This week marks (excuse the pun!) 10 years since Marc Light was appointed Principal of The King David School.

He followed Michele Bernshaw, who as Principal for over 15 years, made a significant contribution in shaping the School.

Marc came to King David after several years as an educator at both Mt Scopus and Bialik Colleges and holds a Bachelor of Laws/Arts as well as a Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of Melbourne.  In the announcement of his appointment, the then School Council President of King David, Mark Harrison, credited Marc as someone who is “respected globally as a strong Jewish Educator”.

An added feather to Marc’s cap was he was also the first alumnus to become Principal of a Jewish School in Melbourne, having attended The King David School from Kindergarten to late Primary.

Over the last 10 years, Marc has navigated changing landscapes in the education sector w

We know that children learn best when they are curious and passsionate. Over the past few days the children in Gan Chitah have been showing more interest in elephants, so we have created an elephant sanctuary in the classroom for them to explore. With the children's guidance, we have also added some turtles, frogs a hippopotamus and butterfly. To further spark interest in these mammals, we also read a story called 'the Elephant and Calf'.

Andrea Robinson

ELC Educator

Year 10 Drama students Giorga Sack, Eden Cantoni-Bud, Tahnee Wise and Ella Weinstein attended the highly entertaining performance of ‘The Trojan War’ at Chapel Off Chapel Theatre. This latest production by New Zealand based company A Slightly Isolated Dog is a wonderful work that incorporates a plethora of storytelling devices including: audience interaction, narration, mime, soundscape as well as a host of other conventions. The students will be drawing on these devices in the development of their own presentation which they will present in Term 2. 

As we all arrived back to Kinder after a short break, the children couldn't help but notice all the leaves that had fallen from the trees in our playground. We discussed that it was now Autumn and during Autumn the leaves on trees change colour and then some fall to the ground leaving the tree trunks and branches bare. We went for a walk around the school grounds to collect some fallen leaves to bring back to the classroom to stick and create our very own autumn tree for our room. The children explored the leaves using their senses of sight and touch, some children even tried smelling the leaves. The children enjoyed hearing the crunch as they ran on the dried up leaves and giggled as they tossed the leaves in the air. 

We will continue the learning of Autumn by reading books about Autumn, observing the trees and the different colour/shapes leaves and continue with more crafts. We have already had a go at leaf rubbing

Former KDS student, Teige Cordiner (Class of 2023), presented his monologue interpretation of Madame Arcati at this year’s Top Class Theatre Studies Concert at the Melbourne Recital Centre. Over 1100 Theatre Studies students throughout Victoria presented their monologue examination last year, but only 30 students were selected by the VCAA to showcase their work. Teige’s performance was completely captivating and was greatly enjoyed by the many students and VCE Theatre Studies teachers who attended. Current KDS Theatre Studies students Debbie Pastor, Zoe Munz and Jules Salter were very impressed with the standard of the work that was presented. Kol HaKavod Teige!

Eli Erez

Head Of Performing Arts

It was a fabulous end to Term 1 as the RMC Hall was filled with parents decked out in their best Aussie gear to test their knowledge of all things Australia at the KDSPA Trivia Night. Please click here to see photos from the night. Hosted by Russell Kaplan and Raoul Salter OAM and coordinated by Sarah Popper, participants were treated to a hilariously entertaining evening. What a fun way to socialise and also fundraise for KDSPA at the same time.

Before the Pesach break, our Dandenong Road campus was filled with avadim, Pharoahs, and matzah as our ELC and Junior School engaged in their Pesach S'darim. Students remembered the fifteen steps of the Seder with a special melody ('Kadesh Urchatz'), enacted the Magid (story) of Pesach through costume, songs and props, welcomed Eliyahu haNavi, searched for the Afikomen and, of course, ate a lot of crunchy matzah!

ELC and Pre - Year 2 students shared their S'darim with family members and friends, while the Years 3 - 5 students delighted in sharing the tradition with each other.

Photos from the S'darim are available on our myKDS Photo Gallery. T

hank you to our magnificent Jewish Life and Learning team for ensuring a meaningful and celebratory learning experience for our students.

Friends of KDS invites you to an entertaining evening with highly accomplished Melbourne-based author and playwright, Elise Hearst and talented artist Kathy Temin, Professor, Fine Art at Monash Art Design and Architecture (MADA) at Monash University. Both Elise and Kathy are current parents of The King David School and Elise is also an alumna of the School.  They will discuss Elise’s debut novel, One Day We Are All Going To Die, which is described as 'a fast-paced and darkly humorous story about a 27-year-old single Jewish woman in Melbourne who must learn to reconcile family and cultural expectations with her own desires'.
This is a free event but please register your attendance here for security purposes.
Date: Tuesday 7 May, 2024, 7.15pm
Venue: Multipurpose Room, Magid Campus (517 Orrong Rd, Armadale)

Join the Friends of KDS for a bespoke tour at JAHM on Wednesday 22 May, 11am - 1pm. There are limited places; please book online here. 
ARTitecture presents works by artists represented in the JAHM collection, each expressing an idea related to architecture and the built world. However, unlike architects, these artists are unencumbered by the demands of functionality, such as the client brief, regulations, budgets, constructability, context, sustainability and timeframes that are imposed on architects in producing a work of architecture.
With this unencumbered freedom what are the artists saying? Are they reflecting and critiquing how architecture is created, on how we engage with it when realised? What impact does it have on our lives and what impact does it have on our future?
Using art from the JAHM collection, these big ideas will be explored during an interac