Insights

I have always been a big believer in the efficacy of parenting books. Some can offer wonderful advice and others great comfort when we realise that the behaviours or issues that keep us awake at night can be regarded as normal. For me, the greatest benefit of these books is that they tend to inspire […]

The middle years of schooling are often characterised as a challenging time for learning. Students at this stage tend to be developing a stronger sense of their identity and typically experience an imperative to prioritise their social world above their studies. Over these years, they often transition to seeing their peers as the central authorities

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

One of the precious items I possess is a tape-recording of an interview I conducted with my late grandfather, Kurt Lippmann, in which he detailed his story of escape from Hamburg, Germany in the lead up to the Shoah. In a peculiarity of the old cassette technology, the recording has bled into what it was

A cursory analysis of the content of our liturgy, poetry and history identifies that the relationship with Zion is at the heart of the Jewish religion. Many of our prayers, our common cultural conventions and significant archeological findings attest to the multilayered, complex and ancient connection between the Jewish people and Israel. On my recent

“Think about your children when they’re in their 20s, what do you hope for?” This question was posed by Dr Marc Brackett to the audience at his talk this week at The King David School entitled ‘Emotional Intelligence: The Key to Raising Happy, Healthy and Successful Kids’. Dr Brackett has collated data on responses to

At last year’s Presentation Evening I said the following to our VCE graduates: “The world since October 7 is a different one. As you, our graduating students, stand at the threshold of a significant transition, I want to share with you some ideas that I hope will help fortify you for the future and particularly

I have just returned from a visit to Israel where I participated in the Herzog United Fellowship program which involved 21 heads of Jewish schools from 13 different countries. The program aims to offer school leaders strategic support in managing change and addressing common challenges that occur in Jewish education. The program began in the