From the Principal

Andrew Watt – Principal

With only three days of school remaining, this will be last edition of Ma Nishma for the year! This has been a year that will long be remembered, as we taught under the cloud of COVID-19 restrictions. I have no doubt that many silver linings will continue to emerge, and we will look back on this as a year of growth. I am very grateful for the support of our School community – and of course, for the work of our dedicated and caring teachers. Wishing you and your family a special and rejuvenating summer break.

Farewell and thank you to Adam Blackman

At the November Board meeting, Adam Blackman stood down from the Board President’s role and David New was appointed as our next Board President. David has two sons, Joshua (Head Madrich 2019) and Coby (Year 9). Previously our Board Vice President, David has served on the Board since 2015, has chaired the Security Committee for the past five years and currently serves on the Finance and Sport Steering Committees. We wish him well as he leads the governance of our School.

Adam Blackman joined the Board in 2012, served as Treasurer for five years and was Board President from 2017 – 2020. He departs after overseeing the transition of a new Principal and securing the JCA 2021 Capital Appeal, amongst other things. Adam will remain as a valued member of our Capital Appeal Committee and will of course maintain a strong interest in the School. I am very grateful for Adam’s support, wisdom and advice over the past three years.

Ashley Rockman was appointed Board Vice President. He has served on the Board since mid-2016. Ashley currently serves on the Investment and ICT Steering Committees and is a Director of the Foundation Board. We are fortunate to have such an experienced Board leadership team.

Maintaining good relationships with our neighbours

One of the conditions of our Development Application for the Redevelopment of our Adler Building was that we are required to establish a Community Consultative Committee. This will provide a means for our concerned neighbours to communicate regularly with the School, particularly in relation to traffic issues. Sadly, I have recently received several complaints from our neighbours in relation to the congestion, particularly around Stephen and Chepstow Streets. Parents have been double parking, blocking driveways and holding up traffic, as they wait for their children. It seems that some parents are instructing their children to wait to be collected from these two streets, rather than use the Go With The Flow. Additionally, cars are remaining in the Kornmehl car park for well beyond the prescribed times, generating further build-up of traffic. Your support, in using our GWTF and car park procedures would be sincerely appreciated, as we work towards reducing the congestion.

Primary Presentation Day and High School Speech Day

Due to COVID restrictions we have had to be increasingly creative in the ways that we organised Primary Presentation Day and High School Speech Day.

On Tuesday, Primary School parents will receive links to K-2 and 3-6 websites that have been developed to mark the year that was and the students’ wonderful achievements. Please look out for an email from Tany Milner in this regard. I have promised not to give any more details away, so I haven’t. I think. The suspense is killing me.

High School Speech Day will be held onsite with the majority of students, staff and parents watching the live stream from classrooms, offices and homes. Prize winners will attend the event in person and Year 12 parents will be able to watch the event online, together, in the Theatre (with appropriate distancing requirements). They will then be able to join the Year 12s for a COVID-friendly afternoon tea. This will be the last of the Year 12 functions and we are so pleased that we have been able to celebrate their year, albeit in a way that Ms Lowe would call “Interesting”.

Join the live-streamed High School Presentation Day at 2.00 pm sharp on Wednesday 9 December. You will need to enter the password ESSD2020 to access the link.

Mazal tov

Liat Granot Year 12 (2021) received The NSW Association of Jewish Services and ex-Service men and women (NAJEX) annual student leadership award.
Arielle Melamed (Year 9) and Lara Fosbery (Year 11) have both made the UN Youth NSW Voice Competition 2020 Grand Final. They will compete at NSW Parliament House on Monday 7 December 2020. We wish them the best of luck.
Avalon Gold and Phoebe Machlin, Year 6, represented Emanuel School at the Equestrian Inter-school Championships last week. Whilst they completed their dressage tests, the jumping and cross country eventing were both cancelled due to the heat. Avalon also competed in the Shibumi Equestrian competition fun day and was awarded 1^st place in both 45cm and 65cm, jumping for the fastest time by six seconds.
Year 6 Hebrew, led by Oren Thaler, won the 2020 Linguafest Film Competition with their movie, The Black Shoes. Kol Hakavod!
The JA Thompson History Debating Grand Finals
- The Year 9 team (who were competing in the Year 10 competition) lost on a split decision and our Year 12 team fought valiantly.
- Our Year 9 team consisted of Jake N, Arielle Melamed, Daniel Solomon, Maayan Granot and Alix Cane; and
- Our Year 12 team consisted of Jesse Koslowski, Romi Lapidge, Max Kidman and Tara Linker.

Avalon Gold on Westlake Grand Affair (Griff), jumping to victory

Phoebe Machlin representing Emanuel at the Equestrian Inter-school Championships

Quote of the week

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions”
~Albert Einstein

Shabbat shalom

From the Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

A Weapon of Love

After many years of separation and estrangement, our parashah, VaYishlach, describes the twin brothers Ya’akov and Eisav coming together again:

“And Eisav ran to greet him, he embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him and they wept”.

The Hebrew word for “he kissed him”, וישקהו/va-yishakeihu has scribal dots appearing above each of the letters of this word (וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ). This is one of only ten dotted words in the Torah and has elicited two contrasting perspectives on this encounter.

One Rabbi contends that these dots emphasise that Eisav wholeheartedly kissed his brother Ya’akov. This understanding is consonant with the context of the passage in which Eisav runs to greet his brother, embraces him and both brothers weep in each other’s arms.

A second view, however, claims that these dots call our attention to the correct reading of the text, or the true intention of Eisev. Playing on the similarity of the words נשק/nashak, kiss, and נשך/Nashach, bite, this rendering asserts that Eisav tried to bite his brother Ya’akov.

Beyond the difficulty this interpretation has in explaining why they both subsequently wept, one would think that Eisav, having four hundred men at his side, certainly could have harmed his brother, by means other than biting him, if that was his intention.

While Ya’akov was in fear of the brother whose birthright and blessing he had taken from him, Eisav is presenting no cause for this apprehension. Indeed, after kissing him, Eisav asks his brother why he had sent him an abundance of gifts (which Ya’akov had done for propitiatory purposes). When Ya’akov responds “To gain my Lord’s favour”, Eisav says: “I have enough my brother, let what you have remain yours”.

There might well be another, more plausible, explanation for these scribal dots. In ancient texts scribal dots, “puncta extraordinaria”, often meant that the designated letters or word were/was incorrect or superfluous.

Elsewhere in the Torah text, we have the idiom of falling on the neck and weeping: “He (Yosef) fell on his brother Binyamin’s’s neck and wept, and Binyamin wept on his neck or “He (Yosef) fell on his (Ya’akov’s) neck, and he wept on his neck”. We also have the expression of kissing and weeping: “Ya’akov kissed Rachel and lifted his voice and wept” or “He (Yosef) kissed all his brothers and wept”.

Our text appears to conflate two different formulations by combining falling on the neck, kissing and weeping. It appears the Masoretes placed these dots above the word “he kissed him” to suggest that it be deleted and that the correct reading, in keeping with the traditional formulation would be “And Eisav ran to greet him, he embraced him and, falling on his neck, they wept”.

However, if one wishes to retain the words “And he kissed him”, perhaps we can read the dots above this word as indicating that the word nashak (kiss) brings to mind the word neshek (weapon) and that the most effective weapon against brotherly strife is the kiss of love.

Ma Koreh

Adam Carpenter – Head of Jewish Life Primary

Year 4 have spent the past few weeks thinking about the history and meaning of Hanukkah within our learning about continuity and change in Judaism. Before we began, students checked their knowledge and understanding of the festival. After reading a couple of children’s stories about Hanukkah to refresh their knowledge, students studied a couple of sections of the original text from I Maccabees. In closely reading and questioning the text, students were encouraged to challenge their thinking and understanding of the story and to evaluate the actions of the Maccabees.

Here is a sample of their thinking:

What are the themes of חנוכה Hanukkah?

Miracles can happen when you least expect them (Maia)
Never giving up, believing in yourself and miracles can happen out of nowhere (Jasper)
Religious freedom (Netali)
Freedom (Dean)

The word חנוכה Hanukkah means ‘dedication’

The Maccabees dedicated themselves and their lives for the Jewish religion (Jakob)
The Jewish people dedicated themselves to cleaning the Temple and lighting the menorah (Kayla)

What is the נס or the miracle we remember on חנוכה Hanukkah?

The Maccabees winning the war against the Greeks, even though they were out numbered (Zac)
The oil of the menorah burning for 8 days, even though there was only enough oil for one day (Chloe)

Who were the Maccabees fighting against?

They were fighting against the Greeks for the freedom to remain Jewish and practise their religion (Hana)
King Antiochus, or KingAanti-tuchus (the king without a bottom) (Mia)
The Greeks and the Jews who had changed their religion and became Hellenistic (Mahli)
Some of the Jewish people who had turned Greek (Jacob)

Students were invited to step inside the sandals of a Jewish villager from Modi’in, reflecting on the uprising started by Mattahias (I Maccabees 2 15:27) where he refused to make an offering to the Greek gods and killed Jewish villager who was about make such an offering:

Ahhh! Mattahias just killed a Jew who tried to sacrifice a pig! I’m scared he’s crazy and I’m scared he might kill me next. I understand that he is mad but that is unacceptable baviour and now he’s planning a rebellion. What if the Greeks here about this and come to our village of Modi’in to kill us. I would like to be in the rebellion, but we are a really small group and the Greeks will win because there are tons of them. (Rose)
Today I saw Mattahias kill a villager who was about to sacrifice an offering to the Greek gods. It was a bloodbath! It was horrifying! Even though a Jew decided to become Hellenistic, doesn’t mean you can kill them. People should be able to choose their own decisions. I’m not saying that the Greeks should enforce becoming Hellenistic. We should all be able to choose our own beliefs and not be forced into them. Mattahias and his sons have now started a rebellion against the Greeks and demand a war. I support this decision as the Greeks are forcing Jews to become Hellenistic. (Kayla)

Sigd at Emanuel

Alexis Joffe – Year 11

Sigd at Emanuel

Sigd is an Ethiopian Jewish holiday which is celebrated on the 29 Cheshvan, exactly fifty days after Yom Kippur. It is a day that celebrates the Ethiopian Jews’ connection to Yerushalayim and commitment to Jewish unity. Sigd also commemorates the renewal of the brit/covenant between Jews, God and the Torah and serves as a reminder for those Ethiopians, who have not been able to make Aliyah, of the importance of maintaining tradition, no matter how difficult.

Our Va’ad Chaggim, created an interactive booklet to educate our peers about this chag, which is recognised as a state holiday in Israel. The booklet included information about the history of Sigd, how it’s celebrated and information about the Ethiopian Jews living in Israel today. The booklet also included interesting videos and interactive activities for the students to complete so they could better understand what Sigd is, in an engaging way, allowing them to think about and connect their Judaism and way of life to this chag, while celebrating Ethiopian Jews and understanding their traditions.

We think it is important to share a different aspect of Judaism. Judaism is practised in many different ways by many different people and it can only enrich us and our Emanuel community to learn about Jewish traditions such as Sigd.

Primary News

Natanya Milner – Head of Primary School

As I write my last Ma Nishma article for the year, I feel so proud of all the Emanuel students, staff and community for the combined efforts of 2020. I realise that the year has included elements that have been challenging and at times disappointing but I hope that you too are able to reflect on highlights and wonderful growth that your children have made. It can be so easy to look at what we ‘usually do’ and ‘haven’t done’ but right now I am overwhelmed with gratitude for what we have achieved and how lucky we are. Thank you to each person who has contributed to the success of 2020!

Benjamin Pellow

This week, it was my great pleasure to award Ben Pellow the medal for coming first in the state in the ICAS Science competition. This is an extraordinary achievement and we are very proud of him. Mazal tov, Ben!

Year 6 Fete

Last week’s fete was a fantastic event that was organised by our wonderful Year 6 students and teachers. There were many fun activities for all year levels that were Covid-safe. Thank you to all those involved for raising a massive $2239.75! The children will choose something to buy as a gift for the school.

Presentation Day Websites

We look forward to launching our Years K-2 and Years 3-6 ‘End of Year Websites’ to you next week. These will show highlights from the various events and projects on campus. We chose this method as we have loved the opportunity to broaden out what we usually present to you and having it available in this format. We hope you enjoy looking through the many different sections and celebrating a wonderful year of learning with your children.

Year 6 Pathways

I have had to submit this article prior to the Year 6 Pathways event on Friday. I am looking so forward to it and am excited to celebrate Year 6’s completion of Primary School with a beautiful Shabbat service and graduation ceremony. I would like to thank all the Year 6 students for being such wonderful Emanuel students over the years. They have been dedicated students and excellent role models. I would also like to thank them for their work to prepare for their Pathways events.

Thanks also goes to Adam Carpenter for co-ordinating the event and to all those involved in its success – Stacey Rosenfeld, Rebecca Gaida, Kim Haddix, Eamon Lukins and Roslynn Pardy. Thank you to Ofer Levy for taking photos that we will share with you.

Other Pathways Events

We are currently reflecting on the year and looking ahead in order to consider how to conduct the ‘missing 2020 Pathways events’. We are aware that Kindy, Year 2 and Year 4 have missed these rites of passage. Next year, we will look at the rules and regulations in order to conduct these events with the philosophy of ‘better late than never’!

Enrichment Days

Next week we will enjoy enrichment days which allow students to choose activities of interest and rotate between different stations. These include everything from escape rooms to photography to cooking. We can’t wait! A huge thank you Katie Narunsky and Stacey Rosenfeld for organising these events.

Emanuel’s Got Talent

Another highlight of next week will be Emanuel’s Got Talent – an SRC initiative that showcases talented Emanuel students performing songs, dances, magic tricks, jokes and more. This year will be an online format and we always look forward to ending the term with this fun event. Thank you to the students in the SRC, Claudia Sceats and Jenny Udovich.

Year 6 Pathways Shabbat and Graduation Ceremony

On Friday morning, Year 6 students had their final Primary Pathways event, a Shabbat tefillah and their Primary School Graduation Ceremony. Due to COVID restrictions, this year was different to previous years, with attendance limited to one adult per child and the event being live-streamed to family members unable to attend on campus.

During Jewish Studies this term, students familiarised themselves with the Friday evening prayer service, learning new songs and prayers. Each student was given responsibility to master a specific prayer to lead during the prayer service and created their own commentary and response to the prayer, which was incorporated into the student created Pathways Siddur.

The Shabbat service was beautifully led by the Year 6 students. The Graduation Ceremony included speeches by Head of Primary, Mrs Milner, Head Madrichim, Orlando and Emma, and speeches by Emanuel Alum Year 6 parents, Janice Christie and Katie Narunsky. The speeches expressed gratitude to all those involved in supporting, nurturing and guiding the students to this point. They included fond memories and experiences of Primary School and words of advice and wisdom for the students as they move to the next stage of their learning journey.

Students and families received Graduation gifts that included the Year 6 Yearbook, a copy of their ‘Book in a Day’, Shabbat table items to use at home that evening and a bear to sign and decorate as a momento of their Graduation. Each family and student also received a signed copy of ‘The Happiest Man on Earth’ by Eddie Jaku. Eddie is an amazing member of our community, with deep connections to Emanuel School and is the Great Grandfather of Year 6 graduate, Joel Greenfield.

כל הכבוד to all Year 6 students on their work in preparation for Pathways.

מזל טוב to the students and their families for reaching this stage in their learning journey and in graduating Primary School.

תודה רבה to all the Emanuel School staff involved in the Pathways event.

From the Year 6 Madrichim

2020 has been a crazy year but that hasn’t stopped us. Despite having meetings on Zoom during home learning we have still been able to achieve most of our goals for this year.

In Term 1, we started planning Anti-bullying Day only to have COVID-19 put a stop to our program. We had organised a crazy day filled with inspirational quotes and messages to remind everyone about the effect of bullying. The theme we came up with was building buddies. We had a competition where students would send in a video showing how bullying is not okay. We also had a section of the day devoted to building a lego mural of one student helping another up. This activity had to be postponed and we were luckily able to make it a part of Enrichment Day.

In Term 2, NSW went into a full lockdown and the only students allowed in school were those who had parents working in essential areas. Madrichim meetings moved online and we focused on creating fun news of the fortnight videos, to inform students about what was going on in the world around them, as well as bring them a fun show.

Moving onto Term 3, the Madrichim focused on a new addition to the calendar, Book Week. Students were told to dress up as their favourite Book Week character, for a day filled with activities related to Book Week. One of which was a redesign of a book cover. Students put on their creative thinking hats and redesigned a book cover of their choice. After a long judging process, we chose winners.

The year concluded with Term 4. We can’t tell you yet what we spent our time planning, but make sure to take a look on our Years 3 – 6 End of Year website which will be launched next week!

By the Year 6 Madrichim

From the Year 6 House Captains

This year has been a very different one. It has been filled with excitement and challenges. We have gained so much from this experience.

We had a normal Term 1 and we were able to host the Primary Swimming Carnival. Term 2 came as an adjustment. We had Zoom meetings with Mr. Taylor and Ms Segal where we helped to organise a virtual Flashmob. In Term 3 we had the modified Athletics Carnival – we all went down to Queens Park and the House Captains helped run various activities. In Term 4 we continued to collect House points. Tension was building as the winning House announcement day grew closer. In the end the winning House was Cowen! (For the first time in 10 years!)

“Being House Captain was a big role that we took on and it really developed our true leadership skills. Taking on this role we each learnt new leadership lessons and how to be a good role model and place footsteps on the right path.” Gemma – Monash House Captain

“My favourite part of being a House Captain was winning the end of year award, this was one of the best feelings ever….especially seeing it was the first time Cowen won in 10 years!” Jemma – Cowen House Captain

“My favourite part about being a Cowen House Captain was when they announced that Cowen won at Presentation Day.” Shay – Cowen House Captain

“My favourite part of being House Captain was getting to run the Swimming Carnival.” Lia – Wynn House Captain

“My favourite memory from the year was when I got to swim in the Swimming Carnival.” Jack – Wynn House Captain

“My favourite part about being a House Captain in 2020 is all the carnivals. For example I loved the Swimming Carnival at the beginning of the year and making chants for younger students.” Gabe – Wynn House Captain

“I will miss organising all of the carnivals and running them. We also have the best mentor Mr Taylor, so if you’re a House Captain in 2021 you’re very lucky to have such a great role model.” Madi – Cowen House Captain

“My favourite part of being a House Captain was collecting and announcing House points, leading the carnivals and spending time with my friends.” Toni – Monash House Captain

“My favourite part of being a House Captain was being able to work with all of my friends to organise lots of fun activities and collecting the house points as well as announcing them is very fun.” Charlie – Monash House Captain

“My favourite part of being a House Captain this year was the makeshift athletics carnival and running it.” Ari – Cowen House Captain

“I have enjoyed every meeting, every activity we have planned. My favourite part was collecting House points and hosting the Swimming Carnival and Athletics Carnival.” Kira – Monash House Captain

“My favourite part of being a Wynn House Captain was hosting the Swimming Carnival.” Sasha – Wynn House Captain

By the House Captains

From the Year 6 Jewish Life Leaders

Being a Jewish Life Leader was a very rewarding experience. The festivals and the mentorship that happens within the School and the Jewish Life team is amazing.

Here are some of the highlights of the year from the students:

“I loved that we got to plan Purim and have the freedom to choose what we wanted to do.” Ariella

“I loved leading prayers and handing out house points.” Boaz

“I loved Gratitude Day where we could show all the years what we had learned in our Leadership Role.” Akeisha

“I liked doing Shabbats the best.” Louis

“I liked that we got to lead Shabbat every Friday and we got to participate in all the festivals.” Oscar

“I liked working with the other Jewish Life leaders to lead prayers.” Suzi

By the Jewish Life Leaders: Ariella Cohen, Louis Faktor, Suzi Garbuz, Akeisha Kantor, Oscar Saul and Boaz Simhi

From the Charity Leaders

This year has been very different due to the restrictions of the pandemic. In Term 1, due to social distancing, we were only able to hold one sausage sizzle. We still managed to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund to help animals that were injured in the bushfires. During Term 2, we didn’t have many fundraisers as we were mostly remote learning, but we still enjoyed being Charity Leaders.

In Term 2, we had to cancel all of our fundraisers but we still got to plan our future activities for when we get back to school. On the last day of term, which was Gratitude Day, we organised an activity – to make cards for the Montefiore Randwick. The Montefiore is an old age home down the street from Emanuel School. We went around to each primary classroom and gave the children coloured paper and pens. All of the cards were very creative and colourful.

In Term 3, we raised money for two charities. One of these was the Polished Man. Polished Man aims to raise awareness to make sure all children are safe, healthy and happy. It involves polishing your nails. The other charity fundraiser we hosted was the Friendship Circle. The Friendship Circle provides assistance and report by having a social and educational program, for families that need it.

In Term 4, we had raised money for WIZO (Women’s International Zionist Organisation) – we raised $502.70! WIZO provides daycare centres for families that need help. WIZO also supports families that don’t have enough money to help their children and families in need of supplies to help their development.

“I loved making a difference in our community.” Kayla P

“I loved raising money and awareness and knowing you have made a difference to someone who isn’t as lucky as you.” Madi N

“I love being a charity leader because I enjoy helping others.” Jemma D

By Madi Narunsky, Jemma Drutman and Kayla Parks
Charity Leaders

From the IT and Innovation Leaders

As IT and Innovation leaders this year, we have learnt many skills, such as how to use different types of technology and craft devices like box cutters and Micro:bits. One of our favourite tools that we learnt to use was the hot glue gun. You can make many different things that you cannot with normal glue. We also learnt how to be more patient with younger kids by hosting clubs such as Minecraft Club. Overall, we have learnt many skills that we can use later in life.

We helped run lunchtime clubs in Terms 1 and 3. On Tuesdays, this involved Makerspace where the students could design and create whatever they wanted using almost any of the resources in the Imaginarium. On Thursdays we held Coding Club for kindy, and on Wednesdays for Years 1 and 2. This was a club where the students could code robots or create code.

We also ran a Minecraft Club for Years 5 and 6. The students involved were given something to create, for example, a city. They were then given the entire term to complete their project. At the end of the term, the IT Leaders would review the worlds and announce the winner/s. Even though there were some guidelines, people were really creative, with a city in the sky.

During at-home learning, we helped create a Virtual Flashmob video of students dancing to a Hebrew song. The Flashmob was made up of clips of students dancing at home, with students on the screen in the form of the Brady Bunch introduction. The team then edited the videos and put them into one clip. This cheered people up during at home learning and was definitely a fun experience!

In Term 3, we had the Innovation Festival. The festival was facilitated by UNSW Ph.D. students, through the CSIRO STEM Professionals in Schools Program, in association with FLEET. As the facilitators were on Zoom, the IT and Innovation Leaders helped to demonstrate experiments for younger years. The experiments included Walking Colours, Appearing Coins and Magic Milk!

We have also been working hard on the End of Year Video for Presentation Day. This has involved taking photos and making collages. We looked back at the year and looked forward to the year to come. This year made it hard to learn and have fun during the pandemic, but we thought of an innovative way to get past these challenges and make the most of what we could do.

Our favourite part about being IT and Innovation leaders has been readjusting our goals and initiatives around the challenges of COVID-19.

During Terms 1 through 4, the IT and Innovation Leaders ran a Minecraft club for Years 5 and 6. Minecraft is an educational platform, used to test students’ creative abilities and imagination to create some extravagant virtual builds in different terrains, biomes and timelines.

This term, Years 5 and 6 students needed to build a tree house in small groups or by themselves. Inspired by the Minecraft Education Global Build Championship, students were required to include design features that would enable animals to thrive in their world. We made a rubric to decide which world would win the challenge. This included aesthetics, creative use of blocks, size, use of colour, use of narrative as a theme, creative ideas and animal adaptability.

Misha’s treehouse had a wonderful narrative behind it with great characters including an elder panda who was there since the beginning. He used some amazing design features and there was a strong connection to how animals could thrive. Dylan Vitek and Ezra Glover-Sanders created this video of Misha explaining his world here.

By the Year 6 IT and Innovation Leaders

From the Music Leaders

This year has been challenging for music leaders, music makers and teachers due to COVID-19. However, we would like to focus on the positives and the musical activities that we have been able to engage with.

Years K-2 students were able to learn and experiment with body percussion and continue to learn through varied musical listening and movement experiences.

Year 3 students started their year with the exciting opportunity of starting to learn their new IP instruments! Our new woodwind, brass, string and percussion instrumentalists have done a great job picking up new playing skills and we hope they’re loving this learning experience.

Years 4-6 students have continued to learn, improve and master their instruments despite the restrictions placed on them in Term 2 and we have really enjoyed getting back to our ensembles and IP lessons towards the end of the year.

We’d like to acknowledge and thank all of our music teachers – from the IP tutors to classroom music teachers for their resilience throughout the year and for keeping us motivated to play and make music.

Musical events

Unfortunately, we could not host many of our much-loved performance opportunities this year – Music Camp, NOIM, Night of Songs and many more. However, we are so excited that we are able to host and prepare for Presentation Day performances. We were very excited when we were told that we were allowed to sing and play our instruments again in Term 4 and we can’t wait to continue our learning and musical development next year!

We wish the up and coming Music Leaders of 2021 the best of luck and we wait with anticipation to hear and see the amazing music you create! Hopefully by the time you read this, we’ll be restriction free!

By the Year 6 Music Leaders

New Primary Sport Program 2021

Kristy Genc – Head of Sport, PDHPE Teacher & Year 12 Tutor

New Primary Sport Program 2021

In 2021 Emanuel will be launching a new Primary Sport Program which will aim to provide all students with the opportunity to participate in a variety of sporting options. The new Primary Sport Program will include the following key areas:

Primary Weekly Sport

The Primary weekly sport program includes the mandatory Years K – 2 gross motor and Years 3 – 6 Thursday inter-school sport programs.

In 2021 new optional weekly skills training programs and weekly sport competitions will also be offered. In Term 1 the programs include:

Years 1 – 2 Tennis
Years 3 – 6 Tennis
Years 3 – 4 Futsal training program
Years 3 – 6 Swimming
Years 3 – 6 Cross-country training program
Years 5 – 6 Basketball training and competition
Years K – 6 Gymnastics program

Primary Sport Representative Pathways

Emanuel provides a representative sport pathway for elite athletes and is part of All Suburbs Independent Schools Sporting Association (ASISSA) and NSW Combined Independent Schools (NSWCIS). Pathways exist for Years 3 – 6 students in Swimming, Athletics and Cross-country. For students in Years 5 – 6 opportunities also exist in a wide range of individual and team sports.

Primary EActive

The EActive program provides opportunities for students to participate in non-competitive recreational options such as Surfing, Fitness Training, Karate, Zumba and Dance. The aim of this program is to promote physical activity in a non-competitive environment through participation in recreational style activities. In Term 1 the options available include:

Kindergarten Zumba
Years 1 – 2 Dancing (Contemporary)
Years 3 – 6 Dancing (Hip hop/Jazz)
Years 3 – 6 Fitness Training
Years K – 6 Martial Arts/Karate
Years 5 – 6 Surfing

Please refer to the Parent Portal for further information. Registration for all Term 1 Sport will be available in the second week of January 2021.

Primary Extra-Curricular 2021

Emma Hill – Primary Teacher & Coordinator of Extra-Curricular Programs

Thank you for participating in our many Extra-Curricular and EActive programs this year. All classes have now ended for the year, with the exception of Years 3 – 4 EActive Tennis and Primary Improvisation and Theatre Sports.

We look forward to launching a new Primary Sports program next year.

Please visit the Parent Portal for further information on this, as well as a tentative schedule for 2021 Term 1 Extra-Curricular activities.

Please note these activities are subject to change. An email will be sent out in January 2021 advising when activities are confirmed, and bookings are open.

Year 5 Hebrew Games

Meri Heitner – Hebrew Teacher

This week Year 5 students summarised their learning by creating board games together.

The students were placed in groups and chose one of the topics they have learnt: cloths, numbers, pronouns and food.

The students revised these topics and next week they will play their games together with students from different Hebrew groups.

All students collaborated beautifully while making their Hebrew games and showcased their creativity in class.

Quotes from students:

“I think that it was really fun because we got to learn all the name of the cloths and teach other people how to do it as well… we really expanded our knowledge on that topic.” Becky Solomon
“I found that exciting because we got to learn about new clothes that we never knew in Hebrew and it’s fun teaching other people the concepts in Hebrew.” Eli Jocum
“This experience was pretty fun because we got to make board games and work as a team.” Liel Rapke

From the SRC

The SRC has successfully thought of fun creative ideas to improve our school.

Specifically, in Term 4 we have started to select videos for the upcoming Emanuel’s got talent. There was a range of talent from the Years K-6 students. Another fun initiative has been Casual Fridays. Everybody is enjoying the freedom and comfort. Something that we have been most proud of has been the dress up boxes for the Years 1-2 students in the chill zone. The creative and imaginative play that this has created has been wonderful!

The SRC have purchased capes, crowns, gloves and a variety of dress up clothing for the students in Years 1 and 2 to use creatively during recess and lunchtime. A new cupboard was bought for the chill zone area to house our new dress ups and games that we will purchase towards the end of the year.

We are very busy finishing the famous “Emanuel’s Got Talent”.

Most students are asked to submit a short video of them presenting their talents by themselves or with a group of friends. This could either be singing, dancing, comedy, magic or instruments.

All of this has been done under the COVID guidelines of the School. The students will be able to watch the presentation online.

The SRC Leaders from the different classrooms have been instrumental in making all these changes under challenging circumstances.

Although this has been a tough year, the SRC are proud of the happiness that our initiatives have brought to the students in the Primary School. We thank all the members of the SRC for their dedication through the year and all the Emanuel students for their thoughts, recommendations and ideas to help make our School the best it can be.

By the Year 6 SRC Leaders 2020

High School Sport

Kristy Genc – Head of Sport, PDHPE Teacher & Year 12 Tutor

Emanuel Football Team Trials

In 2021, we will be expanding the football program to include weekly inter-school fixtures during Term 2. This will be in addition to the CIS Football Cup and the CDSSA Football Gala Day that Emanuel takes part in each year.

In the first few weeks of Term 1, trials will be held for the following teams:

Emanuel First Boys Football Team (open to Years 8 – 12 boys)
Emanuel Girls First Football Team (open to Years 7 – 12 girls)

Following trials, a squad will be selected to participate in the CIS Football Cup, the CDSSA Football Gala Day and the new Term 2 weekly competition. Please note that those selected in the squad will be required to attend weekly training sessions during Terms 1 and 2.

If your child would like to trial, please have them submit the nomination form that was emailed to them. This form will also be available on the Parent Portal in mid January. Nominations need to be received by 27 January 2021.

High School Sport Program 2021

In 2021, Sport will be a compulsory part of schooling for those students in Year 7. Information regarding all the opportunities for Year 7 will be emailed to parents and available on the Parent Portal by the end of this term.

The High School Sport Program for Years 7 – 12 includes the following key areas:

Weekly Sport

Weekly sport options include sport skill training programs and weekly sport competitions.

In Term 1, the following options will be available:

Sydney School Cup Basketball Competition – Tuesday afternoons (Years 7 – 9 Boys)
Sydney School Cup Futsal Competition – Tuesday afternoons (Years 7 – 9 Girls)
Easts Basketball Competition – Sundays (Years 7 – 12 Boys)
St Catherine’s Basketball Competition – Wednesday afternoons (Years 7 – 8 Girls)
Easts Schools Touch Football Competition – Tuesday afternoons (Years 8 – 12)
CDSSA Firsts Basketball Competition – Wednesday afternoons (selected Years 9 – 12 boys)
Futsal Training Program – various weekly schedules (Years 7 – 12)
Elite Tennis Program – Wednesday and Friday mornings (Years 7 – 12)
Gymnastics Program – Wednesday mornings (Years 7 – 12)
Swimming Program – Friday mornings (Years 7 – 12)

EActive

The EActive program provides opportunities for students in Years 7 – 12 to participate in non-competitive recreational options. The aim of this program is to promote physical activity in a non-competitive environment through participation in recreational style activities.

In Term 1, the options available include:

Surfing – Monday mornings
Indoor rock climbing – Thursday afternoons
Boys Fitness – Wednesday mornings (Years 8 – 12)
Girls Fitness – Thursday mornings (Years 8 – 12)
Year 7 Fitness – Thursday lunchtimes

Further information and registration details for all Term 1 Sport will be available on the Parent Portal in the second week of January 2021.

Cricket Achievement

Congratulations to Jonah Trope who has been selected by AICES to attend the CIS 16 years and also the opens division cricket trials to be held early next year.

Summer Holiday Basketball Camp

Indiana Faithful – Head of Basketball

Summer Holiday Basketball Camp

The Emanuel Basketball Program will be holding a Basketball Camp for Emanuel Students during the summer holidays.

The Camp will be held from Monday 18 January 2021 – Wednesday 20 January 2021

Session 1 (9.00 am – 11.00 am) of each day will be dedicated to all Emanuel Students from Years 4 – 6. The focus of these sessions will be skill development in a game sense approach. All students are welcome to attend and no prior basketball experience is required!
Session 2 (11.30 am – 1.30 pm) of each day will be dedicated for all Emanuel Students from Years 7 – 9. The focus of these sessions again will be skill development in a game sense approach. All students are welcome to attend.
Session 3 (2.00 pm – 4.30 pm) of each day will be dedicated for the Emanuel Elite Squad (invitation only).

All of these sessions will be held at Perry Park Recreation Centre. Address: Bourke Rd & Maddox St, Alexandria NSW 2015.

For registration details and enquiries please email Indiana Faithfull – Head of Basketball.

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

End of year thoughts and thanks

2020 is certainly going to be a year to remember. It’s been a year of challenges, lots of highs and lows and lots of different ways of doing things. We have had to be creative and think outside the box. The part we have missed the most is our connections with the families and our daily interactions with parents and grandparents.

What has astounded us has been the resilience of the children and how settled and happy they have been from the time they returned to Pre-school after COVID lockdown. They have shown us how resilient and capable they are, and that they can be independent, especially with arrival time in the morning. We have learnt that, for the children, consistency, routine, love and care is what matters most in their world. If this is all in place, then they feel safe, happy and a deep sense of belonging to the spaces, and to their educators.

We have been able to go deep with our learning and the slower pace and fewer interruptions have benefitted us all. These are lessons for us all to learn. Maybe our lives are way too busy and COVID has taught us to value the simple pleasures in life.

We have watched the children grow and mature and develop some wonderful relationships with both their peers and teachers. We know that the children are ready to take on new challenges next year, whether it’s going to Year K or moving up to be a Starfish or Dolphin. We look forward to 2021 and sharing another year together.

At this time of the year it is important to thank so many people who have contributed to the Pre-school in so many different and positive ways:

To Mr Andrew Watt – thank you for your unwavering support, knowledge and expertise during this difficult year.

To Morah Martine our amazing Hebrew teacher – a big thank you for your enthusiastic, interactive and fun Hebrew classes this year, the children loved seeing you and have learnt so much from you this year. Todah Rabah and have a happy holiday.

To our two lovely Music teachers this year – Miss Liz Birrell and Mrs Sarit Spiro – thank you for your patience and for teaching us so many wonderful songs this year. The children have loved every minute of their music lessons and we feel lucky and grateful to have you both teach at Kornmehl. Sadly, we had to bid farewell to Liz at the end of Term 3, but the handover to Sarit has been seamless and easy. We look forward to 2021 and many more exciting music lessons.

To Mrs Esti Lipson – thank you for your calm and friendly manner and how you always completes any photocopy task so effortlessly and capably.

A huge thank you to Mrs Gail Mackenzie, our Registrar – for your efficient and supportive enrolment process for the Pre-school. Gail, it’s always a pleasure to work with you. I appreciate your expertise and value that we can work closely together to support the Pre-school.

I must also thank the many administration staff who we work closely with. You are all so helpful and efficient and are always able to help out with any query or question. A big thank you to Mrs Jillian McCormick, our Business Manager, who is sadly leaving us at the end of the year. I appreciate all your help and support over the many years we have worked together. I wish you well in the future.

We were lucky to have one term of buddy reading this year. We missed seeing our Year 2 buddies and we are looking forward to resuming this again in 2021. Thank you to Mrs Esra and Miss Grieves, for coming down and reading to us each week.

Many thanks to Mrs Ginnette Cameron-Gardner and Mrs Kluck from the Primary School library, for welcoming the Kornmehl children into the Library and for the interactive and lovely lessons each week.

Thank you to Tammy, Coach Al and Coach Carly from Playball for another incredible year. The children’s gross-motor and ball skills have improved so much and along the way they have had a lot of fun and learnt many other important skills such as following instructions and listening. We wish you all a happy holiday.

Many thanks to the maintenance team of Mr Andrew Delany, Mr Peter Cummins, Mr Simon Hamilton, Mr Colin Newport, Mr Mark Schulsted and Jonathan Norena for their ability to get every job done so quickly and always with a smile. We really appreciate everything you do for us at Kornmehl.

I would also like to thank the Marketing Department – Mrs Michelle Favero, Mrs Belinda Levin and Ms Kira Friedman, who have worked tirelessly the entire year with the Pre-school, supporting us through many projects. It has been a pleasure to work with such an efficient and capable team.

Our thanks must also go to the IT department, with a special mention to Mr Cameron Whiston, Mr Nathanael Clarke, Mr Mikhael El Khoury, Mr Edward Smith, Mr Ben Marshall and Mr Ivan Salavyov for constantly running up and down the hill to make sure all out IT glitches are sorted out in good time. You all do an amazing job behind the scenes and we are very grateful for your expertise and support.

We must also thank Mr Tom Hagl and his team from security – Mr Max Kozmine and Mr Archie Wilson – who make sure we are kept safe and sound every single day. Many thanks for all your hard work during the year, it is very much appreciated.

A big thank you to all our amazing Kornmehl staff, who have worked with complete commitment and dedication throughout the year, to make 2020 such an amazing year. You have all shown huge resilience and the ability to embrace challenge head on and to never stop learning. Your expertise, knowledge and experience are valued by us all and a testament to the confident, happy and engaged children in the Pre-school.

I would also like to thank Mrs Janice Eliovson, our support educator this year, who has worked closely in particular with the Dolphin group this year. I must also mention Mrs Susan Sweller – our resident and much-loved ex Kornmehl grandparent, botanist, nature lover and insect specialist who has taught us so much this year at Bush School. Susan has volunteered her time to joining us at every Bush School this year. We are truly very lucky to have her as part of our Bush School team.

We wish all our Dolphins and Starfish moving on to Year K next year much success and happiness as they embark on the next leg of their educational journey. We know you are all so ready and excited to go to “big school.” We will miss you all.

We wish all our Kornmehl families a peaceful, safe and restful holiday. The last day of Pre-school is Wednesday 9 December 2020.

We look forward to welcoming you all back on Thursday 29 January 2021.

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Alona Schwartz (5), Cian Healy (5), Archie Foster-Smaller (4) and Allegra Hockley (5). We hope you all have a special birthday.

What a Year

Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations

2020 – What a Year it has Been

Drought, fire, flood and plague have affected our lives over these past twelve months and COVID-19 has meant we could not hold face-to-face events at School with parents and grandparents as we normally do but, thanks to technology, we have been able to stay in touch and celebrate milestones with you all in other ways. Chagim could not be celebrated in the usual way, with family and friends together. We hope however, that with some of the COVID-19 restrictions being lifted recently and state borders re-opening, you will have the opportunity to celebrate Hanukkah , which starts on the 10 December 2020, with your loved ones under the one roof, even though numbers are still restricted.

Technology has played a vital role keeping us all connected in 2020, no matter where we live. For some older members of our community this has been even more of a challenge. One grandparent who knows this very well is Victor Prager, who togetherwith his wife Rita, returned to Emanuel School this year, as grandparents – not that I am suggesting they are old. Both their daughters are alumni – Nicole Friedman (Head Madricha, 1994) returned this year as a parent with her daughters Lila in Year 5 and Ruby in Year 7, whilst her younger sister Jeanine Blachere (Class of 2000) has lived in Paris for many years with her husband and three young children. Victor says “We are so happy and proud that the next generation, our grandchildren Ruby and Lila, continue to be part of the Emanuel School family. As I’m currently semi-retired I find a lot of pleasure in helping our elderly community to keep active and connected to their loved ones by accessing technology like FaceTime, WhatsApp and others in their phones, tablets or computers. I have been volunteering to teach technology to seniors for a few years now at the Centre On Aging (COA). During COVID-19 having the seniors able to communicate with their loved ones was not only a nice thing to achieve but an essential part of family communications”.

Adamama and pickles

If you were in the audience for one of our recent Gesher Online Speaker Series sessions where Gesher Chair Natalie Goldman interviewed alumnus Mitch Burnie (Class of 2011), Manager of Adamama, the first Sydney Jewish urban farm, you would have heard the story about this amazing farm located in Paddington. There are opportunities for you and your children to tour the farm and to join a working bee on a Sunday and experience for yourselves, the joy of learning about crops and compost whilst getting your hands dirty as you harvest some of these crops.

After months of growth in their fertile soils, they recently harvested cucumbers and have been pickling and bottling them at Our Big Kitchen (OBK) in Bondi. These yummy pickles are for sale, although quantities are limited, so get your order in now.

B’nai B’rith & JNF Jewish Changemakers Awards 2020

It is not long now until the winners of these prestigious awards are announced, and we thank current high school students Ezra Hersch, Chloe Miller, Ari Merten, Liat Granot, Lara Fosbery and Sarah Manoy, as well as alumni Joshua Moses, Nadia Coburn and Julia Sussman who were all nominated for these awards, for their volunteering efforts to make the world a better place. You can join us on 14 December 2020 at 8:00 pm for the Live Panel Discussion and Awards. Julia is one of the panelists at this event. Register here for this free event and you will then receive the Zoom link.

Friendship Circle (FC) needs your children

Friendship Circle Day Camp is on next month, and they are seeking teen volunteers who are Year 7 to Year 12 students. This is an amazing opportunity for your children to volunteer their time helping children and teenagers with disabilities who will attend this day camp from 18 January 2021 – 22 January 2021, based at North Shore Synagogue., Lindfield. There will be free transport available from Bondi by Telfords Bus to Lindfield and then back to Bondi at the end of each day. FC will have a COVID-19 Safety Plan in place. Find more information here.

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

On behalf of the Gesher Committee, I wish you a happy and safe summer break and look forward to sharing our School community news with you in 2021.

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

Knowing the Score – Anna Morgan

Some of you may already have read this article from the weekend Sydney papers by Anna Morgan. As someone who is always lured by any article to do with careers, choices or Year 12 decisions, this article resonated a lot for me. Morgan talks of “The fear that I had no idea what I wanted to do – and that no one was going to tell me.” This can sometimes be the scariest part of this leap out of school, the fact that now students are now making their own decisions. Just like everything in life, that can take a while to get used to, so having to make such a big one can be daunting.

I try and convey the message, often, that the ATAR points are not like frequent flyer points that have to be “used” up. Just because a high ATAR is achieved does not mean they should be “used” on a high ATAR course. They don’t disappear or become invalid. Also remember that high ATAR courses just mean that the demand for them is higher than the number of places available. It is a simple supply and demand issue.

I often tell students to try and ignore their ATAR while choosing the course, imagine you either got a 99.95 or that your ATAR allowed you entry to anything, then ask yourself the question of “what would you pick?” Should you still pick your teaching course (ATAR 75) if you get an ATAR of 95? Of course you should – if teaching is what you want to do! If you get an 74 then we need to discuss other ways of getting in but don’t let your number be the decider of your future course. It is like choosing a holiday flight based solely on the price of the plane ticket rather than on how much you want to visit that country.

Gap Year

Another interesting article I read this week was the dilemma for the Class of 2021 on whether to take a GAP year or not. Here are some thoughts on that as many considerations come in, including work experience, volunteering, short courses, industry placements and more.

National Skills Commission

This is Australian funded research into the job landscape from 2020 onwards. Download the pdf on the main page to see a summary of job outlooks per industry (as always healthcare is at the top), also by state, discussions in resilient industries and emerging jobs of the future, with statistics to back it up.

For the full report click here.

Music Matters

Diana Springford – Head of Music

Thanks so much for your support of music at Emanuel this year. Here’s some important information for Term 1 2021.

IP Classes and Extra-curricular Music Ensemble Rehearsals

These both resume in Week 3 in 2021.

Year 3 and Year 6: The first day of IP in 2021 is Tuesday 9 of February

Year 4 and Year 5: The first day of IP in 2021 is Wednesday 10 of February

Recent Music Performances

Mazal tov to the Senior Boys Vocal and Senior Girls Vocal Ensembles for their performances at High School Assembly this week for an appreciate audience of their peers. Our thanks also to Mr Burley and Ms Girle for preparing their ensembles and for conducting and accompanying. Please see below for details of how to view these performances.

Emanuel School High School Ensembles and Choirs – some snapshots from Term 4 2020

In 2020 our singing and playing has been rather curtailed by COVID restrictions including the prohibition on singing together and reducing cross stage ensembles and choirs. We have very much missed our usual opportunities to share our music making with an appreciative live audience. Nevertheless, we have managed some “in progress” recordings in Term 4 that we hope you will enjoy. Please go to the Music Performances tile in the Parent Portal.

Thank you to all our wonderful ensemble and choir conductors and mentors who have been so flexible and engaged throughout this crazy year. Thank you to Ben Marshall for so expertly and carefully supporting our assembly performances and our recordings.

The ensembles and choirs presented there are:

Senior Girls Vocal Ensemble at assembly The Cup Song
Stage 6 String Quartet in rehearsal – Mozart Symphony in G Minor Movement 1
Stage 5 Jazz Combo in rehearsal – Chameleon
Stage 4 String Ensemble in rehearsal – Palladio
Stage 4 Jazz Band – “Some Other Blues”
Copland Concert Band at assembly – The Simpsons
Year 7 Guitar Ensemble – “Hallelujah”
Year 8 Guitar Ensemble – “Funky Town”
Senior Stage Band in rehearsal – Cantaloupe Island & Things Ain’t What They Used to Be
Senior Boys Vocal Ensemble at assembly – Men of Song

The Primary School ensembles and choirs will be beautifully presented in the forthcoming Primary Presentation Website, so please keep an eye out for that.

New Ensemble for K-2 String Players!

Next year we are adding an Infants String Ensemble for students who are having lessons (private lessons or ISP) on violin, viola and cello. We are responding to parent demand and our recognition that there are now so many fabulous young ISP music makers who have loved their recent experience of playing in a large ensemble. This will rehearse on Thursday mornings, 7:30 – 8:10 am, with Ms Monique Mezzatesta, beginning in Week 3 of Term 1. Monique will give her students in ISP an indication of when they are ready to join this lovely new ensemble.

Updated Ensembles and Choirs Rehearsal Schedule for 2021 – please check new schedule

To avoid some troublesome clashes and enable the conductors we love to continue taking our ensembles around their other commitments, we have made some changes to our schedule for 2021. Please make note of the updated new ensemble rehearsal schedule

Auditions for all relevant ensembles and choirs will be held in Week 3 of Term 1 and advertised in Ma Nishma as appropriate. Auditions always involve a student playing or singing a piece of their choice, and usually involve some sight reading and/or vocal exercises, and sometimes a couple of scales for instrumentalists but the details of requirements for auditions are announced when the auditions are first advertised.

Instruments checked and ready for collection

Thank you to students for bringing in any school instruments this week for our annual stocktake and maintenance check. They have been serviced and are ready for collection from the cabinets in the Music Department. A few will need to go offsite for repairs and your tutor will have emailed you about those. If you haven’t already collected your instrument (or replacement instrument, if yours has gone for repair and you are keen to practice over term break – which we hope you will), please do so before the end of term. No students should leave their instruments here over term break.

Private Music Tuition and Infant Strings Program for 2021

Please note that from 2021, the cost of individual private music lessons will be charged at a rate of $46.00 per half-hour lesson (plus GST, if the tutor is registered to pay GST). This is the rate advised by the NSW Music Teachers Association. Lessons shared in pairs are only available in special circumstances and would cost $24.00 per student per half-hour lesson (plus GST where applicable). The Infant Strings Program (ISP) for students in Years K-2 will be charged at $262 per term on school fees, in addition to an instrument bond of $200 which is fully refundable on safe return of the instrument with all parts and accessories.

Thank you to those who have already advised us of changes to private tuition and Infant Strings Program enrolments for next year. The deadline for new enrolments, notification of changes or intention to discontinue for Term 1, 2021 has now passed. All students currently receiving private music tuition and students in Years K-1 who are currently participating in the Infant Strings Program will be automatically re-enrolled into tutor schedules for 2021 along with students commencing lessons for the first time. Parents should enrol or discontinue using one of the online forms accessed from the links below. If your child intends to discontinue, formal notification in advance must be received by the end of term to avoid being committed to the full term of lessons and liable for fees. Please contact Matilda Grieve if you have any questions about private music tuition.

The schedules for Term 1, 2021 will be created at the end of term and emailed in late January.

Links to online forms

New enrolment requests for private tuition

To discontinue private tuition

To enrol into the K-2 Infant Strings Program (ISP)

To discontinue Infant Strings Program (ISP)

Visual Arts

Eytan Messiah – Head of Visual Arts, Co-ordinator of High School Innovation Team

Our Creative Process in 2020

As 2020 winds up, I would like to take the opportunity to reflect upon and share my special regard for all our Visual Arts students and the work they have undertaken in this difficult year. Our students have always sought to use their creativity as a means to negotiate the challenging or confusing parts of their worlds and this year has been particularly challenging! I suppose then, that it shouldn’t be a surprise that the creative output from our students has been so affecting. A creative process allows us to unpack and understand our great questions, inspirations and apprehensions in new and novel ways, and the result of this process is often an object of complex beauty, thought and feeling.

I am most proud of the efforts a lot of our Primary and High School students took when in remote learning. This showed a distinct love of learning and creative resilience in the face of difficulty. It was particularly endearing to observe the ingenuity and plain grit of our HSC and younger elective students in setting up their makeshift ‘studio’ spaces at home and getting on with their important creative processes. Subsequently, they have made some truly breathtaking work and I urge you to take a look for yourself.

Some of my personal highlights are:

Year 9 Visual Arts – for their tear jerking Animations for Social Action
Year 11 Visual Arts – for their beautiful exhibition Future Artefact
HSC Visual Arts – for being a bunch of legends and making an incredible collection of HSC Bodies of Work (check out their virtual gallery too!)

I love being an Art teacher! I get to be a part of countless unique and fascinating journeys that our young people undertake every year. I love too, the comfort I can take each year in knowing that our School has helped to add some vibrant creative thinkers and makers to our broader world!

Who is Ms Korotkov?

Lauren Korotkov – HSIE Teacher, Year 9 Tutor, Year 7 Co-ordinator

Each month, we find out more about a nominated staff member.

SPOTLIGHT ON … LAUREN KOROTKOV

What is your role at Emanuel School?

I teach the Humanities within the HSIE Department. I love the diversity of these subjects. It’s a joy to go from creating cuneiform’s with my Year 7 History class to discussing the complexities of the criminal justice system with my Year 12 Legal Studies students.

How long have you been at Emanuel School?

Four years.

What do you enjoy about working here?

I love the curiosity of Emanuel students, their social-justice focus and genuine love of learning. Classes often segue into thought-provoking debates and it’s so inspiring to see the passion and knowledge of our globally-minded students.

I also have the best colleagues! I feel privileged to work in such a collaborative and dynamic faculty. The HSIE staffroom is great fun and I’m grateful to work with such incredible teachers, who support one another in cultivating rich learning experiences for our students.

What have you learnt about yourself at Emanuel?

That flexibility and creativity is key. You can plan your lesson down to the last minute, but often the best activities will be sparked spur of the moment. For example, my wonderful Year 11 Legal Studies class produced stunning legal rebuttals to the infamous Bunning’s customer who refused to wear a mask – an activity concocted mere minutes prior to the lesson as I read the news article.

What is your favourite memory?

There would be too many to choose from – but it would definitely be from one of the awesome camps or outreach programs.

Year 8 Camp was a real highlight with my amazing Rabin tutor group as they displayed such growth and resilience. Our disastrous canoe trip has been the source of much laughter.

What do you do to unwind/ what do you enjoy doing outside school hours?

I adopted a kitten right at the start of the online learning period and have admittedly become quite obsessed!

Otherwise, I do love running. Athletics was a passion of mine at school and in the last few years I’ve tried to get into distance running. I ran the SMH half-marathon last year and it was very cool to see some familiar Emanuel faces along the way. Mr Rabenda was definitely too speedy, but Mr Francis and I had a lovely albeit, slightly breathless chat around the 15km point.

What song do you know all the lyrics to?

Alas, none!

What do you wish you could tell your 12 year old self?

Keep on asking questions. Asking “why” is one of the most important things we can do.

If you could pass on any wisdom to your students, what would you share?

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. But, do ensure you learn from them.

Lauren’s beautiful kitten

Save the Turtles

Lara Fosbery – Year 11

Sophie Sawicki – Year 11

Animal Week

Last week we held an Emanuel School Animal Week, which we celebrated in a number of ways. Zac Levenson wrote a speech about endangered animals (it featured in last week’s Ma Nishma). The Sustainability Committee raised awareness for Australian endangered animals by posting daily on our Instagram account with a description of the animal and some ways in which you could help the animal, which ranged from donating to creating small habitats in your backyards. Animal Week culminated in a fundraiser, and we were able to raise $350.00 for the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, a non-profit organisation that works to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia.

We’re so grateful to everyone who donated and implore people to remember the impact their actions can have on Australian ecosystems and endangered animals. Feel free to have a look at our Instagram page for some more specific ways to help different Australian species.

Save the Turtles

A speech by Sophie Sawicki

Sea turtles have roamed the planet’s oceans for approximately 110 million years where they coexisted with various prehistoric animals and plants. Yet, due to various human impacts in the past two centuries, we have seen a dramatic decrease in all seven sea turtle species that are all now at threat of extinction. So, what have we done wrong? The answer is everything… from accidentally catching them in fishnets to the devastating impacts of global warming, us humans have found numerous ways to put sea turtles at risk, even things we do in our day to day lives could be detrimental to their vulnerable species.

One of the biggest threats to sea turtles is the impacts of bycatch or incidental catch, which refers to when the huge fishing nets designed to catch fish for human consumption graze the bottom of the seafloor recklessly catching turtles among other sea creatures that consequently die of starvation or suffocate in these reckless death traps.

Another human impact on sea turtles is the illegal harvesting of turtle eggs and the trafficking of other turtle products and while there are rules and restrictions in place now it still happens on a large scale globally. Sea turtle eggs are already extremely vulnerable with only 0.1 percent of hatchlings surviving to adulthood due to natural pressures such as predators however we are significantly decreasing these rates far beyond the natural selection pressures for selfish human purposes.

You may be thinking; so what does this have to do with me? I don’t fish with large nets and I don’t eat turtle eggs (we hope) however some of the larger impacts that we have are things you do every day that you may not realise are so harmful.

Ocean pollution is one of the biggest factors affecting the population of sea turtles globally.

And while you may think well if I don’t physically drop my rubbish on the ground, how is a sea turtle going to eat it and die? Well you are wrong! All the plastic you have ever used is still on earth today most likely roaming the oceans or in an unsuspecting turtles’ belly who thought they ate a jellyfish and will now starve to death due to the plastic bag in its stomach being indigestible and fatal. Or even the turtle with a plastic straw wedged up its nose unable to breathe. And we can’t forget the microplastics.

Unfortunately, this is not the extent of our impact – global warming is the biggest issue that sea turtles face as their coral reef habitats are bleached and 98 percent of their offspring are female due to the gender of their offspring being determined by sand temperature – global warming increasing sand temperature means that there is a huge imbalance in gender making mating difficult as they return to their birthplace for breeding where they will all be female.

Lucky for us there are ways that together we can help save the sea turtles or at the very least help decrease our impact on this vulnerable species.

Reusing the plastic bag that came with your groceries or even better bringing your own reusable bags when shopping and asking your parents if they can do the same.
Bringing your own metal straws when you know you will need one or just not using a straw at all.
Participating in coastal clean-ups or just simply picking up the rubbish you see on the street or at the beach
Investing in a reusable water bottle rather than claiming you reuse your plastic one when we all know their lifespan is maximum five weeks.
You can also help raise awareness about their vulnerability to parents’ friends and other family members and make donations to organisations such as WWF along with others that help to raise awareness and protect marine ecosystems

Thank you for listening and I hope this information encourages all of you to think about your impact on these vulnerable and crucial species.

United Nations Youth NSW Voice 2020

Craig Moss – Co-ordinator of Gifted & Talented 7 – 12

Emanuel students qualify for the Grand Final

Congratulations to Arielle Melamed (Year 9) and Lara Fosbery (Year 12) who have both qualified for the UN Youth NSW Voice Competition 2020 Grand Final. They will compete at NSW Parliament House on Monday 7 December 2020.

Voice is a unique public speaking competition that invites New South Wales high school students to solve real issues that affect our community, our country and our world. Whether it be homelessness, climate change, civil conflict or planned obsolescence. Arielle and Lara had to think outside the box and put their design thinking skills to the test.

Competing individually, they both performed extremely well in their divisions, progressing through a preliminary round and a semi-final in order to qualify to compete in this final. Arielle and Lara first had to produce a speech that outlines a solution to a given world problem contained in a topic they selected, and then respond to two unseen questions posed by a judging panel that related to their speech. It will be a similar format in the Grand Final but with new topics to choose from.

Below is the list of topics from the preliminary round and semi-final and the topics for the Grand Final:

Preliminary round and semi-final topics

Grand Final topics

How can Australian cities adapt to be more sustainable?
How can the international community ensure the disarmament of nuclear nations?
What can Australia do to reduce unemployment?
How can the Australian public health system provide better care?
How can Australia improve the welfare of animals in industry?
How can we ensure that the rights of refugees are guaranteed?

How can Australia best support its agricultural industry?
How can the international community reduce the number of global armed conflicts?
How can Australia balance freedom of speech with protection from defamation?
How can we ensure that all Australians have access to an adequate level of privacy online?
How can we prevent domestic and family violence in Australia?
What can we do to decrease the disproportionate level of indigenous incarceration in Australia?

Well done again to Arielle and Lara and good luck in the final on Monday.

Kol Szenes

Farewell Term 4!

We have now entered the final full week of the year, and what a year it has been.

We are ready for the summer break! Hopefully 2021 will bring good health and happiness to all.

Tutors

Thank you to our amazing Tutors for the support provided to their Tutor Groups during this unusual COVID year. We appreciate all that they have done for the students in their care.

Thank you also to our wonderful Support Tutor, Mrs Michelle Lyons Zwarenstein. and the Szenes wellbeing team for 2020:

Ms Denise Goldmann (Year 7)
Mr Niall Gilhooly (Year 8)
Mrs Lisa Starkey (Year 9)
Ms Cara Norman (Year 10)
Mr Christian Bell (Year 11)
Mrs Kristy Genc (Year 12)
Ms Tina Greenhill (Head of Szenes House)

House Assembly in Tutor Group

Last week, Szenes Tutor Groups participated in an activity revolving around Animal Week. Students were asked to choose an animal that best embodies their personality. They then completed a series of tasks including grouping with other students/animals and considering what connects them. At one point, they had to remove an animal from their group (symbolising extinction). Following this, they discussed the positive impact that the animal could have had if they did not become ‘extinct’. The main aim of the activity was to explore the importance of protecting animals from extinction. However, the activity also helped students explore the differences in the personalities and characteristics of humankind and how this variation ultimately improves humanity. The students seemed to really enjoy the activity and their ability to further their relationships with the Year 12 leaders.

This week students participated in a stage held Inter-HouseTrivia Competition. A fun time was had by students, Tutors and Student Leaders.

By Jessica Lowy – House Madricha

Lexi Bader Cup Week 8 Update

Last week on Thursday, the Year 9s and 10s played some intense games of futsal against each other fighting for their spot in the finals in the Lexi Bader Cup. The Year 9 team played a great game and showed great determination. They worked hard on the court and were able to leave the day with a win. The Year 10 team played a very close and tough game. They worked hard and continued to push through demonstrating great persistence. At the very last second of the game, as the buzzer went off Remy Waller kicked the ball and it slid straight into the goal resulting in a 2-1 score giving Szenes the win. The cheering from all the students filled the MPH and we cannot be prouder of our amazing Szenes teams who continued to show perseverance throughout the entire tournament. The teamwork shown from each team was unbelievable and we can’t wait to watch our incredible teams bring home some more wins in the finals!

By Alexis Joffe – House Madricha

Inter-House Debating

Over the past few weeks, Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 Szenes have participated in the Inter-House Debating competition. Our Year 7 and 8 team (Jaime Keyser, Jessica Linker, Ashley Cohn, Eitan Hamilton) were victorious against Rashi, with the topic being ‘That victims of crime should be allowed to choose a punishment for the person who offended against them’. Unfortunately, our Year 9 and 10 team was unable to debate, but we congratulate them on their effort. The finals take place next term and we wish our Szenes team luck!

By Chloe Miller – Year 11

Movember

At lunchtime on the basketball court last Friday, the Wellbeing Va’ad hosted the Movember Fete as an opportunity to raise funds for men’s mental health awareness as well as prostate and testicular cancer. Everyone was excited and getting super involved in the various activities and stalls, with the ‘Make Mr Bell Laugh’ stall being a favourite. By the end of lunch, Emanuel students managed to raise around $400.00 from the fete alone. This contributed to our Emanuel School Movember donation page, which raised over $4000.00 over the course of the month. Special mention goes to Jared Robinson in Year 12 for raising over $1000.00 on his own by doing a hardcore workout every day and even hosting some dancing livestreams on Instagram.

A huge thank you to everyone who made an effort for this special cause!

By Arin Miller – Year 11

Emanuel School Writers’ Awards

The Emanuel Writer’s Awards were created to appreciate the writers in our school community and the effort they put into their writing. In each Year Group, the English teachers nominate students from their class and those students are then shortlisted. The students then submit two writing pieces to their teachers, and the winners are announced. This year ten Szenesians were nominated and three won awards! The nominees and winners are listed below.

Writer of the Year

Jessica Linker (Year 7)
Eden Glass (Year 10)

Most Dedicated Writer

Jessica Lowy (Year 11)

Nominees

Ashley Cohn (Year 7)
Jamie Keyser (Year 7)
Ruby Miller (Year 9)
Jesse Keyser (Year 10)
Liat Granot (Year 11)
Chloe Miller (Year 11)
Jonathan Sebban (Year 12)

Well done to all students.

By Ashley Cohn – Year 7

Mazal Tov

The NSW Association of Jewish Service & Ex-Service Men & Women (NAJEX) announced the winner of Emanuel School’s Year 11 Youth Leadership Award at yesterday’s High School meeting. Congratulations to Szenesian Liat Granot.
The winner is based on personal qualities such as integrity, loyalty, courage, innovation and teamwork, which in the view of NAJEX, the service men and women embodied.

The successful History Debating teams were comprised of many Szenesian’s including Year 11 students Maximillian Kidman, Jesse Koslowski, Romy Lapidge and Tara Linker; Year 9 students Jake Newfield and Daniel Solomon.

Announcements

Lockers: Week 9 locker clean out/take your lock and belongings home with you
High School Speech Day: 1.45 pm MPH on Wednesday 9 December 2020. Wear full formal uniform
Be in your Period 0 activity or class by 8.20 am
Hats: to be worn whilst outside in the sun
Summer uniform: is worn in Term 1
If you are not wearing the correct uniform, please ask your parent to email: uniform@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au
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.

Birthdays

Happy Birthday our Szenesians who have recently celebrated their birthday or will celebrate over the summer break.

Quotation of the Week

“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.”
Dalai Lama

Enjoy your weekend and the summer break.

Stay safe and well.

Szenes House

Speech Day Details

Scholarships 2022

Community Notices

Parents & Friends

Ruby Berkovic & Jen Opit

Hi Everyone,

Just like that we are at the end of the school year and rapidly approaching the end of 2020!

Parents & Friends Meetings

Our final Parents & Friends Meeting of the year was on Tuesday, and we would like to thank everyone who attended. The Parents & Friends is a great and easy way to get involved in the School and everyone is welcome. We hope you will all get involved in some capacity next year and that we will be able to return to some semblance of “normalcy.”

Entertainment Books

There are plenty of great deals in the Entertainment Book. You can order one here.

Weekend Brain Teaser and Answer from Last Week

Question: The number 8,549,176,320 is a unique number. What is so special about it?

Answer: The digits are arranged in alphabetical order.

Have a great weekend,

Jen & Ruby

Recipe of the Week

Each week we’ll bring you a tasty recipe passed down by Emanuel families, from the Emanuel School Community Cookbook, The Family Meal.

From the kitchen of Mia, Poppy and Alice Berkovic

G’s Best Ever Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients

4 tbsp sugar
8 tbsp water
250g dark chocolate (cooking chocolate is fine)
3 egg yolks
375ml cream

Directions

Mix sugar and water in saucepan, bring to boil and cook rapidly for 3 minutes.
Let cool.
Place broken up chocolate and slightly cooled syrup into the blender. Cover and blend at high speed for 6 seconds or until the chocolate mixture is smooth.
Add egg yolks and blend at high speed for 5 seconds or until well blended.
Whisk cream in a bowl until thick.
Fold in chocolate mixture.
Spoon mixture into a round airtight container and freeze.

The icecream can be turned onto a serving plate well in advance and returned to the freezer. Remove from freezer 20 minutes before serving so it can soften slightly.

Decorate with flake, grated chocolate or chopped nuts.

Serves 8

You can order the Emanuel School Community Cookbook, The Family Meal by contacting rubykb@gmail.com

Ma Nishma

From the Principal

Farewell and thank you to Adam Blackman

Maintaining good relationships with our neighbours

Primary Presentation Day and High School Speech Day

Mazal tov

Quote of the week

From the Head of Jewish Life

A Weapon of Love

Ma Koreh

What are the themes of חנוכה Hanukkah?

The word חנוכה Hanukkah means ‘dedication’

What is the נס or the miracle we remember on חנוכה Hanukkah?

Who were the Maccabees fighting against?

Sigd at Emanuel

Sigd at Emanuel

Primary News

Benjamin Pellow

Year 6 Fete

Presentation Day Websites

Year 6 Pathways

Other Pathways Events

Enrichment Days

Emanuel’s Got Talent

Year 6 Pathways Shabbat and Graduation Ceremony

Year 6 Pathways Shabbat and Graduation Ceremony

From the Year 6 Madrichim

From the Year 6 House Captains

From the Year 6 Jewish Life Leaders

From the Charity Leaders

From the IT and Innovation Leaders

From the Music Leaders

Musical events

New Primary Sport Program 2021

New Primary Sport Program 2021

Primary Weekly Sport

Primary Sport Representative Pathways

Primary EActive

Primary Extra-Curricular 2021

Year 5 Hebrew Games

From the SRC

High School Sport

Emanuel Football Team Trials

High School Sport Program 2021

Weekly Sport

EActive

Cricket Achievement

Summer Holiday Basketball Camp

Summer Holiday Basketball Camp

Kornmehl

End of year thoughts and thanks

Happy Birthday

What a Year

2020 – What a Year it has Been

Adamama and pickles

B’nai B’rith & JNF Jewish Changemakers Awards 2020

Friendship Circle (FC) needs your children

Careers

Knowing the Score – Anna Morgan

Gap Year

National Skills Commission

Music Matters

Thanks so much for your support of music at Emanuel this year. Here’s some important information for Term 1 2021. IP Classes and Extra-curricular Music Ensemble Rehearsals

Recent Music Performances

Emanuel School High School Ensembles and Choirs – some snapshots from Term 4 2020

New Ensemble for K-2 String Players!

Updated Ensembles and Choirs Rehearsal Schedule for 2021 – please check new schedule

Instruments checked and ready for collection

Private Music Tuition and Infant Strings Program for 2021

Visual Arts

Our Creative Process in 2020

Who is Ms Korotkov?

Each month, we find out more about a nominated staff member.

SPOTLIGHT ON … LAUREN KOROTKOV

Save the Turtles

Animal Week

Save the Turtles

A speech by Sophie Sawicki

United Nations Youth NSW Voice 2020

Emanuel students qualify for the Grand Final

Thanks so much for your support of music at Emanuel this year. Here’s some important information for Term 1 2021.

IP Classes and Extra-curricular Music Ensemble Rehearsals