From the Principal

Andrew Watt – Principal

Our vision for enhancing student wellbeing

Research over recent decades consistently points to the impact of student wellbeing on academic outcomes, attendance rates, levels of risk taking and mental health. Conversely, academic outcomes impact student wellbeing. Strong wellbeing programs can significantly improve our student outcomes. Professor Donna Cross (University of Western Australia) defines wellbeing as comprising of the positive sense of self-worth, a strong sense of belonging and the ability to practise skills that will enhance student learning and health, in a safe and supportive school environment.

Our wellbeing program, containing both formal and informal elements, has been shaped to suit the strengths and needs of our students. It extends well beyond our student management policies and practices and our student support services. In the broadest sense, it has a focus on prevention and proactively supporting our students to maintain positive wellbeing, rather than simply dealing with student issues as they arise.

Research informs us that if we can improve our student’s pro-social skills; if we can enhance their emotional regulation, this will lead significant changes in their learning outcomes. Wellbeing is addressed not only through content (our curriculum and programs) but also through the climate we establish (the ways we interact with and support families, the extent to which we engage with partnerships in the community and the policies we have in place). Perhaps most importantly, wellbeing requires an authentic student voice, to allow our young people to engage fully. We have maintained a whole-school approach to wellbeing, seeking to educate, build skills, promote positive values and mindset and support both our students and parents throughout their school journey.

The AIS NSW has recently completed a literature review that seeks to identify what best-practice wellbeing looks like. The six key elements that emerged will serve as a useful measure for us to aspire to:

Adopt a whole-school approach to wellbeing.
Focus only on interventions with evidence of effectiveness.
Establish a dedicated leadership team to drive implementation.
Prepare the School and staff early.
Provide meaningful engagement with families.
Create meaningful opportunities for student voice and engagement.

Our K-12 wellbeing team will review these findings, to identify what we can do to strengthen our approach to wellbeing. We are currently exploring strategies to promote student voice and agency. For example, a series of student forums on respect and consent are planned, to provide an opportunity for staff to listen to what our students see as the current School culture, key issues and solutions. These forums will be launched next week.

A special ANZAC commemoration assembly

Christian Bell and his team of Year 10 Elective History students led a well-planned and respectful wreath-laying service on Tuesday. The service, commemorating the 106^th anniversary of the ANZAC landing on Gallipoli, honoured the people who have served and continue to serve in our armed forces. War was not glorified, but rather acts of courage, sacrifice and service to our country were acknowledged with sadness and appreciation. In a moving address, Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins spoke about what ANZAC Day means to him – Lessons of ANZAC

A busy week

Congratulations to all Years 3-6 students who participated in the cross country carnival this week. Whilst the carnival was rained out last term, the sunshine and clear skies provided perfect conditions for our runners. Thank you to Stuart Taylor, Laura Scahill and Sharon Fairfax and the Sports Department for organising the event and for providing the students with an opportunity to compete in beautiful Queens Park.

On Thursday afternoon, Year 8 students shared their knowledge on various aspects of Israeli society and culture at the annual Israel Expo. The Kornmehl Pre-school children and Primary students enjoyed visiting the interactive booths and learning about Israel. Thank you to Daphna Levin-Kahn, Rebeca Goldberg, Rebecca Gaida and the Year 8 teachers for a very enjoyable and informative afternoon.

Share your career highs and lows

We are on the look out for Alumni who left Emanuel School between 2000 and 2018 to take part in a student careers morning in May. If you fit the bill and are willing to share your career path with our senior students, please contact Claire Pech – cpech@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au or Sonia Newell – snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Mazal tov

It was a fantastic day for our students at the CDSSA Football Championships on Wednesday. Emanuel had teams playing in all four of the divisions and won two of them:

15 Years girls team defeated Pittwater in the grand final 1-0
16 Years boys defeated Moriah College in the grand final in a penalty shoot-out
Our opens boys and girls teams also played really well, and progressed to the semi-finals.

Quote of the week

“Just living isn’t enough,” said the butterfly, “one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.”
By Hans Christian Anderson, Danish author

From the Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

In God’s name

In this week’s Parashah, Emor, we find the following remarkable directive:

ולא תחללו את שם קדשי/ve-lo techalelu et shem kadshi
You shall not profane My holy name

…ונקדשתי/ve-nikdashti…
That I may be sanctified

One would think that not engaging in a negative action (profaning the holy name) does not in itself constitute a positive action (sanctifying the holy name).

How might we understand the connection between these two clauses, joined by the conjunctive “ve” (usually meaning “and”, here translated as “that”)?

We are reminded of the Physician’s Prayer in which the would-be healer strives to do no harm, or of the Teacher’s Prayer in which she/he asks to be mindful not to be destructive of her/his students, in desiring to educate and enlighten them.

Perhaps this text, then, is a reminder that in our zealousness to sanctify we do not, instead, profane.

In response to terrorism and killing perpetrated in the name of God and religion, many co-religionists of these perpetrators cry out in protest “Not in my name”, echoing the words of God Himself: “You shall not profane My holy name”. What is destructive of humanity cannot bespeak divinity.

Significantly, the Jewish concept of “Kiddush Ha-Shem”- “Sanctification of God’s Name”, connotes the sacrificing of oneself in the name of the highest ideals and values, rather than a calling to destroy another to realise the same.

Similarly, “Chillul Ha-Shem”- “Profanation of God’s Name” is diminishing the divinity in our world by failing to recognise our shared humanity.

The sanctification and the profanation of God’s name, our tradition tells us, is dependent upon whether we are a people of zealous holiness or holy zealousness.

In the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, “Only that which is good for all men is good for every man. No one is truly inspired for his own sake. He who is blessed, is a blessing for others”.

Ma Koreh

Adam Carpenter – Head of Jewish Life Primary

Paradigm shifting – from slavery to freedom

On Monday evening, the Primary Staff attended a Leader in Me professional learning and development session, with a focus on the concept of paradigms.

According to Steven Covey, paradigms are the way we ‘see’ the world or circumstances, not in terms of our visual sense of sight, but in terms of perceiving, understanding, and interpreting. They create the lens through which we each see the world. Our particular paradigm at any given moment shapes what we do and how we act.

I took the idea of paradigms to my Year 4 Jewish Studies class to explore with them how this concept might relate to our current learning. We have been tracing the journey of the Israelites after leaving Egypt, journeying through the midbar (wilderness) on the way to Mount Sinai. Through reading of passages in the book of Exodus, we learnt of various episodes of the Israelites complaining to Moshe and God about the lack of food and water. In one case (Exodus 16:1-3) the Israelites even wished they had died back in slavery in Egypt, rather than face their current challenges as free people! A statement we found surprising and sought to understand, through the concept of paradigms.

The class shared some amazing ideas and insights, noting how the harsh conditions of wilderness may have led to a negative mindset amongst the Israelites. We discussed the lack of gratitude shown by the people, and that if they had adopted a positive, grateful mindset, the Israelites may have dealt with the challenges of the wilderness proactively, rather than complaining to Moshe. Then the connection was made to the idea of paradigms. Whilst the Israelites were now physically free from Egypt, they were still living in the paradigm of slavery. We realised the Israelites would only truly be free once they shifted their paradigm to that of a free people.

Primary News

Meg Carroll – Deputy Head of Primary

Cross Country Carnival

On Wednesday 28 April 2021, the Years 3-6 students participated in their cross country races. The carnival took place at Queens Park.

Congratulations to all of the students who participated and cheered one another on. Thank you also to Stuart Taylor, Laura Scahill and Sharon Fairfax for organising the event.

Paws b Mindfulness program (Year 2)

The Paws b Mindfulness program began running in Year 2 this week. Paws b is an awareness-raising exercise to give all students a taste of mindfulness so that they know about it and can use it throughout their lives if they choose to do so.

PAWS b covers the following concepts:

Specific areas of the brain and how these affect our ability to focus, make good choices, recognise when we need to steady ourselves when our body or mind is busy or out of balance.
Ways that mindfulness can support them in many day-to-day activities, including concentration and memory, behavioural self- management, and in relationships with family and friends.
Ways to respond rather than react – and therefore make better choices and take best care of ourselves.

Kim Slender and I will be facilitating this program to the Year 2 students this term. Thank you to Kim for helping with this program.

Measurable Results Assessment (MRA)

As a Leader in Me school we are constantly seeking improvements in three areas – leadership, culture, and academics – and have access to the Measurable Results Assessment (MRA) to help us measure performance in these areas. You will receive an email soon inviting you to participate in a survey involving K-6 parents. Details about the survey and how the data will be used will be available to you. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Year 6 student and parent Interrelate session

On Wednesday 26 May 2021, 6.00 pm – 8.15 pm, Year 6 students and parents will participate in an online session hosted by Interrelate. Interrelate is a specialist organisation with over 90 years of experience in teaching sexuality and relationship education in NSW schools. This year’s sessions will focus on ‘Where did I come from?’ and ‘Preparing for puberty’. This online event is compulsory as it covers content in the curriculum. Therefore, it is essential all Year 6 students attend with at least one parent.

More information will be sent to Year 6 families directly. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s Year 6 teacher.

Parent Information sessions – Term 2

We are always looking for opportunities to engage parents to deepen their connection to the school and build their thinking in the parenting realm.

This term we are offering parents the opportunity to be part of an information session involving Dr Kristy Goodwin who will speak on the topic of raising children online. This event will be held online on Tuesday 8 June, 7.30pm – 9.00 pm. Please click here to read more about the presenter and topic as well as to register to attend and submit any questions you might have beforehand.

We are also recommending that parents look into attending a webinar hosted by the eSafety commissioner about parental control. This webinar will look at how parents and carers can set up devices and apps to help keep young people safer online. The target audience is parents and carers of children ages 4-13 and multiple dates are available.

The webinar will cover:

The benefits and limitations of parental controls
How to set up iOS and Android devices for safety
How to set up popular games and apps like YouTube and Roblox for safety
Using family tech agreements and other parenting strategies to manage online risks
How eSafety can help when things go wrong

It will include practical tips, demonstrations and advice for parents and carers to help keep young people safer online. To register click here. The first available session is on Tuesday 4 May 2021.

We will continue to advertise upcoming sessions in Ma Nishma so please watch for future events. We look forward to having you be part of these important sessions.

Reconciliation Week

Reconciliation Week takes place from Thursday 27 May 2021 – Thursday 3 June 2021. This year’s themes include More Than a Word: Reconciliation Takes Action and Under One Sky: Yesterday, Today and Forever. The Primary School children will participate in a range of classroom activities and we look forward to celebrating at School on Friday 28 May 2021.

Students are encouraged to come to school on the 28 May 2021 in yellow, as a part of our celebrations. We will be participating in ‘Wear It Yellow’ day – an initiative from ‘Children’s Ground’ – an organisation that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Please send your children in with a gold coin to support Children’s Ground. Please diarise this date.

Erika Ktalav

Erika Ktalav will be on leave from Wednesday 5 May to Tuesday 11 May. Her classes will largely be taught by Oren Thaler, who is a well-known and respected Emanuel teacher who recently resigned as he is returning to Israel mid-year.

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmel

This term we are delighted to resume a number of events that have been dormant since the onset of COVID-19, way back in March 2020. Connecting with our Emanuel School Community is a privilege that we appreciate very much and do not take for granted. This opportunity to collaborate and share skills provides many benefits for both parties.

This week we engaged in the following activities:

Buddy Reading

Our Year Two buddies from Year One Yerushalayim and Mrs Esra, joined us on Wednesday afternoon to read stories together and to share their reading skills with us. Next week Year Two Tzfat and Miss Cox will join us as well. It was heartwarming to welcome back many ex-Kornmehl students into the Pre-school. They were equally excited to come back and show us how well they can now read.

It was lovely to witness the start of some beautiful relationships and friendships that will continue to develop throughout the remainder of the year. This is a lovely program encouraging both a love of literature and a strong sense of belonging within the School community.

We asked the children what they enjoy about this activity:

Year 2 comments:

Alessandra: I’m excited to see the Kornmehl children as I haven’t seen any in a long time.
Leeshie: I’m excited because I love to read to people and to do stuff with people.
Jack: I’m excited because my sister is in Kornmehl and she says that all the Kornmehl kids are nice.
Isaac: I’m looking forward to seeing my cousin, to seeing Kornmehl and what else has happened down there.
Jake: I love reading and finding out what’s happening next and watching how the story goes.

Kornmehl comments:

Arlo: I liked it when the children made up the words to the story. It was funny.
Zac: I love people reading to me. I liked to know what the words say.
Leah: I liked the books the buddies read to us.
Penny: You can choose some buddies to be your friend and to read to you.
Elisa: Sometimes our brothers or sisters get to come down and it is very special to see them.

Year 8 Israel Expo

A big thank you to Daphna Levin-Kahn and all the Year 8 students for inviting us to their wonderful, engaging and interactive Israel Expo.

The Starfish and Dolphins were excited to connect with the school children and to be able to see some of the places in Israel, some of which we had been discussing in our own explorations of Israel. The students engaged the Kornmehl kids beautifully, explaining their projects and allowing them to interact with the materials. This was a wonderful exhibition, that included different aspects of Israel from science and technology, to food, sports, music, politics, history, economics, archaeology and more. Some of the children got to play games, practise their soccer skills and dance to Israeli music. The Year 8 students were welcoming and shared their knowledge and skills about Israel openly and patiently with their young audience. We certainly learnt a lot. Kol Hakavod to you all and thank you for allowing us to visit.

Assembly visit

On Friday afternoon, we went to our first K-2 assembly for a long time. It was lovely to be invited back and to join the K-2s. The Starfish and Dolphins are learning what it is like to go up to the BIG school and to participate in an assembly. This is in preparation for going to school next year. They have to learn how to sit still, how to listen to the instructions from the teachers and how to behave in this formal setting. It’s a great opportunity to once again connect with our Emanuel School community.

Lag B’Omer

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

Family Day

As a staff team, we reflected deeply last term and have decided to change the name of our annual Mother’s Day Breakfast to Family Day Breakfast. This will allow all families to be included and to be able to participate in this special event.

We look forward to sharing this time with all our Kornmehl Families on Monday 10 May 2021 from 8.00 am – 9.15 am in the Pre-school.

We have been focussing on inclusion, acceptance, tolerance, diversity and love.

We asked the children a few open-ended questions to gain an idea of their understanding and knowledge of what a family is:

What is a family?

Aviv: It’s love. You have to hug and kiss together.
Ava: Mishpachah …that’s Hebrew.
Daisy: It’s about love and care and we have to make sure we don’t shout at our mummies and daddies.
Cooper: It means we love everybody.
Cleo: They love you.
Noa: They love you a lot and ask you to do things. Families are special …something special. Family that you have is nice to you and they think of you all the time.
Rafi: They love me so much and never go away from me, only when in my room and I am angry.
Ziggy: Aviv, Daddy and Aba.
Uriel: When we have birthdays, I like my family. I love my family because we have a big home.
Archie: People that are adults that love you. I love my family.

Are all families the same? What makes them the same or different?

Etta: Some have light skin and dark skin.
Ava: Some families don’t have the same amount of people. There is Rose, Noam, Harry, daddy, mummy and me…that is six.
Levy: I’ve got five in my family.
Maya: They are different because some are white and some have black skin.
Cooper: Some have different houses.
Etta: They have different bricks for their houses and they live in different countries. My cousins live in New York.
Arabella: Daddy’s family live in Tonga.
Levy: My cousins live in a different place. They live in Perth.

What do families do?

Etta: They sometimes go out with you.
Levy: Washing basket. My mum always tells my brother and sister to do the washing basket.
Maya: They do special jobs. They like to do different things. They have different kinds of laundry.
Ava: Daddy goes to work. He is a throat and ear doctor.

Care Packs

Our Care Packs have begun to come in and we are extremely grateful for the support from the entire Emanuel School Community for this worthwhile cause. Our goal is to collect 500 Care Packs. Please drop your Care Pack either at the Emanuel School Reception area or down at Kornmehl by Friday 21 May 2021.

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Zack Lawton (5) and Oscar Cohen (3). We hope you all had a beautiful day.

Gender equality

Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations

Welcome back

Della Shandler and mum Marlene Einfeld

At the start of Term 2 last week, we welcomed new staff member and alumna Della (Einfeld) Shandler, Class of 2005, as EA to our Director of Finance and Operations, Mario Torresan. Della joins an ever-growing number of Emanuel graduates who have returned to School on staff and she says it is quite surreal being back at Emanuel, 15 years after graduating. “So much has changed, like all the incredible new buildings and facilities, however it still feels very familiar and welcoming. It is wonderful seeing so many of my teachers still here, it is testament to what an amazing school and community Emanuel is. With my mum, Marlene Einfeld, teaching at Kornmehl, and my sons enrolled to attend, the School really is close to our hearts. I am very excited to be back working here.”

Gesher, the Hebrew word for “bridge” is all about connections

We are the friend-building arm of Emanuel, connecting anyone with an interest in our wonderful School. It is always interesting to know how some of the connections come about, and often it may come up in a casual conversation with someone you had no idea had a connection with Emanuel. Some even “marry into the School” so to speak, although Raveena Marks already had a previous connection to the School as she worked here as a Primary teacher some years ago. She is the mother-in-law of alumnus Dr Ronny Schneider, Head Madrich, Class of 2009 (son of Kornmehl teacher Renee Schneider), whose sister alumna Ellie Bloom (Class of 2007) is married to Jewish Studies teacher Kobi Bloom. Sounds complicated but not really. Raveena is a painter and has just entered the Archibald Prize this year for the first time. The description of her work is Keeping NSW Safe (from Racism). Portrait of Vic Alhadeff – CEO NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (my old boss), who spearheaded a campaign and changed the laws in Australia. The new law (20D law) makes it illegal to incite violence or use any form of hate speech. The other Emanuel connection is the subject of the portrait – Vic Alhadeff is one of our grandparents!

Raveena Marks with her portrait of Vic Alhadeff

Good luck Raveena.

On the topic of Art, B’nai B’rith together with COA have an initiative, “ABC Community Exhibition 2021, an exhibition of works by Jewish Artists”. Application deadline is Friday 14 May. This would be a great opportunity for both parents and students to enter. For more details contact past parent, Viv Radomsky, Project Manager at B’nai B’rith or Sabina Kovadlo.

Is gender equality achievable?

Past parent, Dr Beth Goldblatt, professor in the Law Faculty at University of Technology (UTS), is leading a discussion this Sunday morning, 2 May 2019 as part of Womanpower NSW AGM. Numerous Emanuel parents and grandparents are already members of this group – a network of Australian Jewish women that aims to inspire, engage, cultivate and mobilise Jewish feminine wisdom to create positive change towards a collaborative and inclusive Jewish Community. Recently, past parent, Joanne Fedler, was the guest speaker at one of their sessions, to talk about her new book Unbecoming. It is not too late to book for this coming Sunday’s event.

Private Art Gallery tour with a difference

Please keep the morning of Wednesday 16 June 2021 free for our Gesher private tour of Salon des Refusés 2021 (The alternative Archibald and Wynne Prize selection) at the S.H. Ervin Gallery, Observatory Hill (The Rocks). Details will be out soon.

If you have photos and/or news to share, please send to Sonia Newell.

Shabbat Shalom and have a great weekend.

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

This week I went through some critical information that students and parents may want to access over the coming weeks and months. I have a screencast available for parents who will be hearing this for the first time and may want to track this process. This is also for those who may want to support and prepare their Year 12 students for the process ahead with the Educational Access Schemes (EAS) and other parts of the process.

The HSC Careers Expo is being held from Thursday 3 June 2021 – Sunday 6 June 2021. We have managed to secure an exclusive evening session for Year 12 students on Thursday 3 June 2021 from 4.00 pm – 6.30 pm. Students, mark this date in the diary and visit the Expo with friends or parents. All Year 12s have been booked in and paid for. Parents can also attend with their child if they wish, but must book in advance due to COVID-19 restrictions. They can register their contact details here and a personal QR code will be sent. General admission will be $12.00. Parents, please book within the next two weeks.

UAC

UAC Guide 2021-22

The full digital copy of the UAC Guide for 2022 is now available for entry. The full list of courses don’t yet appear in the UAC portal, but students can begin the registration process and then edit their preference list as often as necessary over the coming months.

Applying for uni as a Year 12 student with UAC

This video shows students how to register with UAC. All EAS disadvantages can be found here.

Looking for Alumni

Sonia Newell (Alumni Officer) and I are looking for Alumni who have graduated between the years 2000 and 2018 to be a part of a careers morning on Wednesday 26 May 2021 from 8.30 am – 11.10 am. We would love to showcase all Alumni paths and careers to be part of an informal Q&A session throughout the morning. If you feel you would be interested (or know someone who fits this bill) and would like to be part of this to help our current Year 11 and Year 12 students please contact either Claire Pech or Sonia Newell.

Music Matters

Diana Springford – Head of Music

Music Camp – last chance to sign up!

We had a wonderful response and a large group of talented students from Years 4-12 are registered to attend our Music Camp in June. It is not too late to sign up, but we cannot accept bookings for much longer. Our participants list is being finalised and a detailed information letter with a packing list will be sent out to attendees in Week 6. If you are unsure whether you have registered or not, please check that your name is on the lists on the noticeboard in the Music Department.

An information letter about Music Camp and how to book has been emailed to parents and students from Years 4-12 music ensembles and choirs. If you are concerned that you have not received this information, please contact Joanne De Araujo.

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

Music Camp is a four-day camp from Monday 7 June 2021 – Thursday 10 June 2021. The first three days are held at Lake Macquarie Outdoor Recreation Centre in Balcolyn and the final day is held at School. Students return to Emanuel on the evening of Wednesday 9 June 2021, to be collected by parents in the early evening. Camp continues on Thursday 10 June 2021 with an all-day rehearsal, a BBQ dinner for students and our Music Camp Showcase Concert in the MPH on the Thursday evening.

Music Portal Page

For announcements about our busy Music program, please check our Music Portal Page on a weekly basis.

You can also find fun news and updates from us on our Music Instagram page.

The Butterfly Foundation

Adam Ezekiel – Director of Students 7-12

Body image

Statistics from the Mission Australia Youth Survey in 2019:

Body image is ranked as one of the top three personal concerns for Australian teens.
1 in 4 girls and 1 in 10 boys restricted food intake to control weight.

The Butterfly Foundation are trusted experts in the field of body image and eating disorders, with specialised prevention workshops, presentations and resources for children and young people, professionals and parents that focus on:

Creating awareness
Building resilience
Modifiable risk and protective factors
Reducing stigma
Developing self and body confidence
Encouraging help seeking

Student presentations

This week the Butterfly Foundation delivered presentations to High School students on the topics below – please click on the links below for more information:

These presentations are evidence based and designed to provide practical strategies, skills and resources to support positive body image and healthy behaviours in young Australians.

Staff – Professional Development

This week, High School staff completed a three-hour workshop presented by the Butterfly Foundation, addressing:

Understanding body image
Early intervention
Influences on body image
The role of prevention

The workshop provided staff with information, training and valuable resources to assist in educating students about body esteem and preventing the onset of disordered eating.

Parent resources

Butterfly Foundation – Body Image Tips for Parents

Feed Your Instinct

Feed Your Instinct (FYI) is an interactive tool designed to support parents of children and young people experiencing different types of eating and/or body image problems. FYI aims to highlight common warning signs and provide useful information about eating and/or body image problems. It will also provide you with guidance on how to help your child with these problems at home, and suggest options for further support.

Mental Health First Aid for Eating Disorders
What are eating disorders?
What are warning signs of someone with an eating disorder?
Approaching someone who may have an eating disorder.
How can I continue to be supportive?
Eating disorders in children and young people.
School TV Resources
Article – Social Media Can Damage Body Image
Article – Male Body Issues In Teens That All Parents Should Know About
Article – You Have To Say I’m Pretty, You’re My Mother

Primary Innovation Leaders

In Term 1, the students from Years 3 and 4 used recycled materials and hot glue guns in the Imaginarium to make aliens and robots in Makerspace Club.

As the Imaginarium Leaders, we helped them improve their creativity and innovation skills. They were really excited to learn new skills and develop their talents.

We are looking forward to providing new joy for flourishing minds during Term 2.

By the Year 6 Innovation Leaders

Amazing opportunities

Craig Moss – Coordinator of Gifted & Talented 7-12 Moss-Craig-2020

It is a busy Term 2 with many students involved in extra-curricular academic programs and competitions.

Da Vinci Decathlon

What: The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: engineering, mathematics and chess, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography and legacy. The theme for this year is chance.

Who: This event received a high amount of interest. We have entered five teams from High School.

Year 7 – Johnny Menczel, Avalon Gold, Dylan Vitek, Daniel Zipser, Jessica Hart, Akeisha Kantor, Tali Same and Noa Rosenzveig
Year 8 – Ashley Cohn, Liberty Waldner, Ariel Bloom, Daliah Smagarinsky, Elias Davis, Gabriella Solomon, Jessica Linker and Daniel Newfield
Year 9 – Sophie Masnick, Alice Milner, Tamarah Aaron, Jesse Barel, Willow Gelin, Jasper Selinger, Oren Levin-Kahn and Gabriel Lee
Year 10 – Jake Newfield, Ally Cane, Jake Sharp, Leah Wolf, Ruby Brody, Ruby Miller, Maayan Granot and Arielle Melamed
Year 11 – Lily Berger, Samuel Moliver, Matt Lowy, Joshua Moses, Jesse Herdan, Eden Glass, Anna Davis and Myles Cohn

When:

Year 7 and 8 compete on Tuesday 4 May 2021
Year 9, 10 and 11 compete on Wednesday 5 May 2021

The Evatt Competition

What: The New South Wales Evatt Competition is the NSW State round of the UN Youth Australia Evatt Competition, Australia’s premier debating and diplomacy competition. Evatt is a Model United Nations Security Council diplomacy competition for students in Years 9-12. It aims to educate young people about Australia’s place in the world and empower them as active citizens by developing public speaking, negotiation, teamwork, research, and diplomatic skills.

The competition takes the form of a mock session of the UN Security Council. Teams of two students debate, amend, and vote on resolutions from the perspective of the country they are assigned. Teams will be allocated one of the fifteen countries that are members of the United Nations Security Council in 2020. The students judged the most effective diplomats proceed to the next round.

Emanuel School will be hosting one of the preliminary rounds.

Who:

Benjamin Cohen and Aiden Merten
Alice Milner and Kian Hamburger
Luca Calderon-Havas and Ellie Morris

When:

Wednesday 2 June 2021, 1.00 pm – 5.00 pm at Emanuel School

Future Problem Solving (FPS)

What: FPS is a research-based, academic program that teaches problem solving strategies, collaboration, critical and creative thinking, and effective communication. The interdisciplinary approach helps develop ethical leadership skills and provides a unique opportunity for students to learn and apply essential life skills in the 21st century.

Who:

Global Issues Problem Solving
- Year 7 – Boaz Simhi, Dylan Vitek, Jake Isenberg and Kira Levin-Khan.
- Year 8 – Liberty Waldner, Elias Davis, Daniel Newfield, Ariel Bloom and Jack Fridman
- Year 10 – Jake Sharp, Jake Newfield, Arielle Melamed, Aiden Sheps and Jamie Schneider
Community Problem Solving
- Eden Levit and Ruby Brody
Scenario Writing
- Ashley Cohn
Scenario Performance
- Maayan Granot and Eden Levit

When:

Practice submissions in Term 2. Qualifying submissions in Term 3.
The topic for Term 2 is Wearable Technology

National History Challenge 2021

What: The National History Challenge is a research-based competition for students. It gives students a chance to be an historian, researching world history, examining Australia’s past, investigating their community or exploring their own roots. It emphasises and rewards quality research, the use of community resources and effective presentation.

Theme for 2021 – Significance: History Matters

Who:

Alice Milner (Year 9)
Ella Hart (Year 10)

When:

Ongoing project – Submission in Term 3 (27 August 2021)

Living History

Year 10 enjoyed an incursion run by Shane Blackman from WWI Living History on Tuesday. The incursions covered the frontline diggers experience in the trenches of France 1916-1918 from uniforms and food to first aid and weapons. Using fact-based storytelling and genuine artefacts, their goal is to bring students a focused insight into part our country’s military history: The frontline digger.

Student reflections

The presentation from Shane Blackman was really eye-opening. Although most of us knew the brutality of war, especially WWI, Shane went into detail about the horrible reality and story of each artefact that he brought in. The best part of the presentation was the fact that it was interactive, allowing the students to understand and realise that the people using these weapons and artefacts aren’t just fictional characters from stories, but they were real men who actually went through these times. Overall, this experience really expanded my knowledge on the events of not only WWI but many wars that Australian men and women have fought and died in. By Daniel Solomon

The guest speaker taught us about the hardships of WWI, what it was like to be in WWI and showed us the different types of weaponry that was used during the war. Some students even got to try on the different types of war uniforms to see the differences between uniforms Australians war in WWI, WWII, and more recent conflicts. From this incursion, we gathered a great sense of what it had been like for the Australian soldiers fighting in WWI, and the sacrifices they had to make. We also learned that the conditions of the war were brutal, and the weapons and artillery the soldiers used were lethal. The most interesting aspect of the presentation was that all of us got to hold a replica or an actual weapon that had been used during the war, which gave us a better understanding of the experiences soldiers endured whilst fighting. By Ruby Grynberg

We gained a deeper understanding of how the trenches functioned, the gear and weapons used and the mental toll the War took on the soldiers. I learnt that many soldiers had to endure many emotional and physical traumas while being on the front lines of trench warfare. I found that the information about the gas masks they used in the War was the most interesting. I also enjoyed learning about how the masks were made and what materials were used, in what situations they used them, which gases affected certain areas and the different parts used to make the mask effective.
By Ava Rose

Elevate Education

Julian Abelson – Director of Studies 7-12

Elevate Education’s Parent Webinar Series

We’re excited to announce that parents of Emanuel School have exclusive access to Elevate Education’s Parent Webinar Series for Term 2, 2021. Elevate works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how to better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school.

The webinars take place fortnightly across the term, beginning on Wednesday 5 May 2021 at 7.00 pm (AEST). Registration is essential and is free for Emanuel School parents. Register here.

The webinar is run live online from 7.00 pm – 8.00 pm (AEST) where the presenter will share Elevate’s research findings and skills, and will conduct a live Q&A so you can ask them questions directly.

Should you have questions or would like to contact Elevate directly, their details are listed below.

3D Game Design workshop

Emma Lord – Head of Software Engineering & Digital Technologies

Year 10 IST Unity 3D Game Design workshop

On Friday 23 April 2021 Year 10 IST attended a workshop at School run by Alex Binskin of Sugar Coated Games. Alex is a professional game design with a focus on creating games that are fun and educational. The workshop was an introduction to Unity, which is a game design platform.

Some observations from this incredible day:

We started with nothing and had never used Unity before. Over the day we learned how to make a game. The object of the game we made was collecting coins to earn points. We did this by making a character to play in the game and made coins around it for him to collect. We used Visual Studio to learn how to code the game so we could earn points and navigate our way around the gaming platform. At the end of the day, we all had a game that was simple, but it helps us to learn the basics of coding and creating a game. Overall, we had a lot of fun. By Sophie Freedman

On Friday last week, Year 10 IST had a workshop to learn a game developing software called Unity run by Alex from Sugar Coated Games. He took us through the basics of the software and step by step assisted us in creating the basis for a three-dimensional platformer. Most of us went into the workshop with no previous experience however we all ended up with a “bean” that we could make move in any direction, jump, and even collect coins to update our score. By Ashley Goldman

I really enjoyed the Unity workshop and found it very helpful, as well as super entertaining! Alex was fun and a good teacher, and he gave us good knowledge to prepare us for our Unity course this term. I would definitely recommend the workshop to others. By Leah Wolf

High School Library

Library services

The Maria Tirabosco Library offers a number of services and facilities to accommodate the learning and leisure needs of High School students and all staff. We have a broad selection of fiction, non-fiction and magazines in print and digital form, and friendly staff are always keen to help.

If your child is new to the High School you might like to visit the Maria Tirabosco Library website. This website offers access to digital databases, encyclopedias, newspapers and magazines, reading suggestions for Years 7-12, research tips and more.

Opening hours:

Monday 8.00 am – 4.00 pm
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 8.00 am – 5.00 pm
Friday 8.00 am – 4.00 pm

CBCA Book Week challenge

As part of the Wide Reading Program all Year 7-10 students are invited to participate in the following Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Week challenge and competition. Since 1945, the CBCA has fostered and promoted quality Australian literature to young audiences aged 0-16 years. The students’ challenge is to read, critique and advocate for one of the 2021 CBCA: Older Readers short listed novels.

Key information

Read one or more of the School nominated 2021 CBCA: Older Readers short listed novels by the end of Term 2.
Write a 200 word review on their favourite 2021 CBCA: Older Readers short listed novel using the writing scaffold provided.
Submit their review to the Senior School Library before Monday 9 August 2021 (Week 5 in Term 3).
The winner from each Year group will be presented with a book voucher at the Book Week Assembly.

Details of listed books and the writing scaffold can be found on their LibGuides iRead websites.

GREASE the Musical

Samantha Bauer – Head of Drama

GREASE is the word

Rehearsals are back on for GREASE the Musical!

We are so excited to be singing and dancing again in preparation for the High School Musical. The cast have been working extremely hard to make up for lost time and we are so proud of their efforts. We cannot wait to share these much-loved songs and characters with the Emanuel School family and friends.

Tickets go on sale soon – watch this space!

How to …

Accessing excursion PDFs after granting permission on the Parent Portal

From the Edumate icon on the portal :

Go to the Diary – Future Events
Scroll down to the future event that you have granted permission for and from the event access and download the PDFs again.

This is a tile on the Parent Portal that provides guidance to parents.

If you have any questions or suggestions please email them through to Garry Case

Community notices

Parents and Friends

Ruby Berkovic and Jennifer Opit

Hello Community,

We hope you are all settling into Term 2 well.

Mother’s Day get together and Gift Stalls

Meditation session and get together

This year, to celebrate Mother’s Day, the Parents & Friends would like to invite you to a relaxing morning meditation session.

On Thursday 13 May 2021 please join us in Centennial Park outside the Homestead Café after drop-off for a catchup and relaxing meditation session led by Jodie Gien @ Mindful Future Project.

Where: Meet by the Homestead Café in Centennial Park. You can grab a coffee before we begin.
When: Come after drop-off for an 8.30 am start. The meditation will run for approximately 30 minutes and you can hang around and chat before and after if you choose.
What: A chance to catch up, bond and relax. Bring a yoga mat or blanket to sit on, warm clothes and a gold coin to donate to the Women’s Community Shelters. The Parents & Friends will provide a morning snack.

We hope to see you there!

Gift Stalls

We have organised a wonderful Mother’s Day Gift Stall on Friday 7 May 2021 and we will be selling special gifts for your Primary School children to give to you on Mother’s Day. This is, of course, optional.

If you would like to participate, please be sure to send your child along with $10 per gift on the day and they will bring the gift home with them that afternoon. The correct money would be greatly appreciated and if you would like to purchase more than one gift, perhaps for a grandparent, just send extra money.

Emanuel Parents & Friends family event: Scavenger Hunt!

It has been too long since we have been able to come together, so the Parents & Friends is organising an afternoon of excitement with a Scavenger Hunt. Save the afternoon of Sunday 30 May 2021, at a time that suits you between 12.00 pm and 5.00 pm (it will take approximately two hours to complete), for some family fun!

The cost is $50 per family/team (between 2-6 team members) and all you need is enthusiastic participants and a mobile phone on which to download and access the free App that will allow us to play and interact with one another. You will race around Randwick answering questions and completing tasks (by car, bike or on foot – whatever you choose). You will be able to watch the progress of other teams as you race to checkpoints and complete challenges! It is sure to be heaps of fun!
Book here

When: Sunday 30 May 2021 anytime between 12.00 pm – 5.00 pm (it will take approximately 2 hours but you can complete as little/much as you like)
Where: Locations around Randwick (you can start and finish anywhere)
How: By following instructions on a free App
Cost: $50 per team/family (2-6 members)

Entertainment Books

If you are looking for great offers while out and about, there are plenty to be found in the Entertainment Book. Order here

Parents & Friends meeting

Our next Parents & Friends meeting will be on the Wednesday 2 June 2021. The meeting that was scheduled for 5 May 2021 is cancelled for various reasons. Please contact us if you need to discuss anything before June’s meeting.

Camping Trip #2 date change

Please note that the date of the second camping trip for the year has been moved to weekend of the 26 November 2021-28 November 2021.

Weekend Brain Teaser (from last week) and answer

Question: What runs around the whole yard (garden) without moving?
Answer: A fence.

Have a lovely 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 Seth Nachman

Self-crusting Potato and Vegetable Quiche

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbsp butter

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup flour

2 cooked peeled potatoes, chopped into cubes

1 cup cooked, drained vegetables of your choice – asparagus, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, artichokes

1 cup grated cheese

3/4 tsp salt

pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 180^oC

Gently pan fry the onion and garlic in butter. Cool

Mix eggs, milk and seasoning until well combined and add this to the flour and mix

Add the potatoes, onions, vegetables and cheese
Bake at 180^oC for approximately 30 minutes

Test to see if it’s set in the centre

Variations:

Use a variety of vegetables in this recipe – allow your imagination to run wild

Use cream instead of milk to make richer flavour

Serves 4-6

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