:

Grey Award (3 years)

• Tia Mallinick
• Sienna Meyer
• Blake Nixon
• Justin Sarif

Maroon Award (5 years)

• Greg Allen
• Jared Elbourne
• Jared Klevianksy
• Lara Rutstein
• Sarah Sharwood
• Jordan Weizman

Greg Allen, Jared Elbourne and Jordan Weizman were also awarded with AICES Colours Honours Awards for their selection in Open Division AICES Representative teams.

Representative Athletics

Kristy Genc – Head of Sport | PDHPE Teacher | Year 11 Tutor

AICES Athletics

Term 3 has provided great opportunities for our elite athletes. On Monday 9 September 2019  Emanuel’s top athletes competed at the AICES Athletics Championships at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre.

The day was a great success, with all students in the team representing Emanuel School with integrity and enthusiasm. Excellent achievements included:

• Eden Levit – 1^st place in 100m, 200m and 3^rd place in long jump
• Greg Allen – 2^nd place in 100m and 3^rd place in 200m
• Shai Farhy – 3^rd place in long jump and triple jump
• Brody Elbourne – 4^th place in 800m
• Georgia Kahane – 5^th place in 400m

Following on from their great perfomances, Greg Allen, Eden Levit and Shai Farhy have all been selected in the AICES team to compete at CIS later this term.

Well done to all of the students who have been part of the Emanuel Athletics program over the last few months and congratulations to those students who have achieved their personal best.

High School Rugby

Kristy Genc – Head of Sport | PDHPE Teacher | Year 11 Tutor

David Horwitz Rugby 7s Challenge

Over the last month Emanuel School has once again had the privilege of convening the inaugural David Horwitz Rugby 7s Challenge. The three night series involved junior, intermediate and senior age divisions, with Emanuel entering teams into each of the categories. The tournament included games against Kesser Torah College, Moriah College, Reddam House and St Andrew’s Cathedral School.

The three Emanuel teams had been preparing for this tournament since the beginning of the winter season through weekly training sessions. Many of the boys in the junior squad were new to rugby and this tournament provided the perfect opportunity for them put their training to the test and to gain some much needed game experience. The team played exceptionally well, showing great team and school spirit. Well done to Boaz Hadad, who scored an excellent try and Charlie Kerlander, Coby New, Gideon Pozniak, Jamie Schneider, Jack Simon, Timothy Simon and Zac Weizman.

The intermediate boys team had a little more experience as the majority of the squad played in this tournament in 2018. This experience proved to be vital, leading to some exciting tries by Jonah Trope and excellent plays by Alon Erez-Rein. The team progressing to the grand final and put in a tremendous effort against Moriah College. Congratulations to Alon Erez-Rein, Justin Faul, Saul Galambos, Maximillian Kidman, Noah Lancaster, Gavin Robinson, Jared Robinson, Mahley Rosen-Tal, Benjamin Torban and Jonah Trope.

For many of the senior boys, this event is the highlight of the representative sport program and the school year. It proved to be a fantastic school sporting experience, providing them with fond memories. The senior team were leading in both of their games against Moriah and St Andrew’s, with excellent tries by Jared Elbourne, but were very narrowly defeated with just minutes to go. Congratulations to the team on the exceptional determination and sportsmanship they displayed. Well done to Ariel Berger, Matthew Bozic, Alan Drannikov, Jared Elbourne, Jonathan Eremeev, Elijah Grynberg, Dylan Herdan, Benjamin Horwitz, Ari Karjalainen, Jonathan Naiger, Blake Nixon, Adam Riesel, Ryan Rubinstein and Adam Winter.

The tournament ended with the presentations from official guests from the Horwitz family, Randwick Rugby and Maccabi Rugby. I congratulate all players on their effort and thank Heath Morley for coaching the Emanuel teams and Sharon Fairfax for her assistance at the events.

Emanuel Intermediate Rugby Team 2019

Emanuel Senior Rugby Team 2019

Jewish Day Schools Gala Days

Kristy Genc – Head of Sport | PDHPE Teacher | Year 11 Tutor

The Jewish Day Schools AFL and Netball gala days were held at Centennial and Moore Park last Thursday.

The AFL event was run by the Sydney Swans development officers and proved to be a very worthwhile day with the students learning new skills and scoring some exceptional goals. The Emanuel School team is to be congratulated on their improved performance and positive attitude. The boys were narrowly beaten by 4 points in what was an excellent grand final. Well done to Shai Farhy, Jack Goldberg, Joshua Gordan, Samuel Greenberg, Ethan Hirst, Aiden Kanevsky, Charlie Kerlander, Leo Latter, Saul Magner, Ben Maserow, Zak Michalson, Gideon Pozniak, Adam Rothschild, Jasper Selinger and Marcus Tsimbler.

The Netball gala day was hosted by Kesser Torah College and involved eleven teams from the schools involved. Emanuel had three teams playing on the day and all players had a fantastic day of netball. With an undefeated record throughout the day, one of the Emanuel teams progressed to the grand final. The girls got off to a slow start, but showed great determination to come back, going down in the end by just one goal. Congratulations to all of the girls who attended and in particular the grand finalists; Alexis Demos, Tess Endrey, Lucinda Labi, Eden Levit, Mariah Lewy, Charlotte New, Ava Rose, Brooke Rosen and Clio Stockley.

Jewish Day Schools AFL 2019

JDS Netball Gala Day 2019

Meir Advocate

Hey everyone!

We hope you have all had an amazing week. 

Environment Week

Last week was Environment Week, which was a great step forward for Emanuel School and making it more environmentally friendly. We introduced compost bins and learnt more about what food goes into which bins. A special shout out to our fellow Meirian, Jake Lewitton, who played a major part in organising this week.

In House Assembly each Tutor Group came up with ideas of ways that we can be environmentally friendly, including:

• Using a reusable water bottle
• Using a reusable coffee cup
• Recycle your paper
• Compost your fruit and vegetable scraps
• Grow your own vegetables
• Pick up any rubbish on the ground

Year 12 Music performances

Congratulations to our Year 12 Meirians – Joel Ehrlich, Josh New and Isabella Flax who performed their musical pieces at the Music Showcase on Tuesday night and completed the performance elements of their HSC subject on Wednesday.

Year 10 Machane Ayekah

Last week Year 10 students arrived back from Machane Ayekah. It was a fun-filled six day experience that made us closer as a year group, as well as strengthening our Jewish identities. Some highlights from the camp included:

• Lots of ‘RUACH’
• Getting to know the Madrichim
• Having a ‘white’ Shabbat.

Year 10 Night of Science and Wonder

Well done to our Year 10 students who presented their Year 10 Science research projects to parents and friends this week. There were research projects on a variety of topics including: the effects of coffee, why people get scared, does eating breakfast affect our memory and many, many more. It is always great to see our fellow peers presenting their incredible work!

Have a great weekend. 

Love, your Meir editors, Charlotte Lyons and Tara Israel

Y10 Becky

Y10 Charlotte

Y10 Tal

Y10 Alon

Josh.N

Joel.E

Bella.F

Kol Szenes

RUOK Day

Yesterday was RUOK Day and today at Shabbat we tried to create an inclusive environment by touching on the importance of caring and ensuring everyone’s well-being. Believe it or not, our mental health is equally as important as our physical health, and if we are mentally unhealthy, this can be detrimental for our physical health; they work together. We need to ensure that people feel safe in school. Some methods you could use to ensure that your peers feel safe include:

• Being inclusive
  • If you see someone sitting by themselves, ask if you can sit with them and join them. This can really boost someone’s day and self-esteem!
• Checking in
  • It’s really important to make sure people are OK, and if you suspect that something is wrong, ask them. While it can be awkward, it is a really good way to ensure someone’s well-being.
• Tell someone
  • If confronting the person individually is too uncomfortable, speaking to someone you trust is a really good, safe idea. This could include your close friends or their close friends, a teacher, a parent or older students at school. This could really help a person who needs support.

What to do if someone confides in you or it is clear that they are unwell:

• Speak to them about it
  • While this may seem daunting, it is a really good way to show support and show the person that they have someone there to confide in if necessary.
• Tell someone
  • Much like telling someone if you feel uncomfortable confronting the person, if someone confides in you, or it is evident that they are unwell, telling a group of friends or a trusted adult could be a really good way in giving someone the support they need – if you are unable to do so on your own.

If we create a safe space for people at school, this could really help in establishing an environment of healthy well-being. By simply noticing that something is wrong and asking if you can help or if they are ok, you are doing a world of wonder by making that person feel important and worthy.

Here is a link to a very interesting documentary on the person who founded RUOK Day, Gavin Larkin: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3R1uj5Yb18. His story is absolutely fascinating and will put a lot in perspective about the importance of checking in and ensuring each other’s well-being.

Mazal tov to:

• Year 12 Szenes students who achieved Sports Colours Awards recipients: Grey – Blake Nixon and Justin Sarif.  Maroon – Jared Kleviansky
• Szenes CDSSA Athletics Representatives – Maximilian Kidman, Romi Lapidge, Alena Lewy, Mariah Lewy and Aiden Poswell

Announcements

House Drama

If you are a talented actor and would like to earn some House points, sign up for House Drama! You can perform a monologue, a duologue or a group performance! If you have any questions, contact your House Madricha, Tali Blackman!

Birthday wishes

Happy Birthday to these Szenesians who celebrated their birthdays last week:

• Asha Friedman (Year 11)
• Cleo Wolf (Year 12)
• Zoe Miller (Year 12)

Quote of the Week

“Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you react to it.”

Charles R. Swindoll

Shabbat Shalom and have a fantastic weekend.

Szenes House

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

Elizabeth Farrelly wrote an interesting article in the weekend papers about a Faculty decision to lower the admission scores at UTS by 10 points for entry into their engineering courses if an applicant was female. She mentioned a lot that was wrong with this process, including a dissection of gender issues and the role of positive discrimination, concluding it was unintelligent and misconceived.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/demeaning-entry-discount-for-women-the-latest-nail-in-higher-education-s-coffin-20190905-p52odh.html#comments

Without getting into the arguments for and against positive discrimination, I was not sure if Elizabeth Farrelly knew that universities always and have always “discounted” marks in order to create more access to courses for the students they are wanting to attract.

An example of this would be:

• If a student achieves a Band 5 or 6 in relevant courses (eg. a Band 6 in Advanced Mathematics can get five Bonus points for engineering courses at UTS, UNSW, etc)
  • https://www.futurestudents.unsw.edu.au/adjustment-factors-hsc-plus
• Discounting marks for Aboriginal students into certain courses, to promote a higher ethnic diversity
  • https://www.nuragili.unsw.edu.au/study/indigenous-admission-scheme
• Portfolio entries to attract more ‘creative’ types over an ATAR for more ‘creative’ degrees (e.g. B. Design at UNSW up to 10 points below)
  • https://artdesign.unsw.edu.au/future-students/portfolio-entry
• Faculty of Engineering Admission Scheme (UNSW will discount their ATAR from 93 to 10 points below if students show aptitudes in the Sciences/Maths and an interest in engineering.
  • https://www.engineering.unsw.edu.au/study-with-us/future-students/faculty-of-engineering-admissions-scheme-feas
• Macquarie University will give all ‘local’ students five bonus points, as they are considered Sydney locals.

The list goes on and on. These are just a few. Discounting the ATAR for women to get in simply makes the course more accessible, it is not in anyway saying that the course is easier, or that women need to be less intelligent to get in. The ATAR is not connected to the intellectual rigour of the course.

One of the highest ATAR courses in the country is for fashion design and I know some astrophysics courses in the 60s. The ATAR simply shows the student demand compared to the supply of places on the course. Just like house prices, if more people want to buy the house, the ATAR goes up!

For an interesting read on the debate and comments about this article please read:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/demeaning-entry-discount-for-women-the-latest-nail-in-higher-education-s-coffin-20190905-p52odh.html#comments

TAFE Open Day

This weekend is the TAFE open day weekend. Please find out more from this link: https://events.tafensw.edu.au/open-day

Connecting our Community Gesher

Sonia Newell – Development Officer

Welcome back Hayley Chester

Hayley is pictured here with some of the Year 6 students

It is always exciting to have past students come back to Emanuel School and it can be for so many different reasons. Hayley Chester (Class of 2014) is with us this term for her final placement for her Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education) (Birth to 12), a four-year degree, at Macquarie University. Hayley is teaching one of the Year 6 classes, 6 Herzilyah, under the supervision of class teacher Ms Haddix. Hayley says “it is really nice to be back at Emanuel School and to be on the other side, as a teacher rather than a student. It has been great to see how everything has changed and how the school and community have grown over the last five years.” 

Mazal tov to NSW Friendship Circle

The Friendship Circle Café by NSW Friendship Circle has been announced as the winner of the My Community Project in the Vaucluse electorate, following their strong proposal and campaign to promote their cause, supported by online voting by so many members of our local community for the Cafe, their personal favourite. My Community Project was made possible by the NSW Generations Fund, a sovereign wealth fund that maintains debt at sustainable levels while sharing the benefits of its returns with local communities.

The café, which will be set up on Bondi Road, Bondi, will offer work experience, placement and employment to people with disabilities along with mentoring by volunteers and qualified personnel.

This is a photo of some of the Friendship Circle bakers who, every Friday, produce Challahs at Jesse’s Bakery in Rose Bay. For those who do not know, Jesse is an Emanuel  School parent and what an amazing opportunity he provides for these young bakers, who are all, understandably, delighted with this wonderful news.

Friendship Circle CEO Rabbi Sender Kavka said, “We are thrilled to have the $200,000 My Community Project grant. This is a great testament to our wonderful community and how much you care about inclusion. We know there are so many of you out there who voted, shared on social media and got their friends to vote. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. We are beyond excited.”

Remember September 2019

As we approach almost half way through September, please help alumnus Ben Wilheim (Class of 2008) who, together with family and friends, is raising awareness and funds for the fight to cure pancreatic cancer: https://rememberseptember.gofundraise.com.au/

Primary Grandparents and Friends Day – Monday 16 September 2019

Our Years K – 6 students are getting so very excited as we all look forward to seeing grandparents and special friends at this very special morning on Monday, where they will share Rosh Hashanah celebrations with the children. See invitation for details. 

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

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director Kornmehl

Care Pack project thank you

In Term 1, the Pre-school, Emanuel School, other pre-schools and Long Day Care Centres in the community participated in the Care Pack project, to support Aboriginal pre-schools in outback Australia by providing them with a Care Pack filled with health care necessities. This initiative was done in collaboration with Gunawirra, a not-for-profit organisation in Redfern.

Below please find a beautiful email from Gunawirra thanking us for the Care Packs.

I am sure you will all agree that this is heart-warming and makes the project worthwhile, knowing that we have made a difference in the lives of these little children and that our involvement in this project has come to fruition.

Thank you to everyone for their support of this worthwhile project.

 Dear Terry, 

Thank you for your recent generous donation of care packs to Gunawirra. Your willingness to help the development of Aboriginal children in our community, provides a much-valued contribution to the well-being of these kids. Thanks to your contribution, this year we have provided 21 schools comprising 951 children with care packs. This greatly helps the children understand how they can take care of themselves. 

Again, thank you for all you do for our kids. You are a part of their lives too. 

Sincerely appreciated. Thanks and regards,

Neha
Logistics Volunteer – Gunawirra

Rosh HaShanah

We have immersed ourselves in the beautiful festival of Rosh HaShanah. Adam Carpenter has been coming down to the Pre-school most mornings to blow the Shofar for us in the month of Elul. Adam has been explaining that the Shofar is like an alarm clock to wake up our minds and bodies and to think and reflect on our behaviour, doing good deeds and being kind to others.

The children have been learning about the different types of apples and drawing them from close observation. We have done a mindfulness exercise tasting different kinds of honey. We have been learning about bees and looking at them very closely and learning about the important work that bees do. On Thursday we were lucky enough to have a visit from Gavin Smith, a well-known bee keeper, who came to tell the children about what he does and how to look after bees. The talk was informative and interactive and helped the children to really understand the process involved in making honey.

The Dolphins discussed what they would like to get better at for the new year:

Artist in Residence

On Wednesday we received a visit from James Guppy (grandfather of Elijah Vines) and well-known Australian artist.

Since his early life in England, James Guppy has never been far from a brush or drawing pen. Fifteen years as a mural artist taught him how to paint and the importance of engaging and speaking to the viewer. James emigrated to Australia in 1982 and lives in Byron Bay. In 1989 he began exhibiting his own work as a fine artist. He was awarded the Fisher’s Ghost Prize in 2004 and was a finalist in the Blake Prize in 1989 and the Archibald Prize in 1987. He has had regular solo exhibitions in Sydney since 1991.

James delighted his appreciative audience by sharing his knowledge of portrait drawing using different mediums. James drew a self -portrait of his grandson Elijah in front of the Starfish group. The children enjoyed the lesson with James and had a go at drawing a portrait of each other using charcoal, pastels and pencils.

Thank you, James, for joining us this week and for sharing your talents and expertise with our aspiring budding artists. It was a pleasure to meet you.

Parent involvement

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

We invite parents to be a part of this journey through many different and varied avenues.

These include: Parent Club, Parent Partnership forms, Parent surveys, baking and cooking, gardening, Bush School, reading books, sharing a talent or hobby as well as inviting them to have input into our program through suggestions and ideas shared with educators.

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

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

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

Shabbat

This term parents have been joining us for Shabbat each Friday morning when their child is sitting at the Shabbat table. It’s always very special to share Shabbat with parents and extended families. We value this time together. The children always feel so proud and happy to have their mishpacha join us and participate with enthusiasm and joy. This is another way to connect to families and to deepen relationships with them.

Buddy Reading

Each week our Year Two buddies come down to Kornmehl to connect with our children in the Pre-school and to share with them the gift of stories and reading. Many of the Year Two buddies previously attended Kornmehl and it is very exciting for them to be coming back and for us to see how much they have grown and how well they can read. Many of our buddies have siblings at Kornmehl, and this too is another special connection. All in all, our Buddy Reading program has enormous benefits for both parties and is something that we all look forward to each year.

Hebrew

This year we have had the most beautiful interactive and detailed Hebrew lessons with Morah Martine. Morah Martine has made our Hebrew lessons fun, visual with lots of props and extremely interactive. The children have all looked forward to their Hebrew lessons each week and have gained lots of confidence with their Hebrew knowledge and vocabulary.

IMG_6536

IMG_6569

IMG_6584

IMG_7758

IMG_7759

IMG_7765

IMG_7753

IMG_7636

IMG_7631

IMG_7630

IMG_7629

IMG_7627

IMG_8021

IMG_7626

IMG_7424

IMG_6723

IMG_6700

IMG_6721

IMG_6753

IMG_6756

Envision – Helping Hands Project

Terry Aizen – Director Kornmehl

The Pre-school and Emanuel School are collecting plastic lids of all shapes, sizes and colours. We have joined with a company called Envision to become a collection point for this project. Envision is a small community focussed organisation, who are collecting bottle caps/plastic lids from schools which are then used to make prosthetic limbs for disadvantaged people and communities throughout India and other third world countries.

We invite the Emanuel School and Pre-school community to become a part of this initiative and to collect their WASHED plastic lids and place them in the collection bins provided near the Innovation Centre, Head of Primary’s  office and outside the canteen.

SRC students will be monitoring the bins and will bring the lids down to the Pre-school for distribution to Envision, once we have enough.

Please talk to your children about this amazing project and how they can make a difference in a young person’s life by doing one small action such as collecting and recycling their bottle tops.

Involve your child in the process of washing the lids and bringing them in, so they can experience the feeling of Tikun Olam. Let’s turn waste into opportunity!

Please take a few minutes to watch the videos below. We look forward to the Emanuel School Community supporting us with this amazing project.

https://envision.org.au

https://youtu.be/kCRjefs2aJY

High School Dramatic Action

From the Parents and Friends

Hi Everyone, Term 3 is almost over!

Challah orders for Term 4

We are taking challah orders for Term 4!

You can eliminate the hassle of having to pick up your weekly challah and support the P&F at the same time. We will be selling freshly baked challah every Friday at the cost of $4.50 and you can pick it up on a Friday afternoon at the same time that you collect your kids. (Gluten free challah is available at an increased price.)

The challot must be pre-ordered. Please register your interest by emailing: kendrey@bigpond.com

Friday Chill Out

In Term 4, the P&F will be launching a new initiative called Friday Chill Out.

Every Friday from 3.30 pm – 4.30 pm, you are invited to stay back at school for a catch up with other parents while the kids enjoy an Icy Pole and play.

Let’s start a new tradition of ending our week together. 

Stay 10 minutes or stay the hour, it’s up to you.

Where? Basketball Courts 

When? Every Friday, 3.30 pm – 4.30 pm (starts 25 October 2019 – Term 4 Week 2)

What? Icy Poles $1 – $2

Volunteers to sell Icy Poles are welcome. Contact justine.hofman@gmail.com 

**Please note, parents must supervise and be responsible for their kids at all times in the designated Friday Chill Out area.** 

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 it is a real highlight of the School Year.

The date is Friday 8 November 2019 to 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 last week:

Saul Berkowitz, Brett Churnin, Paul Berkovic, Yossi Biton, Tom Neumann, Wayne Keyser, Leon Waxman, Sasha Shevelev, Derek Pal, David Herdan, Naomi Hersh, Barry Sherman, Adam Tsipris, Hayley Rom, Sacha Davis, Brian Harrison, Olga Harrison, Albert Drannikov, Alan Nathan, Michael Kern, Raffy Shammay, Ros Shammay, David Khedoori, Ronen Vexler, Asnat Meretz and Danielle Jaku-Greenfield.

Primary Lost Property Sale

We have a new Primary School initiative to keep the unlabelled lost property manageable, and give back to the school community. The unlabelled lost property cupboard, located on the Blue Ocean will remain unlocked.

Using an honesty system, you are welcome to select uniform items and put $10 in the donation box provided per item taken.

The money collected will go to charity. This semester we are supporting Gennarosity Abroad.

REMINDER: Label all school items (uniform, stationery, bottles and lunchboxes) with FULL NAME and SURNAME.

Renee Segal | Primary Teacher’s Aide

Gennarosity Abroad – Giving for Giggles

Genevieve Radnan – School Registered Nurse

For the second time this year, and back by popular demand, we invite you to the Giving for Giggles charity comedy spectacular at The Comedy Store.

A lineup of Sydney’s finest that will have you cackling, guffawing and howling, all the while supporting the remarkable work of Gennarosity Abroad.

Gennarosity Abroad is a charity that works tirelessly to improve the betterment of future generations, while raising awareness about critical social issues that perpetuate the cycle of poverty.

So come along, bring your friends and be sure to pick up some raffle tickets before the show for your chance to win one of our amazing prizes.

Get your Giving for Giggles ticket here