From the Principal

Andrew Watt – Principal

The Maccabiah Games and our
Sport Colours Award Presentation

Our High School Sport assembly featured some special guests and a presentation of awards.

Maccabiah Games

Past parent, Debbie Rutstein, in her role as Regional Manager of the Junior Athlete team, addressed our students on the upcoming Maccabiah Games and showcased the torch that will be lit at the opening ceremony. The torch is touring the world and it has been taken to several Jewish schools and Jewish organisations across Sydney. The Maccabiah Games are held every four years (five years this time around!) and include Jewish athletes from all over the world. There will be 10 000 athletes from approximately 80 countries competing. It is the second largest sporting tournament in the world.

Emanuel athletes (both past and present) who will be competing in the games were recognised by a warm ovation: Adam Forman: Cricket – Junior Boys (2004-2007); Aden Goodridge: Basketball – Youth Boys (2004-2005); Aden Kanevsky: Gymnastics – Junior; Brooke Rosen: Netball – Youth Girls (2004-2005); Eden Levit: Football – Junior Girls (2004-2007); Ethan Hirst: Football – Junior Boys (2006-2007); Mischa Spielman: Football – Junior Girls (2004-2007); Siena Michaelson: Netball – Youth Girls (2004-2005); Sienna Poswell: Football – Junior Girls (2004-2007); Tess Endrey: Netball – Youth Girls (2004-2005); Zac Urbach: Track and Field – Junior (2004-2007); Coby New: Futsal – Men’s Open. Two of our sport coaches, who are also Emanuel Alumni, will also be at the games: Jake Sharwood: Basketball – Men’s Open and Ethan De Melo: Futsal – Men’s Open

Sports Awards

• A Grey Sport Colour Award (representing a 3-year ongoing contribution to sport) was presented to: Reece Carr, Boaz Hadad, Ethan Hirst, Aden Kanevsky, Sienna Poswell and Amelie Trope.
• A Maroon Sport Colour Award (representing a 5-year ongoing contribution to sport) was presented to Luca Calderon-Havas. An impressive number of students received a certificate for their selection in higher representative honours in their given sport.

Over the past few years, our rate of participation and success in sport have increased significantly, as has the quality of our coaching, skill development, and strength and conditioning programs. As mentioned in my assembly address:

We now have a culture where students are committing to the hard work required to win competitions and to gain representative honours. In short, we are moving towards a good place in sport, where we expect to do well in competitions and expect that our top athletes will progress to bigger and better things. We punch well above our weight – and we will continue to improve in 2023!

Students with their Sports Awards

Exploring post-school career pathways 

Over the years, we have found that our alumni are an extremely valuable resource in providing our soon-to-depart Year 12 students with detailed information on what the next steps can look like, across a range of university courses and careers. The Careers Space event provided a forum for our students to hear about, discuss and ask questions related to their area of passion or interest. Years 11 and 12 were invited to hear from over 20 Alumni, all from the last 10 years of school and from a range of backgrounds. The format involved three periods of rotations, with 10 minute small-round-table discussions (speed dating style). Sadly, an additional group of alumni were unable to participate, due to COVID-19. We are very grateful to our presenters, for giving up their time to support our students in their career choices. A huge thank you to Claire Pech and Sonia Newell, who worked together, to ensure the success of this special event.

Alumni return to School for Careers Space

Lord of the Flies

Bookings open on Tuesday at 8.00 am for the long awaited High School production of Lord of the Flies. A link will be sent to all parents on Monday. Tickets always sell out quickly so keep an eye out for the email. 

Kids Giving Back – making a difference

During this term and in the recent holiday break, a group of our students joined with over 500 young people to produce over 7 000 hot meals, salads, fruit kebabs, breakfast boxes, snack packs, care packs and decorated tote bags, which were distributed to 13 charities around Sydney. This group also helped to fold and pack new clothes for over 8 000 vulnerable people, many of whom were affected by this year’s floods. We acknowledge the generosity of the following students, who gave up their time to undertake a range of activities that contributed to meeting the needs of vulnerable people in our community: Pepper Banki, Gil Banna, Olive Byrne, Micha Ezra, Alice Belle Frielander, Jonathan Goldberg, Lara Goldberg, Harry Greenberg, Noam Greenberg, Rose Greenberg, Emily Greenfield, Claudia Hochroth, Rosie Itzkowic, Ivy Kery, Eve Knopman, Sierra Miller, Jude Olian, Aaron Pal, Jacob Raiz, Bianca Ross, Isaac Shammay, Nathan Shammay and Nava Wiess.

If this wonderful program is of interest, please contact Gabrielle Morrissey Hansen 

A letter from the Queen

Happy 100th Birthday to Mr Aron Kleinlehrer, generous supporter and life long friend of the School. What a milestone! We believe that the Queen’s congratulatory letter is on its way!

Mazal tov

There are so many students who have achieved excellent results representing the School. If I were to include them all here we would have a very long list indeed. Please make sure to read the many articles in Ma Nishma this week where over 60 students have been mentioned for their success in various pursuits. Mazal tov to them all!

Quote of the week

“At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished… it’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.” ~ Denzel Washington, Actor

From the Head of Jewish Life (Acting)

Daphna Levin-Kahn – Head of Jewish Studies High School

Shmita and Yovel
Socio-Economic equality assurance

Occasionally, we may be challenged by what we read in the Torah, as it seems to conflict with our modern sense of morality and justice and we have to “turn it over and over” to either understand it, learn from it or reinterpret it. Yet, at other times, we read in awe and even amazement at the highly advanced moral stance the Torah takes on issues that shed light on how we could be living more ethically in the 21^st Century.

Many of us have heard of the שנת שמיטה “shnat shmita” (“the year of release”) as being the requirement to leave the land in Israel fallow, to enable the land to rest and rejuvenate every seven years, mimicking the Shabbat for people, hence the English translation of shmita as “Sabbatical year”.

However, the laws of שמיטה shmita, every seven years, and יובל yovel, the jubilee that occurs every fifty years, are not just about giving the land an opportunity to rest. In fact, the mitzvot (biblical laws) of שמיטה shmita and יובל yovel, that are expanded upon in several of the books in the Torah, also pertain to the release of people from financial debt, from servitude and a return of socio-economic balance and dignity to the community.

Our parasha, Behar, explains some laws of שמיטה shmita and יובל yovel, during which all work on the land ceases, all indentured servants are set free, and all ancestral estates in the Holy Land that have been sold revert to their original owners. According to the Torah, people who had debts they could not repay would become bonded servants to the person to whom they were indebted until they had paid off what they owed. When the jubilee year arrived, all such debts were eradicated, and these servants would be able to restart their lives or return to being landowners once again, debt-free, thus breaking the cycle of poverty and closing the gap between rich and poor. The same applied to ancestral land, that in those times would generally only be sold to repay debt or help make ends meet.

Rav Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi in British Palestine, wrote of the שמיטה year of 1909-1910, “The Sabbatical year comes to correct the situation of inequality and societal rifts, by removing a major source of power of the elite: debts owed to them………. What the Sabbath achieves for the individual, the שמיטה achieves with regard to the nation as a whole.” *

Members of Jewish Community Action (JCA) of Minnesota demonstrated the contemporary renewal of this idea. In 2021, they were inspired by the biblical tradition of שמיטה and יובל to advocate for relief of housing debt (rent and/or mortgage) that had been spiralling out of control due to the economic effects of COVID and led to their participation in the Maryland state-wide and national movement to “CanceltheRent”. *

The sabbatical year concept is also mirrored in the Israeli school and university systems who recognise that teachers are “growing” the knowledge and understanding of their students and “nurturing” the future generation. Teaching staff in Israel have the legal opportunity to take a full year of long service leave every seven years and return refreshed and wiser to start the cycle again, greatly reducing the level of burnout and increasing the frequency of professional development.

Consider how your own life, of the life of the nation or even of the world as a whole, could benefit from initiating such a periodic social and economic “reset”.

Shabbat Shalom. שבת שלום 

* https://jufj.org/shmita-blog/ – Jews United for Justice

Primary News

Carrie-Anne Thomas – Acting Deputy Head of Primary

Year 6 Canberra Camp

Today we welcome Year 6 back from a brilliant three day camp to Canberra, full of different adventures and new learning experiences each day!

Year 6 completed a comprehensive tour of the national capital and were given the opportunity to participate in various educational programs, with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage, and democracy. The children were excited to visit Parliament House, Questacon, the Australian War Memorial and many more destinations. This was a very busy and worthwhile camp, and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank teachers Barnaby Wilbury, Dale Kessler, Eamon Lukins, Jennnifer Udovich, and Felicity Donohue for the energy and commitment offered to make this camp such a success. I would also like to thank Lisa Connors for her significant involvement in organising this camp for our students. 

Year 6 students created some wonderful memories during our time away in Canberra.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion, the Australian Government contributes $30.00 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the School upon completion of the excursion. We have factored this into the cost of the excursion. 

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Early pick up for K-6 students

Please remember that when picking-up K-6 students early, parents should go via the main reception to sign students out and be given an early leave form. When students leave campus, this form will need to be given to the security guard. Thank you for your support with this!

Parent Information Session

Raising your young child online – for parents/ carers with children 0-10 years
Tuesday 31 May 2022, 7.00 pm 

Dr Kristy Goodwin provides parents/ carers with research-based yet realistic advice to feel confident about how to best support children’s physical health, mental wellbeing and learning online. Dr Goodwin is one of Australia’s leading digital wellbeing and performance experts. She’s the author of Raising Your Child in a Digital World, a speaker, media commentator and digital wellbeing researcher who doesn’t suggest we ban the iPhone.

 This webinar session will explore: 

• Why children find the online world captivating and how to manage screen time so it doesn’t end in ‘scream time’
• A simple and realistic formula to determine healthy screen time limits for children based on their basic needs
• Why parents need to be the pilot of the ‘digital plane’ and the 3Bs that allow them to be pilot
• Why focusing on how much time children spend online is not the most important question and the 5 essential boundaries that ensures a child’s time online supports their physical health and mental wellbeing
• Why we should avoid using screen time as a reward or punishment tool 
• Realistic strategies to help children transition from screen activities without tears and tantrums 
• Why digital connection is critical for your child. 

When: Tuesday 31 May 2022, 7.00 pm – 8.30 pm
Where: Online via Zoom
Event cost: $10.00
Bookings: https://healthyscreentime.eventbrite.com.au   

Primary Music Report

Zachary Salamon

Hi I’m Zac. I play the violin, bass guitar and guitar. I’m in Korngold Strings, Rock Band and Junior Stage Band. I started at Emanuel in Year K and have always loved music.

Hi my name is Jonah, I play the trumpet. I’m in two very fun bands, Junior Stage Band and Bernstein Concert Band. I started at Emanuel in Year 5 and have loved being involved in music ever since I came to the school.

Projects we have worked on so far

This year so far, we have worked on promoting the Music Competition (Term 1). This was very successful, but as always, we hope that even more people come next year.

Jonah Bloom

We are currently planning our very first Music Assembly of 2022. This will be in Week 5. The assembly is a challenge for us to organise because we have to find participants, arrange the order and plan the stage changes. 

Upcoming projects

We are very excited for Music Camp because it is a few days dedicated to just music. The camp leads into a big concert which is so much fun. We will have lots of things to keep us busy and we are working on a ‘Buddy Program’ to help Primary School students get to know each other and be organised. In Term 4, we are looking forward to the musical, Aladdin Jr. We don’t know the details yet, but Mr Owen tells us that we are going to have lots of little jobs to do and responsibilities.

We look forward to you joining us in these programs. Look out for any announcements from us in Ma Nishma or on posters around the School.

Celebrating Israel

Year 8 Israel Expo 

On Thursday 5 May 2022, which was actually Yom Ha’atzmaut, Year 8 participated in the Israel Expo. For the entire of Term 1, we collected research and writing about our chosen Israeli topic of interest. We then had to gather this all and turn it into an interesting, informative and engaging stand.

During Period 6 and lunch we set up our stalls and got ready for the next three hours. Kornmehl, Year 3 and Year 7 all came throughout the school day and engaged with all of the wonderful stalls. They were able to learn a lot about Israel such as their defence system, different foods and different sports. There were so many different stalls with plenty of information about Israel, so it was a really fun experience for both the students and the people running the stalls. After school was over we had a short break to tidy our stalls in order to get them ready for the parents. 

Our parents, other students and teachers came to the show to see the hard work that we had completed. It was really fun and many stalls had engaging activities such as games and cool souvenirs.

We would like to thank all the Year 8 teachers for helping us and supporting us through the process and bringing together such a wonderful night. We would also like to thank Ms Levin-Kahn and Mr Case for their help, Mrs Levin for taking all the photos, and the Maintenance Team for setting up the MPH for us. We wish the Year 7s luck in their Israel Expo next year!

By Amelie Mueller and Asher Filipczyk
Year 8

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Israel Expo Awards 2022

Daphna Levin-Kahn – Head of Jewish Studies High School

The Year 8 Israel Expo was an amazing event – you could sense the buzz in the air with over 35 stands on a wide variety of topics, and students, staff and families coming to learn and enjoy. Over 100 votes were cast, and the results were very close!

The 2022 Emanuel’s Choice Award for Best Stand Overall goes to: Sophia Eller, Avalon Gold and Amelie Mueller for their outstanding exhibition stand on Israeli Medicine.

The award for The Most Creative Expo Stand was won by: Akeisha Kantor and Jessica Hart for their stunning exhibition stand on Feminism in Israel.

The Most Informative Expo Stand goes to: Samuel Dworkin, Gabriel Pozniak & Daniel Zipser for their absorbing exhibition stand on the Israeli Defence Forces.

The Most Relevant and Engaging Activity is awarded to: Noa Rosenzveig and Dylan Vitek for their excellent activity about the Israeli Space Program.

The 2022 Teachers’ Choice Award for Consistent Excellent Effort throughout the Expo Term is selected by each teacher to commend the sustained work and effective collaboration throughout Term 1.

This was a very tough decision this year, but the awards go to:

• Tali Same and Suzi Garbuz focusing on Human Geography
• Joshua Barnett, Jake Isenberg and Max Tsipris on Defence
• Sophia Eller, Avalon Gold and Amelie Mueller for their Medicine project
• Eva Nabarro and Hannah Rembach for Israeli Food

Kol hakavod to all!

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Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Biggest Morning Tea

This week our Pre-school community has once again shown their generosity and support for our Biggest Morning Tea Fundraiser. We know that so many of us have family and friends who have been touched by the sadness of cancer. The Biggest Morning Tea is an opportunity for us to come together as a community, to reflect and think about those we have lost or who are currently battling cancer and to donate to support further research in this area.

I am thrilled that we raised well over $2,500 for this worthy cause!

This has been from parents, staff at Emanuel School and of course the children. Thank you to you all.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Pre-school smelt delicious as the smells of cupcakes, choc chip cookies and rice bubble slices wafted through the air. The children were involved in the baking, they created signs for the Kornmehl Café and helped to set up a shop outside ready for the Year K’s on Thursday morning. 

The interactions were delightful, as the Year K children selected what they wanted from the choices on offer. There was chatter, questions about money and lots of laughter. It was also beautiful to witness the Year K’s having a play in the Kornmehl playground and seeing all our friends from last year again.

The Kornmehl carpark was also buzzing from 7.30 am, with staff and parents coming to buy their morning coffee and get a pastry too. The delicious pastries were generously donated by Jesse’s Bakery for the event. Thank you to Jesse Meguideche for his generosity. Thank you to Justin Moddel from Mugg Shot for donating his time, expertise and delicious coffee’s to our Biggest Morning tea. We appreciate all the generous support received for this event.

Thank you to my Parent Club members for their on-going support and involvement in organising this event: Mrs Amy Friedlander, Mrs Leia Lewis, Mrs Leanne Eisman and Mrs Lara Samway.

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Woolworths Landcare Grant

A big thank you to our Educator Lindi Bloch for applying for and securing a Woolworths Landcare Grant for $1,000. The intention for this grant is to plant a native sensory garden in the Kornmehl outdoor area, together with families and the children. The aim is for the children to learn to care for the plants and to spend time observing and visiting the space as they begin to understand the connection and relationship between local species and their habitats. Children will gain an understanding of the needs of local native wildlife, appreciating the diversity/ biodiversity of native species and how to support, protect and help them thrive. We will also be involved in recording the presence of insects attracted to the garden and use Apps to identify different creatures. The dense planting will create spaces for nesting, breeding and shelter, supporting habitats for smaller creatures and insects including a variety of lizards and spiders, that frequent our outdoor area. The native garden will allow for flowering native plants, which will support our stingless beehive with pollination for our vegetable gardens. Interacting with nature will foster an awareness of being connected to something greater, developing a love for the natural world and caring for living things. Through designing
the garden, the children will develop and explore mathematical concepts and their understanding of size, length, and density as we design a garden of layered ground covers, shrubs, climbers, and trees. 

As the children wander through the garden, their senses will be enriched as they smell, look, taste, and feel the growth of the plants. The native herbs in-between the plants will be harvested and used in cooking, baking, and eating experiences. Something beautiful and sensory that we can all enjoy for many years to come!

Lag B’Omer

The Pre-school celebrated lag B’Omer on Friday during Shabbat. It was a Shabbat with a difference, as we all gathered around the bonfire in the car park to sing our Shabbat songs, say our Shabbat brachot and learn about the story of Lag B’Omer and Rabbi Akiva. The morning culminated in us enjoying baked potatoes and roasted marshmallows around the bon-fire, while we sang and listened to music. Such a beautiful and spiritual way to end the week.

Happy Birthday

We wish a very happy birthday to Edison Robuck (3), Matteo Freedman (5) and James Frank (4).

We hope you all had a beautiful birthday celebration.

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How to Raise a Jewish Dog

Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations

National Careers Week and National Volunteer Week 
Monday 16 May 2022 – Sunday 22 May 2022

We held our 2022 Careers Space event on Wednesday morning, to co-incide with National Careers Week. It was wonderful to see over 20 past students return to School to talk to our Years 11 and 12 students, sharing details about their journeys after leaving school. Some of these alumni are still studying and they gave great advice to our students about how to get the most out of university life and choosing courses, and that it’s OK to not know exactly where your studies will take you. Others highlighted changes in career paths  – again highlighting the strong message that it is ok to change one’s mind along the way. There will be a full report and more photos in next week’s Ma Nishma.

Many of our extended school community, both students and adults, spend time volunteering for so many varied causes and organisations –  including our own PSG and the P&F and for the Sydney Jewish Museum, Friendship Circle and Maccabi just to name a few, as well as for an array of non-Jewish organisations and charities – the list of organisations seeking volunteers is huge.

Emanuel Alumni – delighted to be back at school

Sydney Jewish Museum (SJM)

Emanuel connections with the Museum are certainly far-reaching, and as readers of my page know, SJM has a very special place in my heart for so many reasons. Each week I finish off my page with a request for details if you would like to share some news with our readers. Last Friday, Emanuel parent Naomi Raiz sent me this message: After reading about the Sydney Jewish Museum on your page in this week’s Ma Nishma, I thought you might like to know that my son Jacob Raiz (Year 3) was part of the event that took place on Mother’s Day in the Museum, celebrating the connection of four generations to the Holocaust, with his great grandmother Yvonne Engelman OAM, his grandmother Shirley Rosenthal and me. Jacob and I featured in the event via Zoom as we had Covid!

The panel event examined the immutable bond that exists across three generations of strong women. Expert Counsellor Kim Slender, previously School Counsellor at Emanuel School for many years, led this very special event that explored the psychology of intergenerational trauma as well as celebrating an amazing journey of survival. Another connection for this family and the Museum is through Jacob’s paternal grandmother, Sonja Raiz, who has volunteered at the Museum for over 20 years. You will usually find Sonja behind the counter in the Museum Shop, where you can purchase some beautiful traditional Jewish artefacts, cookbooks and autobiographic books written by holocaust survivors, some of whom are Emanuel grandparents and great grandparents, along with many other books. You can even find a book titled How to Raise a Jewish Dog.

Don’t forget to check out the Museum’s calendar for lectures and events.

Mother’s Day event at SJM

How to Raise a Jewish Dog

Friendship Circle (FC) Day Camp 
Monday 4 July 2022 – Friday 8 July 2022

If your children are aged 13 plus and are in High School, they might be interested in signing up as a volunteer for this 5-day camp in the July holidays. Volunteer registration is now open.

FC is also seeking young adults to join their Young Adult Leadership team, so those of you with older children, please tell them about this opportunity – they can get more information here.     

We look forward to sharing our news and yours, so if you have photos and/or news you would like to share with us, please send to: snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Shabbat shalom, stay safe and have a great weekend.

K-12 Sport News

Kristy Genc – Director of Sports K-12

Sports Awards

At this week’s sports assembly, awards were presented to outstanding sport performers.

Each term, students who have been selected in CDSSA representative sports teams are awarded Sporting Achievement certificates at assembly to recognise their sporting performance. Congratulations to all students who received their awards this week. 

Sports Colours are awarded to students in Years 9-12, who achieve the required points over a period of three years (Grey Colours) or five years (Maroon Colours). To achieve such recognition, students require great commitment to the school sports program and a significant level of sporting achievement. 

Congratulations to: 

• Maroon Colours
  Luca Calderon-Havas 
• Grey Colours
  Reece Carr, Boaz Hadad, Ethan Hirst, Aden Kanevsky, Sienna Poswell and Amelie Trope

Maccabiah Games 

Special guests from Maccabiah attended the High School Sports assembly this week. Regional Manager of Junior Athletes, Debbie Rutstein, spoke to the High School about the significance of the games and recognised the Emanuel athletes attending the games in Israel in July. It has been a long journey for these students to be selected in one of the Australian teams, competing with athletes and having to attend numerous competitive trials and trainings over the last 18 months, including interstate events for some sports. 

Congratulations to the following students and sports coaches on their selections in the Australian Maccabiah Games teams: 

Adam Forman – Cricket
Aden Goodridge – Basketball 
Ethan Hirst – Football 
Eden Levit – Football 
Sienna Poswell – Football
Mischa Spielman – Football 
Coby New – Futsal
Aiden Kanevsky – Gymnastics
Brooke Rosen – Netball 
Sienna Michaelson – Netball
Tess Endrey – Netball 
Zac Urbach – Track & Field
Jake Sharwood (Sports Coach) – Basketball 
Ethan De Melo (Sports Coach) – Futsal

We wish them the best of luck, and I am sure that they will do Emanuel proud!

Outstanding performers

Congratulations to Ben Rozen on his outstanding performance at the AICES Rugby Championships last week. As a result, Ben has been selected in the AICES 1sts Rugby team. 

There have also been a number of outstanding performances in sport outside of school:

Maxwell Pozniak (Year 9): recently competed in the Australian National Championships of Hip Hop, in Brisbane. His team placed first in the Mega Crew Division, the most prestigious division of the competition. This team is an open aged dance group, and they have now qualified for the International Championships, which will be held in Phoenix this August. Maxwell started dancing in Year 1, including classes in ballet, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, hip hop and acrobatics. He has competed in Hip Hop competitions for the past 10 years and is currently training over 15 hours a week, so this achievement has been long in the making and well-deserved. 

Eden Levit Year 11: continues to achieve outstanding sporting results and competed in the Surf Lifesaving Nationals at the end of last month, finishing third in her age group in the individual sprint and winning three medals in relays, one of each colour!

Football News

Kristy Genc – Director of Sports K-12

It has been an exciting few weeks for the Emanuel Football Program. On Friday 6 May, four High School football teams, competed at the CDSSA Football Championships. The day included a round-robin event, where teams played other schools within the association. The Emanuel 15 Years girls team, had a very successful day. This team scored an abundance of goals, finishing the day undefeated and winning the championship. Stand out performers were Sienna Poswell, Gemma Odes and Riley Carr, who were also selected in the CDSSA representative team. 

Emanuel 15 Years girls football champions 2022

The Emanuel Boys 1sts performed very well, beating Moriah 1-0 in the opening match of the day and progressing to the Grand Final. Playing a tough opposition in SEDA Sports School, Emanuel lost the final 0-1, after a great effort by all. Congratulations to all the boys on a very positive season and in particular captains Mahley Rosen-Tal and Ethan Berman, and Coby New and Luca Calderon-Havas who were selected in the CDSSA representative team. 

The Emanuel Girls 1sts played exceptionally well at the tournament, winning throughout the pool stage and progressing to the Grand Final. The girls also met SEDA Sports School in the final and held the game to 1-1 until the final minutes, when SEDA scored, in a match that could have gone either way. Congratulations to Eden Levit who was selected in the CDSSA representative team. 

The 16 Years boys team, had a positive day, despite having a number of key players absent on the day. The team came away with a win and a draw, with some pleasing individual performances. A special mention to Shai Farhy and Reece Carr who were selected in the 16 Years CDSSA representative team. 

Last week, the eight students who were selected in the CDSSA Football teams, competed at the AICES Championships at Valentine Park. This competition is well known for the high standard of football, and it was fantastic to see Emanuel well represented in all four teams, as well as coaching staff, with Emanuel coaches Aytek Genc and Jason Romero, coaching both the CDSSA 16 Years Boys and Opens Boys teams at this event. The CDSSA Opens Boys team won the championships and the AICES Championships, and the CDSSA Opens Girls were runners-up at the event. Well done to Eden Levit, Coby New, Luca Calderon-Havas, Sienna Poswell, Gemma Odes, Riley Carr, Shai Farhy and Reece Carr on their outstanding performances, and a special mention to Shai and Reese who have been selected in the 16 Years AICES team. This team will compete at the NSW CIS Championships next week and I wish them the best of luck. 

In the Primary School, the Year K-2 and Year 3-4 after school football development programs have commenced, with an amazing level of interest in the younger years. The future of the Emanuel Football Program is looking bright, with so many keen young footballers. The Year 4-6 students have also commenced their term of football, playing in the Thursday inter-school sport competition each week. 

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Why graphic novels?

Samantha Rogut Head of Library and Information Services K-6

Why graphic novels?

Graphic novels form part of the Primary Library collection and have proven to be so popular that they now have their own dedicated shelf space. Graphic novels are a mode or form of literature rather than a genre; however, their popularity has prompted us to create a graphic novel genre within the collection. All graphic novels are marked with a pink and white spine label indicating their genre.

 The graphic novel section in the Primary Library is continually expanding as new, quality novels are purchased. A quality graphic novel includes elements of comic style page layout with gutters, boxes and speech or thought bubbles. They must also contain a complex narrative, and both sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structure.

These elements coupled with quality graphics and impactful layout make for an exceptional reading experience.

There are many reasons to showcase the graphic novel collection in the Primary Library:

• Graphic novels may help students to develop a love of reading. Students may choose the text based on the graphic element or narrative content, unknowingly creating a reading challenge for themselves as they navigate “two themes at once. Not only navigating multiple modes, but also navigating and using multiple strategies and literary devices at once to make meaning of the text” (Bender, 2018, p. 114).

• They may become an entrée into traditional prose texts. Often students will read the graphic novel and then request the prose version of the story. “A well-done graphic novel offers the immediacy of the prose reading experience, with the pictures and the words working simultaneously, making a graphic novel not only something one reads but something one sees as well, like reading and watching a movie at the same time” (Gallo & Weiner, 2004, p. 115).

• Graphic novels provide opportunities to comprehend ‘multimodal texts’ in a world full of them. Think of the many forms of social media used today. Graphic novels can be used as instruments when discussing a range of concepts such as “narrative structures, metaphor and symbolism, points of view and the use of puns and alliteration, intertextuality and inference” (Crawford & Weiner, 2012, p. 8).

• They may assist in the development of vocabulary and language use. Stephan Krashen (as cited in Jaffe & Hurwich, 2018) concluded that graphic novels offer 20% more rare vocabulary than traditional chapter books and that by reading a comic book every day young readers process about 500,000 words a year, of which most are “complex vocabulary with a respectable level of difficulty.”

Whilst all of these are valid reasons for showcasing graphic novels, on the most basic level graphic novels are just fun to read. They require the reader to interrogate not just the text, but the placement of, and details of the images, as well as the depth and breadth of the gutters in which they are contained. They are interesting, engaging texts.

We have many quality graphic novels in the Primary Library for the students to borrow and read. They are also fantastic reading for adults as well!

Below is a list of some of our favourites:

• The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Illiad and The Odyssey, Homer
• Alex Rider Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz
• The Amulet series, Kazu Kibuishi
• To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee
• The Baby-sitters Club series, Ann M. Martin
• White Bird, R. J. Palacio
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan

 References:

• Bender, A. A. (2018). Making meaning: Using graphic novels in a sixth-grade English language arts classroom (Order No. 13809036). Available from ProQuest One
• Academic; Social Science Premium Collection. (2198783625). Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.usyd.edu.au/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/making-meaning-using-graphic-novels-sixth-grade/docview/2198783625/se-2?accountid=14757
• Crawford, P. C., & Weiner, S. (2012). Using graphic novels with children and teens: a guide for teachers and librarians. Jefferson City, MO: Graphix.
• Gallo, D., & Weiner, S. (2004). Bold books for innovative teaching: Show, don’t tell: Graphic novels in the classroom. English Journal, 94(2), 114-117.
• Jaffe, Meryl, and Talia Hurwich. (2018) Worth a Thousand Words: Using Graphic Novels to Teach Visual and Verbal Literacy, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. ProQuest Ebook

Interfaith

Respect, understanding, acceptance 

A group of enthusiastic Year 11 students participated in a RUA (Respect, Understanding, Acceptance) event at the Great Synagogue last Wednesday. The event brought together students from different faiths to create a dialogue and set common goals for our society. After some mingling, the students sat in mixed groups to learn from one another about the different and similar customs and rituals of their faiths. Later, they presented the morning prayer. Emanuel students recited the prayer of Modeh Ani and explained its meaning and the use of prayer accessories such as the Kippah, Tallit, Tefillin and Siddur. After a lunch break, the students created posters and shared their ideas about acceptance of different religions in our society. Towards the end of the session, each group presented a song for harmony and peace. Our students joined together to sing Oseh Shalom Bimromav. The event was a fantastic opportunity for all the students to embrace diversity and to represent Emanuel’s Jewish culture.

Here are some quotes from the student’s reflections on the day:

Today was a great experience where we got to connect with a variety of other schools and understand their religions. At first, you may be nervous not knowing what these other schools would think of you and how well they would understand what you were trying to convey, but as soon as you get there and start branching out and talking to the other kids all those worries go away. It is such a great experience being able to share our own beliefs with people while also listening to them about their own. It was great fun being able to work together with them and have civil, fun conversations and really get to know each other as well as have fun. We really get to understand that even though they go to different schools and have different beliefs we are still all very alike and able to get along. Overall, it was a great experience, and you should definitely do it. You’ll make great friends and do fun activities that will bring you together. Gahya Cesana

Interfaith was an insightful opportunity that strengthened my understanding of other cultures. Starting off, it was extremely awkward, we were all in a hall in a Shule and all three schools were pretty standoffish. However, after a lot of small talk about subjects and school, we sat down and were forced to sit next to people in different schools. This majorly helped. We were able to make connections, and then turned into forming a larger group. We did many activities in our groups and a few people in different schools went to the front to perform prayers and explain other monumental totems about their culture. Overall, this experience allowed me to form a greater understanding in other faiths and am extremely appreciative to do so. Scott Reuveny

I enjoyed the discussions most because it was very interesting hearing the other schools questions about Judaism and hearing more about their religion. Ella Hart

I think it is really important to meet people of other faiths, it allows us to go into the world with a more open and educated mind. If people around the world were more educated toward other races and religions, there would be less racism in our society today. Ruby Grynberg

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Slavery and your business

From the Social Action Va’ad

On Thursday 12 May 2022, fifteen Year 11 and 12 students went on an excursion to Centennial Park to learn more about the traditions practiced by Gadigal and Bidjigal people, who lived close to the land where Emanuel School stands today.

One of the main focuses of the event was to gain awareness of the many sustainable practices that were carried out by Indigenous people to care for that land over centuries. We engaged in storytelling and verbal teachings – the main way of education practiced by Indigenous people. Thanks to this visit we are much more knowledgeable of the many ways that nature provides to allow for our survival. For example, we learnt about plants such as the Lomandra or ‘survival plant’, which can be used for: weaving (of baskets, shelter and tool making), nutrition, as it contains starch as a carbohydrates, and hydration, by chewing on the white root. 

We also learnt about the Paperbark Tree and its traditional uses. Hot tip – the dust on the paper bark is anti-bacterial and produces tea tree, so it works as a ‘bush bandage’. Additionally, bark from a paperbark tree can often be used for bedding and shelter as it reflects off heat and keeps any shelter cool. Paperbark can also be used as foil when wet for when cooking – especially for use in an underground oven. 

We also learnt about traditional hunting practices and tools used in hunting, including the woomera, boomerangs and bullroarer. 

The woomera is a spear launcher that allows for spears to release with ease saving some of the energy required by hunters. 

We also learnt about three types of boomerangs; the classic boomerang, the killer/combat boomerang and the kangaroo boomerang. The classic boomerang is used for hunting birds and, when thrown, will return in the same trajectory. The killer/combat boomerang was used in the frontier wars and is more currently used for flocks of birds. Lastly, the kangaroo boomerang is a heavier weapon used with more force in order to hunt larger animals. 

Finally, we learnt the impact of commemoration building such as the Federation Pavilion has on Indigenous people. Our guide explained that for him it is a reminder of a time when he, as an Indigenous person, would not have been allowed in the park talking to not Indigenous people like he is allowed today.

Although we have visited Centennial Park countless times, this excursion allowed us to gain a new perspective and respect for the many ways that the land has provided and continue to provide for us every day. We have gained a new respect for the Gadigal and Bidjigal people, that, as custodians of this land have ensured it survives across generations.  

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By the Social Action Va’ad

Join our team

Bookings open on Tuesday

Gifted and Talented Competitions

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

Senior Ethics Olympiad 

Congratulations to our Senior Ethics Team who were awarded the Bronze Medal for finishing in third place in the Senior Ethics Olympiad on Tuesday 3 May 2022. 

Senior Ethics Team

Ella Hart, Willow Gelin, Alice Milner, Gabrielle Utian and Ashley Goldman engaged with each other and teams from other schools across New South Wales on the following interesting and relevant cases. 

• University Admission by Lottery 
• Anti Natalism 
• Homophobic Discrimination and Freedom of Speech
• Statues
• Something Fishy about the Para-Olympics 
• Wholesome discipline
• Killer Art
• The Medical Brain Drain 

The team responded to the questions posed for each case over four heats,  while building and critiquing their own and others’ arguments. The judges were impressed with their responses and how they worked as a team. It is the first time we have entered in this competition so it is a very pleasing result. The Scots College team were awarded Gold and Queenwood received Silver. 

The Senior Ethics Team put in a lot of effort preparing for the event, attending an online training clinic as well as a number of lunchtime sessions. The experience not only provided students an opportunity to think deeply about some of the ethical issues we face today, but it also helped them develop crucial skills in critical thinking, collaboration and communication. We have a Years 7-9 team entered in the Middle School Ethics Olympiad later this year. 

Mock Trial
Round 2

Round 2 of the Mock Trial competition took place in the last week of Term 1. In a very close contest against Sydney Girls High School, our Mock Trial team narrowly lost by only two points. Ella Hart and Ethan Trenaman were our barristers for this round, supported by Luca Calderon-Havas who took the role as our solicitor. They formed a strong case but just fell short on convincing the Magistrate to issue a guilty verdict. Our witnesses, Isaac Gorelik and Yael Rembach responded well to very tough questions from Sydney Girls High School’s defence team. A special mention must go to Daniel Zipser who stepped in at the very last minute to take the role as our Court Officer. 

Round 3

Those in attendance during Round 3 witnessed a highly contested and very interesting civil trial against Moriah College where Emanuel Mock Trial Team performed to a very high level. Our barristers, Jake Newfield and Arielle Melamed, produced excellent opening and closing statements, and with the support of our solicitor Ella Hart, constructed a very strong case. Enough to convince the Magistrate that on the balance of probabilities the defendant did not breach duty of care and cause the Plaintiff’s injuries. 

Sophie Masnick and Luca Calderon-Havas, our witnesses for this round, kept in character and responded well to some tough questions from Moriah College’s barristers. Also, in his first trial, Aiden Merten took to the role of court officer expertly. 

Even though Emanuel won the case, unfortunately the team did not accumulate enough points to win the round. Nevertheless, the team has shown growth and improvement throughout the competition so far and have performed magnificently considering this is the first year the students have entered the Mock Trial Competition. Round 4 will take place in three weeks time. 

Metropolitan Secondary Schools Chess Competition

Round 1 of the Metropolitan Secondary Schools Chess Competition began on Friday 6 May 2022. We have entered two Junior teams (Year 7-8) in this competition. 

Well done to Emanuel Team A (Josh Barnett, Daniel Zipser, Max Tsipris and Oscar Salek) who started off with three wins out of four against Sydney Boys High School B.

Emanuel Team B (Dylan Vitek, Jake Isenberg, Boaz Simhi and Seth Nachman) were unlucky not to secure any wins from their opening round against Sydney Grammar School B.

HICES Debating Competition

There were mixed results in Round 3 of the HICES Debating Competition with two wins, one draw and two losses. A range of topics were debated covering the area of Public Health. Adjudicators made special mention of Ariel Bloom and Eitan Hamilton who were nominated for the best debaters list for their debates.

Music Camp 2022

Diana Springford – Head of Music

Music Camp
(Monday 20  June 2022 – Thursday 23 June 2022)

Bookings for Music Camp have now closed. Yesterday, a very important email about special diets was ‘broadcast’ by the venue to the email address of the parent who completed our online booking form, for each child who is registered for camp. This email contained a link to a survey requiring you to respond confirming whether or not your child needs a special diet. Your response will directly inform the venue of those dietary needs and is the parents’ responsibility to complete within the deadline please. A very detailed explanation of the special diet options and process was in the covering email. If you are concerned that you didn’t receive it, please email jdearaujo@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.

A detailed packing list will be sent to attendees next week.   

Parents and carers, please remember to put the Music Camp Showcase Concert in your diary for Thursday 23 June 2022, from 6.15 pm – 8.00 pm. Please note that as we have such a large group of campers who will be performing in the concert, we will need to limit the audience to two persons per student. We will video the performance and make that available afterwards to the parents and carers of performers.

Show off your secret, or not so secret, talent at the Music Camp Student Concert on Tuesday evening during camp. Students who wish to participate should have a well-prepared act that is appropriate for Music Camp students from ages 9 – 18. It could be serious or funny. Mr Burley will be looking for a variety of items, from both Emanuel School and Mount Sinai College students from Years 4 – 12.  Students who would like to participate should register their interest at this link with Mr Burley by Friday 10 June 2022. Not everyone who fills out a form is guaranteed a spot, as we have lots of students (but there is no chance of being in the concert if you don’t submit your form). You can only submit one entry. If using a backing track, you would need to have it fully downloaded and email it to Mr Burley – once he has notified you that your item has been selected. You would also need to bring whatever gear you require to camp.

Click to find out!

Remington Owen – Music Teacher 5 – 12

And the winners are…

We are thrilled to announce the winners from the Music Competition. The competition was held over Term 1, with a Finalists Concert held on Monday 4 April 2022.

Congratulations to all those who were invited to perform at the Showcase Concert, and those who submitted a performance or composition to the music competition. The submissions to the competition demonstrate just how strong music is here at Emanuel School. We can’t wait for next year’s event, and we hope that we have even more submissions in 2023!

Finally, we would like to acknowledge the people without whom this competition would not be able to run. These events require a surprisingly large number of people and we are so grateful for everything they do. Firstly, thank you to Andrew Watt and Natanya Milner for their enthusiastic support of the music program, as well as the whole school executive. To Joanne De Araujio and Melinda Seeto for their help in organising the events and the rooms, the accompanists Daniel Burley and Adam Majsay, our audio visual engineer Benjamen Marshall, our photographer Ofer Levy, the marketing team Michelle Favero and Belinda Levin, the music team of Diana Springford, Daniel Burley, Adam Majsay and Sarit Spira, and all of the instrumental music teachers, thank you for your support of the competition and making the event possible. 

The winners for each section are listed below:

K-2 Composition – Koben Benko
K-2 Performance – Oliver & Juliette Mendoza Roth
3-6 Composition – Levi Brody
3-6 Performance – Nathan Shammay
7-10 Composition – Tyson Latter
7-10 Performance – Benjamin Fram
11-12 Composition – Benjamin Cohen
11-12 Performance – Mariah Lewy

Congratulations again to the winners of the competition.

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Let’s sign

Rebecaa Gaida – Hebrew Teacher Primary

Israeli sign language שפת הסימנים הישראלית

Shalom!  שלום

This week our amazing sign language club has made a few videos for you to watch focusing on numbers. Did you know we are counting the Omer right now between Pesach and Shavuot?

Here are the numbers from 1-10, 11-20 and the days of the week. 

Using the same formula for the number 20 do you think you could figure out the sign for the numbers for 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90? 

If you can count to ten in Hebrew then there is a pattern for learning the numbers up to 100.

For 11-20 you add on an esrey to the numbers from 1-9.

For the numbers 30-90 you add on an im (makes it plural in male format) to the numbers from 1-9.

To say a number like 54 you would say ואַרְבַּע חֲמִשִּׁים chamishim ve (and) arba. Think how you might say the other numbers.

Big thanks to Jesse Lasarow, Liam Gross, Arella Codorean and Dylan Fisher for today’s videos. 

Feel free to join us at Sign Language Club in B13 during recess on Wednesdays. 

Toda, תודה

A family day out

Justine Hofman – Head of P&F

This Sunday is the P&F inaugural Family Nature Walk and Picnic.

If you’ve never walked along the Hermitage Track, you’re in for a treat. We’ve chosen this path because it’s family-friendly and you can enter at any point along the track, depending on how long you want to walk.

Your family can go-it-alone or group up with other families (put a call out on your Year level’s WhatsApp to find out who’s going). We will all converge on the open grass area at the front of Strickland House (very close to Neilsen Park) from 12.00 pm – 2.00 pm.

Where: Hermitage Walk, meeting at grassed area next to Strickland House for picnic.
Date: Sunday 22 May 2022.
Time: Start walking at approximately 11.00 am to meet for a picnic 12.00 pm – 2.00 pm.
Cost: Free.
What to bring: Water, picnic lunch and  picnic blanket.
Wet weather plan: If we need to cancel due to wet weather, we will send out a What’s App message by 9.00 am on Sunday morning.

Events to diarise

Friday 26 August 2022: Father’s Day (Breakfast and Stalls)
Friday 4 November 2022 – Sunday 6 November 2022: Emanuel Family Spring Camping 

PSG

Thank you to our volunteers for last week
(Monday 9 May 2022 – Friday 13 May 2022) 

Saul Berkowitz, Keiran Ginges, Jacqueline Rule, Wayne Rubin, Tal Harpaz, Larry Simon, Lisa Goodman, Shai Simhi, Kirsty Greenfield, Ella Israel, Vitali Kanevsky, Mia Kalinko, Sarah Kummerfield, Craig Forman, Evelyn Marczak, Doron Kalinko, Anthony Milner, David Lavecky, Shaun Gross, Meital Winter, Zev Friedman, Daniel Greengarten, Alex Hart, Darren Isenberg, Greg Judin and Leon Kantor.

FRESS with Ms Lowe

Ms Lowe in action

Charred broccolini, red onion and chickpeas

Ingredients

1 small red onion cut into wedges
1 bunch broccolini
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 large garlic clove, crushed
2 tsp lemon zest
2 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp pepper
¼ cup chopped parsley

Directions

In a frying pan over medium high heat, char red onion and broccolini. Place on a serving plate. In the same pan, brown chickpeas with smoked paprika and garlic. Add to the onion and broccolini. Combine lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, pepper and fresh parsley. Pour over vegetables. Serve with lemon wedges.