AVѧԺ

The introduction in August of legislation regarding the right to disconnect from work has caused much discussion in various schools and other workplaces; listening to people’s opinions on the new laws has been fascinating. The wording of the legislation (accessible on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website) explains that “The right to disconnect protects employees who refuse to moni ...

Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending the ZFA Jewish Educators' conference at Mount Scopus in Melbourne, together with a team of Carmel Jewish Studies staff. The experience was quite different from my first ZFA conference two years ago, when everything was new, every idea was surprising and I knew nobody. This time I was fully aware of what to expect and was looking fo ...

Public speaking is one of those skills which is so important in many spheres, yet daunting to many people. Some of us have genuinely struggled with it over the years and practise for many hours before every speech, enduring feeling sick the night before and boasting dangerously elevated heart rates as we stand to speak. Watching others speaking publicly is much more fun and ha ...

AVѧԺ Alumnus Matthew Leibowitz (OKC 1997) has many heartwarming school memories. Not only did he make lifelong friends during his time at Carmel he discovered a love for Maths which ultimately led to a successful career in finance. Matthew is the now the founder of the successful financial services company, Stake and we recently caught up with him to find out more abou ...

This week was a week of contrasts for me, as I enjoyed the start of my Year 12 Leavers’ interviews as well as hosting the Year 6 students’ Orientation Day in the High School as they prepare for their move across the oval in 2025. The transition ‘to Big School’ is a fascinating one; a carefully curated process planned to set students up for High School, ensuring a positive star ...

Term 3 has started well, with the annual Zooz Camps a highlight. The first one was our Year 12 students’ last camp as a student (we hope that many of them will return as madrichim in future years!) and they embraced the occasion accordingly. Mr Lawrence and his fabulous Jewish Life team had organised the usual fantastic activities and our very own canteen led by Mrs Horwitz and ...

I watched in awe last week, as a lifeguard at the pool where I was exercising dived in fully clothed and swam the length of the pool to save a small child. Nobody had noticed the little boy was drowning. He was at the stage of floating bolt upright with scared looking eyes and slowly moving arms, but nothing was happening – he was out of his depth and unable to swim. His paren ...

We recently caught up with OKC Brian Leedman who is currently the Chairman of BlinkLab Limited, a company founded by neuroscientists at Princeton University, that has developed a smartphone based diagnostic platform for autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Brian graduated from AVѧԺ in 1987 and traces his successful career back to an ear ...

Art is an integral part in everybody’s day to day life, whether it’s in the clothes we wear, furniture we use or art we create, we can all agree that art is an incredibly important part of who we are and how we present ourselves to the world. As art is such a vital entity, it is fundamental that we have great art teachers. Luckily for us at AVѧԺ, we are blessed with on ...

I have spent much of my time recently, sitting in my office putting together the myriad of documents required for the re-registration of a school. Our submission is due next week and I am aware that I look old and tired as a direct result! There was a point when I needed a five-minute break from my screen. I shut my eyes and was drawn to the excited chatter of High School stud ...