From the Principal

Andrew Watt – Principal

Welcome back

On Monday, we will be warmly welcoming back students from Kindergarten, Years 1 and 2 (half the cohort each day) and Year 12.  By the end of the following week, each Year group will have enjoyed some time at school, with approximately 55 – 60% of students attending each day, as we ease back towards full attendance. Siblings of students attending school on their assigned day(s) can join the children of essential services workers in our MPH, by registering in advance. We are very much looking forward to a return to normal school services. In the meantime, we can protect each other by following our prescribed protocols for drop off, collection, maintaining physical distancing (where practicable) and not sending your child to school if they have  any signs or symptoms. For our part, we will maintain a rigorous, daily (and during the day) cleaning regime, take temperatures as students and staff arrive at the School, and establish hand washing and hand sanitising routines.

Reflecting on the silver linings of home isolation

The COVID-19 pandemic followed fast on the heels of a nightmare bushfire season and we suddenly found our movements restricted, as we entered home isolation. Whilst we have faced significant financial and health problems, it has not been all ‘gloom and doom’. As we gradually emerge from our homes and back to school, there is much to be learned from our common experience. I have shared my reflections on the positive aspects of a sustained period of time at home below:

1. Having more time on our hands can help us to slow down and ‘smell the roses’ – providing a break from our often-frenetic pace of life. Sleep-ins, reading and relaxing all reduce the pace of our life and do wonders for our stress levels;
2. Engaging with our families at a more intimate level becomes possible, as we live closely together during both day and night. Families have been creative in organising board games, jigsaws, exercise or sport in the back garden and cooking. Doing things together, sharing the spaces and experiences, can result in special moments together;
3. Pets have thrived, enjoying the round-the-clock attention, as families fuss over them at home and/or incorporate them into their exercise regime;
4. New entertainments have emerged, with home videos going viral.  Tik-Tok and virtual fitness regimes have been especially popular;
5. Long-abandoned hobbies, such as playing a musical instrument, arts and crafts or completing home improvement projects, have come to the fore and our homes and gardens have never looked better;
6. Cost savings have been significant, as we have eaten out less, travelled less and shopped less. These savings have become very important for those families who are experiencing the financial stress of underemployment or unemployment; and
7. For some, friendships and relationships with extended family have been valued more highly and pursued on a more frequent level, as we have slowed down and reflected on what is important to us. For some, staying in touch virtually has been more convenient and time effective.

Go with the flow (GWFT) procedures 

Go With The Flow (GWTF) procedures will not change with the return of students in Week 4. We would however like to remind you of a few important aspects of GWTF that will ensure the smooth and successful running of this part of the school day:

• All Primary students will be collected using the GWTF system unless they are taking the bus.
  • Parents are asked to remain off-campus for the first phase of our return. 
• Parents can collect their children by walking to school and being at GWTF in person or by driving to GWTF.
  • If walking: please remain at the designated area by the Avoca Street gate.
  • If driving: Please remain in your car while waiting in the queue on Avoca Street.
• When you enter the Parental Pick Up Zone staff members will be waiting to call out your child’s name/family name via radio to the supervising staff inside the gate where your child will be waiting.
  • So that the staff know who you are collecting please help by:
    • Displaying your school issued GWTF card, showing your family name/child’s name on your windscreen (cards were issued by the School to those families if you have used this system in the past). 
    • If you have not been issued a GWTF card, please create your own by writing your child/ren’s full names in large, bold letters on a piece of paper.
  • Again, please remain in your car during this time to ensure everyone’s safety and a consistent flow of traffic and people.
• Once your child has been called he/she will make their way to your vehicle and will be assisted by the staff as needed.
  • Children will be encouraged to quickly and safely get into your vehicle and put their seatbelts on.
  • Please be mindful that you may need to move down in the queue while your child makes his/her way to your vehicle so that we can keep the flow going.
• Once your child is safely in your vehicle please depart the queue as to not disrupt the flow.
• We have increased the number of staff involved to support the students using GWTF at the end of each school day during Weeks 4 – 6.

COVID-19

A reminder to parents that if anyone in the family tests positive to COVID-19 (coronavirus), all members of the family should stay home until cleared. Parents are also asked to keep their children at home if they have any symptoms. Students presenting at school with any symptoms of illness will be sent home as a precaution at this stage.

Festival of Shavu’ot

Shavu’ot will be celebrated on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 May this year. The day before Shavu’ot, we would usually take time out of class to celebrate together as one community. This year, as our students are not all together, we look forward to celebrating and learning about the Festival in our Jewish Studies and Hebrew classes (onsite or via Zoom sessions).  

Given that students are coming to school for a limited amount of time, we would prefer not to change the schedule for the day. In keeping with our policy of ending school activities an hour before Shabbat or a festival, school will close at 2.50 pm on Thursday 28 May.

Mother’s Day video

Instead of our usual Mother’s Day breakfast, together with the Parents and Friends we collected photos from parents celebrating the day with their children. Thank you to Kira Friedman from our Marketing and Communications Department who crafted a gorgeous video from them.  To view click here.

Mazal tov

Year 10 students, Benjamin Cohen, Jesse Herdan, Joshua Moses and Jarah Weinstein, are taking part in the Push-up Challenge to raise money for Headspace, an organisation which focuses on mental health and wellbeing of young Australians. The boys have committed to each completing 3,046 push-ups for the 3,046 lives lost in Australia in 2018 due to mental health issues. If you would like to support their fundraising efforts, visit their donations page. I look forward to hearing of their progress.

Quote of the week

“Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.”

Malala Yousafzai

From the Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

Being

As we begin this week’s parashah, BeHar, we find that the root word שבת/Shabbat occurs ten times in the first ten verses. Ironically, “Shabbat” is, perhaps, the most widely known and yet most mistranslated, word in Judaism.

Shabbat, as indicated when first mentioned in the Bible, does not mean rest:

“And God finished on the seventh day the work that He had done
And he ceased (VaYishbot/וישבות) on the seventh day from all the work that He had done
And God blessed the seventh day, and set it apart (from the workdays of the week)
For on it He ceased (Shavat/שבת) from the work of creation that He had done.”

Shabbat means cessation (of work).

Both the Sabbatical year (shemittah), occurring every seventh year, and the Jubilee (yovel), at the conclusion of seven consecutive sabbatical years, are called Shabbat Shabbaton, for they mark the cessation of working the land for an entire year.

Maimonides notes that “cessation from work” (shevitah/שביתה) on the seventh day is a positive commandment (as the Torah states: “On the seventh day you shall cease”, tishbot/תשבות) as well as a negative commandment (for the Torah states: “And the seventh day…you shall not do any work”).

Significantly, both of these biblical proof texts, upon which Maimonides argues that Shabbat constitutes cessation of work, speak to what this shevitah is intended to promote – “in order that” you and your household “may rest” (yanuach/ינוח).

While cessation from work separates Shabbat from the other weekdays, it is rest (meunchah/מנוחה) that brings us into a realm of being beyond doing. Our Jewish tradition teaches that only on Shabbat can we cultivate a breadth and depth of life beyond that of a work day. The Rabbis termed this enhanced experience and dimension of life “neshamah yeteirah” – The enhanced life breath.

Remarkably, Yom Kippur, like the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, is also called Shabbat Shabbaton. On an increasingly greater scale, from once a year to every seventh year to the culminating period of fort-nine years we seek to ensoul anew ourselves and the world in which we live. But, this would not be possible were we not called upon every seventh day, every Shabbat, to effect a changed way of being. Thus, we find that Shabbat itself, at times, is called Shabbat Shabbaton.

Shabbat is described by the Rabbis as a “foretaste of the world to come”. As we say in Birkat HaMazon, on Shabbat: “May we be afforded a day that is fully a cessation (shabbat/שבת) of limited living and an experiencing of holistic rest (menuchah/מנוחה) within the dimension of eternal life”.

God said to Israel: “If you receive and observe the Torah you shall be greatly rewarded”.
“What is the reward”? they asked. “It is the world to come God responded”.
Israel said: “Provide us a foretaste of this world to come”.
God replied, “This is Shabbat.”
Otiot d’Rabbi Akiva

Primary

Katie Brody – Director of Studies K – 6

Parent /teacher phone calls in place of Parent Teacher Night (PTN)

A huge thank you to all of our class teachers who are in the process of calling all parents to provide them with feedback about their child’s progress. More than ever, parents have an equal chance to discuss their child’s approach to learning and together the teachers and parents can set goals for the coming weeks and months.

Keeping the glass half full whilst in lockdown

Owing to the challenges of home learning during lockdown, feelings of stress, panic, anxiety and fatigue can hover like a dark cloud above the heads of our teachers, our students and our parents. When this dark cloud won’t easily dissipate, these feelings can become more acute and can cloud the judgement of everything, even those aspects of our lives that wouldn’t normally affect us very significantly. How do we maintain a positive mindset and seek support and understanding from others without spreading our negative thoughts like an additional contagion? 

According to Sigal Barsade from Characterlab.org: “While emotions spread more easily in person, they also get transmitted through social media, phone calls, emails, and video chats. In fact, negative emotions related to isolation may make us even more susceptible.”

The Primary School leadership team continues to focus on supporting our colleagues, students and parents through the challenges of home learning. As we ride the waves, we encourage our school community to try, as my long time mentor has always said: “to keep our eyes on the horizon, not on the choppy waters”. It is with this pursuit of positivity, that we need to flatten any possible curve of negativity. I would like to suggest we focus on something new, The Four e-Manuel L’s of Lockdown. 

A focus on these e-Manuel L’s aims to lift our gaze from the stressful and restrictive aspects of home learning, to the profoundly wonderful. I imagine that this list would be appreciated by the positive psychology movement who would, I am sure, have us writing a collective gratitude journal. 

Please note that my intent here is not to encourage any of us to forget or ignore the seriousness of COVID-19, nor minimise the experience of our families who are really doing it tough right now. Like everyone across the world, the tragedy of illness, the loss of life, the profound downturn in the world and local economy and the acute emotional, physical and social suffering of so many, is most certainly front of mind. I am simply hoping to add a perspective to the mix that brings a smile to the faces of those who need it, or provides a perspective to those who can’t (yet) see the positives in the home learning context. In addition, “People who regularly practice gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for, experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems.” (Derrick Carpenter from Happify Daily)

The Four e-Manuel L’s of lockdown

Laughter and joy

Boy, have we all laughed so hard whilst in lockdown! Our teachers, school leaders and parents have shared some hilarious memes, YouTube clips and cartoons throughout the weeks. The clever people who created these have made light of some simple challenges in the situation we are facing. The play on words, the satire, the amended lyrics to well-known songs and the cartoons that make us reflect on the strangest things we are doing, all entertain and help us to laugh at ourselves. In addition, there are many joyful videos on YouTube with talented choirs singing about healing the world and the great ways in which this crisis is actually changing life as we know it (for the better). Our teaching staff have also made a myriad of videos to both educate and entertain our students. I am sure you’d agree that many of these clips would make phenomenal movie audition tapes or applications to NIDA. Many of our teachers, leaders, students and parents have real technical genius and are extraordinarily creative, intelligent, witty and humorous. Our very own Principal and Heads of School have shared their experiences through a series of videos that show their warmth, their strength and best of all, their ability to be humorous whilst also supporting our whole school community. 

Lessons

As the Director of Studies, I have full access to every teacher’s digital lessons on our learning platform, which has been a significant privilege. I click and scroll through the elaborate, visually stunning, highly innovative learning experiences that our teachers have created and I beam with pride. These lessons are clearly appreciated by our parents, many of whom have emailed their child’s teacher affirming messages of awe and appreciation. Addressing the syllabus aims in creative ways, our teachers have truly manifested their ability to think outside the box, apply concepts to the students’ real lives more than ever, and encourage students to synthesise knowledge in new ways. Students have been displaying their understanding in a range of modes and even our youngest have learned to photograph, record, airdrop, screenshot and upload competently. Given that only a few months ago, many of our teachers had never used this digital platform, we are witness to their growing confidence, level of skill and recognition of the place that technology has in the classroom. James Nottingham (Learning Pit) would be so proud of the self efficacy that pervades our teacher’s hearts and minds, now that they have stepped themselves through the most swift and difficult professional learning of their careers. Our parents too, many of whom were schooled in vastly more traditional ways, have learnt that using technology in the classroom is not about subject-specific ‘gaming’, nor does it act as a simple substitute. Quite the contrary, parents can see the power of deliberate online teaching pedagogy and how it can be enabled through purposeful use of technology. We are truly redefining teaching for understanding and skill development and that is so positive.

Learning approaches

Many of our younger students began their approach to learning online with a lot of excitement, yet they did not necessarily have all the skills in the beginning that they certainly do now. Which child would not want to be handed their school iPad or MacBook to use at home with the proviso that they needed to use it all day? Lessons began and it was not long before we were all gripped with the enormity of the support that parents would have to provide at home during the school day. Teachers began working around the clock to maintain the steady stream of instructional videos, step-by-step directions with visual cues, learning tasks and project work and of course marking and feedback aiming to encourage student growth. The collective effort of parents and teachers has been profound. Now, a number of weeks later, thanks to the encouragement, organisation and commitment of our parents working alongside teachers more than ever before, the children have become tenacious, determined, and more independent than any of us thought they could be at such a young age. Students are logging into Zoom lessons like it is a magic portal that leads to the friendly and eager face of their teacher and they competently navigate this whole new world of online etiquette, sitting in their virtual classroom with a Hogwarts digital background and their new puppy on their lap. Students are asking and answering questions, listening to stories, watching their teacher demonstrate and they are then making their own excellent videos to show the depth of their understanding. Students are contributing to the learning with the click of an unmute button and typing away on a shared Google doc, whilst discussing knowledge and developing skills with their peers in virtual breakout rooms. Is this not remarkable!? 

Love

In my 21 years as an educator, never has the profile of teachers been so prominent, so protected and so positive. Emanuel parents have always valued our educators and they have enjoyed hearing about the learning in class from their child. Now that we are home together in a virtual sense, parents can watch or listen as though they are right there in the classroom. It has been like Open Day every day and it has been our pleasure to invite parents ‘in’. The emails filled with thanks that have been sent to and from parents and students as well as the positive feedback provided during zoom lessons, keeps everyone feeling uplifted. Teachers have enjoyed the ‘PTN’ phone calls to parents, the casual chats between colleagues and the whole class zoom ‘catch up’ sessions. On their website, Edutopia posted a beautiful video for Teacher Appreciation Week in the US that exemplifies the love and care that teachers continue to show the students as well as their heartache at not being able to see ‘their kids’ until the lockdown is lifted. On social media, #teachersrock has created an outpouring of love and appreciation for teachers across the world. My hope is that some of our students will be so inspired that they will choose teaching as the profession of choice for their future.

It won’t be long before our first groups of students walk back through our school gates to enjoy at least one or more days per fortnight learning on campus again. No doubt parents will breathe a collective sigh of relief as children leave their car to walk into school. On the other side of the gates, teachers and friends will be welcoming our young people with warm smiles and open arms (from a distance). Our on-campus days will be spent reconnecting, discussing our experiences and having time to learn together without needing to press ‘unmute’. We will walk into classrooms instead of clicking on a link and best of all, we will see the faces of our teachers and friends without seeing our own face on a screen. Whilst we all can’t wait until schooling is back to normal, we can still rejoice in the positives of this home learning experience and consider the skills and dispositions that we can continue to use once we are back in the classroom.

People may accuse me of looking at this period of home learning through rose coloured glasses, but it is just my way of deciding to take a perspective that keeps my own head above water during such a challenging time in all of our lives.

Schooling from home and navigating family relationships

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, one of Australia’s highest profile psychologists and specialist in adolescents and mental health, will be hosting a free webinar on the topic of ‘Schooling from home and navigating family relationships’.  

The webinar is on Wednesday 20 May from 6.30 pm – 7.30 pm (including Q&A) and is for parents, carers, students, teachers and professionals working with young people and will cover the following:

• Strategies to support learning from home
• Maintaining balanced and healthy family relationships
• Addressing challenges and strategies for dealing with uncertainty

Places are limited and filling up quickly so if you are interested, please register here.

Further information can also be found here.

Primary extra-curricular online classes

Primary extra-curricular online classes

We are excited to announce a range of online extra-curricular classes available to Emanuel students during Term 2. A few of these classes are eligible for the NSW Creative Kids $100 rebate, which will be refunded to you after you enrol.

Extra-curricular classes held on campus at Emanuel School are currently on hold. An email will be sent to parents once bookings are open for future on campus extra-curricular activities.

Please view the following brochures for more information:

Click here for more information: Bricks 4 Kidz

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Lag B’Omer

We celebrated Lag B’Omer on Tuesday with a pretend bonfire on the oval. We re-enacted the story of Rabbi Akiva and his students studying Torah around the bonfire, pretending to hunt with their bow and arrows when the Roman soldiers came to look for them. We sang a few songs, and all enjoyed delicious baked potatoes with salt and butter.

Be You mental health program

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing information from the Be You mental health program that the Pre-school is involved with. We joined Be You in 2019, a national initiative for educators, aimed at promoting and protecting positive mental health in children and young people. Their vision is for an education system in which every learning community is positive, inclusive and resilient, and where every child, young person, staff member and family can achieve their best possible mental health.

Be You empowers educators by supporting them to develop their mental health skills and knowledge, while also providing guidance on how to implement a whole learning community approach. It offers a range of online, evidence-based tools and resources aimed at improving the skills and knowledge of educators to foster and support mental health and wellbeing in children and young people.

At the heart of Be You is a content framework that provides a structure for both Professional Learning, and the actions schools can take to implement a whole learning community approach to mental health and wellbeing.

There are five domains in the framework, with each domain containing two or three modules. These modules delve deeper into the domain topics, helping educators to increase their understanding of mental health and wellbeing and enact meaningful change in the ways they support and nurture children and young people.

The educators at Kornmehl have been working through these learning modules as part of their professional development.  Some of the modules are done together as a whole staff team and others are done individually. At the end of modules, we come together as a staff team to reflect and discuss what we learned and how we can use the information to inform our practice, understanding and interactions with the children and families in the Pre-school and with each other. Be You helps foster a positive, supportive and inclusive environment where all educators have appropriate mental health literacy and feel empowered to work towards better mental health.

We are aware that during these unprecedented and uncertain times there is lots of anxiety and stress on families, children and educators. Early learning services have some unique challenges as they deal with the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. To begin with, educators can’t practise social distancing when working with young children. Young children may also seek out educators for additional comfort during this time. They may ask questions about the outbreak or want to share what they understand about the changes happening around them. 

What affects young children is how the adults around them feel and respond. We know that it is important to look after ourselves, so that we are in a better position to look after the children in our care.

We are confident in knowing that our Pre-school already has so many strengths that will help us get through the outbreak e.g. strong health and safety policies, including hygiene practices.

As we work through the challenges, it’s important to be kind, compassionate and patient with each other – skills that we already practise every day as educators. 

We also know that to manage our stress levels, we need to maintain our routines, know our limits, debrief with trusted colleagues, family or friends, and find ways to stay engaged and connected during the outbreak. 

We recognise that many of us here in the community are feeling scared, worried and overwhelmed about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Just as we have come together during other difficult times, we need to do the same now and make time to look after our wellbeing and the wellbeing of everyone in our community.

Supporting children

Maintain regular routines and rituals where possible

Children may experience more disruptions than usual during the outbreak. Routines and rituals are important to maintain at this time, as the little things (such as singing the same funny song when washing hands or reading a favourite story at rest time) can create an emotional connection and relieve anxiety.

We need to think about how changes to the set-up of their physical environment may affect children, including those taking a break from the service. Give children as much notice as possible about changes to routines and environments and have realistic expectations of them during this time.

Help regulate emotions

We need to keep building strong relationships with children as much as possible during this time, as the complex relationship-based work we do is incredibly important. We are well-placed as educators to help children navigate and explore their emotions and help them self-regulate.  

Use play

We need to keep being interested and supportive of children’s play – it helps them to feel connected, valued and accepted.  Having fun together during play time enables children to experience pleasure and joy. Play also helps children to express and work through their feelings, even before they have the words to say how they feel.

Look for changes in behaviour 

Children who may be feeling overwhelmed by stress or anxiety could be tired, withdrawn, irritable, fearful, unmotivated, moody, lose their appetite, need more comfort, have trouble concentrating and feel physically unwell. We are here to support the children through these different behaviours and emotions. We have a strong focus on collaborative partnerships with families to support the children’s mental health.

Stay connected

If families are keeping children at home, we encourage you to think about ways you can stay connected to the Pre-school. This will assist for a smoother transition back. We invite families to continue sharing news, information and photos of their child with us on Educa. We also invite families to link into our online program. Sit with your child to watch the daily story being read to them by one of our educators. Have a go at making some of the wonderful activities suggested in the program. You might like to tune into one of Morah Martine’s Hebrew lessons. All of these materials will help your child to stay connected to the Pre-school until they return to a normal routine.

Over the next few weeks we will be sharing more Be You information with families to support them during this difficult time.  Please feel free to chat to educators about any difficulties you might be experiencing at home and how we can work together to best support your child.

Below are some links that will give you access into the Be You website and Facebook pages that offer great links to information and resources for families and educators.

• Be You here
• Be You Families here 

Here is a resource from The World Health Organisation on helping children cope with stress during the COVID-19 outbreak.  

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Max Freund (5) and Elisa Lavecky (4).  We hope you all have a wonderful birthday celebration.

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CheerChangers campaign

Daphna Levin-Kahn – Head of Jewish Life High School

CheerChangers: How can I change your (frame of) mind?

All our weekly Year 9 Be The Change excursions have been cancelled, we are all stuck at home, so how do we get hands-on experience of making the (local) world a better place from our own screens?

Here are the results of Breakout Brainstorming and CheerChange making that have been put into play by the students zooming around in our online Be The Change class:

For Be the Change we have thought of activities to brighten people’s day during online learning. We are hosting a Zoom call where we are making chocolate mud cake with our year. We will be hosting this Zoom call to reconnect with our Year as we haven’t been in contact with everyone in so long! From this Zoom call we hope to bring the Year together and closer as we all try to make the chocolate mud cake. We found a very simple recipe and we hope that everyone enjoys baking and eating together.
By Lotus Van Der Starre, Scott Reuveny, Zac Urbach and Zoe Nebenzahl

During this tough time, we have decided to create a fun activity that will bring happiness, laughter and joy to people’s day. Through the process of making this activity we have learned new things and have created this awesome activity with all our ideas. Our plan is to have a ‘Guess the Celebrity Zoom’ where students are given a random celebrity and have to dress up as that person. During the Zoom call everyone will have to guess what celebrity people are dressed up as. We hope that many people sign up and enjoy the event.
By Ethan Zines, Mariah Lewy, Clio Stockley and Jake Sharp

We believe that in this very uncertain time it is important to stay fit and healthy. As many of you know it is hard for the elderly to stay fit and healthy, since they have to stay home and are unable to see their loved ones. We have decided to create a website that showcases yoga dedicated to the elderly. We have showcased a variety of different types of yoga, starting at beginners and then progressing to a higher level. Our group has decided to do this so that the elderly can be active and have something to look forward too. We hope that by doing this it will benefit a large amount of people. Here is the link to the website that has been created called Get Your Yoga On In Quarantine in case you’d like to give it a go!
By Alexis Demos, Ruby Grynberg, Sara Hakim and Lucy Menczel

Our group decided to make a video compilation with many funny and heartwarming moments to watch. We decided to make this compilation because we wanted to cheer up people during this current pandemic as many people are going through really hard times, so we wanted to see them laugh and smile. We hope that everyone is getting through this crazy time and gets a smile whilst watching our funny video compilation here.
By Jamie Schneider, Ella Engler, Mischa Spielman and Isaac Gorelik

We have had an opportunity to find a way to make our lockdown situation more enjoyable. We decided to create a baking activity to be carried out during the Monday Tutor period for Year 9 Tutor Groups. We were really excited about this idea, as it is a great way for students to connect while they are having fun and enjoying food! We are excited about this activity because this allows us to make a positive change in someone’s day, while it also brings us happiness to see our friends.
By Ruby Miller, Ava Rose, Jade Hirst and Sol Biton

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

HSC & Beyond         

This month the HSC & Beyond Virtual Expo here is being held online for all Years 10, 11 and 12 students. Book in for the Wednesday 27 May 2020 – Sunday 31 May 2020 session or  Wednesday 24 June 2020 – Sunday 28 June 2020 session. Students will be able to:

• Access faculty-specific information
• Ask live questions or book a video chat with student advisors
• Attend a live stream lecture – early admission information, scholarship applications and other relevant topics

Over 80 exhibitors will be at this event, from all tertiary providers, Defences, TAFE, Private Colleges and the major Universities. Usually I make it a mandatory event for all Year 12 students to attend, so this year, please try and virtually “attend”.

Parents who want to keep up to date with UAC and all of their dates can find this parent UAC information site very helpful.  Even though I always encourage that this should be “owned” by the student (and not the parent), this is the one year, where maybe some parental checking may help out!  Find out more here 

Sydney University seminars

Monday 18 May 2020

• 5.30 pm:  HSC study tips:  Modern History here 

Tuesday 19 May 2020

• 4.45 pm:  All things Sydney here         
• 5.30 pm:  Student Stories here                                             

Thursday 21 May 2020

• 4.00 pm:  Study abroad and exchange here                     
• 4.45 pm:  Onshore international students here          
• 5.30 pm:  Meet a vet student: Live Q&A here     
                   

Here are some interesting ways that careers advice and Artificial Intelligence are amalgamating.  Please see below for Artificial Intelligence experiences as a jet pilot, an archaeologist and a surgeon.

Jet Pilot click here 

Archaeologist click here 

Surgeon click here 

Please join the Emanuel Careers Facebook page to keep in touch with the latest careers news.

Primary Gifted and Talented news

Colleen Elkins – Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator K – 6

Mathematics challenge 

Even though we are distanced from our students, we have still been able to participate in external challenges to extend them.

Years 3 – 6 Mathematics students are currently working on the Mathematics Challenge for Young Australians, in groups of up to three peers, collaborating to solve a series of ‘out of the box’ problems. Students are to rely on only their two matched peers for input. The ‘peer only input’ part seems to be the most enthusing aspect for students, with them embracing the challenge to organise and facilitate their own groups. 

Some parent comments:

“I just wanted to share that Tal was buzzing with excitement throughout and after your class today. He is so happy to be working with Mia and Jessica and have this opportunity to collaborate and have fun discussions with them”.  

“Tal, Mia and Jessica are having the cutest zoom brainstorm session right now (5.00 pm). It is totally adorable hearing the three of them collaborating and working so well together”.  

“I can tell that Mia is really enjoying the team project that she’s been working on with Tal and Jess. It’s such a great idea! It is just very sweet so see them interacting intensively and having a lot of fun as well!”

Enjoy video here of our students, guiding themselves and solving some of these questions. 

Our students are also continuing to take part in The Mathematics Olympiad Competitions, once a month, in Years  4 – 6 and faring exceptionally well in these national contests.

Many students are partaking in the Dorothea MacKellar Poetry Competition and attending mentoring meetings on Tuesdays at lunchtimes to share inspirational ideas. 

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award COVID-19 Update

Ray Francis – Head of PDHPE

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award COVID-19 update

Please click here for an update to Duke of Edinburgh’s Award during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has also been placed on the Parent Portal.    

While it is important to read the full document, here are a few temporary changes for the period 1 May 2020 – 31 December 2020.  

• Voluntary Service Section – Volunteering at home. Participants can now volunteer for family members as part of their Award activities.
• Award Leaders can waive the requirement for a Bronze Practice Journey OR where a Practice has been previously completed, it can be counted as the Bronze Qualifying Journey.
• Recognising the Silver Practice Journey as the Bronze qualifier.
• Implementation of the Virtual Bronze Exploration (VBE).
• Adventurous Journeys may be organised in a familiar environment.
• Parents should still not be ‘Assessors’. There are some changes regarding who can be an assessor.

Pets@Emanuel

The Emanuel School Community Facebook page has been filled with happy students, staff and their pets. The Pets@Emanuel project gave us all a glimpse into the lives of Emanuel’s learning buddies of the furry and scaly kind. 

If you missed this opportunity to showcase your children (human and animal), now’s the time to join one or all of our social media pages. 

Emanuel School Community: what’s happening in the classroom, on the playground and beyond

Emanuel Shuk: think of it as an Emanuel Gumtree and noticeboard

The Uniform Shuk: pre-loved uniforms for sale at great prices

Emanuel Alumni: keeping in touch with our past students

Emanuel School Careers: up-to-date careers news and advice for Years 11 and 12 students and parents

See you online soon.

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Kim Slender and Baci

Kim Slender and Juno

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Majsay with Winnie and Georgia

Melissa Geer

Rani and Benji

Sonia 2

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Idan Aruch

Gabi W

Esra kids

Drishti and Loki

Dobrins and Axel

Chester Bishop

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Butt 2

Butt 1

berkovic 3 with Neo

berkovic 2 with Neo and Luna

Belinda Gold

Barney

Ashleigh Gold and Honey

Ally, Nalu and Jack

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Year 12 D&T

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Tany and Chewy

Rashi

Jonathan Schach – Year 12

Well done everyone

Well done on everyone’s outstanding determination throughout these tough times. In life, we will face hindrances and challenges but the way in which we choose to overcome them defines our tenacity and our resilience. As Joubert Botha once said: “Sometimes we are tested. Not to show our weaknesses, but to discover our strengths”. For many of us, this has been one of the greatest tests we have ever had to face as individuals from both an academic standpoint, but also a social perspective. Without a doubt, I can convincingly say that the majority of you all have really excelled in achieving the best possible results in both aspects of your life.

After surveying some of the older Years in Rashi, I have come up with a few skills and strategies that we can all use for the remaining weeks of online learning:

• Go to bed early.
• Be ready to start the day on time and ensure you are organised for the day ahead.
• Try your best to stick to the timetable and to get the set work completed.
• Go outside at lunchtime and get some fresh air.
• Go for a run after school (perhaps to see the sunset).

Remember, if you are ever struggling with online learning at all, your Tutor is always available to help you overcome any issues. Whether you need help with organisational skills, have a question about the online system or even want to check in and have a discussion about a random topic just send them an email and go from there.

I hope that for the next two weeks everyone maintains their incredible ability to stay diligent, focused, resourceful and of course, HEALTHY.

Once again, well done!

Kol Szenes

Miriam Itzkowitz, Year 12

Welcome to Week 3

Welcome to Week 3 everyone! Starting next week, we will slowly be transitioning back into Emanuel and winding off E-manuel. 

Everyone, both staff and students, will have a temperature check on entry to Emanuel School and good hygiene practices will be mandatory.

This is the schedule for High School, transitioning back to school:

• Year 12 returns full time starting Monday Week 4
• Year 11 returns every Friday starting Week 4 and every Tuesday starting Week 5
• Year 10 returns every Thursday starting Week 5
• Year 9 returns every Friday starting Week 4
• Year 8 returns every Wednesday starting Week 5
• Year 7 returns every Wednesday starting Week 5

Announcements

• Formal uniform is to be worn in Term 2, including blazer and tie.
  
• Shavu’ot – commences in Week 5 on Thursday night, so school will close that Thursday at 2.50 pm and remain closed for Friday.
  
• COVID-19 current information from the Department of Health. Please maintain social distancing and hand good hygiene.
• Are you e-smart? Find out here to stay safe online.
  
• Take a short brain break between your classes. The brain breaks are located in Reshet High School Cafe under the Wellbeing icon. To view click here 
  
• Follow @szeneshouse on Instagram for some wellbeing and study tips, memes and just general Szenesian spirit.
  
• Also follow your madrichim on @es.madstagram for some updates, challenges, wellbeing and overall fun times.
  
• Shabbat will be on Zoom this afternoon at 4.00 pm. Please join in with your friends and family!

Quote of the week

“An effort made for the happiness of others lifts above ourselves.”
Lydia M. Child

Shabbat Shalom and have a fantastic weekend!

Szenes House

From the Canteen

We have launched our new take-home meals option from the canteen. We want to provide you with some of our popular items to enjoy at home. Our menu changes weekly, so remember to check flexischools.com.au for updates. 

We will be providing the take-home meals on the following days:

• Monday (order by previous Friday 4.00 pm)
• Wednesday (order by previous Monday 4.00 pm) 
• Friday (order by previous Wednesday 4.00 pm) 

Pickup will be from the Waxman gate between 2.20 pm – 2.50 pm. For students of essential service workers and staff, we will be running a daily canteen with a limited menu. Should you need to contact us, please feel free to email canteen@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au.

Midford uniform store update

The Midford uniform store is now open in Avoca Street 

Midford has opened its doors at its premises at Shop 3, 155 Avoca Street, Randwick. The site is larger, air conditioned and close to our campus, with parking available at the nearby Royal Randwick Shopping Centre. 

The shop’s new trading hours are: 

• Monday:    8.00 am – 11.00 am 
• Tuesday:   1.00 pm –   5.00 pm
• Thursday:  1.00 pm –   5.00 pm

Considering the current social distancing requirements, you may wish to:

• order online at www.midford.com.au (password: ES1983)
• email emanuel@midford.com.au 

You can also call ahead to make an appointment for Winter uniform fittings on 9326 5445.

For security and hygiene purposes, the uniform shop is now cashless, so please be prepared when planning your shopping trip.

Parents and Friends

Ruby Berkovic and Jen Opi

Parents and Friends meetings

Mother’s Day

Entertainment Books

Community Connections – Gesher

Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations

Mother’s Day 2020     

We hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day last Sunday. As the weeks go by, rulings on social isolation are being relaxed and this means many of us can now look forward to special times with family members we haven’t seen in person for quite some time. There are, however, some members of our community who must still stay socially isolated, but hopefully not for too much longer.

2020 Head On Photo Festival – ends on 17 May 2020

Have you had a chance yet to check out the 2020 Head On Photo Festival, founded by Emanuel parent Moshe Rosenzveig OAM? If not, you still have a few days to do so. The winning entry of the Head On Landscape Award was Whimsical Warrior by Marcia Macmillan, a special needs teacher from Mullengudgery Merino Stud east of Nyngan, Central NSW. It may look familiar to you, as Marcia was interviewed on television news during the week – surprisingly her winning entry, a photo of her 9 year old daughter running through their paddocks during a dust storm in January, was taken on her mobile phone, not on an expensive or fancy camera. To go to the website and to have a look at some of the many wonderful photographic works on display click here.  

Emanuel alumnus Sean Torban (Class of 2018) and Talking Holocaust

Sean Torban

Talking Holocaust was created by Sean because the number of Holocaust survivors still alive gets lower and lower every day, and hundreds of stories are forgotten or never have a chance to be told. By not sharing stories and knowledge of the Holocaust we are allowing this tragic chapter of our history to be forgotten. With the recent rise of anti-semitism and racist attacks going on all over the world, it is more important now than ever.

Sean asks these questions:

• How to have the conversation and how to know when to have the conversation about the Holocaust?
• How do you tell your child that over six million of their not so distant ancestors were killed because of their religion and beliefs?
• When is the right age to do so?
• Today, with all the infinite access to knowledge the internet brings to us, how do you tell right from wrong?

He is seeking stories to share and hopes some members of our community would like to take part in his next virtual event at the end of May. If you have a Holocaust story to share, please get in touch with Sean. You can send your submission to: seantorban@hotmail.com. If it is a big video file, he recommends using We Transfer here.

LIMMUZ OZ + NZ (Festival of Jewish ideas), 6 June 2020 – 14 June 2020

This year’s line-up is a totally online experience, dedicated to bringing the audience the best in Jewish learning over two weekends. You can see each presenter and book tickets here 

Wolper Hospital online

Wolper Hospital in Woollahra runs amazing rehabilitation programs including their MoveWell program which promotes a healthy and active lifestyle for all members of the community, but of course with Coronavirus, these sessions have had to be cancelled. However, Exercise Physiologists, Darsh and Jessica, are back with another exercise program to help you stay active whilst at home. All you need is a chair against a wall, a couple of bottles of water, a couple of shopping bags and a towel. Click here for the video.

These exercises are suitable for all their MoveWell participants including people attending Aqua classes, MoveStrong, MoveSteady, BackInMotion and MoveBig classes.

If you have any questions about the exercises or any suggestions, feel free to contact the team on 8324 2296 or email: movewell@wolper.com.au

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

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and have a great weekend.