Miss Burns' Latest News Archive 2018 - 2019

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