From the Principal

Andrew Watt

Welcome back, as we commence our Term 4 learning journey. I hope that the break provided a good balance of rest, recharging and connecting with friends and family. The year has sped by, with only nine weeks remaining until our annual celebration speech day/night events. There will be much to achieve and enjoy, in a limited time!

Our Year 12 students have spent the majority of their break in their final preparations for their HSC examinations. We are grateful for the commitment of our Year 12 teachers, who have provided support and advice, running workshops and providing feedback on countless draft responses.

For some of our leaders, the break also included professional development opportunities. Eytan Messiah, Katie Brody and Sophie Poisel participated in the inaugural Igniting AISNSW Learning Lab conference with Keynote speaker Guy Claxton, as part of the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning Project. Eytan and Katie ran one of the workshops during the day and shared Emanuel’s journey so far. It was a very rich day of learning and the professional conversations between colleagues was invaluable.

The HSC commences

Day one of the 2019 HSC examinations commenced yesterday, with the first English paper. Our students were generally calm and quietly confident, expressing that they felt well prepared. They will carry with them the best wishes and support of our Emanuel School community. The HSC examination period will extend across the next four weeks, ending on Monday 11 November 2019.

Community service trips to East Timor (Timor-Leste) and Kenya in 2020

I am pleased to confirm that a group of Emanuel students will travel to East Timor in early May and another group to Kenya in late June next year. The High School Jilkminggan trip for 2020 will be advertised later in the term. These cultural immersion experiences provide a rare opportunity for our students to learn about the history and geography of a developing nation and experience different foods, religions, language and lifestyle. Our students will also enjoy putting Tikkun Olam into practice, as they engage in the community service activities embedded within the program.

The documentary about Genna Radnan’s Gennarosity Abroad will be aired on television this Sunday evening at 6:30 pm on the ABC Compass program. The documentary is called It Takes a Village and Emanuel School is featured. On the 27 October 2019 there is the major Gennarosity Abroad function in the Millie Phillips Theatre at Emanuel School from 3.30 pm, Beyond the Documentary, where Genna will present the documentary with extra footage including a Q&A session, entertainment, drinks, gift bags and raffles. To book and support this wonderful cause go to https://www.gennarosityabroad.org/events

Mazal tov

Our Primary A Chess Team took part in the annual Scots College Chess Challenge on Friday 27 September 2019, coming in 1^st. We have managed a 2^nd and a 4^th, in previous years, but not a 1^st!  Our B team came in 4^th.

Ethan De Melo, Year 11, has been selected in the Australian National Mens Futsal Team to compete at the 2019 AFF Futsal Championship in Vietnam in October.

Quote of the week

“The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.”

Tom Bodett

Primary News

Meghan Carroll – Deputy Head of Primary

Welcome back to Term 4! I hope everyone has had an excellent break and that you are ready for what is turning out to be a very exciting and eventful time ahead. 

Summer uniform 

Summer uniform begins this term. Please ensure your child is wearing the correct clothing items, including a school hat, each day. Uniform requirements can be found on the Emanuel Portal for your reference. 

Feedback: Well-being Parent Information Sessions 

Thank you to those of you who were able to attend any of the Well-being Parent Information Sessions over the past two terms. We welcome you to share your feedback and experience using the survey link here: https://forms.gle/xHogesfWaPbuwhgk9. We value your input so please ensure your responses are recorded by 3.30 pm on Friday, November 15 2019. 

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 me on mcarroll@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Term 4, Years K – 2 assemblies

We welcome you to join us for your child’s assembly item. Years K – 2 assemblies are held on Fridays on the dates listed below. They start in period 7 (2.10 pm) and are held in the Millie Phillips Theatre unless otherwise noted. We look forward to seeing you at the next assembly. 

From the Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel

Beginnings not endings

During our Yom Kippur liturgy, we intoned the concluding words of the High Priest, that were spoken this day, in the Holy of Holies, prior to his re-emerging unto the people: “May it be Your will Lord our God…that their houses not become their graves”.

Originally intended as a beseeching of God to protect the residents of Israel’s Sharon region from landslides and earthquakes, these words, at the same time, indeed shake each of us to our core.

As soon as we return from synagogue at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, our Jewish tradition tells us, we are to drive in the first nail of our sukkah. The Rabbis say, in referring to the commandment of dwelling in the sukkah:

צא מדירת קבע ושב בדירת עראי -“Leave your fixed abode and reside in a transient one”.

Sukkot is an experience of leaving behind the established, the habitual and the “secure” and entering the temporary, the changing and the vulnerable.

On Yom Kippur and the preceding Days of Repentance, we reflect upon our need for change and growth and express our commitment to effect this new self in the New Year. In beginning to build our sukkah immediately upon the conclusion of Yom Kippur, we at once initiate this process of leaving behind the customary and safe and, entering the temporary and transitional, we open ourselves to new growth, change and possibility.

In repeating the words of the Kohen Gadol, “that their houses not become their graves”, we not only recall the plight of those who were subject to natural disaster, but also are reminding ourselves that we should not allow our established, solidified past forever remain our present so that we cannot build for a new future.

As we celebrate within our sukkah this year, may each of us open ourselves to the changes and new self to which we have committed for our New Year, so we might more fully realise the biblical command for this holiday – והיית אך שמח/You Shall Be Utterly Joyous.

In the words of the High Priest, spoken in the Holy of Holies on behalf of all of Israel:

May it be Your will, Lord, our God…that this year be a year in which you open Your treasury of goodness for us all – may it be a year of abundance, a year of blessing…a year of expansiveness…a year in which You grant us a good life…a year in which You will bless our going and coming..

חג סוכות שמח/Chag Sukkot Sameach

School Photo Week

Sharon Fairfax – PDHPE Teacher Aide – Gymnastics Co-ordinator

Week 2 in Term 4 is school photo week

On Wednesday 23 October 2019 we will be taking music, extra-curricular, House and Music photos.

Uniform requirements:

• High School Students are to bring the relevant sports kit for each of the photos including Emanuel and Representative Team uniforms.
• Primary School students are to bring their Emanuel PE uniform and/or ASISSA Representative uniform.
• Years 5 – 11 students involved in the various photos will be expected to wear a blazer and tie on the day (formal uniform including kippot)
• All other Primary students who may be involved in a photo will wear summer uniform.

On Friday 25 October 2019 we will be taking Emanuel Representative Sport photographs

Music Matters

Diana Springford – Head of Music

Term 4 dates

All music ensemble rehearsals and private music tuition have resumed (except Senior Chamber Choir which resumes on 31 October 2019).

Instrument Program (IP) lessons resume as follows:

Years 3 and Year 6: The first day of IP in Term 4 is Tuesday 29 October 2019.

Years 4 and Year 5: The first day of IP in 2019 is Wednesday 23 October 2019.

Please remember to bring your instrument and music book to your first IP lesson and ensemble rehearsal. 

Music Ensemble Photography Schedule – Wednesday 23 October 2019 (Week 2) in the MPH

Below (and in Edumate) are the times for Music Ensemble photos for students in Years K – 12 (2020).  Please attend promptly in the correct uniform so that we can keep to schedule.

Uniform Standard

• Years 5 – 11 students involved in the various photos will be expected to wear a blazer and tie on the day (formal uniform including kippot)
• All other Primary students who may be involved in a photo will wear Summer Uniform.

Sport Photography Schedule