Tuesday 16th July

In Tefilla this morning Miss Burns gave students their Summer 2019 commendation awards.

Monday 15th June

Mrs Durkin came to our tefilla this morning to present Year 6 with a certificate and keepsake to thank them for raising  £1392 from their charity performance of ‘The Bus and Us’

Record Etgar takes Wembley by storm! Read more in the JC.

https://www.thejc.com/education/education-news/record-etgar-takes-wembley-by-storm-1.486454

Read through the information about the moon landings in 1969 and discuss how we feel about the importance of space exploration.

The Apollo Program took eight years and cost around 20 billion pounds! But it overcame one of the most complex challenges humanity has ever undertaken – putting a person on the Moon!

It took around three days to get to the moon, and then Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 hours and 26 minutes on the lunar surface, becoming the first humans to set foot on it!

Over 400,000, close to half a million people worked on just the Apollo 11 mission! From engineers to "human computers,” scientists, administrators, cleaning crews and so many more, it took an enormous effort to put a person on the moon! That work paid off on July 20, 1969, when an estimated 600 million people around the world watched the first people take steps on the moon!

Space is a very challenging place to explore. Getting there costs a huge amount of money and you need to be specially trained so you can survive once you arrive! In space there is no air so you cannot breathe. It is also very cold unless the sun is shining on you then it can be too hot.

Are you surprised it has been 50 years since the first people set foot on the moon?

It cost huge amounts of money to reach to moon, do you think it was an important mission whatever the cost? How do you think the first people who walked on the moon might have felt?

Thursday 11th July

Year 5 have triumphed once again at the ETGAR Jewish General Knowledge competition. This year saw a record number of children (1200!) gather together at Wembley Stadium. One of our tables took the best table award. The year 5 year group also came second overall! 

What a fantastic result - showing how hard work, dedication and teamwork pays off. Well done year 5, Rabbi Ford and Mrs Hill!! 

Every child came home today with a cupcake from Miss Burns as a special tea party treat, celebrating their hard work and effort this year.

Friday 5th July

Kerem School Council organised a whole School own clothes and crazy hair day in aid of Israeli Guide Dogs.

Thursday 4th July

Forest School and Miss Burns' tea party.

Thursday 3rd July

Well done to our Year 4 girls who all took part in the Maccabi GB Primary Netball competition.

The A team won the competition, and the B team came 3rd. Congratulations to all those involved!! 

Friday 28th June 

The students celebrated along with Ms Vinokur’s family, her son’s Pidyon Haben!

Wednesday 26th June

The Year 6 play 'The Bus and Us' was a great success. Not only were our Year 6's absolutely brilliant, but on top of this, the charity performance raised £1392.54 for Beit Halochem! Well done Year 6.

Tuesday 25th June

Our Year 5's had a lovely day out, taking a cruise along the River Thames as part of their topic learning about London.

Friday 21st June

The students that have received five sets of caught being good cards went with Miss Burns to the cafe for a smoothie this afternoon - well done to you all for this fantastic achievement.

Thursday 20th June

As part of clean air day, Kerem students were encouraged to walk to school, and parents reminded to switch off their car engines whilst stationary. Here are some of our Kerem students taking part in this day!

Wednesday 19th July

The Year 5 Secondary School Fair was very successful. We had representatives from Channing, Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Highgate, Immanuel College, JFS and University College School. Miss Burns and Mrs Fisher spoke about the transition process and how to prepare for Secondary School.

Wednesday 19th June

Kerem's football teams all did remarkably well today. The B team made it to the quarter finals whilst the A team got to the semi finals. Well done to all the year 5 and 6s involved.

Read through all of the information about Trump’s visit and talk through some of the opinions. Which do we agree with? Why?

What did Donald Trump do when he visited the UK? It is a traditional part of a state visit for the Queen to host a special dinner for the visitor. The Queen hosted a state banquet at Buckingham Palace for the president and his wife. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended, as did other Americans, who are living in the UK. Around 150 guests were invited, and the Queen made a speech and proposed a toast to the visiting head of state.

What do people think about Trump's visit? People have different opinions about Donald Trump visiting the UK and the fact that he has been invited for a more formal state visit. Theresa May has said it is a chance for the US and UK to strengthen our already close relationship. But others don't think that he should be given such a formal and important welcome. Some UK politicians, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, have already said they won't attend the special banquet in honour of President Trump.

Is it important to be friendly to everyone, even those we don’t get along with? Why?

Do you think that everyone should have made the President of the USA feel welcome even if they don’t agree with some of the things he says or does or do you think people should be allowed to voice their opinions if they don’t agree?

Sunday 16th June 

RISE AND SHINE! Looking forward to seeing you at all Kerem Fun Day.  Check out the blog for photos from the event soon!

Thursday 13th June

These students, nominated by their teachers for excellent work and behaviour joined Miss Burns for her weekly tea party.

Wednesday 12th June

Well done to Kerem who narrowly missed out on the quarter finals at the Maccabi year 3 and 4 tournament. 

Tuesday 11th June

Year 1 are experimenting with the beebot!

Friday 7th June 

Rabbi Herman came to Kerem to join us for a special Generation Sinai! We thoroughly enjoyed learning about waking up in the morning with a positive mindset and being grateful for everything we have. We were joined by parents and family for a very special event. 

Students were invited to a tea party with Miss Burns for their fantastic work and behaviour this week!

Thursday 7th June

The Nursery children were preparing for Shavuot, making some yummy cheesecake!

Reception and Nursery children also made special flower crowns.

Wednesday 5th June

Kerem sent three teams to the Maccabi Y5/6 girls football tournament. Unfortunately it wasn’t our day but there was some great football on display and excellent goalkeeping from each of our three goalkeepers. 

Wednesday 22nd May 2019

Kerem has been crowned Barnet South League High Fives League champions! 

The mixed Year 6 Netball team, played schools across the South of Barnet, winning every one of their league games! An amazing achievement. 

Monday 20th May 2019

Well done Kerem for your amazing performance at the Maccabi Simchat Hamayim yesterday. Each child swam brilliantly, helping the team to be crowned:

Joint Overall Winners
Small Schools Winners
Best Boys
2nd Girls

It is a fantastic achievement for a school who has a lot fewer students to choose from.
 

Wednesday 15th May 2019

Good luck to the Year 5 girls in the Maccabi netball tournament today. 

Tuesday 14th May 2019

Ivrit breakfast club this morning.

Friday 10th May 2019

Wishing Ms Vinokur all the best on her maternity leave. We're looking forward to hearing good news.

Bshaa Tova. 

This week Year 4 and Year 1 went to Forest School. They completed scavenger hunts, made Kerem creatures using natural materials and used saws, mallets and drills.

The children enjoyed being outside and had opportunities to build resilience, learning to persevere with unfamiliar tools and materials. 

Please check when your child has Forest School and check they have appropriate clothing and a change if necessary. We will be outside in all weathers. 

Thursday 9th May 2019

Today Kerem celebrated Israel's 71st birthday in style. The day consisted of lots of music, dancing, entertainment, food, and even our very own Eurovision Song Contest. Everyone had a great time. There are more photos on the Jewish Studies blog. 

Wednesday 8th May 2019

Last night and this morning Year Six took part in a moving ceremony for Yom Hazikaron in front of the Juniors, Year Six parents and members of the community.  The class sang songs, read poems and paid tribute to soldiers who had given their lives for Israel. The flag was lowered, a candle was lit, there was a minute’s silence and representatives from all junior classes, as well as teachers and parents laid a flower as a mark of respect.

Thursday 4th April 2019

Well done to Kerems football C team for winning the Maccabi League beating Rosh Pinner in the final 2-1 letting in 1 goal the whole tournament. They topped their group winning 4 games and drawing 1. 

Wednesday 3rd April 2019

Good luck to the football boys today. 

A couple, who have raised £12,000 for charity by creating cartoon versions of football players that
look like Panini stickers during international football tournaments, have been told by Manchester
United to stop selling “wonky drawings” of their former players and club crest as they are ‘too
similar’ to the original cards.

Things to talk about at home…

• Have you ever collected anything?
• If you have, do you know, or could you imagine how it feels if you complete a set?
• What about if you can’t find or manage to get hold of the last few, how might that feel?
• Do we think it is ok for the couple to sell the cards to people to help them complete their sticker collections with their similar looking designs?
• Have we ever copied anyone or has anyone copied us?
• Can we think of times when it’s ok to copy?

In today's assembly we had a speaker from Maccabi GB who spoke to the children about the Maccabi GB Community Fun Run 2019.

Today Year 5 had their outing to The Royal Gunpowder Mills. The children all looked incredible in their Victorian style costumes. The children had sessions learning about the sorts of toys played with by both wealthy and poor Victorian children, Victorian seaside holidays, working in the Victorian era and a Victorian classroom. We all had a lot of fun and learned a lot too.

Good luck to Year 6 in the mixed netball tournament today.

Friday 22nd March 2019

Year 6 talent show this morning.

As part of Year 6 parent teach- Dr Zeitlin came into school to day to teach the children how to perform CPR.

Wednesday 22nd March 2019

Today Kerem participated in the Quiz Club Semi Finals. Having already won the heats by 500 points they went in strong and at the end of the first round were coming second. They did extremely well over all coming fifth in an extremely difficult competition. They showed excellent knowledge of History, Geography, Literature, Maths and even the computer keyboard. Did you know that the key next to M is a comma? They did!

Tuesday 19th March 2019

Good luck to the football boys today.

Children at Russell Scott Primary in Tameside have launched a campaign which involves patrolling the street outside their school and giving out fake parking tickets to anyone who stops on yellow lines or with their engine on. The fumes that come out of the back of car exhausts are bad for the lungs, especially for young children. The children are known as “Junior PCSOs" (a PCSO is a police community support officer).

Things to talk about at home… How do you travel to school?

What is the parking outside your school like?

Do you think that having ‘Junior PCSOs’ would work well at your school?

Do you think there should be consequences for people who park where they shouldn’t or leave their engine on? 

Thursday 14th March 2019

Good luck to the Netball team today at the South Hampstead High School Rally. 

Wednesday 13th March 2019

This morning Year 5 were joined by Tribe and the United Synagogues Chesed department for a pre-Purim activity. They played a variety of Purim games and won points for their respective teams. They then traded their points for items of food to pack into little purple boxes. These boxes will be delivered to a variety of different charities on Purim. We would like to thank all of you that have sent in snacks for this charity event. 

Tuesday 12th March 2019

Today Year 6 came into school dressed in smart office attire. They were given the day to gather information about current news topics and produce a newspaper. 

Year 4 carefully followed the ancient Egyptian steps for mummifying a body to make tomato mummies. Over the next two weeks the tomato mummies should dry out. We will keep you up dated on their progress!

Monday 11th January 2019

Primary Maths Challenge 2019- This year just under 1600 schools and around 67,000 pupils took part in Primary Maths Challenge. 

After the November results were collated and moderated, 2375 of the high scoring pupils were invited to take part in the Bonus round. Whereas the November Challenge is an in-school Challenge, the Bonus Round sees pupils competing on a worldwide level. 

This year there were; 

103 awards for Gold (21-25 marks)

657 for Silver (17-20 marks)

736 for Bronze (14-16 marks) 

4 children at Kerem qualified for the bonus round and we are delighted to announce that all four earned medals;

2 children Tamara and Noah  (Year 6) gained a Bronze Award and 2 children Noah and Joseph (Year 6 ) earned Silver awards. What a great achievement, Congratulations. 

Friday 8th March 2019

We are really looking forward to the Shabbaton tonight. Thank you to the PTA for all of the effort you have put in and to Year 6 for helping set up. 

Year 2 and 4 had a fabulous day out at London Zoo. The weather held off and they spent a fun few hours walking around in small groups seeing many different animals. It was amazing how much the children were able to do and see and everyone had an exciting day. The children particularly enjoyed seeing the monkeys playing, the lions (who were all out!) and the very grumpy male gorilla called Kumbuka.They also enjoyed watching the penguins being fed and visiting the Reptile House and the Aquarium. Half way through the day the children took part in an interesting workshop about Life Cycles. The children impressed the Guide with all their existing knowledge about various life cyles and the also learnt a new word - Metamorphosis.

A huge well done to the Y5 boys at the Barnet South League Football tournament yesterday. The A team played excellent football throughout the tournament and scored some brilliant goals! They topped their group winning all their games and after a tough semi-final which went to penalties, they got through to the finals and beat Chalgrove 3-0 to be crowned Borough Champions.

Wednesday 6th March 2019

Good luck to the Year 5 football boys and the Year 6 Netball girls today.

Friday 1st March 2019

We have had an amazing week preparing for Shabbat UK.  See below for the more information about what we did.

A big thank you goes to Mrs Hill for planning all the Shabbat UK activities at the Norrice Lea site and to Mrs Stahl and Mrs Hill for running the special parent invited Kabbalat Shabbat. Thank you to Miss Brand as well for leading the Havdallah workshop with the Nursery parents and the Challah bake with Reception children and parents. The children will enjoy using these together with the challah covers that the older children have decorated at their Shabbat tables this week. 

We are delighted that Kerem is going to be part of the HGSS Shabbat UK celebrations. Come and join the children singing at the Friday night service this evening.  

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom,

Miss Burns

Year 6 had a great time at the Sky Academy Studios today. They were given a behind-the-scenes tour of Sky. The sky team experts worked with Year 6 to help develop and create their own TV content using cutting-edge technology. They also got to see a screening of their video afterwards. 

In Assembly Ms Vinokur taught the children about ANZAC Day. She discussed what it is and when it is in Australia and New Zealand. 

Some of her Year 5 students helped her present all the information. 

Wednesday 27th February 2019

The children enjoyed exploring the dome that Shabbat UK set up today in the school. 

Tribe came into our assembly to get Shabbat Uk underway to the whole school. There was a guess the character competition and a raffle! 

Y1- Y6 then got the opportunity to go into the Shabbat UK dome, to watch a special video narrated by Chief Rabbi Mervis.

Tuesday 26th February 2019

On Tuesday Year 3 visited Celtic Harmony Camp for an immersive day as one of Boudicca’s warriors fighting against the Romans. They made head bands out of reeds, painted their faces with symbols of meaning for good luck in battle and to scare their opponents, practised using a bow and arrow, went on a scavenger hunt by solving riddles and interpreting the druid’s code, learned skills of battle and how to use a shield to defend ourselves, and listened to a Celtic tale by the fire. 

Monday 25th February 2019

Y3 learning about Augmented Reality in their computing lesson, by coding Red Riding Hood to safety from the Big Bad Wolf.

The Soil Association, the UK's leading food and farming charity, has criticised the government's
£40million scheme to get school children to eat more fruit and vegetables. It argues that it is
'actually putting them off their greens'. The charity says pupils are being given produce lacking in
flavour. It is calling for a review of the £40million a year School Fruit and Veg scheme which is
currently just for schools in England, not Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Things to talk about at home...
-How much fruit and vegetables do you have in your diet outside school?
-What is your experience of the scheme (if any)? Have you enjoyed or not enjoyed the fruit and
vegetables in school?
-Do we think it is a good idea to offer free fruit in school? Do you think more children will eat more
fruit and vegetables because of it?

Half term week.

I hope that you have all had a great half term. I am looking forward to hearing all about your adventures and seeing you all on Monday.

Congratulations goes to Mrs Fisher who got married last Sunday. Many of the Year 6 children and staff joined her at HGSS to celebrate. Mazel tov Mrs Sharman! 

Friday 15th February 2019

The EYU children looked like real life astronauts today in their fancy dress as the finale to their week long Space themed Book Week. Even the staff enjoyed dressing up! 

Book week has just been fantastic. There has been an amazing buzz around both sites this week. There have been so many fun activities taking place. A massive thank you goes to Mrs Sondhelm, our Literacy Co-Ordinator for leading the activities on the Norrice Lea site and Miss Brand and the EYU staff for the amazing Space themed Book Week at the EYU.  Thanks also goes to all the staff for their contributions. Thank you to all of you who supported the book fairs. We will enjoy boosting our libraries with new books for the children. 

We have had another action packed half term and I think all the children are ready for the holidays. Good luck to all the Year 6 children who are waiting to hear from selective schools. 

Have a great half term. 

Shabbat shalom,

Miss Burns 

This morning the children rotated classrooms and had a story read to them for 20 minutes as part of book week. 

Kerem came 4th in the whole of Barnet on a goal difference (between us and 3rd place) today at the Barnet Mixed Netball Borough Finals. 

Mazel tov to the Year 1 children on their amazing Chagigat Siddur today. They performed with such confidence and enthusiasm and really deserved to receive beautifully decorated siddurim from Rabbi Friedman today. It was very special to celebrate it with all their families too. 

Tuesday 12th February 2019

As part of Book Week, the Year 6's had a debate in the hall. There were two main topics:

Should robots replace teachers?

Does technology make us smarter? 

Deny and Lily won the first debate and argued against robots replacing teachers. Abi and Jacob won the second debate and argued against technology making us smarter. It was an interesting outcome and the children maintained a structured and passionate debate throughout. 

This morning the Year 3 parents came in to write with their children. This is a great lesson for both the parents and the children. It allows parents to acknowledge the writing level that their children are currently on at the same time as giving the children an opportunity to have a one to one learning session.

Monday 11th February 2019

This morning we had a Book Quiz for the Juniors. The quiz consisted of different types of questions all connected to books, ranging from recognising Mr. Men and Little Miss Accessories to identifying quotes and recognising front covers. Year 3 won over all. Well done Year 3!

As part of Children's Book Week, Mrs. Sondhelm will be hiding two golden tickets around the school every day. The children that find them will get a prize at the end of the week. This is based on the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Friday 8th February 2019

Today Reception used the bread rolls they made yesterday to create sandwiches.  They wrote what ingredients they would like to add to make their favourite sandwich and then made them.  They used a range of fillings including egg, cream cheese, smoked salmon, tuna, cucumber, avocado, cress, pepper and tomato ( and lots more). They then had an indoor picnic eating them!  What a treat. 

Next week is Book Week on both sites.  Please check out your emails to see when you are invited to join us - there are lots of opportunities.  Please support the book fairs - also on both sites.  (See this week's  Hot of the Press). 

Next week Year 1 are looking forward to their Chagigat Siddur and the Year 3 parents are joining us for 'Write with your Child'. Another busy week ahead for Kerem.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom,

Miss Burns

Thursday 8th February 2019

Today the EYU enjoyed baking healthy whole meal bread with olive oil and honey. Check out Friday's blog to see what they did with them.  YUM YUM!

Wednesday 6th February 2019 

(Rosh Chodesh Adar Rishon), Year 5 enjoyed their turn in the limelight in what turned out to be a hugely successful parent and student learning session. In honour of Rosh Chodesh, the children discussed a core theme in Parashat Terumah and the notion of donating wholeheartedly for the creation and upkeep of the Mishkan.  We also discussed the idea of being a ‘giver’ rather than a ‘taker’ and the Jewish approach of sharing our material wealth with others as much as possible.

Tuesday 5th February 2019

What a privilege it was to have the Orna Porat Theatre Company at school today! The children thoroughly enjoyed watching the two shows ' Mr Simon's Old Shoes' - 'HaNaalayim HaYeshanot shel Adon Simon' and 'White Fire' - 'Esh BaRosh'. The children had been preparing all week, learning words and phrases and spending time talking about the meaning of the stories. They were fascinated to watch the story unfold in a play and were familiar with many of the Ivrit words in the play. This is the first time we have had an 'all Ivrit' show in school and the children followed and understood most of what was said. They were completely focused and loved watching the excellent performances of the actors and actresses. The theatre company commented on how wonderful, well behaved and engaged the children were. 

Monday 4th February 2019

Today Year 6 had an introduction to the Holocaust. They were taught about the events that lead up to the Holocaust and had the chance to hear from a speaker whose mother had been taken in by a Christian couple when she was a baby for the duration of the war.

The Year 6 children were very engaged and had lots of interesting questions throughout the morning. They have, however, been told that this is only the very beginning of their learning about the Holocaust.  

Friday 1st February 2019

Year 5 had a visit from 'Streetwise' to have a session about body image and self-esteem. They asked the children to use pictures of body parts to show what they think is the perfect body image. They used photoshop to help get a better idea of what people can do to change the way they really look. Overall the children had a good thought provoking session and it's a discussion worth continuing. What is the perfect body image?

Teddy- 'It was fun, we were talking about and using photoshop. We discussed what makes a good body and I enjoyed it, I think everyone should have a session similar.' 

Archie- 'Streetwise' taught us a lesson that it is possible to make you look different using photoshop. We also had a chance to make what we thought was our perfect body. I enjoyed it, it was fun and I would like to do it again.'

Wishing the Year 6 children the best of luck as they perform at the Boys Town concert.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom,

Miss Burns

SCHOOL IS OPEN TODAY. PLEASE TAKE CARE ON YOUR JOURNEY TO SCHOOL.

Children should bring appropriate footwear to change into once they arrive at school. 

Thursday 31st January 2019

Yesterday Year 4 programmed Blue Bots to travel around the pyramids they had made at home. Ancient meets modern!

Well done to the Year 5 A team and Year 4 netball girls for winning their netball match against North London Collegiate yesterday afternoon.

Wednesday 30th January 2019 

Well done to the Year 3 and 4 boys who represented Kerem at the Maccabi tournament today The boys didn't qualify for the next round but they played some great football!

Kerem came second overall in the 'Barnet High Five' mixed netball tournament, losing 5-4 after extra time to Brooklands. They showed excellent teamwork and have now qualified for the regional final!

Friday 25th January 2019

Today we were all dressed in blue in honour of 'Blue-ish Jewish day'. The children all bought tzedakah and we will announce the amount raised on the blog next week.  Thank you for your support.

This week saw the launch of  a new morning club run by Morah Sharon and Morah Neta. - an Ivrit Breakfast Club! It is held on Tuesday mornings at 8am. This week the children prepared an Israeli breakfast (and ate it!) as well as speaking in Ivrit and getting a 'taste' of Israel. It was such a success that they have now set up a 2nd club. Check out your emails for more details.

The Thursday assembly this week was led by Mrs Shannon.  She spoke about the importance of being kind to each other and also to all of HaShem's creatures.  She spoke about various Mitzvot in the Torah that teach us how to treat our animals - e.g we should always feed our pets before we eat our own meal.  We watched a video clip of a young horse that visits hospitals a few times each month and witnessed the happiness that this brought to patients young and old. Lots of the children were keen to share their own stories about how their pets make them happy too. Thank you Mrs Shannon.

Wishing you all Shabbat shalom,

Miss Burns

Tuesday 22nd of January 2019

A huge well done to both KS2 'General Knowledge Quiz' teams. The quiz was against other teams from local prep schools. The children demonstrated extremely impressive knowledge and both teams scored very well.  Team 2 won the entire heat with a score of around 2200 (The runner up was 500 points behind with a score of around 1700).

We are looking forward to the semi-finals!

Monday 21st January 2019

Friday 18th January 2019

This week has been exceptionally busy. We have had a number of speakers and sporting events.  Please ensure that you look through this week's blog.  

Mike Freer visited us today in the run up to our School Council Elections at the end of this month. His talk focused on democracy which is an important part of our British Values curriculum. The children asked excellent questions and he was very impressed with their knowledge. 

As you are aware Mr Freer is our local Member of Parliament. He explained that his job is being a constituent MP for the community, a post which he has held for the last 8 and a half years. He is also a government whip - being responsible for 20 MPs.

Joshua, Daniel, Ollie and Jonah (KS1) challenged him with lots of questions about Brexit and what he thought of the Prime Minister’s deal.

Gershon asked him why he wanted to be an MP. Mr Freer felt that he has common sense and could enforce the great ideas other ministers had. He also felt some silly ideas needed to be addressed. He likes the Prime Minister - he feels Mrs May is honest, hard working, genuinely believes in public service, quiet and has a strong set of core principles. 

He told Joshua how he became a Member of Parliament. He discussed the assessment tasks he had to complete to be an approved candidate. He was then able to apply to be a candidate. There were many people against him and he had to make speeches and be chosen by local party constituents.

Tamara asks if he ever gets a day off! Not many, that's for sure! He wakes up at 5.15am and is at work for 6.15am,  He often leaved after 11pm. 

It was a fascinating session - we look forward to welcoming Mr Freer back to school again soon.

The EYU is getting ready to celebrate Tu Bishvat on Monday. 

Don’t forget the children  should  come to school on Monday wearing  green, brown (and a bit of pink) clothes and bring in fruit. 

We had a visit from Gabriella Russo from the NSPCC. She spoke to Key Stage 1 and the Key Stage 2 about how to keep safe and who to turn to for help. The children were encouraged to ‘Speak Out’ if they were worried or felt unsafe in any way and were taught a fun way to remember the Childline number. See if your child remembers it!

In the afternoon, there were further workshops with Year 5 and Year 6 where they discussed different scenarios and what to do. 

Good Luck today to the football boys today!

Well done to the football girls in their tournament yesterday. A, B and C teams all played very well. The A team even managed to reach the quarter finals.

Wednesday 16th January 2019

Good luck to the girls football team today!

Monday 14th January 2019

We look forward to seeing you all at 7:30pm for our E-Safety evening. 

Today we held our E-safety day.  Luke joined each class for a session explaining how to keep safe when on-line.  

The children discussed what personal information is and who that information can and cannot be shared with.  They also looked at all the ways people could access your personal information, via things like your Minecraft username, photos in your school uniform and tagging your location. Our pupils also talked about Cyberbulling and what to do if they felt they were being cyberbullied.  Year 5 and Year 6 additionally looked at the 5 stages of Online Grooming and how to protect yourselves. 

We also held a parent information evening.  

Britain is set to leave the EU on the 29th March this year following the referendum in June 2016. This week, over two hundred Members of Parliament have signed a letter to the Prime Minister asking her to rule out a no-deal Brexit, to try to protect jobs and manufacturing. A no-deal Brexit means the UK would leave the European Union immediately on 29 March 2019, and there would be no agreements in place about what their relationship would be like in future.

Things to talk about at home...

• Talk about what you know about Brexit already.
• Deciding whether we stay in the European Union or if we leave it, is a huge decision. Do you think it should have been made by our leaders, the government, or do you think it was right for the public to vote?

Friday 11th January 2019

Today we launched our FACEBOOK page. (@keremschool). Please take a look and follow us. Share with your friends and family and don’t forget to ‘like’ our posts.

We had a very special Kabbalat Shabbat this week - see if you can spot the difference in my photo gallery! Well done Year 5F.

Next week we have a very special visitor coming to school. Check out my blog next Friday to see who it is! 

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom,

Miss Burns 

Tuesday 8th January 2019

The Nursery at work today.

 DATE FOR YOUR DIARIES      E-SAFETY EVENING - 14TH JANUARY -  7.30pm-9.00pm. 

ALL parents are encouraged to attend this very special information evening. 

 Parents are often worried about what the children are accessing on the web. How they can support their children to make the right decision online and how to keep them safe.  We will be offering parents the opportunity to hear from Luke Brent Savage, an expert in this field who presents across the country to parents and educational professionals. He is an excellent speaker and you will receive excellent advice.  

Monday 7th January 2019

Welcome back to school and to the Spring Term.  I hope everyone enjoyed the Winter Break. I am looking forward to hearing all about your adventures. The Year 6 children who are sitting for selective schools have started to take their examinations and I wish them all the best of luck.  Just do your best and read the questions carefully!  I am proud of each and every one of you! 

Please do not forget to sign up for extra-curricular clubs for this term. We have a great array of clubs on offer - try something new?  What will you choose?

Thursday 13th December 2018

It hard to believe that the Autumn term has finally come to an end. The children and staff have all worked so hard this term and deserve the Winter break.  The children have had amazing learning opportunities and there is a great learning buzz around school. Please take the opportunity in the holidays for your children to have fun… but also to relax!  They have worked so hard, we really want them to come back to school keen and ready to learn.

We bid farewell today to Mrs Haber, Mrs Blakeney and Miss Gorman and wish them all the best for the future. They will be missed.

We are looking forward to welcoming our new members of staff - Mrs Steinberg and Mrs Sassoon in January and are very excited to see what the year brings.

I hope all of you have a well-deserved, relaxing Winter break and look forward to seeing you all again in January!

Miss Burns

Wednesday 12th of December 2018

A massive well done to Year 6 netball team for coming joint first with Akiva after a 0-0 draw in final after extra time.

Thursday 6th of December 2018

This morning Years 1-6 participated in an olive press workshop.  All of the children enjoyed themselves and were each given a chance to squeeze, distil and spin olives in a centrifuge.

Wednesday 5th of December 2018

Good luck to Years 3 and 4 in their mixed football tournament today!

 Years 1 - 6 sung a litany of Chanukah songs for the elderly members of the HGSS community, as they joined together for a communal candle lighting in the Max Weinbaum hall. After the brachot for candle lighting, the children sung ‘Hanerot Hallalu’ and ‘Maoz Tzur’ as well as particularly raptuous rounds of ‘Mi Yemalel’ and ‘Al hanissim’. A great time was had by all and it was lovely to see the older and younger generations coming together to celebrate the festival of light. 

Tuesday 4th December 2018

Today we had our Chanukah Concert for Reception, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6, it was a fantastic performance by all. During the Chanukah Concert we said goodbye and thank you to Mrs Haber, Mrs Blakeney and Miss Gorman, who are leaving at the end of term. They will certainly be missed and we wish them all the very best for the future.

We look forward to next week to see Nursery, Year 1, Year 3 and Year 5 performing in their Chanukah Concert. 

Monday 3rd of December 2018

As part of the Year 6 Jewish Studies Chanukah curriculum, the children were set the task of creating a kosher Chanukiah using whatever materials they wished to use. The results were incredible - imaginative, creative and enlightening! See the pictures below to enjoy the Chanukiot produced by our talented Year 6 children.

Friday 30th November 2018

Yesterday the Nursery children had their first Kerem school trip. They were joined by Reception (and some of their mummies) and went on the coach to the Lyric Theatre. They went to see 'Room With A Broom'. Many fell asleep on the way home.... a sign of a thoroughly enjoyable outing!

Today we had some very special visitors at the Junior Kabbalat Shabbat. 9 children and their teachers joined us from Gesher School. They came to present us with a special thank you certificate for raising nearly £1000 for the school. The children then joined Year 1 and Year 3 for some fun Chanukah activities. 

Rabbi Ford led the assembly on Thursday. He talked about being proud to be Jewish and used the Chanukah story to explain how the Maccabees remained proud of their Judaism, even when the Greeks tried to convince people to follow their ways of life. By lighting our Chanukiot in the front window, we recall the miracles that happened during this time and how our faith in Hashem ensures our continued survival - even in moments of perceived darkness. 

Thanks for leading assembly Rabbi Ford.

The school council are currently carrying out a very important piece of research.... about school lunches.  They have devised an online questionnaire, with the help of Mrs Borman and Mr Moses.  Pupil voice is very important at Kerem and I looking forward to hearing what the results are.  We will be setting up a meeting with Zvi, our caterer, who is very interested to hear their opinions too.  The school council will share their findings with the children (and on the blog) as soon as they have the results. Will roast beef, bolognaise or burgers be the most popular meal?  What would you vote as your favourite meal?

Today we also carried out  invacuation drills on both of our sites. The children and staff were excellent. 

I am really looking forward to the first of our Chanukah shows next week and hearing from Reception, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6 children, as I am sure you are too. We will be starting promptly at 9am. All children must therefore be in school at 8.45am in order for them to be ready. Please be in your seats ready for a 9am start too.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom.

Miss Burns

Thursday 29th November 2018

I received this email this morning.  I thought I would share it with you.  It is wonderful to hear about our Alumni successes. 

To the Miss Burns and teachers at Kerem school. 

I thought that you may be interested to know that one of your Kerem pupils has been accepted to study for his masters degree at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He completed his dental degree at Manchester University  and we have just heard today that he has been accepted to Study at Harvard in August 2019, 
Thank you to Kerem School for his excellent education at primary school. This helped to send him on his way. 

Wednesday 28th November

Today Year 6 played at the Girls' Maccabi Football tournament. All of the girls played extremely well especially considering the rainy weather conditions. Overall they came 2^nd in their group. Well done girls, very impressive. Check out the sports section to find out more.

Monday 25th November 

Say cheese! 
Year 3 took part in a very special project involving over 1000 Year 3 classes in London in conjunction with The Tate. The Tate have commissioned an installation which will involving displaying all the children in class photos. It will be exhibited in November 2019. 
The photographer led a discussion and some short activities about art, creativity, individuality and what it means to be a Londoner, then she took some class photos. 
How exciting. We will keep you posted next year when the exhibition opens so you can go along to see it. 

Friday 23rd November 2018

Year 5 are soooo excited - as am I- as we are off on the Year 5 Shabbaton today! This is always greatly anticipated and a Kerem highlight. Mrs Hill ably leads a team of teachers - this year Mr Forbes, Ms V, Mr Moses and Rabbi Ford - and Tribe Madrahim to ensure the children have an amazing Shabbaton and weekend together. We even have 2 surprise guest teachers coming on motzei Shabbat ... ssssshhhhhh! 

I am sure you will hear all about their adventures on their return. Check out my blog to find out more next week. 

Wishing you all Shabbat shalom,
Miss Burns 

Thursday 22nd November 2018

The Year 5 children had a very informative and exciting time at Houses of Parliament today. They enjoyed a tour, where the children observed proceedings in the House of Commons and the House of Lords.  This was followed by a workshop where they were all very interested in discussing how people can get involved in politics and influence decisions. 5F also had the opportunity to briefly meet Mike Freer, MP for Finchley and Golders Green.

‘I liked all of the Victorian paintings because they are over 1000 years old. I also liked the Queen’s throne in the middle of the House of Lords and the paintings of all of the saints.’ – Isaac

‘I loved the House of Lords because it is decorated with gold.’- Rafi

‘The room we went into was nearly 1000 years old and apparently all of the kings from the past had parties there. The room was also used during World War 2 and the only public place that didn’t get bombed.’- Jenna

Congratulations goes to our Year 6 mixed netball team in their first league match. The boys and girls worked so well together and beat their opposition (St Mary’s) 9-0! An amazing result - well done! 

Wednesday 28th November 2018

Congratulations to Mrs Shannon on the birth of  her first Grandson.  She used her Grandson’s recent Pidyon Haben celebration -(redemption of the first-born boy), as a learning experience for lessons with the children in Years 1-5. She explained what a very special ceremony it is, as only 3 per cent of Jewish boys have this ceremony due to various laws. She did a model ceremony and used children to re-enact being a Rabbi, a Cohen and parents.

Tuesday 20th November 2018

8 children from Year 5 and 6 were selected to represent Kerem at the Science Quiz Club Championship. Other schools included UCS, Highgate and Wetherby. Mr Forbes had helped the children prepare and was very impressed with the way they worked together as teams and answered questions.  They tried very hard and did us proud. Well done team.

What do you do with your old toys?

A study sponsored by Sainsbury’s and Oxfam has calculated that more than 235 million articles of clothing were sent to landfill annually. Discarded clothing has been one of the fastest-growing sources of British waste over the past decade. The UK has had to more than double its domestic waste capacity since 2010 from 6.3 million tonnes to 13.5 million tonnes. In London, a series of "repair cafes" have been set up to encourage people to think before they throw.

Things to talk about at home...

·      Make a list of everything you throw out in one day. Is it more than you thought?

·      Do you think we should cut back on packaging- do all toys need to be in boxes?

WALK TO SCHOOL PROJECT- REMINDER

Many of you are fortunate to only live a 10-15 minute walk away from school. You are all aware that we are promoting the 'Walk to School'  project ( WOW). We have already seen an increase with the number of children walking to school which is great news.  However as the dark nights draw in,  please be mindful that we want to keep this initiate running all year round. 

Please consider the importance of exercise for the children, the effects on the environment and the pollution your cars are emitting and the congestion and dangers this can cause in the roads around the two sites.  The children have been excited by this project but we need your support to sustain it.  Please think twice before driving to school.

Please ensure your children are aware of road safety skills- especially for those who are travelling to and from school independently. 

Please send in photos of your children walking to school so we can further promote this exciting project.

Friday 16th November 2018

The EYU was buzzing with Mitzvah Day excitement today.   There was a hive of activity including upcycling furniture for Jami,  decorating tissue boxes for a women's refuge and  making and decorating biscuits for volunteers at Noah's Ark Hospice.  What are you going to do for Mitzvah Day? 

As part of Parliament week,  Years 5 and 6 had a talk from Mrs Lester about Brexit.  She has been working in this area and volunteered to speak to the oldest children in the school.  I would  like to thank her for her contributions.  Next week Year 5 are off to the Houses of Parliament. 

Thursday 15th November

Today our swimming team competed at the Barnet Swimming Gala. The team did an excellent job winning the Small School's trophy (for the 6th time!). Congratulations to all the children who competed.  

Wednesday 14th November 2018

Wednesday 14th November

We would like to wish Year 5 girls good luck on their Maccabi Netball Tournament. We are sure they will do a great job!

Year 4 enjoyed themselves at Kew Gardens!

Hollie- 'We saw banana plants with a flower at the bottom. I smelt coco beans. It was very hot in the rainforest that they had. We did fun activities.'

Joseph-'The leaves were colourful. We went into a green house and it was very humid. We saw coco beans and ginger. We also saw sugar canes.'

What a busy week we have had at Kerem.  See below for some of our earlier events in the week.

We also announced the winner of our ArTishrai competition.  Congratulations goes to our winners - The Goodalls and Lipton families- for their 3D 'New life' chick in a nest.  The two runner up prize entries went to  Sarah (Year 3) for her lego creation of the world and Eva and Maya (Year 5) for their sunset picture.  Well done to everyone who entered, it was a very difficult decision to make.  

On Thursday Years 5 & 6 went to the Millfield Theatre to see a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was a very colourful and modern adaptation which the children thoroughly enjoyed. It followed on from the workshop they had earlier in the term.

We celebrated Rosh Chodesh Kislev on Thursday and Friday. Today the Year 1 parents and children celebrated in style with a special learning session led by Miss Gorman.  The children got excited about Chanukah and even had the opportunity, having completed a learning activity, to make a lava lamp. Thank you to Miss Gorman for organising and running the session, together with Mrs Hill.  They then joined the rest of the school for tefilla.

Chodesh tov.

Wishing you all Shabbat shalom,

Miss Burns

2018 marks 100 years since the end of World War One. The first war that affected many
people around the world. On 11th November 1918, an agreement called the Armistice
was signed which silenced the guns after four years and four months of fighting. When this happened, many people celebrated, but it was also an extremely sad time as
people reflected on the terrible impact that the war had.

*Why do we think people wear poppies?
*When you see someone wearing a poppy or a poppy display what does it make you
think of?
*Do you know an elderly friend or relative who had a parent who remembered World
War One, what can they tell you?

Wednesday 7th November 2018

Mrs. Sondhelm held a fascinating reading meeting for parents to explain the importance of reading at home.

Monday 5th November 2018

Today we had a visit from 'The Punctuation Show'.  All of the children were very engaged and singing  the whole way through whilst building their Literacy knowledge. Teacher It proved to be very successful. 

Friday 26th October 2018

We have finally come to the end of the first half term. As you can see from the various blogs, the children have had an action-packed week. 

Year 2 have really enjoyed their topic on the Three 3 Little Pigs.  As part of their STEM project they were asked to create a strong house for the pigs.  They had visits from 2 architects - Mr Hirshfield and Mr Baliti - who discussed the merits of house building and who helped with the 'huff and puff' testing! The quality of the houses was excellent.  Please see the Year 2 blog.

On Tuesday we held our Open Morning for prospective parents.  The parents had the opportunity to join us for Tefilla in the shul, be taken around the school to see the children hard at work by Year 6 tour guides, hear some outstanding poetry from some of our Junior children and ask questions about the school to my 'expert  Year 6 panel'.  If you have friends who would like their children to join us at Kerem, it is not too late!  Ask them to contact Jane on 0208 4550909 selecting the 'admission' option.  She will be happy to assist them.

P.S.  Look out on Monday the 5th of November for an exciting new development in the way we book parent consultation evenings.

On Wednesday I had the privilege of spending the day with the Year 3 children, Mrs Collins and Mrs Stahl. The children worked hard on dialogue and speech in Literacy, concentrating on their reading skills, learnt football skills in PE, tackled number problems in Maths and learnt Chumash in the JS lesson. 

During their soft start lessons, the children have an opportunity to develop their fine motor skills with a range of activities on offer.  Soft start ( arriving at 8.45am) is a great opportunity for the children to get ready for their day ahead.  Please try and ensure your child arrives at that time too.

During Thursday's assembly, I awarded this half term's commendations for children in Years 3- 6.  We have decided to make it even more aspirational by only awarding one secular award per half term per class and alternating one Jewish Studies and one Ivrit certificate.  To find out who the recipients are, please see the 'achievement' section of the website. Congratulations to everyone who won!

Today, the Reception children have come to school dressed as 'What I want to be when I grow up' as the final part of their topic 'Marvellous Me'. We had a teacher, scientist, gardener, ballerinas, princess, footballers, athlete and many more. 

Wherever you will be for half term, I wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable half term.  I look forward to seeing the children back on Monday 5th November.

Wishing you all Shabbat shalom,

Miss Burns

Tuesday 23rd October 

Thank you to the PTA (and the Hirschfields) for hosting tonight’s Nursery Welcome Evening. It was so nice to see all the Nursery parents who were able to attend, together with the Nursery team. The children have settled so well into life at Kerem. 

Friday 19th October 2018

As you can see from my ongoing blog this week we have been very busy at school.

One of the highlights of my week has been meeting some of our ex-pupils.  I try very hard to maintain good relations with our secondary school partners.  This week I was invited to two events one  at Haberdashers' Aske's School for girls and one at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School.  They both have very different formats.  Mr Forbes and I were shown around the girl's school by Mia who told us all about her first few weeks at secondary school.  It was lovely to hear how well she has settled in and how prepared for secondary school she felt she was.  Unfortunately we didn't get to see other girls. 

On Thursday I spent most of my day at the Prep Head's meeting at the Boy's school.  I had an opportunity to meet their new Headmaster - Mr Lock.  He has already heard about Kerem and our reputation!  I heard about his vision for the school and how they are focusing on the Wellbeing aspect of school life.  During my day I was given opportunities to speak to many of our ex pupils.  Benjy N, a sixth former studying for his A-levels, Alex and Sam, thinking about their GCSEs and Benjy and Daniel- Samuel hard at work in DT and Science lessons.  I had expert tour guides in Ezzie and Sasha.  They even found Austin and Pinni in class and I  was able to speak to them too about their few weeks at school.  The school also shared the success of boys who left after completing their A-levels. The five boys' performance was outstanding and they are off to prestigious universities including Cambridge; I was very proud of them all.  They all said - when I asked how we could have prepared them better - that they were well prepared but that the school was massive and they get lost (because Kerem is so small!!)

Visit from a Guide Dog

On Friday, the children had a visit from Einav and her guide dog, Jeff, who came all the way from Israel with his owner. The children learned how guide dogs are trained and of the excellent work done by the Israel Guide Dog Society.

Year 4 and 5 take part in world record attempt at GOSH

On Tuesday Year 4 and 5 headed to Great Ormond Street Hospital to participate in a world  record attempt to train the most children at one time in how to do CPR.  They learnt how to resuscitate, use a defibrillator and how to put someone into the recovery position. 

Ms Rose led Thursday’s assembly with a theme of Divali. She shared  the story of Rama and Sita with the children. 

Wishing you all Shabbat shalom,

Miss Burns 

Thursday 18th October 2018

Wishing our running team all the best at the Barnet Cross Country event this afternoon. 

Check out how they did on our Sports page tomorrow! 

Tuesday 16th October 2018

Thank you to the Reception parents and Staff who attended last night’s Reading information evening. Parents were able to hear from Miss Brand, Miss Gorman and the rest of the team about how we teach English and Hebrew reading at Kerem and how they can support their children at home. 

Tuesday 14th October 2019

Year 5 and 6 are off to GOSH today to take part in a record breaking attempt. Come back to my blog on Friday to find out more about it!  Good luck children.

Friday 12th October 2018

We have now had our first full week of school. The children have been very busy- check out the class blogs! We celebrated Rosh Chodesh on Tuesday and Wednesday - with a learning session for Year 3 parents and children led  by Mrs Stahl and Mrs Hill.

On Monday, Years 1 and 2 had a wonderful outing to the Barbican to see the London Symphony Orchestra perform Prokofiev’s Peter and The Wolf. They were introduced to the different sections of the orchestra. Each section represented a different character from the story. The strings were Peter, the woodwind were the bird, the duck, the cat and grandpa. The brass represented the hungry wolf and the percussion made the sound of the hunter’s gun.  The children enjoyed singing the two songs they had learnt. They also heard Prokofiev’s ‘The Classical’, ‘Morning’ and ‘The Moon is over the Meadow’.

In Thursday's assembly, Ms Vinokur and Year 5 gave a presentation on Black History Month. They discussed that Black History Month is a time set aside each year - in October- to celebrate the achievements of black men and women in the past and today. They spoke about the achievements of Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela and Usain Bolt. Check out my 'Thought of the Week' section below.

We have a lot of exciting activities planned for next week.  I am looking forward to seeing Reception parents at the EYU on Tuesday night for the Reading Evening and, on Wednesday night, all parents at the PTA meeting.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom,

Miss Burns 

On October 16th, 50 years ago, African-American sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their gloved fists in a black power salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, while the American national anthem played during the presentation of their medals. Their gesture was a show of defiance against racism taking place in America. 

•Do you think it’s ever ok to break rules if it’s for the greater good? Can you think of any examples where it might be considered acceptable?

•If you have any family, friends or neighbours who are over the age of 60, show them the image of Carlos and Smith and ask them what they remember about the incident and what the outcome was.

Tuesday 9th October

Year 5F are enjoying their Drama session on ‘A Midsummers Night’s Dream’ with an actor from the Millfield Theatre.

Monday 8th October 2018

Year 1 and 2 had a fabulous time today at the Barbican. They learnt songs in advance and joined in with enthusiasm during the performance of `Peter and the Wolf'. 

Friday 5th October 2018

I hope you all enjoyed the last days of Yom Tov.  The children have adapted so well to these disruptive weeks and I am very proud of them. It will be strange to have our first full week of the term next week. Please ensure that the children have a good rest over the weekend - it may be a bit of a shock for some! 

I spent the day with Year 2 on Thursday. In their Literacy lessons they are focusing on The Three Little Pigs. They have been reading a variety of versions including 'The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs', 'The 3 Little Wolves' and 'The Big Bad Pig as well as the ‘original’ traditional story. We had a ball skills P.E lessons and discussed the various brachot associated with food with Mrs Stahl.  We even debated why the brachot for mushrooms was not ha'adama!

We are excited to announce another new healthy living initiative.  In addition to our Walk to School project, we are launching 'The Virtual Challenge'.  The Virtual Challenge is a Barnet run initiative where each year group has a challenge to perform. The results are sent to Barnet and we compare ourselves to the rest of the Borough. This will be led by Mr Moses.  This year the challenges are skipping-related. Year 6 are up first and have until the 19th October to submit their results to their teachers! Details of the challenge are on the Year 6 Class blog. Look out for your year group challenge shortly. 

Please take time to read my recent email about parking around Kerem.

Wishing you all Shabbat shalom,

Miss Burns

THE JEWISH SCHOOLS AWARDS 2019

 We are fortunate to have excellent staff at Kerem.  Now is your chance to nominate them for an award at this year's Jewish Schools Awards.

The categories are-

Israel Education

Outstanding practice in Foundation Stage

Chessed Initiatives

Promoting excellence in Literacy

Please take a few minutes to nominate - I encourage  ALL parents and pupils to nominate.   http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/jewish-schools-awards-2019-form/  

ALL NOMINATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED BY FRIDAY 26TH OCTOBER 2018.

FRIDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER 2018

 

We may have only been in school for a very short week but it has been very busy. In addition to regular Literacy and Numeracy lessons, the children on both sites have managed to fit in many exciting activities.  As part of our ArTishrei project, the children in Key Stage 2 visited the Tate Britain (Wednesday) to see their pieces of artwork and the children in Key Stage 1 went to Kenwood House (Thursday) to see their paintings.   Check out each Class Blog to see which piece of art each class studied.

 

The children have enjoyed going on Sukkah visits. Whilst there they sang songs, listened to stories, made their berachot and enjoyed a range of snacks.  I would like to thank all the families who hosted classes for their kind hospitality (and flexibility!)  Thank you also goes to Mrs Hill and the Office for organising the trips.

 

Each morning, Tefillah was made extra special with the inclusion of Hallel and hakafot. The children, many of whom were armed with Arba Minim, sang their hearts out.  They especially enjoyed participating in the Hoshanot as they circled the Bimah, carefully and proudly holding on to their lulav and etrog.

 

A selection of Year 5 children sang to the guests at the Seniors' Tea party held by the shul on Thursday and their singing was throughly enjoyed by all who heard them.

 

Year 6 enthusiastically participated in the Tishrei's Got Talent programme, run by Tribe, in which they competed against each other in a number of Tishrei-themed puzzles and activities. 

 

Tribe also presented us with a box of flags for Simchat Torah.  If the children complete the  activity on the flag and bring it to Shul on Simchat Torah, they will receive a small prize from the Rabbi!

 

Staff news- Shoshi will be leaving Kerem in 2 weeks. She will be pursuing her career ambition by doing an HR apprenticeship at Public Health England. I would like to thank her for all her hard work, enthusiasm and support in the office and, on behalf of everyone at Kerem,  wish her all the best for the future.  We will shortly be recruiting for her replacement.  In the meantime, please bear with us.

 

Enjoy the rest of Yom Tov - I know the children are really looking forward to Simchat Torah.

 

Wishing you Shabbat Shalom,

 

Miss Burns

 

PS DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE ART 'NEW BEGINNINGS' COMPETITION (SEE BELOW).

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

September 27th, 2018 marks the 20th birthday of the biggest search engine in the world, Google. Twenty years ago, two students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin formed Google, Inc. in the garage of their friend Susan Wojcicki.

Over the next 20 years the search engine became the cornerstone of a digital empire that covers everything from images, maps, translation, video- streaming, tech accessories, smartphones, internet browser, and even driverless cars.

*Can you imagine not having any technology (phones, TV, tablets etc.) to find out information?

*What are some of the different ways you would be able to use to find out information?
Talk to a family member or friend who is over the age of 30, ask them about what life was like before we had the internet. What was harder and what did they think was better about a time before Google?

*What do you think the next 20 years of technology will bring?

FRIDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2018

I hope you all had an easy fast.  The children have coped very well with the disjointed weeks we have been having.  They settle back to work so quickly and easily; it is a delight to see.

We have now held Curriculum evenings for all classes from Year 1-6.  Thank you to all the parents who joined us. I hope you enjoyed meeting the team who will be teaching your child/ren and found the session(s) beneficial.

I like to spend the day with classes throughout the school. I feel it is a vital and important part of my job and it is one of my highlights.  The thing I miss most as a Headteacher is not having 'my own class'.  It is always a very special relationship between teacher and pupil - I am however very fortunate to be able to get to know all your children in a variety of ways and this is just one of them.  It gives me the opportunity to see the children at work and play and see how they learn and interact through a range of different subjects and situations. 

On Thursday I spent the day with Year 4, Ms Rose and Rabbi Ford.  We had a great day. As part of their ArTishrei project, they have been talking about Harvest.  Ms Rose tasked the children with an exciting cross-curricular project. Each child was asked to design a new cereal. They needed to decide the ingredients they were going to include ( via a challenging maths problem), and create and make the cereal box packaging. They even weighed out the ingredients they had selected to add to their box.  Their treat... to take it home today to taste!  

 I also joined them for their break-time and lunch ( always interesting!)-and went to the swimming pool with them and Year 3.  We have started to use 'Poolside Manor' Swimming Pool this year for Years 3 and 4.  They seemed to enjoy the lesson and their teachers worked them hard.  In Jewish Studies, Rabbi Ford discussed the Arba Minim.  They discussed the four species and what they symbolised. The children thought about whether they had a fragrance or you could eat them and the children designed an infographic.  They are certainly ready for Sukkot.  Thank you Year 4 and your teachers. Ensure you check out the class blogs to see how the other classes have been preparing for Sukkot too.

Thank you to all parents who have volunteered to host us at their Sukkot and to Mrs Hill and Miss Gorman for organising the visits.   Don't forget to send your children to school with their Arba Minim (named boxes/bags please) on Wednesday - Friday. KS2 children are going on their trip on Wednesday - don't forget to bring a packed lunch and full school uniform (including caps) too. KS1 Children will need to bring theirs on Thursday for their school trip.  

This week we launched ArTishrei at Kerem! All the classes are linking a particular piece of artwork with the themes of Tishrei! The children have begun exploring their pieces and will continue to do so next week, as well as seeing the actual pieces at Kenwood or The Tate Gallery. Check out your child’s class blog this week and next to find out more about what they have been doing for ArTishrei! It is going to be an exciting week next week ...... WATCH THIS SPACE!

On Thursday, the children had the opportunity to take part in a quiz about famous paintings and join in with an art activity at lunchtime where they could make trees decorated with buttons in the style of Gustav Klimt’s ‘Tree of Life’. These were led by Mrs Teacher (our Art Co-ordinator).  Winners of the quiz will be announced shortly and prizes will be awarded. 

We also launched a whole school Art competition - we would love as many children as possible to enter. 

The children can work alone or with others to create a piece of artwork entitled ‘New Beginnings’. They can use any medium and there will be prizes for the winning entries! 

Please can all entries be in by Monday 8th October (via the school office - don't forget to name the Art-work!) 

PLEASE ENSURE YOU READ 'HOT OFF THE PRESS' - WHICH HAS LINKS TO EARLY FRIDAY FINISHING TIMES (STARTING NEXT FRIDAY),  A PARENTAL INVITATION TO JOIN US AT ROSH CHODESH TEFILLA AND LEARNING SESSIONS AND MUCH MORE.

We would welcome comments about our new website. 

Wishing you all Chag same'ach.

Shabbat shalom,                                                                                              

Miss Burns

More than 300,000 people in Britain (one in every 200 people), are officially recorded as homeless, according to figures recently released by the charity Shelter. This is an increase of 13,000 over the past year. Last month, the government announced its strategy in response to the problem, the Homelessness Reduction Act, which comes into force next year. This requires local authorities to take steps to prevent households at risk of homelessness tipping into crisis.

(Please adapt the questions to meet the needs of your younger child/ren).

*What do you think when you see someone homeless on the street?

*Do you think you should help homeless people directly or do you think it is better to help by giving to charities or volunteering?

*People can become homeless for lots of different reasons, often it is because they can no longer afford to pay their rent or bills. Do you think the government should do more to make it easier for them to pay, what do you think they could do to change things?

WISHING THE YEAR 4, 5 and 6 GIRLS GOOD LUCK FOR THEIR NETBALL MATCH AGAINST CHANNING SCHOOL ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON (21ST SEPTEMBER).  GO GIRLS!

Friday 14th September

Dear Parents,

Shana Tova.

What a great start to a new year - Welcome to our new school interactive website.  This is an exciting new project. We will be posting information about the learning opportunities the children are experiencing inside and outside of the classroom.

We will also be sharing our achievements and successes - a celebration of all things Kerem!  We are very proud of our school and all our children - this is our opportunity to sing from the rooftops!

There will be important information posted on the site so it is imperative that you check it regularly. We will signpost it to you via email. Please add the website to your ‘homepage’ so it is easy for you to access and try to look at it at least once a week - Friday will still be the key day for school communication.

Each class will have its own page and blog, as will I.  This will replace the ‘traditional weekly newsletter’ emails. You will be emailed ‘Hot off the Press’ each week.  We hope to send out less emails and post more information on the website.

You will be able to read about what your child(ren) has been doing each week. You are also welcome to see what the other classes do.  

Please take time to explore the website.  It is a 'work in progress'.  We have lots of new innovations that we will be adding to the website over the upcoming weeks and months.  We welcome all constructive ideas for improvement and inclusion and, of course, positive comments.  This is in line with our Ha Karat Ha'tov theme for the year ('appreciating the good').  

The website is password protected so please be assured that there will be sections - such as the blogs/dates for diaries - that will only be able to be viewed via a password.  

The whole staff team and I are very excited about this project and I hope you are too. 

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom,

Miss Burns

Thought of the week:

North and South Korean families have been reunited for the first time in nearly 70 years. A three day reunion took place at North Korea's Mount Kumgang resort. Emotions ran high as mothers and children were reunited. The reunions follow much better relationships between North and South Korea in recent months. Many Korean families were divided by the war nearly seven decades ago.

*Can you imagine how it would feel to be separated from your family?

*If you were reunited with family after a long time apart, what questions would you want to ask them and what would you like to learn about their lives?

*Do you think the families will have recognised each other after 70 years? Do you think you would recognise your family after such a long period?

DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES

Today you were sent dates for your diaries for this term.  Please ensure that you take note of relevant dates for your diaries - we hope you will be able to attend activities taking place in school and externally with us. You can add the school diary to your own diary via google calendar if you wish.