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The new school year means new opportunities for learning, growth and development. And of course, it also means new beginnings. Not only does 2019 mark the start of an exciting educational journey for many commencing and returning students at Masada College, it also brings in new leadership positions for College Principal, Mr. Martin Tait, Head of Senior School, Ms. Megan Laing and Head of Junior School, Mrs. Danielle Blumberg.

College Principal, Martin Tait has both the knowledge and experience leading the school into the future as his previous role as Head of Junior School and College Deputy Principal involved overseeing and leading the entire campus. Mr Tait has also had a plethora of leadership experiences and roles in working overseas in Singapore, in Western Australia and across prominent independent schools in New South Wales.

He says that one of the projects he’s excited for this year is the prospects of a collaborative, multicultural initiative that brings Masada College together with a Muslim and Christian school. The College will also be focusing on implementing SEQTA, an innovative integrative software management tool for teaching staff. “This software will help refine systems and improve communication, particularly with regard to pastoral care and teaching and learning curricula,” says Mr. Tait.

Recently appointed Head of Senior School, Ms. Megan Laing, who has worked internationally in China as a Head of School as well as in Melbourne as a Head of Middle School, feels that a new year presents the opportunity to build and cement relationships with the staff, students and parents. “I instantly connected with the warm environment and a shared passion for teaching that I felt here. I’m excited to be working with a team that’s truly invested in their students,” says Ms. Laing. Ms. Laing also plans to implement 6- weekly interim reports to inspire more conversation around school performance, as well as an early commencement program at the end of the year.

For Mrs. Danielle Blumberg, Head of Junior School and former Head of Academic Care at Masada College, this year promises clear directions after last year with the transitions. “I’m looking forward to greater collaboration between our ELC and Junior School and we are in the process of engaging with an external group, Young Engineers to strengthen our science teaching for Years K – 6, as part of our focus on STEM education,” she says. The College also plans to bring in the URStrong social skill curriculum to complement Stephen Covey’s Leader In Me program, both of which will help Junior School students develop their interpersonal skills. Mrs. Blumberg, who introduced the acclaimed High Potential Learners Program into the school in 2017, says this year will also see the addition of a specialist Learning Support Teacher in the Junior School, a School Counsellor as well as Psychology interns who will be implementing well-being programs across the College.

Masada College certainly has a new year filled with potential. However, while there may be new faces and roles at the College, there are some facets of the school that will always remain the same – that is, a shared vision and mission of a Modern Orthodox Jewish Day School which prides itself on inclusivity.

“Besides being a passionate educator, Ms Laing impressed us with her rich and extensive global experiences, accompanied by her strong sense of justice and integrity,” says Acting College Principal Martin Tait, about Ms Megan Laing who will be joining Masada College in October as the Head of Senior School. “Ms Laing’s sense of fairness and professional approach along with her high expectations are all admirable qualities that she will be bring to our College,” he says.

“While I’m very excited to be moving from Melbourne to Sydney, it’s really about the right job for me,” says Ms Laing about her move. “I instantly felt comfortable at Masada; I have always placed value on that feeling and so far in my career I have not been let down. It’s about that first moment when you arrive and it feels right,” she says.

Ms Laing, who emigrated from South Africa nine years ago, spent most of her 23-year-long career teaching in Johannesburg at Crawford College and Reddam House. “When I moved to Melbourne I started at Bialik College and then worked for Haileybury College. I also spent one year in China as the Principal of International for Haileybury.”

“There were many things that attracted me to Masada College,” says Ms Laing. “It is a school with a proven track record of high performing students. It is also a smaller school which is community- oriented and this is something that I really like. I thrive in a dynamic environment which pushes my limits, that has expectation of its staff and students and that seeks to achieve to high standards. I think Masada is all this.”

“I think I am lucky to be a teacher as our job is never the same,” says Ms. Laing. “The students are different every day and every year. I teach because I love that moment when a student gets the concepts, especially the difficult ones – it’s like a light that goes on. I also love being able to watch students grow and change over the time that they are at a school. Some face huge difficulties and seeing these students succeed with help from their parents and the school is something that I cherish being a part of.”

Ms Laing, who is also studying towards a Masters in TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), and says her personal strengths lie in a hard work ethic, loyalty, dedication to the task and good relational strengths “which means I relate easily to others and build relationships quickly”. “I am an ideas person and driven by solutions. I also have a strong sense of social  justice – I worked for the Nelson Mandela trust for years in South Africa. Oh and I have a good sense of humour-I love to laugh,” she says. When not on the school campus, Ms Laing says you can find her at the beach drinking coffee. “We warmly welcome Ms Laing to the Masada College community and look forward to introducing her to students, staff and families in the months ahead,” says Martin Tait.

On November 2018, 28 Year 10 students explored Israel together, participating in activities that reflected the unique diversity that is Masada College, but which they discovered is also the reality of Israel.

When David Ben Gurion declared the independence of the Jewish State in 1948 many of the religious groups living on the land became a part of the new state. Arab Christians and Muslims, Jews and later Bahai and Druzim all make up the religious groups represented in the population of Israel. Our students too reflected that diversity; Israeli Jews, Australian Jews, Christians, students of Palestinian Christian descent and Chinese students left Sydney International Airport only to thoroughly perplex the EL AL security in Bangkok! This group was not one they were expecting from a Jewish Day School on the leafy North Shore of Sydney.

As we made our way through Yad Vashem, the culmination of the Year 10 Holocaust Studies, our students realised that when the world allows a genocide on the scale of the Holocaust, other genocides can and will follow. When anti-Semitism becomes the way societies express their fear of others, soon bigotry, homophobia, sexism and racism become the norm.  But, as they wandered through the “Avenue of the Righteous Amongst the Nations” they learned that human goodness, dignity and respect for all life is universal and all of us have the capacity to stand up against hate if we dig deep and find the courage to do so.

In the alleyways of the Old City of Jerusalem our students heard the sounds of the muezzin’s call to prayer while church bells rang and the sounds of prayer rose from the Kotel. They saw imams, priests and ultra-Orthodox Jews garbed in traditional clothing standing next to Jews, Muslims and Christians dressed in ripped jeans and t-shirts.  In this dynamic mix of people, secular and religious blend easily in the Israeli landscape. Many people are not strictly religious or secular, yet co-exist. However, they also saw and heard of the tensions that run high in some neighbourhoods when religious observance or way of life is perceived to be threatened. In short, they saw the diversity and complexity which is human nature. Our students began their journey to grapple with the reality with which we, as adults, still struggle – people are multi-faceted and seldom fit into neat categories. We live in a world in which it is assumed that if one is so-called “right wing” on one political issue, one is “right wing” on all issues. We have lost the art of bipartisanship and nuanced response. With all its challenges this complexity is evident in Israel.

Our final activity was a graffiti tour of the Florentine neighbourhood of Tel Aviv. Nowhere was the diversity of thought, political allegiances and culture more apparent. In Australia we are accustomed to the idea of multiculturalism. We are a nation of diverse food, language, culture and religious affiliations. However, we encounter frequent incidents of racial violence and religious intolerance. As educators and policy makers we fail to teach our students the value of multiculturalism lies in the celebration of difference and pride in one’s religious or cultural heritage. Multiculturalism is often confused with “sameness”. Israel’s constant vigilance and internal debates over what constitutes democracy and the enshrining of the rights of all Israelis – Arab Muslim, Christian or Jew, is a lesson for Australia and our own school community. At Masada we pride ourselves on our diversity while maintaining our Jewish ethos.

During their trip our students noted parallels between the challenges faced by Israel and Masada in protecting the identities of all minorities within a Jewish society or school ethos. They also saw that if coexistence is possible within a country like Israel, it is possible here at Masada.

It demands conscious effort, respect and understanding.

An editor’s perspective on the teacher who helped his student follow his dreams and a student who never gave up.

If you want to know how teachers can inspire their students and help them to realise their dreams, then take a moment to read this true story that took place last week at Masada College.

Will Kostakis, a guest author came to talk to Year 6 about his journey as an author. Will knew that the Acting College Principal, Mr Tait would be in the audience, but Mr Tait did not know that his former student would be the guest speaker. Will told us his story about how he always wanted to be a writer and how his teacher at the time, Mr Tait, had played a big role in assisting him to achieve his dream.

When Will was in Year 6, he was in Mr Tait’s English class and Mr Tait assigned books to all the children. Will told us that he really wasn’t enjoying his book and decided to write his own story instead. Will’s friend in the class started to read it and found it so enjoyable that he asked Will to continue writing another chapter. Soon all the children in the class were reading Will’s book and Will was enjoying the constant writing. Nobody in the English class was reading the assigned book, instead they were reading Will’s book.

Now here comes the part where Mr Tait was such an inspiration. Mr Tait called Will into his office and instead of being angry at him for not reading the book, he complimented Will on his excellent story and asked Will one question that he didn’t expect, “What’s next?” Mr Tait recognised Will’s talent and encouraged him to write more. Mr Tait cared about Will’s passion and wanted Will to cherish that and continue writing. Mr Tait told us that Will was a very strong student, was winning writing competitions at school and was getting distinctions and high distinctions for all his work. He was always impressed by Will’s motivation and passion for writing and he felt proud to be his teacher.

Will’s experience in Mr Tait’s class marked the beginning of his journey to becoming a successful writer. It was not always an easy journey and Will discussed how he sent his book to many publishers and got many rejections. Finally, in his last year at school Will got an offer to publish his book and become an accomplished author. This story has taught us many lessons, such as the importance of hard work and to never give up. Perhaps the most important lesson is about how teachers can inspire and encourage their students so they can reach their potential and their dreams can become a reality. As Mr Tait commented in his interview, “I felt proud that I was Will’s teacher and it was a good feeling to see someone follow their passion.”

For Barry Zworestine, Psychologist and Head of Learning Support, it was the opportunity to work in a community- focused school where students are educated in the fullest sense of the word that brought him to Masada College back in 2002. “All three of my children have spent time here and have really benefited from their experience,” he says. “After 16 years, I continue to be feel excited and motivated to come to work,” says Zworestine, who offers support to students across a full spectrum of needs, from academic to emotional, that can impact on well-being, self-esteem, relationships and academic performance…

It is with a great sense of sadness that I end my seventeen years at Masada College. It has been a great honour to lead our special school and there were many times that I felt I had to pinch myself to see if it was real that I had been given this huge responsibility and privilege…

Danielle Blumberg, Acting Head of Junior School and Head of Academic Care, explains what Masada College gives students beyond the classroom…