Dear Community,

Recently, Melbourne surpassed the unwanted world record for cumulative days in lockdown. This unfortunate milestone has been somewhat lightened by the first steps towards returning our students to their classrooms. This week we were thrilled to welcome our final year VCE students back for their classes and we eagerly anticipate the return of further year levels in the coming weeks.

The pandemic has thrown forward unique challenges that we have all had to accommodate. In all my years of teacher training and educational practice, I never anticipated that so much of our daily focus could be on matters relating to face masks, vaccination programs, ventilation and monitoring for fluctuations in student temperature. 

I have been tremendously proud of our School community’s response to this challenging time. We have worked very hard to appropriately implement the required health recommendations and all the while have maintained a strong focus on

We were thrilled to welcome back our Year 11 and 12 students for the GAT and their units 3 & 4 VCE classes this week. How wonderful it has been to hear the halls filled with excited voices, and to see our classrooms and common spaces being used! 

Wishing all our VCE students an excellent final week of classes before SWOTVAC starts at the end of next week.  

You got this! 

Please note, masks were removed for photography only.

During the holidays, we were incredibly pleased to partner with Airlie Women's Clinic to offer the Pfizer vaccine to King David students and staff. 

With many fully vaccinated staff volunteers on site to help, we efficiently vaccinated a significant number of our community.

We are thrilled that we were able to contribute to safety of our community and help Melbourne reach our vaccination goals so we can safely return to campus!

At the end of last term, Year 12 English students began the revision process for their end of year exam with an incursion of Much Ado About Nothing presented in a live virtual performance by The Australian Theatre Company.

The acting troupe was assisted by our very own volunteer actors: Mikey, Jess, Eve, Teegan, Julian and Mitchell who performed their parts with great skill and passion to rival the professionals.  

Just before the High Holy Days, we launched our new digital photo gallery to KDS families. Photos are a wonderful way to capture students' special experiences at our School, and we want to share as many as possible with our families.

Accessible through the secure myKDS portal, our new photo gallery is organised so that parents can see images of their children automatically under the gallery category 'My VIPs'. Parents can download these photos and share them with their loved ones or take them to be printed. Please note, only photos featuring parents' own children can be downloaded.

In recognition of the toll of the current COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of students, the Jewish Children's Aid Society (JACS) has awarded The King David School a bonus grant of $5000 to contribute to projects which support the mental health of students. We are pleased to be able to add this to our wellbeing budget. 

Established in 1882, JCAS’s mission is to support children with special needs to attend Melbourne Jewish day schools. They have recently debuted a new logo. JACS states, “Education, Inclusion and Belonging” for children underlie everything we do at JCAS, and our bright new logo encapsulates this."

Recently our Year 12 students found a little something special waiting for them at their front doors to ease the strain of the continued lockdown. Each one was left a care package to lift their spirits in what has been a very challenging time. Each pack was crammed with goodies, including: scented candles, keep-cups, novelty socks, fidget toys, mentos, chup-a-chups, post-it notes, pens, pencils, highlighters, bath bombs, cookies, chocolate and herbal tea. In addition, a personal message was hand written and attached to each pack. I know all of our students really appreciated the treats.

Year 12 parents Carrie Kausman, Danielle Opat, and Tammy Casselson devoted many selfless hours to organising and distributing the packs

At the end of term three, Junior School students participated in a walk-a-thon to raise money for Dementia Australia. Together we reaised over $1500! Dementia affects approximately half a million Australians - thank you to our Year 5 Tzedakah (charity) committee for organising this fundraiser.

Kol hakavod to everyone who participated. How wonderful to walk for a cause! Even better when our pooches can join us! 

Throughout Distance Learning, The Philosophy for Children Program (P4C) has been providing our students at the Junior School with opportunities for social interaction, critical reflection through the exploration of ideas.

Our Philosophers have been investigating and discussing a variety of ethical based concepts such as lying, power, freedom, responsibility, stealing, cheating, honesty and prejudice.

After a year hiatus...

It is time to indulge yourselves in the latest release of KDS Staff & Student Music Video - 1999 ft Charli XCX & Troye Sivan. 

We hope it brings a smile, laugh, and an "omg that's so King David" to your lives. 

You may also want to dive into the archives and watch the music videos released back in 2020. 

Teachers not blinded by the lights

Teachers ft Dua Lipa

Don't lose the KDS spirit for we shall be back together soon!

Yoel Benn 

Coordinator Jewish Experiential Education (Sr)

We invite you to a virtual experience for our 2021 Creative Arts Expo which will be available from Tuesday 26 October to Thursday 28 October 2021. It showcases our Years 9 to 12 students' work in the areas of Art, Design, Drama and Media and includes students speaking about their work. There will also be a selection of artwork from Prep to Year 8 students.

Join the Jewish Climate Network for a rare opportunity to hear from Professor Lesley Hughes (eminent climate scientist); Anna Skarbek (leading climate solutions expert - CEO of ClimateWorks) and Dr Katie Allen MP (Liberal Member for Higgins). The conversation will be facilitated by Eytan Lenko (President of Beyond Zero Emissions and JCN).

The KDSPA invites you to hear from Richmond football Club President Peggy O'Neal AO this Thursday 14 October from 8-9pm. To join this free webinar, please click here to register and the Zoom webinar ID will be sent to you. 
Online Auction
We are also fundraising for the KDSPA with an online auction for this event. Thank you to our generous supporters and suppliers who have already committed to auction items. Click here to view the auction items and start your bidding! The auction will close at 10am on Friday 15 October.

Our usual Alumni Reunions have gone virtual this year. On Sunday, graduates from Class of 2000, 2001, 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2016 will receive a link to their specially created Virtual Alumni Reunion pages. We look forward to reading messages on the class message boards and reminiscing together about the old school days. If you are member of one of these cohorts and you do not receive an email by Sunday afternoon - or you have any questions, please email alumni@kds.vic.edu.au
We look forward to once again hosting in person events for our KDS Alumni as soon as we can!