Dear Community,

Below is an excerpt of the speech that I delivered to our Year 12s at this week’s Graduation Dinner:

Class of 2018,

There is some interesting analysis coming out of the United States where social commentator, David Brooks, has looked into the key messages delivered at graduation ceremonies – often called commencement addresses. Brooks identifies the key messages being delivered at these events as:

“Follow your passion, chart your own course, march to the beat of your own drummer, follow your dreams and find yourself.” He says: “this is the litany of expressive individualism, which is still the dominant note in American culture.”

The problem with this advice is it neglects the nuance that positive psychology has taught us can lead to a fulfilled and contented existence. The key to happiness is not found in individualism. Rather, it is in togetherness, belonging and a sense of purpose.

Another social commentator, Steven Pinker, points out tha

Year 6 students have been collecting books and raising money to send books to Africa for the charity ABCA (Australian Books for Children of Africa). On Thursday they finally stamped, sorted and packed the books to be shipped.

• 'We found the process a great experience. I learned that a lot of people don't have the same opportunities that we have and we loved to help them out.' - Bella
• 'It was fun to stamp the books and help out with everything and it is good to know that I helped other children.' - Jacqui
• 'It was good collecting the books for the children because we knew they will enjoy them just as much as we enjoyed them.' - Emma
• 'I am glad to have had the opportunity to be able to help children in Africa to have books for their education.' - Gabi

In honour of Chanukah, a battle reenactment took place at lunchtime at the Senior School. The Temple had been defiled by Henry Wise Antiochus IV Epiphanes, whom the Jews called Epimanes (Madman) who was supported by Jordan Engel Bacchides representing the Hellenised Syrians. Natasha Freiberg answered Antiochus' Proclamation and banning of Jewish Laws.

The People of Judah were represented by Liam Avital, Ryan Frisch, Samuel Oizerovitch; Jack Roper; Jackson Carew; Nathan Lahav and Jacob Dent. The battle was long and arduous resulting in the destruction of a cardboard Beit Hamikdash, an overturned mizbeach and an overturned sacrifice of a cardboard pig. The valiant People of Judah will always resist oppression and religious persecution, particularly next year around the same time. All who participated have earned great honour for themselves and the generations to come. As is said through the School and land .

On Tuesday this week, some students from Year 7 and Year 9 went to the Police Museum to undertake a CSI activity. Forensics is an area of Science that is really fascinating. The Science enrichment excursion motivated and encouraged students to extend their science learning. It has helped them advance their experiences in the classroom to contribute to future scientific endeavors.
Lesley MalliganPaul
---------------------------------------------------------------
The forensic science excursion was a really amazing experience. The first thing that happened was a slideshow presentation, which was very informative and interesting. We then tried to solve a murder, where we were separated into 4 groups. Each group focused on a different area, where one group tried to find the cause of death, and another tried to find the identification of the victim. That was a really fun and interesting experience. Overall I learnt a lot and would definitely recommend.
Jacob Kronberg (Year 7)

This week we made latkes and Chanukah cookies for Chanukah. First, we made latkes. We put the potatoes in the food processor. Then we squeezed the juice out. We added some spring onions. We also made sweet potato ones. We then cooked them in oil. Later, we got to eat them. They were delicious! I like latkes with salt!

Next, we made Chanukah cookies. First, we put the dry ingredients together. Then we added soy milk and played with it. Then, we rolled it out and cut it into different shapes. There was a dreidel, a chanukiah, a shield, a Magen David and a man/Macabee. Then, we let them cook. When they were finished cooking we made icing and put it on. The icing was blue for Chanukah.
After, we got to eat them. They were amazing! I especially liked the icing!

Prep to Year 2 students performed Chanukah the Musical this week and by all accounts, it did not disappoint! Below is a note from David Opat, Head of Junior School that appeared in the program, about the show:

“Chanukah is a very important story because it is about bravery and sticking to what is right no matter what adversity one faces. It also speaks about the idea that some things can run out. In this case the oil for the Menorah. This idea lead us to start exploring the concept of interpersonal sustainability, in other words being nice to each other, does it ever run out? Does caring, inclusiveness and kindness ever really run out? The answer in the show is a firm: No! These things are endless and they are the values we promote on a daily basis at The King David School. Apart from the exploration of these values the show allows us to get down and boogie using the Disco rhythms of the 1970s. Students have also honed their dramatic skills in representing a series of very normal

For the past two weeks Year 7 Maths Extension students have been busy with two exciting projects. They conducted a statistical survey on chosen topics: pose a question, collect data, calculat measures of centre and spread, build dot plots, steam and leaf plots, pie graphs, bar graphs, comment on shape of data and possible outliers.

The students also created mystery cryptograms incorporating problems on Probability and Statistics and other topics studied this year. All their riddles were put together in one book. Jackson Carew and Teige Cordiner designed the cover page for the book. During our last Maths lesson, students had a class competition to decode the greatest number of cryptograms. The winners of the race were Jacob Kronberg, Jared Roff and Cayden Vainer. Congratulations to all Maths Extension students for the great team work this year!

Introducing the 2019 King's Carnival crew - b>Candi Apel (our Trusted Leader, who does anything and everything that needs to be done), Ellana Aarons (the one who keeps us all on track), Gaby Stach (the Money Gal & Marketing Leader), Danielle Kamien & Jenny Boymal (our Marketing Team), Nonnie Kark (Sponsorship Guru), Tina Landsberg & Sarah Popper (Operations Crew), Tania Guttmann (Volunteer Coordinator), Nikki Laski (Sourcing Extraordinaire) Lindy Rudski, Deb Opat, Deena Spektor and Michelle Liberman (our Ride & Sideshow Crew), Tori Howard (our Entertainment Superstar) Nadine Hauser & Belinda Rotstein (Sweet Tooth Team), Shira Levine (our Retail Star), Robyn Licenblat, Shelley Kaplan & Kika Inbar (Creative Crafts Crew), Karen Samuel, Tiffany Mulezy & Sharon Cohen (our Foodies), and couldn’t do it all without the wonderful support from Carrie Kausman (KSDPA President)!

It all started in the Gan Dubi room with a parent’s enthusiasm and initiative by sourcing silkworm eggs and bringing them to our room as a learning experience for the the children. We learnt that the silk worm is named tola’at meshi in Hebrew and then our journey began.

Little worms appeared from these eggs. The tola’at meshi ate and ate and became larger silkworms, just like in the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carl. They ate mulberry leaves and became quite plump! After some time they sat contented in their designer made hutch by Erez and gathered the energy to spin a cocoon. Some cocoons were bright yellow, some were light yellow. The silk was spun around the body of the worm which grew into a pupa. The pupa inside became a fluttering moth who mated with another and it all began again with more eggs.

What a journey we have been on these past several months. Our entire Gan Dubi room has taken on this interest and it has formed a large part of our daily curriculum. We ha

There is new furniture that has recently been installed in one of the four key Science laboratories and it is already inspiring our students! The mobile tables (in KDS colours) are monomer units which allow greater adaptability within the framework of a lesson. Whether it be independent test work, collaborative design thinking or class discussions, Mg01 now has additional versatility. Very exciting!

The Junior School is enjoying some wonderful new features to the outdoor areas as a result of the generosity from our school community.

In the area next to the tuckshop, a stunning outdoor seating area has recently been installed. This was made possible because of a generous donation from one of our school supporters. The seating is not just aesthetically beautiful and hard wearing, but sustainable as it is made from recycled timber and it is also produced by a local craftsperson. There is plenty of seating for an entire class to enjoy an outdoor lesson.

Both the Kindergarten and the Prep to Year 5 students are enjoying new shadecloth in the play areas thanks to the wonderful donation by the Parents' Association. This has ensured that our students remain sun smart!

Recently, the Year 11 students headed towards the Gippsland lakes to experience a three day camp, where many of us were able to take on a new set of challenges.

Upon arrival in Metung, we ate lunch, divided into groups and boarded our sailing boats. There we learned basic skills including understanding the location of the bow, stern, port and starboard, how to control the jib to throw a tack, navigation, and how to read weather and channel markers.

Under the guidance of staff, we sailed our boats across the Gippsland lakes, and in spite of training, on numerous occasions, a couple of boats found themselves cemented to the bottom of the lake.

Many of us seemed to bring the Melbourne weather with us, and despite frigid temperatures, found the opportunity to sunbathe, swim and even burn. Camp provided a touch of freedom, where we were able to roam local villages, cook for ourselves in mini kitchenettes, canoe and relax.

We had such an exciting and busy year of Hebrew study in the Junior School. For the last term, students from Prep to Year 5 prepared Hebrew assemblies.

• Prep and Year 1 students showed us the different letters of the Alef- Bet and how they learnt to read using Hebrew vowels. Year 1 students used known vocabulary to describe their immediate family members.
• Years 2 and 3 students presented the way we write the Alef-Bet in Hebrew script and also introduced Tamar the main character of the text book that we learned from all year.
• Years 4 and 5 students continued telling the tales of Tamar and her friends in Israel.

The Senior Orchestra was invited to perform at this year's Making Waves concert last Wednesday. The concert, organised by Distance Education Victoria, featured new works composed by students of VCE Music Style and Composition. Distance Ed. is the largest provider of this demanding subject, and Noa Abrahams and Daniel Freidgeim were two of only twelve students to have works selected for a live performance.

Congratulations on their amazing efforts and a great year overall for ensemble music making at King David.

Pop-Up Shabbat starts Friday 14 December and runs every Friday night through summer. 6.15pm Fridays, Mechanics Road, Red Hill. All are welcome.

Friends of KDS Association are very excited for the "Hooray for Hollywood" event next Saturday 16 February 2019. Looking forward to a wonderful event! VENUE: Kooyong Tennis Club. TIME: 7.00pm start Enquiries: contact Eric Krause: eric@erickrause.com.au