From the Principal

Andrew Watt

Maintaining a safe, respectful and caring culture

Those who enter our gates each morning overwhelmingly experience a warm, inclusive and welcoming community of learners. This culture however, should not be taken for granted, as without consistent celebration and reinforcement of what we value, we can lose ground. This week in assembly, our students were challenged to be courageous and proactive when they encounter cyberbullying; to call out the poor behaviour and to let others know that “this is not how we do things at Emanuel.”

Cyberbullying uses technology to hurt, humiliate or intimidate another person. It can be relentless, occurring 24/7, with the bully safely locked away in their homes, perhaps unaware of the extent of the hurt that they are generating. A recent global study revealed that 64% of young people who has been cyberbullied reported that their feelings and ability to learn at school had been negatively impacted. Another study found that 34% of High School-aged students had been bullied online. No school is immune to this growing phenomenon. The very few cases that I have been made aware of at Emanuel have involved gossip, homophobic comments or exclusion from events, on social media. Our students have been encouraged to block and report inappropriate posts or images. Bystanders have been encouraged not to join in by ‘liking’ or adding comments, but rather to step in and speak out against derogatory messages. Parents also have a role to play, in supervising the online behaviour of their young adults, and reinforcing the values of respect, integrity and compassion.

New Sport Colours Awards

Under the leadership of Kristy Genc, the profile of sport at Emanuel has increased significantly over the past few years, with continued growth in participation rates. Our success in local competitions and through our representative pathways is due in no small part to our focus on acquiring quality coaches and through the ongoing efforts of our Years K-12 sport staff. The Sports Colours Awards will now be added to our recognition scheme, with the aim to recognise both junior and senior students who excel in one sport, as well as those who consistently represent the School in many sports throughout their schooling. Grey Colours will be awarded to students who accumulate the required points each year, for three years, whilst Maroon Colours will be awarded to students who accumulate the required points each year, for five years.

SLC High School Coordinator of Teaching and Learning

We welcome Mark Dunn, who will be joining our SLC team on 4 April. Mark joins us from North Bridge House Prep School in London, where he was Head of Learning Support. Previously, he served as Associate Headteacher, Inclusion and DSL, at Lambeth Academy, London. Once he has found his feet at Emanuel, Mark will be working within the Specialist Learning Centre team, coordinating our High School teaching and learning programs for students who benefit by necessary adjustments to their learning. He will complement the team led by Dr Lynn Joffe and will be working closely with the other members of the SLC High School team, Eliah Dean and Renee Levenson. We look forward to his contribution to our highly valued SLC team.

Primary School Open Day

On Wednesday we welcomed prospective parents to the School to tour the campus, visit classrooms and enjoy displays. Congratulations to all involved in making this a most successful day. 

Year 1 Museum Day

On Thursday, our Year 1 students became museum curators as they shared their ‘olden day’ artefacts with their parents and other Primary Years. From dial up phones to old-fashioned orange juice squeezers, the students had a wonderful time sharing their ideas and showing off their museum items. 

Quote of the week

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of becoming.”
Goethe

Mazal tov

• Jade Berson, Year 10, won six individual events at the CDSSA Swimming Championships and was the CDSSA Age Champion
• Gabriella Goodridge, Year 11, won gold medals in the 50m butterfly, 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle at AICES Championships
• Jared Elbourne, Year 12, won gold in the 50m breaststroke at the AICES Swimming Championships
• Jonathan (Yoni) Levy, Year 6, will be competing in two individual events at the Maccabi week-end NW Junior State Swimming Championships in the 11 years boys 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle.  He’s also teaming up with three other boys for the 10-11 years 4 x 50m freestyle relay. 
• Kayla Parks, Year 5, is in Maccabi’s 4 x 50m freestyle relay for girls 10-11 years.
• Emanuel Junior Girls Netball team won the CDSSA Championships and Eden Levit and Romi Lapidge were selected for the CDSSA Netball team to play at AICES netball tournament.

Entry and Exit to Emanuel

Margaret Lowe – Deputy Principal

There are some significant safety concerns at the end of the school day as a result of the traffic around the School. Safety issues are being caused by double parking, by having pedestrian access points through carparks and by parents stopping to come into School rather than using Go With the Flow hence increasing the congestion.

Next term we will be changing the system so that we minimise the possibility of a terrible accident.

Students in Primary and High School will only be able to exit via Waxman and Avoca Gates and NOT through the Music Block and Kornmehl car park. It is unsafe to mix cars and pedestrians.

Parents of Primary and High School students are asked to collect students via Go With the Flow rather than park and come into the School. Additional parked cars causes increased congestion.

Parents are asked to abide by the road rules and to consider the neighbours and other road users when picking up from School. Let’s make common courtesy common!

It will be entirely worth the extra 5 minutes it may take to pick up your child if we are ensuring the safety of all children. It will be entirely worth practising being patient when picking up your child if it means that we are setting a positive example to all of our students about respect.

Parents may wish to note that the Council Rangers have informed the School they will be present in the afternoons in an ongoing capacity as a result of the complaints they have received.

Primary News

Sophie Poisel | Innovation Leader  K – 6

Kindness Spreads Competition – Primary Madrichim initiative

During Weeks 8-9 students in Years 3-6 are invited to take part in a video competition. Participants will need to create a short video as an extension of their learning from Anti-Bullying Day. The theme is: Kindness Spreads. The Primary Madrichim will select the top 5 videos that demonstrate the strongest ‘Kindness Spread’ message. These will be featured at a special assembly. Please submit your competition entries by the end of Week 10 (April 5) to Miss Carroll by email (mcarroll@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au), using Airdrop in person or USB. Good luck and thank you in advance for your participation!

 Open Day in the Primary School – 27 March

Open Day in the Primary School was a huge success thanks to our incredible staff and students. The morning began with magnificent musical items which set the scene and provided an inviting entry for the large contingent of prospective parents. After a number of informative presentations and a stunning choir performance in the Millie Phillips Theatre, the large group was split into six smaller groups for the tour of the School campus. Many teachers opened their classrooms to our guests, who were then able to witness the many talents of our staff and witness the learning taking place. Throughout the day a number of calls and emails were received, filled with compliments and words of praise acknowledging how special Emanuel is and how amazing the students and staff are.

Year K Pathways program

It was wonderful to celebrate and welcome Year K and their families to the Emanuel School community with our Year K Pathways Shabbat Ceremony. This was the first of 4 Pathways ceremonies and mark stages in the students’ Jewish learning and growth through their Primary School journey. Parents presented their child with a framed, decorated hamsa inscribed with special a special blessing and message they composed for their child. Students and guests celebrated with a beautiful morning tea provided by the year 10 D&T students under the guidance of Mrs Lara Sperber Ephron.

‘A Day at the Museum’

Rolene Silver and Emma Buzo – Year 1 Teachers

The great day finally dawned! ‘A Day at the Museum’ has been the culmination of a long, wonderful process. Over the term, Year 1 has studied ‘Technology in Family Life: Now and Then.’ As part of the unit, the students made ‘Me Boxes’ that illustrated their personal history, went on an archaeological dig with Year 11, conducted research including interviews with their grandparents. Students also went on an excursion to Vaucluse House and learnt about the Wentworth Family who lived there in the 1800s. ‘A Day at the Museum’ was the final piece of the learning over the term, where the students curated an exhibition of artefacts belonging to family members. Overall, the favourite artefacts were a juicer from 1910, a typewriter from the 1960s and a gramophone from 1940.

Thank you children and parents who contributed to such an amazing event. We had such fun learning about the past and guessing what the future might hold! Watch this space!

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(Digital) Life

Our lives are increasingly digital, but how adults and young people view the digital world is very different. Last week I had the opportunity to hear from Amanda Third (UWS) speak about being young and living in a digital world, from the lens of cyber psychology.

Amanda Third opened her talk with a quote from Douglas Adams (2002),                                     

“I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:

1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that’s invented between when you are between fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you are thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”

This set the tone for understanding for how people view technology and led to several suggestions as highlighted in her research. Third’s research suggests that we need to focus on growing an understanding of the benefits of the digital world and not focus on terrible risks. She said that by focusing on risk and harm, we are not doing our children justice, as this leads to a failure of imagination as young people aren’t exposed to what is possible digitally. Our students will need a deep understanding of the digital world to solve problems now and in the future. They need to be prepared for their digital futures and need space to dream up new and positive uses of digital technologies, which I am excited to say happens regularly in our K-6 classes. Most recently we have been exploring Google Tour creator to simulate VR experiences and creating a variety of digital solutions to problems we see in our world, within and beyond the curriculum.

Third suggests we move towards a rights based approach that focuses on provision, protection and participation and called for a different dialogue to explore the benefits of the digital world. She said that a number of studies had shown that kids don’t go into a moral vacuum when they go online, and that we should focus on developing students with a strong moral compass so they can transfer this to their digital life. Third also called for flexible responses to challenges, that it is not recommended for all schools to ban phones, as each school is different. By navigating some risk, our students build resilience which can lead to teachable moments and benefits. She also highlighted that what children worry about is very different to what parents worry about online, and that our Digital Citizenship education needs to reflect this. This included: “that nobody will respond or comment on my post”, “about others oversharing information about me”, “about running out of credit” and “about wasting my time”.

We want our students to be safe and independent learners who explore advanced digital practices. Digital technologies have much to offer the world’s young people. Digital Technologies are embedded in our students learning experiences at Emanuel. I look forward to sharing some of these throughout the year, and at our annual Innovation Festival in Term 4.

Read more about Amanda Third’s work at UWS: www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1451641/10_Digital_technologies_and_the_Young.pdf

Some other ways you can support your kids development of positive uses of Digital Technology:

1. Set up a screen time contract: www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/when-kids-call-the-shots/201804/the-best-technology-screen-time-contract-kids
2. Talk to your kids about the idea of Digital Nutrition, designing a digital world that nourishes them: www.digitalnutrition.com.au/

From the Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel

The Scream

How could or should one react in the face of the inscrutable, the unacceptable.

In seeking to serve God, in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), the priests Nadav and Avihu are struck down before the Lord.

Our parashah, Shemini, is as terse about their father’s reaction as it is about his sons’ deaths-וידום/VaYidom Aharon.

וידום/VaYidom, describing the bereft father, has two opposing meanings.

Aharon (Aaron) was struck dumb, rendered speechless. Utter silence alone bespeaks the depth of his sorrow. The word /דומםdomem sharing the same root letters of וידום/VaYidom denotes lifeless matter. In his sons’ deaths, Aaron is devoid of life.

וידום/VaYidom might also mean to wail and lament. Confronting the unbearable, Aharon could not, would not, contain his anguish and pain.

Lament or silence, Aharon is confounded in a world of utter desolation.

All of Israel, Moshe tells his brother, Aharon, will mourn the deaths of his sons. But, we are left wondering if this father will ever find life and God again.

Eliyahu (Elijah), in despair, calls out to God:

It is enough. Now, O Lord, take my life… And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire,

but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still (דממה/demamah) small voice.

Student Devar Torah

Ariella Tracton – Year 10

Parashat Shemini

This week’s parashah, Shemini, highlights important ideas on Kashrut laws and purity.

The idea I would like to talk about comes from one example in the kashrut laws. It relates to how to determine whether a pig is kosher or not.

The kashrut laws relating to mammals say that a mammal is considered kosher if it has split hooves and chews its cud. While we all know that a pig is not kosher, you actually have to examine it closely to work this out when using the kashrut laws as a guide. When you look at a pig, it looks like a kosher animal because of its split hooves! You have to know a lot more about a pig to know that beyond its external appearance it does not chew its cud.

So, if you only looked superficially, you would mistake this unkosher animal for a kosher one.  

This can teach us an important lesson in life: that things aren’t always as they seem. This is very relevant for us because we get a lot of our information from the internet. Some of this is great information but some of it is incorrect. So, when we read this week’s parashah, we are reminded not to take things at face value and that, sometimes, we need to dig deeper and get more information before we can be confident that we understand things properly.

Ma Koreh – High School Purim

Kobi Bloom | Jewish Life Teacher | Year 10 Tutor

This year, our High School celebrated Purim with more ruach and meaning than ever before.

Celebrations started with one of the most impressive costume parades in recent memory, with all staff and students strutting their stuff and our Year 12 leaders presenting awards for the varied and entertaining costumes. The Year 12s also presented a ‘Modern Purim Shpeil,’ acting it out on stage with Selfies, the Batchelor and Eggboy.

We exchanged Mishloach Manot, danced and explored the Purim theme of memory in student run peulot. Year 8 heard an interactive Megilah reading led by students, teachers and staff. Our celebrations concluded with the famous Year 11 Purim Shuk at lunchtime with a bouncy castle, face painting, cookie making and more.

Our school was alive with joy, colour and celebration.

Ma Koreh – Primary School

Primary Jewish Life Leaders Purim Report

Last week our school transformed with amazing costumes, energy and Purim רוחruah.

Our celebrations began with Purim parades for Years K-2 and Years 3-6. This was a fun opportunity to come together, sing Purim songs, show off our costumes, dance around and have some crazy fun. The costumes were amazing, creative and spectacular.  

With the Madrichim, we performed a Purim parody song to the tune of ‘Shotgun’ by George Ezra. Our lyrics focused on the importance of being an upstander and we have included some of the lyrics below. This link with being an upstander was something we mentioned at the Years 3-6 Assembly, connecting Purim and Esther’s story to anti-bully day.

We then unrolled the Megilat Esther for everyone to see as Morah Gaida and Mr Carpenter read sections of the Megillah. We provided a humorous English retelling of the story, in the style of Dr Seuss.

Purim activities for the day included:

• Megillah movie making
• Mask making
• Purim puppet show
• Making and sharing food gifts משלוח מנות – Mishloah Manot

Year 6 Rehovot visited Montefiore Home to celebrate Purim with the residents. We walked down in the rain in our costumes to share Purim songs, Israeli dances and conversations with the residents. It was fun to visit Montefiore, to chat with the residents and to share in the Purim joy.

We really enjoyed learning, preparing and being involved in creating the Purim celebrations in Primary School. 

By the Jewish Life Leaders: Lily Besser, Ella Dyce, Jamie Goldman and Avalon van der Starre

Following up to the holiday of  Purim the students of Year 1 together with their Hebrew teachers made and baked Ozenei Haman. Morah Erika made the dough and the students filled their Hamantashen with jam and chocolate. They creatively shaped the ozenei haman into a three-cornered shape. They were baked in our high school kitchen and each student was able to take home a Mishloach Manot of the yummy delights.

Purim and Plitim

Purim and Plitim

Purim and Plitim (Refugees) – Purim reminds us of the marginal in our society and its call to be inclusive of all people. As part of our Purim experience, several students accompanied Mrs Sebban to visit Villawood Detention centre and to bring some joy into the lives of its residents.

Below are the reflections of one of these students:

Miriam Itzkowitz – Year 11

On Thursday, amongst all the Purim ruach and craziness, Esther Reznikov and I, accompanied by Shira Sebban, went to Villawood Detention Centre to visit refugees.

Purim is in the month of Adar, which is meant to be the month of joy and happiness, however, the mood at Villawood seemed generally quite glum and down; the opposite of what Adar is meant to be about. This was my second time at Villawood, and I definitely found this trip to be particularly meaningful.

Aside from this day being Purim, it was also the Iranian new year. Villawood has many Iranian detainees, some being Kurdish, and others Muslim and there was no way to facilitate the celebrations of the new year. Understandably, being in detention isn’t meant to be enjoyable and celebratory, but I feel as though this is something so small that can easily be accommodated, especially seeing as many of the detainees may find an action as small as this to be extremely meaningful and uplifting from their otherwise rather solemn lives at Villawood.

We met an Iranian refugee, Ahmad, who has been in detention for six years. He is twenty one. Ahmad is in detention indefinitely, which means that he hasn’t actually been given a sentence so he has no idea how long he has left in detention. The only reason he’s being held there is in case he does something wrong. In case. Ahmad reluctantly came to Australia as a teenager with his mother. Being a rowdy teen (as many of us are), he pulled off some kind of stink which wound him up into detention for a longer amount of time. His mother lives here as a refugee, as well as his older brother who moved here a while before. He is severely depressed. 

What I noticed is that there are different standards for Australian citizens and refugees. For example, if I were to throw a raging party and the police were called, I may get a warning or be told to turn the music down, whereas if a refugee were to do this, they could be taken straight to detention, no questions asked. Refugees are asked to live up to almost impossible standards which we don’t have to.

I spoke to several refugees throughout the day who said they’d just appreciate it if there was more freedom and opportunity for them in detention, rather than having essentially nothing to do.

I was actually surprised at the reactions from some of the refugees when I told them I’m Jewish and told them about my recent trip to Israel for Chavayah. With many of them coming from Muslim countries, I thought there would be some deeply inherent hatred towards me or Israel, but I was proven wrong. Most of them were very interested, asking me about it, if I could speak Hebrew and just about Judaism in general. I feel this is a really nice way to show that not all refugees are horrible people, and rather, just people who are very warm-hearted, interested and accepting. These refugees are open-minded – we’re the ones who need to learn to accept difference and change.

From the Head of Music

Diana Springford

Coming Soon – Emanuel School Music Camp 2019

The annual Emanuel School Music Camp is a wonderful celebration of our vibrant music culture and the talents and hard work of our young musicians. Each camp is a special experience for students as they unite in a shared love of music and work together in the pursuit of excellence. Emanuel School music staff join with a team of highly-skilled professional musicians to develop and hone students’ musical skills in preparation for an exciting showcase concert.

Emanuel School Music Camp 2019 is a three-day residential camp that will take place from Monday 1 July, returning on the evening of Wednesday 3 July and continuing with an all-day rehearsal on Thursday 4 July, and the Music Camp Showcase Concert in the MPH on the Thursday evening.

All members of participating ensembles in Years 4 to 11 are expected to attend Music Camp at a cost of approximately $500.  Attendance for Year 12 students is optional. Full details regarding Music Camp will be published in Ma Nishma soon and emailed to parents, including the list of participating ensembles, the cost and procedure for registering to attend.

Private Music Tuition and Infant Strings Program

Thank you to those who have already advised us of changes to private tuition and ISP enrolments for next term.  The deadline for new enrolments, notification of changes or intention to discontinue for Term 2 has passed. All students currently receiving private music tuition and ISP will be automatically re-enrolled into tutor schedules for next term along with new students and liable for fees.  Please contact Matilda Grieve by email to music@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.auif you have any questions.   

Schedules for Term 2 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

Night of Song (information for soloists)

Please mark in your diary that Night of Song is on Thursday 22 August. This very popular concert is our main annual event for choirs as well as a number of vocal soloists.  Aspiring soloists who are planning to audition for Night of Song, please note that this year our theme is Musical Theatre, so we are giving you plenty of advance notice that you will need to prepare a song from a musical.

Primary Fundraising

Diabetes Australia Fundraiser

On Friday 5 April 2019, the students in Years K- 6 will help support Diabetes Australia.

They are encouraged to wear blue clothes and donate a gold coin.

Thanking you for your support.

The Year 6 Fundraising Team

Kol Szenes

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to another edition of Kol Szenes. I have some exciting news but I need your help. In order to make Kol Szenes more Szenesian friendly, I have started a new initiative to get more people involved in Kol Szenes so it is a more interactive place for all Szenesians. This could be featuring someone’s creative writing or artwork that they would like to share with the rest of Szenes or birthday shout-outs or acknowledging the efforts of the many excellent, hard-working Szenesians we have. I would also like to make it more collaborative in terms of the compilation of information. If there is something that relates to Year 8, I think it would be great if a Year 8 student could write a bit about it and submit it to Kol Szenes. This way we can see what the different year groups have been up to with first hand information.

The format would be:

• An introduction and summary of the week by me
• Years 7-12 articles
• Feature of the Week (i.e. student works)
• Announcements/Congratulations/Thank-yous
• Birthdays
• Quote of the week

Ideally, I would like 2 to 3 volunteer writers from each year group to alternate writing an article about what their year has done that week. If your year does not have anything to report, you could send a photo of someone’s accomplishment or a fact of the week – really anything, but it still has to be something. I think it will be a great way to get more Szenesian’s involved. Also, if you have any fun ideas or would like to help out with Kol Szenes, let me know and I will see if I can facilitate it!

Miriam Itzkowitz – Year 11

Kol Szenes Editor

Friendship Circle

On Wednesday, in a joined House Assembly between Szenes and Meir, we heard a speaker from Sydney Friendship Circle, an organisation facilitating for the needs of disabled children in the Jewish community. They rely on volunteers from within the Jewish community, many being high schoolers. As someone who has actually participated in this initiative, I found it extremely rewarding to be able to give back to the community and work with children who may require additional support. If you are interested in volunteering, please apply here: www.sydneyfc.org.au/volunteerapplication

Participating in the program 

For many of us, socialising is an easy task but for some of us this can be very difficult. Through Friendship circle, we were able to interact with kids that have disabilities and help them socialise by connecting with them and being their friend. This benefited both the individual and ourselves. We learnt to really appreciate our independence and our friendships.

This amazing organisation provided us with an opportunity to get involved in both the Jewish and broader community. It was honestly just a lovely way to spend an afternoon amongst a busy week. We were able to create a connection with our new friends. It may sounds cliche but to see our friends’ faces light up as we walked through the door, really made us feel like we were making a difference.

We highly recommend involvement in the Friendship Circle program to anyone who has a spare hour in their week, not only is the child appreciative, but so are their families and you will be too!

Report by Erin Forman and Asha Friedman (Year 11)

Year 7 Peer Support update

It has been very rewarding and great fun being a Peer Support leader. We have really been able to develop strong connections with the Year 7s, and assist with guiding them through their transition into High School. We began the Peer Support program with Szenes on Orientation Day, the day before the rest of High School returned. This was the first time we met the groups and ran a session with them. We immediately knew they would be great kids.

We then spent the next three weeks with peer support sessions every Thursday, spending the time getting to know the kids and getting excited for camp in Week 4. On camp Somerset, we engaged in a range of enjoyable activities including base seven, the wombat hole, high ropes, milk crate stacking and canoeing. We developed teamwork, resilience and a strong support network between the Peer Support leaders and Year 7 Szenes.

Last week, as part of Purim celebrations, our session focused on the Purim story and the characters perspectives. Encouraged by the enthusiastic atmosphere, Szensians volunteered to participate in the drama filled story of Purim.

We look forward to spending the remainder of the semester engaging in activities with Year 7 Szenes!

Report by Sasha Baskin, Tali Blackman, Jono Sebban and Issy Riechel (Year 11)

Announcements

• Congratulations to Szenes for winning the first round of the Inter-House Netball competition against Rashi! On Wednesday we played against Meir and we shall reveal the winner in next week’s Kol Szenes!
• Thank you to Asha Friedman and Erin Forman in Year 11, who recounted their experiences volunteering at Sydney Friendship Circle at House Assembly on Wednesday

Happy Birthday to our March Szenesians!   

• Tashi Gering, Year 12
• Ilan Meshel, Year 9
• Mischa Spielman, Year 8
• Erin Nabarro, Year 12
• Romi Lapidge, Year 10
• Giulia Goldman, Year 7
• Jesse Keyser, Year 9
• Jake Newfield, Year 8
• Mark Kang, Year 9

Challenge

Finally, a little challenge for all those artistic Szenesians out there: could you please design a new Kol Szenes logo? We will all vote and all the designs will be featured in Kol Szenes and the winner’s design will be the new header to Kol Szenes every week. To submit your designs, please e-mail them to me: itzkowitz.miriam@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Quote of the Week

There is nothing like a dream to create the future. Victor Hugo

Shabbat Shalom and have a fantastic weekend!

Rashi Times

Term 1 Tutor Program reflections

Year 7

“Can I join you?” 

 The aim of this activity was to create a potentially alienating situation that compelled students to behave in ways that trigger their ‘sense of belonging’.

The Tutor Group was split into 5 groups of 4 students. One group was sent outside the classroom. This group, Group 1, were told nothing about the exercise. In the meantime, the other four groups were given specific scenarios to enact. The action card instruction indicated a type of behaviour that they had to exhibit, for example, speaking in a language other than English or ignoring the person who would try to re-join the group. Group 1 was sent back in and they re-joined their group. The interactions took no longer than a minute. We stopped the activity and commenced a reflection discussion.

The results were interesting. Some students were conflicted about the behaviour instructions on the action cards, saying that they felt like it was problematic to deliberately reject a member of their Tutor Group. All in all it was a constructive discussion linking thoughts to behaviour and highlighting how important belonging and acceptance are to positive thoughts and feelings.

Year 8

Today in Tutor period we discussed building positive relationships. We identified positive relationships and negative relationships and used personal examples as practice models to refine the way we interact with our peers. This was then used to learn about online relationships and the problems they pose and the potential risks and benefits of friendships on an online forum. The class enjoyed drawing from personal experiences and working as a team in this activity.

 Year 10

In the Year 10 Rashi Tutor program this term we discussed prevalent social inequality issues that impact our society today. We talked about ways to better the world such as climate action, active social awareness, and working as a cohesive year group when we go to Israel.

We have many interesting discussions, some of which include: how to manage our time, good communication skills and career choices for subjects next year.

Meir Advocate

Happiness Day

Hey everyone! Last week we celebrated International Happiness Day – a day invented to make us all focus on what we have in common instead of what divides and separates us. We focused on the fact that we all want to be happy in life and some ways we can accomplish that and make everyone happy. We gave people compliments. Happiness Day has allowed Emanuel students to celebrate their flaws and differences and realise that we are happier when we are together.

Friendship Circle

This week in House Assembly we had some presenters from Friendship Circle to discuss what Friendship Circle does and how Emanuel students can get involved in Friendship Circle.

Friendship Circle’s mission is to empower the next generation to shape a world in which people with special needs and their families experience acceptance, inclusion and friendship as contributing members of society.

Thank you to Issy Nahon from Friendship Circle for presenting and we hope that Emanuel students get involved in this great organisation.

Purim

Purim was a great day of celebration for all students and teachers – please see some photos of Meirian’s.

Inter-House Mixed Netball Competition

Last week the school started the inter-house netball competition with all houses bringing their all, we are excited for the competition to continue and in the end see who is victorious.

Gabriela Amoils – Year 12

Meet A Meirian

This week we have selected one of our senior Meirian’s – Gabriela (Gabi) Amoils (Year 12).

Below are three random questions we asked Gabi to answer:

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

The best piece of advice I have ever received would be from my Primary School teacher, who said these two wise things: “Life is too short to hold grudges. It doesn’t benefit anyone. If it’s not going to matter in five years, don’t spend more than five minutes being upset by it” and this, “Don’t cry over someone who wouldn’t shed a tear for you.” Very wise words I still remember to this day…

When you’re having a bad day, what do you do to make yourself feel better?

When I am having a bad day, I just shut out all the negativity and only surround myself by people who make me happy. I colour in this colouring book which always distracts me. I listen to cheerful music, and if need be, I tell my mom about the bad day I have had to let it all out.

What is your ultimate pet peeve?

My ultimate pet peeve would DEFINITELY be people who chew their food or gum loudly, and people who breathe loudly and sniff. I will gladly walk to the other side of the school to get someone a tissue if it will stop them sniffing. I also hate it when people bite their nails!

We hope you have an enjoyable weekend!

Love, your Meir Editors,

Charlotte and Tara

ACIES Swimming Championships

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

On Tuesday 26 March 2019, twenty of Emanuel’s top swimmers represented the Combined District Secondary Sports Association at the AICES Swimming Championships at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. It was fantastic to see such a large and dedicated swim squad attend this representative event.

After such successful School and CDSSA carnivals, winning every event that she raced in, Jade Berson had a very busy program at the championships.

Swim team captain, Jared Elbourne, had a successful day, winning gold in the 50m breaststroke event and swimming a personal best time.

Gabriella Goodridge was on form, dominating the pool, winning three individual gold medals in the 50m fly, 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle.

Emanuel had qualified for six relay events and it was a credit to all members of the school swim team to see these relay teams compete at this level of competition.

Both Emanuel School and the CDSSA had a successful day, finishing in good places on the overall points table.

Congratulations to our CDSSA swimming representatives on a very successful event: Gaija Avshalom, Jemma Bennett, Jade Berson, Dylan Christie, Ruth Durbach, Jared Elbourne, Gabriella Goodridge, Gidon Grunseit, Boaz Hadad, Kian Hamburger, Aron Harpaz, Lucinda Labi, Aiden Kanevsky, Abigail Nesher, Talia Rabin, Danielle Rutstein, Jake Sharp, Jett Sher, Clio Stockley and Jacob Rose.

CDSSA Netball Gala Day

Sharon Fairfax | PDHPE Teacher Aide | Gymnastics Coordinator

Last Monday Emanuel School entered a junior girls, senior girls and a mixed senior girls and boys team in the CDSSA Netball Gala day held at Minto Sport’s Centre. It was a very successful day indeed!

Our junior girls team took out the title with an absolutely powerhouse performance defeating The Pittwater House School in the Semi Final 10-5 and going on to win the Grand Final up against International Grammar School 14-7. This team showed great teamwork and super netball skills.

Outstanding performances from the junior girls came from Romi Lapidge, Eden Levit and Brooke Rosen. Congratulations to all of the team including Alexis Demos, Tess Endrey, Lucinda Labi, Mariah Lewy, Lucia Meyer, Ava Rose and Clio Stockley. Senior girls and the senior mixed team both put in good performances narrowly missing out on finals appearances.

The Gala Day also serves as a selection day for the Representative CDSSA Netball Teams. We are thrilled to report both Romi and Eden were selected in the Junior Girls Team to represent CDSSA at the upcoming AICES Netball Championships.

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Emanuel Junior Netball Team at CDSSA 2019

Emanuel Senior Netball Team at CDSSA 2019

Emanuel Mixed Netbal Team at CDSSA 2019

HICES Debating

Suzanne Plume | Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator 7-12 | Debating and Public Speaking 7-12

The Year 9 HICES debating team had a huge problem with conflicting commitments last week.

They were scheduled to be at Duke of Edinburgh camp and, also, at Round 2 of the HICES competition. Forfeiting the round meant disqualification. Fortunately, Jesse Keyser was the only member of the team able to attend.

Maya Zyll, Eitan Meschel, Sol Biton and Dan Blecher volunteered to step into the breach.

A team was formed with Maya Zyll from Year 7, Dan Blecher and Sol Biton from Year 8 and Jesse Keyser at Third.

All three spoke clearly and had well thought out arguments. Opposed by a team of mostly Year 10 students from Moriah, they narrowly lost a well-argued debate.

Jesse received recognition as the second-best speaker for his masterly summing up which came too late in the debate to be fully considered.

All in all, these five people made a gallant effort and successfully kept the name of our school from being marred by a disqualification.  

Meanwhile, the Middles and Senior (Year 10) HICES debating teams scored well deserved victories.

The Middles triumphed over Moriah with 2 Best Speaker awards for Jesse Barel and Maayan Granot.

The Seniors out argued St Spyridon with our 3 speakers, Ethan Moliver, Chloe Miller and Lara Fosbery – all receiving Best Speaker points. The Opens team had a Bye. 

This leaves our Opens and Senior Year 10 teams undefeated in the competition so far.

Earth Hour

Noa Rosenzveig – Year 5

Earth Hour is on Saturday 30 March between 8:30pm and 9:30pm. You celebrate earth hour by turning off all electricity in your home for one hour. At school, we turned off all electricity during Period 8 today, Friday 30 March.

We are celebrating Earth Hour to help save our world. In case you don’t know, most power still comes from coal, which gives off deadly greenhouse gasses. You may think that turning off electricity for an hour won’t change much, but all actions are helping the resistance to climate change. One hour of “olden days entertainment” can do a lot for your world. Scientists say that the earth is only liveable for the next one hundred and twenty years (you should trust the scientists, they are unfortunately right). Are you going to be the person that doesn’t do Earth Hour and helps the population lose their home? Or are you going to be the person that does Earth Hour every night, helping the kids with their resistance and slowly saving the Earth?

As the Lorax says, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better. It’s not.” Be the person that cares a whole awful lot, and something’s going to get better. It is.

By Noa Rosenzveig – Green Team

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director Kornmehl

Pesach explorations

This week we have begun our learning around the festival of Passover and all the wonderful traditions, stories, characters, songs, food and creative experiences. We tell the story of Pesach using animation, song, music, props and costumes and invite the children to take on roles in the story. Re-enacting the story in this way helps to bring it to life and allows the children time to process the details and make sense of it.

The children have started learning a variety of wonderful songs: When Moses was, one morning when Pharaoh awoke in his bed, Bang bang bang, Dayeinu, Listen, King Pharaoh, how did Moses cross the Red Sea, Ma Nishtana, who knows one, to name but a few.

We have been making our own visual representations of wild animals and frogs, Seder plates using different mediums and making baby Moses in the basket.

All the children will be participating in a Pesach Seder in the Pre-School on Thursday 11 April.  This event is for the children only.

Care Packs

Our Care Pack project is well underway with many pre-schools, Long Day Care Centres and Emanuel School, participating in this worthwhile project to provide Care Packs for Aboriginal children in outback NSW pre-schools. We are working closely with Gunawirra, a NSW, not – for – profit charity. Gunawirra works in direct response to the needs and resources that the Centres require, with ongoing collaboration and consultation.  By teaching pre-schoolers about personal hygiene, basic health care and simple nutrition, significant improvements to primary health care can be created, therefore reducing longer term chronic health problems and ultimately reducing the difference in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The people from Gunawirra have expressed, through their vision and care of Aboriginal children, a need for basic healthcare necessities. Many of the children arrive at school with no underwear, no access to toothbrushes and toothpaste, hence there is poor oral hygiene and a lack of basic health necessities.

We thank everyone in advance for their continued support of this project. Care Packs are due in between the 1 and 15 May – Term 2, 2019.

Back to Pre-school Visit

Our Back to Pre-school visit will take place on Friday 5 April 2019 from 2pm to 3pm in the Pre-School. We look forward to welcoming all our Starfish and Dolphins back to share their learning about Year K with us all.

Centennial Park Visits

Next term our visits to Centennial Park will start in week 2 for the Dolphins and Starfish groups. We are planning on walking the children to the park and back, once every few weeks and therefore will require parent support to help us do this. The Seashells will start their visits in Term 3.

The Pre-School has purchased a classroom set of water proof pants and tops for the children, so all they will need are gum boots on a rainy day and sneakers on warmer days. If the weather is bad (strong winds and torrential rain) on the day we will make an informed decision to cancel the excursion. There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing!

The Bush School approach does not stand-alone from early childhood education and care. The Belonging, Being and Becoming: Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) recognises the importance of the outdoor environment in the development of young children.

The Early Years Bush Connections concept is informed by other successful outdoor learning practices from well-researched and established international examples such as Forest Schools, Wilderness Awareness schools, Wild Play schemes and Nature Kindergartens.

We believe Bush School has many advantages for the children, especially in todays hurried society, where the children do not get enough uninterrupted time to just play and be in nature for extended periods of time.

Some advantages of Bush School are:

• Open-ended resources in visually simple spaces – giving children the opportunity to be creative, to observe, to be inspired and to problem solve in an open-ended natural environment.
• Risk full learning – the development of a risk adverse society is creating what Tim Gill calls the “shrinking horizons of childhood” where the independence and freedom of childhood has been curtailed.
• Eco-friendly and sustainable living – do we want the earth to still be beautiful in 60 years’ time for our children? We need to encourage an ecological awareness in the children from a young age. Real materials are far more sustainable and encourage the children to use their imagination more than materials that are prescribed.
• Physicality – children need to be more active. Movement is critical to each child’s health and well-being. The physical aspects of their development are promoted through running, climbing trees, and physically being in wide open spaces with a canopy of trees for a roof.
• Children who play regularly in natural environments show more advanced motor fitness, including co-ordination, stamina, balance and agility, and they are sick less often.
• When children play in natural environments, their play is more diverse with imaginative and creative play that fosters language and collaborative skills.
• Exposure to natural environments improves cognitive development by improving their awareness, reasoning and observational skills.
• Spending time in nature has shown to reduce stress. Nature buffers the impact of life’s stresses on children and helps them deal with adversity. The greater amount of nature exposure, the greater the benefits.
• An affinity to and love of nature, along with positive environmental ethic, grow out of regular contact with, and play in, the natural world during early childhood.
• Early experiences with the natural world have been positively linked with the development of imagination and the sense of wonder. Wonder is an important motivator for lifelong learning.
• Motivation, concentration and problem-solving skills are developed through exploratory play.
• Children who play in nature have more positive feelings about each other. The development of self-confidence and self-belief comes from children having freedom, time and space to learn, grow and demonstrate their independence.
• Natural environments stimulate social interaction between children. It fosters an increased awareness of others and our interactions with them as well as encourages sharing and co-operative play.
• Language and communication development is fostered by being in the outdoors. This is prompted by visual and other sensory experiences of participating in a bush school program.

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Careers

Claire Pech

To book in for a career chat please book yourself in at: https://calendly.com/clairepechcareers/
This week I have been collating all of the 2018 destination results. It may interest you to note what is in and out for 2018 students.

A wide variety of institutions –  from private colleges, to the big Universities, to smaller specialist institutions. The big players, UNSW at 24% and University of Sydney at 20% have definitely taken a hit. Newer institutions like UTS have increased up to 18% with their dynamic internships, transdisciplinary education and reputable design and communication courses.

Also,  there is a diverse range of topics for studying (unlike the days of Science, Arts, Medicine etc). We now see a huge variety in interests in:

It is great to see such variety and breadth of subjects for our graduates of 2018.

Careers Notices, Events, Articles: (Source: MHSCareers March 2019)

Discover Sport & Exercise @ UTS

Thursday 18 July 2019, 1.00 pm. Rugby Australia Building, Moore Park Precinct.

Discover health at UTS at one of the Discover Health sessions. Find out more about courses at an information session, then go on a tour of their world-class facilities. Register here. 

Find out more: https://www.uts.edu.au/future-students/health/why-health-uts/events-and-brochures/discover-sessions

UNSW | Law Admission Test Information Evening

Thursday 9 May 2019, 6.30 pm – 8.30 pm, UNSW Kensington Campus.

Do you want to find out more about how the Law Admission Test (LAT) affects entry into Law double degrees? The LAT Information Evening is for year 11 and 12 students and their parents, and students currently studying at another university who are hoping to transfer to UNSW Law in 2020.

Find out more: https://www.events.unsw.edu.au/event/unsw-lat-information-evening

University of Notre Dame | Getting to Know Nursing

Tuesday 14 May 2019, 6.00 pm – 7.30 pm, University of Notre Dame, Sydney

Dreaming of a career in Nursing? Find out more and register: https://www.notredame.edu.au/events-items/getting-to-know-nursing

Jilkminggan High School Trip

David Whitcombe- Outreach Coordinator

Jilkminggan High School Trip – Places Still Available

As you can see, our friends at Jilkminggan are doing some amazing (deadly!) things this year. Please see the Instagram photos.

Our High School trip In Week 7, Term 3 (August 5 to August 9 2019) still has 10 places available. Many students have already been in Year 6 but perhaps they could experience it again as an older person and catch up with old friends. For those who have not been, perhaps this is the year to go (as next year might be full or might not happen at all…).

It is a 6 day trip where the students will experience Aboriginal culture (some differences to the Primary School trip) and meet and play with kids at Jilkminggan school. There will also be lots of swimming and other Northern Territory adventures. Please ask your children to share the emails I have sent (with the application form) and email me if you wish to sign up: (dwhitcombe@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au).

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Connecting our Community – Gesher

Sonia Newell – Development Officer

Jewish Changemaker Awards

There is no better way to showcase to the Jewish community Australia-wide, our Emanuel students and younger alumni (35 years and under) who volunteer their time with numerous organisations and causes, than by this opportunity to nominate them for the Jewish Changemaker Awards.  See categories for Youth (under 18) and Young Adults (18 to 35 years) and please nominate your child/children accordingly.  Check out the new Changemaker promo video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVZ67BE2SvY&feature=youtu.be

Nominations are now open, and can be done online: www.jnf.org.au/changemaker

Adi Gefen-Adler, UIA NSW Executive Director – Shaliach

Emanuel grandparent, Susan Sweller, contacted me during the week to let me know about some interesting talks organised through the UIA Office.  Susan says ‘John and I have attended many of Adi Gefen-Adler’s Israel Update talks and each time learnt a lot and enjoyed Adi’s enthusiastic presentation’.  Some of you may recall we had a very successful Sunday afternoon session with Adi, the UIA NSW Executive Director/Shaliach, about 18 months ago where he gave an interesting presentation on “Jerusalem, Islam and the Temple Mount”. He currently presents five Israel Update sessions in the interest of keeping our community connected and informed about Israel and the People of Israel. Adi’s historical knowledge and his knowledge of comparative religions are impressive. His insights and style of presentation are greatly appreciated by all attendees. Topics discussed range widely and generally include current happenings in Israel, as well as new developments concerning Israel’s neighbours and the region.  

Adi’s next Israel Update talk is on at BJE, Roscoe Street, Bondi Beach, on Wednesday 10 April 2019, 7.30pm – 9.00pm. Please  RSVP for catering purposes. Phone 9361 4273 or info@uiansw.org.au

Save the Date

Breakfast with Emanuel – 12 June 2019 in Bondi Junction, and 19 June 2019 in the CBD, hosted by KPMG.

Time: 7.30 am to 9.00 am

Topics: Driving for Deep Learning and Welfare and Well-being of our students.

More details out next term.

Why is it so important to have grandparent contact details on our database? Our School Community is spread far and wide.  We love having grandparents involved with activities at School, as well as being able to tell them about what’s happening on campus, even if they don’t live locally.  The best way for us to do this is by getting in touch with them directly, hence the request for up-to-date contact details.  Please send email/address to: snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au to ensure they receive invitations to various events throughout the year, and also so they receive our bi-annual Grandparents and Friends newsletters which are a great way to read about what’s happening at School – no matter if they live around the corner from our campus or on the other side of the world.

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

From the Parents and Friends

Hi Everyone,

Term 1 is almost over!!

The Purim Disco was on last Sunday at the school. We all had such a wonderful time! The kids looked fantastic and the music, activities and food were great! 

Thank you so very much to our fantastic parent volunteers and the High School volunteers who ran the event perfectly! You went above and beyond and we are so thankful for your help. 

Thank you to The Art Shop at Rose Bay for donating the prizes for the costume parade and Kool Kidzz who ran fabulous craft activities during the disco, as well as Amanda Isenberg for managing a second-hand uniform sales booth. Thanks, also, to Dan Seligsohn for DJ-ing.

We hope you all had as much fun as we did! We are including some photos from the event!

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Challah Orders Term 2

We are taking challah orders for Term 2!

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 when you collect your kids.

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

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 Capitol 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 2x $100 merchandise packs!

This works as a group booking, so individual tickets will be allocated after the 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

Entertainment Books

Emanuel School is fundraising with Entertainment!

Your support really helps our fundraising, so we’re thrilled to let you know about special bonus Early Bird Entertainment Membership Offers for loyal supporters. Pre-order the NEW 2019 | 2020 Entertainment Membership and receive bonus offers you can use right away.  Order Now:  www.entbook.com.au/200508p

Have a great weekend,

Jen and Ruby

Parent Safety Group

Thank you to our volunteers last week:

A Darker Shade of Pale