Our community came together to fundraise for school programs and scholarships for our annual Giving Day this Wednesday. We reached our fundraising goal - our Giving Day this week raised $159, 979! Thank you to every one who gave their time and funds and to our very generous Matching Donors!

If you haven't yet donated and would like to do so, donations can be made securely online: 2024 Annual Giving Appeal 

Every donation counts. No matter the size, all donations make a difference in the lives of our students and the future of our School.

With thanks for your wonderful support.

From all at The King David School and the Foundation

Dear Community,

Last Friday our staff participated in our annual Student Wellbeing Conference which was made possible thanks to the Debbie Stach Memorial Fund. The conference involves targeted professional development which is focused on supporting our staff to best meet the wellbeing needs of our students.

Our school prioritises the wellbeing of our students as we believe that a student with strong social and emotional skills who is connected to their peers and their teachers, is well placed to thrive in their learning.

We have developed an evidence-based student wellbeing program that responds to the developmental needs of our students and explicitly teaches particular skills and shares vital information that are considered imperative for students of that age and stage. 

Our expert wellbeing teachers are trained in the implementation of this program and we offer discrete wellbeing classes throughout the entirety of a student’s schooling.

In addition to these classes, we have a belief that every teacher is also a wellbeing teacher. This is because every class relies on opportunities to support our students’ social and emotional development and particular wellbeing challenges do not limit themselves to a particular period or lesson.

As such, we see it as vital to train all of our staff in student wellbeing and our annual conference is an opportunity to do so.

In the lead up to Shavuot, students and staff at the Magid Campus bought non-perishable foods and toiletries to donate to Mazon Australia. Mazon Australia contributes to alleviating food insecurity in Australia through their street pantries, soup bags, and partnerships with other organisation who help those in need. Please click here for more information. 

Thank you to our students and staff who generously contributed and to the Tikkun Olam Vaadah and the Jewish Life staff for organising this tzedakah. 

This week in Digitech, Preps got to meet our Bee-Bot robots! Bee-Bots are programmable floor robots which allow students to create sets of instructions (algorithms) for them to follow. They loved exploring how these robots can be programmed to turn left and right, and move forwards and backwards. Using Alphabet and Shape mats, students challenged each other to make their Bee-Bots move to various shapes, and to the letter that their name begins with. They had a great time playing with these little robots. 

Natalie Porat

Technology Teacher

Several King David students have just been awarded prizes in the annual B’nai B’rith Jewish Youth Art Competition. Outstanding entries from KDS students include: Milena Hain (Year 12) – 1st place in Painting and Drawing (Years 11 & 12 age group); Zoe Munz  – 2nd place in Photography (Years 11 & 12 age group); Ella Simons (Year 12) – 3rd place in Photography (Years 11 & 12 age group); Milo Friedman (Year 11) -  Jeffrey Wiener Memorial Prize for Portraiture & Caricature (Overall Best); Hannah Kausman (Year 11) - 1st place in Portraiture & Caricature (Years 11 & 12 age group). It's not too late to see their work in person at the Glen Eira Town Hall Gallery until Sunday 30 June. 

Pictured is detail from Milena Hain's work. 

Students in Years 5 and 6 competed in the Winter Season Round Robin of the Balaclava District this week. It was a frosty morning for all as all sports were played outside in various locations. Football, Soccer, Netball & Teeball were played and the students were so excited after many weeks of training. Please click here to see images from the day. Our students were fantastic in each of the competitions as they kicked, passed and hit balls.

Our best achievement came from our boys' Soccer team who came runners up, making it to the grand final now three years in a row.  Our football team finished in 3rd place as did our girls' soccer team. Netball and Teeball teams tried hard all day and improved as each game went on.

All students should be proud of themselves and the way they conducted themselves in true KDS spirit. A massive thank you also to all staff and coaches who prepared our students.

Drew Solewicz

Sports Manager

Did you know that the T-Rex, 'Tryant Lizard', was the most fierce dinosaur of its time? This and many other interesting facts about dinosaurs has been the focus of the Year 2 Integrated English Unit. This week our excursion to the Melbourne Museum and IMAX rounded off a great term of exploring dinosaurs and other preshistoric animals. Please click here to see photos from the day. Students were immersed in learning about dinosaurs' habitats, environmental adaptations, diet and features. We have also explored how fossils are created. The students came face to face with a Triceratops fossil from over 67 million years ago! This skeleton displayed at the Melbourne Museum is over 85% intact. The dinosaur walk allowed students to see and explore a range of other dinosaur fossils and learn about their features and where they lived. The final highlight was the 3D movie all about the T-Rex. It was a great day out and the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  

Some of the student's reflections from the excursion were: 

Tay - "I was surprised how big the Triceratops skeleton was!" 

Carmelle - "I enjoyed where the three children found the T-Rex fossil in the IMAX movie"

Cressida - "I liked seeing how big all the dinosaur fossils were"

Samson - "In the movie, I liked seeing the three baby T-Rex's in action" 

Liam - "At the start of the film, I liked when the T-Rex caught the Quetzalcoatlus (Chicken of Hell)"

Gideon - "I loved the whole movie!"  

Sophia - "I enjoyed learning about how big the meteor was" 

Awatif Davies 

Year 2 Teacher

The Year 6 and Year 8 Music Soirees were presented in the Music Recital Room on Tuesday 18 June. The standard of the musicianship was wonderful and the audiences were suitably impressed. This follows the Prep to Year 5 Music Soiree that was presented on Monday 17 June. It was wonderful to see our young musicians developing their music skills. Don't worry if you missed these events as we have three more soirees scheduled for next week:

Monday 24 June 6pm - Year 7 Music Soiree

Wednesday 26 June 6pm - Year 9 to 12 Music Soiree

Thursday 27 June 3:45pm - Prep to Year 5 Music Soiree

This week Gan Gefen went to the Junior School to watch a string assemble performance. Cello teacher Amy Banner and the Year 2 performers introduced their music instrument - the cello. It was so lovely to see Maddie’s big brother, Ben, and Sammy’s cousin, Asher, performing. Please click here to see photos. The group performed a few songs, including the Alphabet song which we all sang along to.

The Year 2s had only started learning to play the cello in February and we are very impressed with their performance!

Here are the children’s thoughts when asked what their favourite part of the performance was:

Lila- Singing the ABC song

Maddie- Seeing my brother play

Millie- I like touching the cello

Sali- Watching them play

Leo- Me too!

Millie- I like watching the show too

Sammy- I like seeing my cousin

Finn- I like touching the cello

Gracie- I like singing the song

Olivia- I like touching the cello

Matteo- I touched the big cello

Thank you to Amy and the Year 2 students for a wonderful performance! 

Lisa Lu

ELC Teacher

We are thrilled to share with you the first movie in a series of productions that Year 5 students will be creating in their Hebrew lessons this year. Titled "We Are Going on an Excursion," this video is the result of a wonderful collaborative effort by our students.

Drawing inspiration from the third story in the "Chaverim B'Ivrit" booklet, students worked together to write a play about a class trip to the zoo. The process began with brainstorming sessions in pairs, where students shared their ideas and language skills. These ideas were then brought together in a class discussion to create the final script.

Once the text was complete, students eagerly nominated themselves for various roles. They dedicated time to memorising their lines and understanding their cues. Props were organised, and we even booked the school bus to add an authentic touch to the production.

The result is a delightful movie that showcases the creativity, collaboration, and hard work of our Year 5 students - please click here to watch. We are excited to share this with you and hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it and are looking forward to creating more movies throughout the year. 

Stay tuned for more cinematic adventures from our talented Year 5 students!

Ravit Epstein

Junior School Teacher

This week Yasmin from Cleanaway (City of Stoninington) came for a visit to teach Gan Tamar children about litter and remind us of the difference between each bin and what goes inside them. She started off showing us the recycle and rubbish trucks that drive around Stonnington and told us to be safe around trucks

We then discussed 'What litter is'. Some of the children's answers included things on the floor and then the world gets sad.

We then watched a video about Al the aluminum can and learnt What if Al isn't recycled?

He becomes litter and can fly away into the drains and then river and then the ocean. When we litter on land a lot of our trash goes into the ocean and all the animals can get hurt or tangled from the litter.

We then had a few more discussions based around litter, refreshing what we already know and teaching us new ideas.

Thank you to Yasmin for teaching us about litter! 

Rivka Ash

ELC Teacher

Following the Shavuot holiday, our staff were excited to attend the annual Staff Wellbeing Conference. This year the theme was helping ourselves to help our students. 

We started the day with a gentle Tai Chi session with Master Soong. We then listened to Nicki Lefkovits' keynote address where she gave some Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) techniques we can use with our students to reframe negative thinking. She urged us to engage our inner coach rather than inner bully. Nicki also stressed the importance of social connections and time spent in nature to help with resilience. Families can hear Nicki speak at our upcoming Parent Education session on body image and self esteem this Thursday 27 June. 

Staff chose three workshops from a range of sessions, including on understanding trauma and its impacts in the classroom; anxiety in the classroom; supporting students to develop a positive body image; and mindfulness meditation. 

The day ended with a panel discussion with people who perform in high pressure environments, including a paramedic, about techniques they use to be calm under pressure and how they destress. 

Thank you to Chanie Stock and David Opat for organising a day of rich learning and connection. 

The talented cast members of our Middle School Musical - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - assembled for their first rehearsal on Sunday 16 June. During the five hour rehearsal the students participated in a range of workshop activities and vocal and choreography sessions. The production staff were incredibly impressed with the students' focus, commitment, exuberance and talent. The production will be staged in our RMC on September 8 and 9 and tickets will go on sale in early August. Stay tuned for more exciting updates regarding this production.

Eli Erez

Head of Performing Arts

The Year 11 VET Hebrew class is preparing for an assessment where they need to talk with a new staff member about everyday aspects of the workplace, for example, using the coffee machine, operating the printer/copy machine.

We recently invaded the staff room and had a go with the coffee machine, then we checked the dishwasher. Later we explored the printer in the library. Students had to give each other clear instructions how to use the appliance. Please click here to see photos - it was fun!!

Sagit Shahar

Hebrew Teacher

The Year 10 Drama students (Eden Cantoni-Bud, Netan Meydan, Giorga Sack, Emily Umansky, Ella Weinstein and Tahnee Wise) presented their Suitcase Series performance to a select audience of family and peers in our Theatrette on Tuesday 4 June. The timing of this presentation - one day prior to celebrating World Environment Day (05/06) and the day after our Reconciliation Week concluded, where we were reminded of the importance of our connection to country - made the subject matter of their work all the more pertinent. Please click here to see photos of the presentation.

Suitcase Series is an award winning Malthouse Theattre education program which has been running since 2010. It is an innovative program that offers students across Victoria an opportunity to develop and expand their theatre-making skills. As part of this program, our Year 10 Drama students created a performance that explores the issue of Climate Change. This presentation was created by our students using a range of play-making techniques including - researching, brainstorming, improvising, scripting, editing, rehearsing and refining. The Suitcase Series provides opportunities for Drama students across Victoria to collaborate as writers, actors, dramaturgs, directors and production crew. We are delighted with the outcome of their efforts.

Eli Erez

Head of Performing Arts 

When you're both a member of TBI and a KDS family, you can enjoy discounts across both that add up to make TBI membership essentially free for KDS families!
Membership with TBI offers a wide range of benefits and opportunities to connect with youth programs and other Progressive Jewish families.
For more information, call TBI on (03) 9510 1488 or email info@tbi.org.au.

Tickets are on sale or Artivism, a celebration of art and creativity in the pursuit of social change, brought to you by our Year 9 Nitzan students. All proceeds go to Magen David Adom.
This coming Wednesday 26 June from 6:00 - 8:00pm, we invite the entire school community to join us for a street festival at the Orrong Rd Campus.
There will be live music, live poetry and the inaugural showing of a student-made documentary. There will be pizza and drinks for sale, as well as t-shirts and other merchandise produced by our students.
Please buy tickets here. Get in quick and you’ll receive a free slice of pizza for every adult ticket purchased.
We can’t wait to see you there!

Please join Kedem and Rabbi Danny Schiff as he presents a seminar on Understanding Antisemitism in 2024. 
This event will be held at a private home and on Zoom.
10:30am Sunday 7 July.
Please see the attached flyer for more details.