At Kerem School, Ivrit is the Modern Foreign Language taught throughout the school starting in the early years. Our Ivrit curriculum focuses first and foremost on developing a love of the language and of Israel. The aim of the curriculum is to teach conversational Ivrit, teaching the language by using it in everyday situations so that it can be used beyond the classroom.

In both the EYU and KS1, the children follow an oral programme called ‘Chalav U Dvash’ which is taught in Ivrit only, meaning no translations are given. The contents of the programme derive from the children’s everyday life and are therefore more likely to become part of the child’s everyday vocabulary. The children learn in a fun and interactive way using song, drama, dancing and games, and they also have access to a variety of hands-on resources such as puppets, toys, flashcards, foods, fancy dress clothing etc.

In Key Stage 2 the children follow the programme “Ivrit B Click”. This is an online resource developed by ‘MATACH’ (The Technological Centre for Education in Israel). The resource includes graduated study units dealing with a variety of everyday topics such as greetings, family, daily routine, birthdays, school subjects, shopping, clothes, foods etc. Central to each unit is a short video clip depicting a situation in daily life and the rest of the unit is made up of interactive activities and games, worksheets, flashcards and other materials accessible to the children via iPad and computer. It helps students progress gradually, from stage to stage and from unit to unit, in all language skills (speaking, understanding, reading comprehension, purposeful writing) with grammatical topics integrated in a natural way within the content of the various units. Where appropriate, we bring real-life situations into the classroom in the form of restaurants, markets, fashion shows, treasure hunts, picnics etc.

Ivrit native speakers are given a separate programme of study based on the Israeli curriculum in schools. They have their own targets and are assessed accordingly.