12.4.2024

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for demonstrating initiative especially in the garden when he finds worms, slugs and snails. He really thinks about where he can put them so they are kept safe.

Nursery - for working collaboratively with his peers in the matzah bakery to make matzah. It was lovely to see him chatting and sharing ideas.

Reception - for persistence. He has had a few tricky books to read lately and he has worked so hard and read them multiple times in order to consolidate his learning.

Reception -.for her sense of humour. She has continuously made us all smile and giggle this week with her amazing sense of humour. She always knows how to light up every room.

Year 1 - for having wonderful middot and always helping others without being asked. 

Year 2 -.for showing excellent middot, showing kindness to everyone and working hard in all of her lessons.

Year 3 - for always showing wonderful middot and kindness to those around her.

Year 4 - for collaborating well with her peers, displaying respect for others at all times and showing great middot in her polite and helpful nature.

Year 5 - for displaying persistence in her PE lesson when defending and attacking in netball practice.

Year 6 - for great initiative and independent work in preparation for Pesach.

Well done for working so hard in your Hebrew reading and moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and a relaxing and enjoyable Pesach break.

11.4.2024

Today children in Years 1-6 had their model seder today. With the support of Rabbi Luis and the rest of the staff, Ms Rose planned the most wonderful seder. I had a great time with the children I was sitting with. 

Royal Academy Young Artists’ Summer Show

Now in its 6th year, the Young Artists’ Summer Show is a free, open submission exhibition for students aged

5 - 19 studying in the UK and British schools overseas. Artworks are judged by artists and arts professionals with selected artworks displayed online and on-site at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Here is Oliver's submission. It is called 'Mighty Minotaur'.

8.4.2024

In November, 44 pupils from Y4- Y6  took part in the Primary Maths Challenge. This is a national maths competition and this year 64,000 students took part across the country. Of these, 4,500 (7%) qualified for the Bonus Round in February. I am delighted to say that 6 of our students  qualified for the Bonus round- this represents 14% of our entrants.

The Bonus Round is very challenging - 153 pupils nationally gained a gold certificate whilst 767 received silver and 1187 a bronze award. We are very proud that Kerem earned 3 silver awards and 2 bronze, placing them in the top 1-2% in the country.

Congratulations to all those that participated!

Happy Birthday to:

Henry who turns 8 this week.

Sarah who turns 4 in the holiday.

Chloe who turns 6 in the holiday.

Isabella who turns 6 in the holiday.

Sophie who turns 8 in the holiday.

Mia who turns 9 in the holiday.

Olivia who turns 9 in the holiday.

Rafael who turns 9 in the holiday.

Joshua who turns 10 in the holiday.

Anoushka who turns 11 in the holiday.

Noah who turns 11 in the holiday.

Eli who turns 9 in the holiday.

Lyla who turns 10 in the holiday.

5.4.2024

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for risk taking, coming into school and settling so well and trying new activities.

Nursery - for working so well during a phonics lesson and collaborating with his peers on the activity that they were doing.

Reception - for displaying humour. He has made the class chuckle numerous times and has worked so hard to make people smile all week.

Reception -.for risk taking. She has worked so hard on trying new activities this week and she has loved it.

Year 1 - for showing persistence when learning how to tell the time to the half hour.

Year 2 -. for persistence in Ivrit, finding all the words in the song related to the season of spring.

Year 3 - for displaying incredible persistence when writing his recount on his outing to Celtic Harmony.

Year 4 - for reflecting on his work and collaborating brilliantly with his group in their  drama performance of The Highwayman.

Year 5 - for demonstrating reflectiveness when developing his answers in English using P.E.E.

Year 6 - for showing great organisation and initiative whilst running her shuk.

Well done to these children for working so hard in their Hebrew reading and moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Shabbat Shalom.

28.3.2024

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for collaboration and for his great team work with his teacher during the phonics lesson when he came to school with the class list so that he could help her.

Nursery - for collaboration by including her peers in her game during child initiated play and for listening to their ideas.

Reception - for collaboration. It was great to see him working hard with his peers over the last few weeks and he thoroughly enjoyed working in a team.

Reception -.for flexibility of mind, being flexible and allowing for change can be quite challenging. This week, he has worked incredibly hard on being flexible and allowing for things to change at the last minute. It's been amazing watching him mature through these changes. 

Year 1 - for showing curiosity in lessons and spotting patterns when learning about nonsense poems.

Year 2 - for showing initiative in class and persistence in his writing. 

Year 3 - for showing good middot and helping the other team on the Celtic Harmony outing.

Year 4 - for displaying fantastic middot throughout the week, being a great friend to others and working incredibly hard.

Year 6 - for great organisation and initiative whilst running her shuk.

Spotlight on staff

This is Miss Cowen, she is very privileged to be your child’s first teacher. Miss Cowen grew up in Birmingham and after leaving school, she followed in her family's footsteps of working in retail. She worked in Marks and Spencer, and worked her way up to being a section manager and a weekend manager. Miss Cowen always wanted to be a teacher, but had found school quite difficult and did not achieve the grades required. Many years later, she decided to pursue her dream and took a career break, where she volunteered at Kerem for two terms to see if she still wanted to teach. Miss Cowen went to Middlesex University and completed a BA Honours and then successfully got my QTS. As she found school hard, Miss Cowen understands the importance to make the curriculum accessible to all abilities, making it fun in order for  everyone to be able to reach their full potential. Every day, she wakes up excited and grateful to be working in this amazing school and in her dream job. Out of school she enjoys going to yoga, has enjoyed some fun trips travelling to Iceland Rome and Amsterdam and other places. Miss Cowen loves going on long walks. Her biggest passion is gardening and although she doesn't have a garden, she has made her two balconies into her own little garden where she grows flowers and vegetables.

Have a great weekend and Shabbat Shalom.

25.3.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Talya who turns 6 this week.

Erin who turns 7 this week.

Isabella who turns 7 this week.

Raymond who turns 8 this week.

Zachary who turns 7 this week.

22.3.2024

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for showing amazing middot, great listening and for always being so helpful.

Nursery - for displaying great middot. She has worked hard this week on her listening skills and following the class rules.

Reception - for demonstrating curiosity. He was very inquisitive and was asking brilliant questions about the continent that we are currently working on. It was great as he was able to draw connections with previous continents too.

Reception - for demonstrating collaboration by working collaboratively all week and was incredibly inclusive working in a team. 

Year 1 - for taking risks and challenging himself to use his neatest handwriting consistently. 

Year 2 - for showing persistence when writing a non-chronological report.

Year 3 - for demonstrating flexibility of mind in his approach to writing his newspaper report.

Year 4 - for showing such persistence in his work this week, writing an excellent non-chronological report about ancient Egypt.

Year 5 - for displaying reflectiveness towards her learning, particularly in maths when calculating fraction questions.

Year 6 - for great initiative and collaboration whilst preparing for the year 6 Shuk.

Well done to these children for working so hard in their Hebrew reading and moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Spotlight on staff

This is Mrs Goldfarb. Mrs Goldfarb is an Iranian Jew who, at a young age, was forced to leave her motherland due to discrimination and persecution against Jews following the Islamic revolution in 1979. In June 1986, after the traumatic loss of her dear young mother, she was smuggled alongside her newly married brother, his wife and Mrs Goldfarb’s 12 year old sister through the border of Pakistan. To say that the experience was extremely challenging at a difficult time in her life, having to leave her homeland, family and friends behind and start a new life in a foreign country alone, would be an understatement. Mrs Goldfarb’s journey with Kerem goes back many years, when her 2 sons started in 1992. After casually chatting with her son's nursery teacher, she suggested that Mrs Goldfarb did a course in early years teaching. She chose her placement in Kerem and soon after graduating, Mrs Goldfarb was offered a job by the then head teacher, Mrs Goulden.

As a result of her love of working with children, she has been fortunate enough to work at Kerem for the last 27 years as a higher level teaching assistant and is intending to do so for as long as she can. Mrs Goldfarb is passionate about art and design and has been teaching art classes to different ages for the past few years. She also runs art and drama clubs after school. Mrs Goldfarb believes in acknowledging young children, listening to their voices, nourishing them and using a sense of humour to put them at ease if it is needed. Mrs Goldfarb loves to see her previous students who are now married and she is grateful to still be around to teach their children!

Shabbat Shalom.

18.3.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Scarlett who turns 7 this week.

Jethro who turns 7 this week.

Jemima who turns 11 this week.

15.03.2024

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for his lovely middot. He continues to be such a sweet and kind boy. He is always happy to take risks and try new things.

Nursery - for his lovely middot. When the teacher dropped food waste out of the bag onto the floor, he asked if they needed help and then helped to pick up the waste from the floor.

Reception - for demonstrating good middot by continuously sharing and doing good deeds in order to best help people throughout the day.

Reception -.by demonstrating flexibility of mind because his memory and retention has just been beyond incredible! If we ever need to remember anything, we know we can always ask him!

Year 1 - for taking initiative and putting huge effort into her writing and handwriting.

Year 2 - for showing curiosity and persistence when writing a non-chronological report.

Year 3 - for demonstrating flexibility of mind in his approach to work and really working to show positive learning behaviours.

Year 4 - for showing reflectiveness of his work, and also persistence with challenging fractions problems in maths.

Year 5 - for showing reflectiveness in maths when expanding on his understanding of equivalent fractions.

Year 6 - for displaying collaboration whilst representing the school in the netball tournament.

Well done to these children for working so hard in their Hebrew reading and moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Spotlight on staff

This is Mrs Collins. Mrs Collins has been teaching for 15 years. Over that time she has learned a lot about children and how they learn. She is passionate about helping them achieve their best while building their confidence, independence and autonomy, so that they can be proud of all they have achieved. Mrs Collins loves the areas of leadership that she is responsible for, which include maths, pupil voice and the development of subject leadership. Another passion of hers is coffee, and she is rarely found without a lukewarm one in my travel cup. Mrs Collins enjoys singing and music, flowers, walking, travelling to new places and being creative, as well as spending quality time with her family.

Shabbat Shalom.

12.03.2024

Royal Academy Young Artists’ Summer Show

Now in its 6th year, the Young Artists’ Summer Show is a free, open submission exhibition for students aged

5 - 19 studying in the UK and British schools overseas. Artworks are judged by artists and arts professionals with selected artworks displayed online and on-site at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Here is Chloe's submission - she has called it 'Do What You Love'.

11.03.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Jacob who turns 6 this week.

Daliyah who turns 9 this week.

Zachary who turns 9 this week.

8.3.2024

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for displaying excellent middot. He continues to be such a kind, sweet boy. He is always happy to take risks and try new things.

Nursery - for displaying resilience and excellent middot. Even though she sometimes finds things hard, she never gives up and keeps trying.

Reception - for displaying curiosity. He has engaged in new activities this week that he usually wouldn't participate in.

Reception -.for showing collaboration. She has worked so well on her group project for the London landmarks and ensured everyone was included.

Year 1 - for taking risks and really challenging himself to extend his sentences and use correct punctuation in his writing.

Year 2 - for showing persistence by working hard to stay focused and engaged throughout the Ivrit lessons.

Year 3 - for demonstrating persistence when completing his Celtic art drawings.

Year 3 - for showing excellent middot and always being kind  and polite to the children and adults around him.

Year 4 - taking risks and persisting to write his 'Lost' story.

Year 5 - for displaying flexibility of mind in art when creating unique poses for his stickmen representations.

Year 6 - for displaying initiative and creativity in his courage project.

Well done to these children for working so hard in their Hebrew reading and moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Spotlight on staff

This is Daliah Epstein. She is responsible for admissions and marketing at Kerem. Daliah’s career has spanned over 30 years in advertising and marketing. She is passionate about Kerem, its success and its future. All 3 of her children attended Kerem School, so she personally knows what a special and unique place it is. This helps in her role to ensure its continuing success and its legacy for future generations of our community to come.

Shabbat Shalom.

5.3.2024

Royal Academy Young Artists’ Summer Show

Now in its 6th year, the Young Artists’ Summer Show is a free, open submission exhibition for students aged

5 - 19 studying in the UK and British schools overseas. Artworks are judged by artists and arts professionals with selected artworks displayed online and on-site at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Here is Asher's submission - he has called it 'Kaleidoscope'.

4.3.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Rafaela who turns 5 this week.

Noah who turns 4 this week.

1.3.2024

Courage

Every year, the children in Year 6 are given one word and are asked to undertake a project inspired by the word. The children are free to interpret the word in any way they wish but there is an expectation that the work will, at a minimum, have an English, Jewish Studies and Ivrit link.

Today, the children presented their work to parents from the class and it was lovely to see how proud the children were of the work that they had done. It was clear how much the research they had completed meant to them and how passionate they were about it. 

The children will be sharing their projects during the two showcase sessions next week and I would encourage everyone to pop to the dining room to see them. 

Here is a sneak preview of their work:

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for excellent middot. He is a kind and very sweet boy. It is also lovely to see him starting to take risks and try new things.

Nursery - for risk taking and good middot. It is lovely to see how she now comes into school happily. She is happy to take risks and try new things and she has an exceptional sweet middot. She is also speaking more and more English every day.

Reception - for initiative. He took great initiative by showing others his work in order to convince them to come and join him. It was lovely to see him as a leader! 

Reception - for risk taking. She normally does not enjoy participating in front of her peers as she is a little shy, but several times this week she has spoken proudly in front of the class. We are very proud of her for being a great risk taker this week! 

Year 1 - for taking initiative in phonics. She worked hard to stay focused and engaged throughout the lesson. 

Year 2 - for showing persistence in maths lessons when dividing.  

Year 3 - for showing persistence and risk taking when writing his diary entry.

Year 4 - for showing fantastic middot throughout the week towards his classmates and adults around the school.

Year 5 - for showing flexibility of mind when collaborating with others to produce a script for a trailer. He showed kindness and patience.

Year 6 - for the initiative and creativity displayed in his courage project.

Spotlight on staff

This is Mrs Lenz. Mrs Lenz is a Teaching Assistant in Year 4 and also worked with the class when they were in Year 3. She really appreciates the opportunity to work with the teachers to understand each child's needs and to support the children and contribute to their development and growth. From school through to university and beyond, Mrs Lenz has had a particular interest in languages and studied French (with German) at Manchester University. She also studied Ivrit and worked in Israel for a couple of years. 

Mrs Lenz currently practises yoga and pilates 3 to 4 times a week and loves to do a weekly walk with friends around different parks. 

Shabbat Shalom. 

26.2.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Liam who turns 6 this week.

Jesse who turns 8 this week.

Kerem 75th Logo Competition

Not only did we receive lots of entries to the 75th Anniversary logo design competition but it has been lovely to see how invested the children are in it - I am asked at least once a day if I have seen someone's entry! Judging was not easy but we have made a decision which will be announced on the first day after half term. 

Here you can see the entries that we received. 

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for showing flexibility of mind - it is lovely to see how he sits during the phonics lessons. He is open to reading the new words, sounding out, and writing the words himself.

Nursery - for developing his confidence to take more risks. It is great to see him participating in new activities that he is not so keen on doing.

Reception - for always working so beautifully in a group setting and for being so inclusive with everyone in the class. 

Reception - for working consistently on his reading both at home and at school. He has come such a long way and we are so incredibly proud. Persistence is key!

Year 1 - for showing wonderful curiosity by asking questions and making connections during our trip to Windsor Castle.

Year 2 - for showing curiosity and persistence in lessons.

Year 3 - for demonstrating good middot at all times - always showing respect to his friends and adults in school 

Year 4 - for showing excellent reflectiveness when editing her Egyptian Cinderella creative writing.

Year 5 - for demonstrating persistence when trying out Russian Jewish dancing. 

Year 6 - for showing resilience and perseverance during probability investigations this week.

Spotlight on staff

This is Miss Weiner. She is in her seventh year in education. Miss Weiner has worked in Kerem for five of these years, mainly working in Year 6 and more recently working in Year 5. She chose teaching to ignite a love for learning in children. As the upper key stage two phase leader and school art lead, her aim is to inspire children to pursue their interests, encouraging them to embrace and enhance their educational journey.

12.2.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Emma who turns 5 this week.

Emily who turns 9 this week.

Ethan who turns 9 this week.

Mia who turns 5 in half term.

Leo who turns 11 in half term.

9.2.2024

It is wonderful to see that this week, we have a new weekly Shabbat/Parasha sheet for Years 1-6 which Ms D Rose has designed and collated. One has been given to the oldest child in the family. We both hope that you enjoy looking at it as a family over Shabbat.

I am delighted to let you know that we have been awarded the PaJeS Wellbeing Award. This award recognises the excellent standard of wellbeing that is on offer at Kerem. The panel were particularly impressed with the fact that we have a dedicated wellbeing practitioner and wellbeing room.

Well done for working so hard in your Hebrew reading and moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for displaying wonderful middot and for always being so kind to her peers and teachers.

Nursery - for showing curiosity. It is amazing to see how he just loves to learn new topics, especially understanding the world and loves to ask lots of questions. He stays so focused which is great to see.

Reception - for showing curiosity. He loves learning about the world and he keeps asking so many inquisitive questions.

Reception - for taking risks. She loves participating in clubs after school, but she's found it difficult being at school for longer hours. The last few weeks, she has been asking to participate more in the clubs which is amazing to see her come out of her comfort zone.

Year 1 - for displaying wonderful middot, including helping others and tidying things that he wasn't using. 

Year 2 - for showing excellent middot, celebrating other children's achievements.

Year 3 -. for collaborating with her partner to produce an excellent poster in history.

Year 4 -  for showing great reflection in all aspects of school life and working hard on his collaborative skills.

Year 5 - for taking risks when learning and trying new skills at the Gym. We were very impressed by her forward rolls down a cushioned slope.

Year 6 - for demonstrating curiosity and the flexibility of mind to create a detailed timeline of Anglo-Saxon Britain.

Spotlight on staff

This is Ms A Rose. She has been working as a teacher for the past 12 years but has been involved in education much longer. Her first job was working at her shul’s cheder as a teenager! Ms Rose feels extremely lucky to have realised how inspiring and fulfilling a career in education can be so early on. Her goals for Kerem are that every child gets a rich, exciting and ambitious education and the opportunities to extend themselves and reach their full potential. Outside of school, Ms Rose has two small children, who keep her very busy. She is also a podcast enthusiast and finds herself listening to wide ranging topics from history, politics, mystery and culture.

Shabbat Shalom.

5.2.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Freddie who turns 11 this week.

2.2.2024

This year for Tu Bishvat, we asked the children to come to school wearing tree or fruit hair styles, decorated hats or accessories. Children were told that, if they wanted to, they could bring a donation which would be sent to JNF for planting trees in Israel. We have today made a donation to JNF for £92 and we have received an email back from them expressing their thanks - thank you to all the children who donated to this wonderful charity.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for his great sense of humour and for thinking out of the box. He loved watching Ishmail making up the compost bin.

Nursery - for demonstrating excellent middot. He was extra kind and did really well coming in without his brother. He asked to make sure we had a flag to give to his brother.

Reception - for risk taking. We know how difficult it can be joining a new school/class and he took so many risks this week, it was incredibly brave of him. 

Reception - for showing collaboration. We had a lot of team work going on this week and she was brilliant and considerate when it came to working with others and in a group setting.

Year 1 - for taking initiative in English and doing some wonderful independent writing. 

Year 2 - for showing an increased persistence in her work.

Year 3 -. for showing excellent middot and always being kind and polite to the children and adults around him.

Year 4 -  for fantastic risk taking when offering her ideas in all lessons this week.

Year 5 - for demonstrating reflectiveness in her English lessons, ensuring she has responded to feedback and edited her work independently.

Year 6 - for demonstrating curiosity and the flexibility of mind to create a detailed timeline of Anglo-Saxon Britain.

Well done to these children for demonstrating your hard work in your Hebrew reading, moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Spotlight on staff

This is Mrs Tapper who works as a Teaching Assistant in the Nursery. This is her fourth year at the EYU. Mrs Tapper previously worked in another school for over 20 years. She believes that learning through play is how children develop and grow in confidence which is fundamental in early years, which is why she enjoys working with this age group. Mrs Tapper has 2 grown up children - a daughter and a son. She loves travelling to Israel, which is her favourite place, and will often be found in Aroma or Golda!!  

Shabbat Shalom.

29.01.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Leo who turns 5 this week.

Shachar who turns 12 this week.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for working hard, being creative and using her initiative to describe a setting. 

Year 2 - for using initiative to complete her Ivrit work even after she was off sick for a few days.

Year 3 -. for showing resilience and persistence in his work.

Year 4 -  for collaborating in maths when multiplying two digit numbers by one digit numbers using an informal method.

Year 5 - for using initiative to come up with a creative way to edit photos which further develop her presentation skills.

Year 6 - for collaboration with her peers and applying herself during maths challenges.

Royal Academy Young Artists’ Summer Show

Now in its 6th year, the Young Artists’ Summer Show is a free, open submission exhibition for students aged

5 - 19 studying in the UK and British schools overseas. Artworks are judged by artists and arts professionals with selected artworks displayed online and on-site at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Here is Levi's submission - he has called it 'No War Games'.

26.01.2024

A lot of the focus of this week was on Tu’Bishvat and the importance of celebrating the trees. As well as planting seeds, the Nursery children had an activity, led by SEED, which they did with their parents. Children across the school got to taste a range of fruits with much excitement as they tasted and learnt unusual facts about the fruit that was brought in. It was great that our Forest School team integrated our Forest School sessions to focus on Tu’Bishvat and, as the school staff were, they were blown away by the creativity of the children’s hair!

On Tuesday, children from Years 2 - 6 joined together and I set them the task of writing a poem about trees. With only 30 minutes in small mixed aged groups, the children collaborated and produced amazingly creative pieces of writing, some of which can be seen here. 

Quietly going on in the background this week were ILP meetings. An ILP is an Individual Learning Plan, a plan that is used to set specific targets for children with additional needs. It was wonderful to hear about the positive feedback from parents with regard to the level of provision that children are all receiving. The impact that Mrs Sharman, the class teachers and assistants are having, which is achieved through the differentiated class work, pre-teach documents and the many interventions that are being implemented alongside the hard work from the children and support from parents, is wonderful to see. 

This week also saw three netball fixtures with Year 4 and 5 girls playing in the Maccabi tournament and Year 6 girls playing in the Barnet League. A big well done to everyone who played, representing the school with passion and great sportsmanship.

Well done to these children for demonstrating your hard work in your Hebrew reading, moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the EYU celebration tea party today with Mrs Craig today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for his good middot. He takes risks and is happy to try new things.

Nursery - for showing resilience and her sweet middot. She is a very kind girl and has settled in so well, despite the language barrier

Reception - for having  a sense of humour. He loves to brighten everyone's day with his witty sense of humour. If you ever need to smile, you can always count on him!

Reception - for risk taking - trying his best to try new things and engage nicely in some different activities.

Y1 - Y6 tea party, with Ms Simon, will be taking place on Monday.

Spotlight on staff

This is Miss Mansoor. She has been a committed teacher for the last 21 years. She is passionate about helping children reach their potential by teaching and supporting them in different ways, in order to meet their goals. Miss Mansoor believes that every child matters and brings unique differences to our school community, which enriches the lives of others. Education has vastly changed during her career but she is excited that at Kerem, she gets to create and teach a wide and ambitious curriculum, that meet the high expectations as well as have high interest.  As the Lower School Lead, it is wonderful that she gets to know many children. Out of school, Miss Mansoor is mummy to a wonderful young daughter that keeps her extremely busy. She loves walking, lifting weights and yoga when she gets time.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

22.01.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Ari who turns 6 this week.

Eliott who turns 10 this week.

Emmi who turns 11 this week.

Amelie who turns 5 this week.

19.1.2024

Over the last two weeks, I have spent time undertaking professional development training. It is important to me that all of our staff continue to develop their skills and knowledge and I of course am no exception. Returning to the classroom not only gives me an opportunity to learn but also to reflect on the experience of the learner, checking that schemes of work, the pace of learning and relationships between teachers and pupils are all positive. The training that I am undertaking will take place over the next year and I look forward to sharing more with parents about it as the training progresses. 

This week, our Year 3 and 4 netball teams went off to the mixed Maccabi tournament. They were nervous before heading off but played fantastically, supporting each other well and coming off as eventual winners. Well done to all of the children who played. 

Miss Wang is going on maternity leave from today - we wish her lots of rest over the next few weeks and we look forward to hearing exciting news later on this term.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for his curiosity and flexibility of mind. He is always ready to learn new things.

Nursery - for middot. She is very sweet, always kind to others and for learning to be more accepting of things when they don't go her way.

Reception - for being so inquisitive about the world we live in and our new Understanding the World topic.

Reception - for showing initiative by using the class resources to create his own games. 

Reception - for persistence and great improvement with your reading.

Year 1 - for wonderful middot. He is always kind, thoughtful and helpful to his peers. This shines through in all lessons.

Year 2 - for showing curiosity in lessons by asking and answering questions.

Year 3 -. for demonstrating incredible middot and trying really hard in maths.

Year 4 -  for showing amazing persistence when learning about apostrophes and fronted adverbials in English lessons.

Year 5 - for taking risks during our Victorian day when completing various tasks such as trying out the finger lock or when writing on the blackboard.

Year 6 - for using his initiative and creating an imaginative cartoon storyboard on the Vikings.

Well done to these children for demonstrating your hard work in your Hebrew reading, moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Spotlight on staff

My name is Avital Sharman and I am in my tenth year at Kerem and my 33rd year of teaching. I am the Deputy Head Pastoral, the Inclusion Lead and one of the Y5 teachers. There was never any doubt that I was going to be a teacher; it is in my blood with both my parents and two of my aunts  being in the profession, it seemed inevitable that I and my 2 sisters would follow suit. I have enjoyed a varied career having taught all classes from Nursery to Year 6 in primary school and maths, French and food technology up to GCSE. For me the joy of teaching is not about the age of my students, or the subject I am teaching but the sheer delight I experience when helping others to understand new concepts.  As someone who initially struggled with learning myself (particularly spelling and times tables), I have always been interested in helping those who have found learning more of a challenge. I was inspired by my Grandmother who spent many a Shabbat afternoon with me discussing the roots of words and maths riddles and this has left me with a love of language and number. But my real passion for Special Needs began when my own son was diagnosed with Autism and Dyslexia at the age of 7. I decided to do a Masters in Inclusion and also set up and ran the ‘Jewish Autism Trust’, supporting and advising families with children on the autistic spectrum. I am always looking to expand my knowledge, reading the most up-to-date ideas and research and hope that I can use that knowledge to help your children achieve their best.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

15.01.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Levi who turns 4 this week.

Lielle who turns 4 this week.

Alana who turns 4 this week.

12.01.2024

The spring term sees 3 of our classes take part in off-site PE lessons. Year 3 go swimming at Poolside Manor and Year 5 and 6 have a gymnastics lesson at Hendon Leisure Centre.

The children really enjoy these lessons, loving that they add variety to their week and a change to the games curriculum. Here are some of the things they had to say  about their lessons.

I love going swimming because it is helping me to learn new strokes in swimming. Asher, Year 3.

I love going to the gym because the teachers are really nice and it was fun experiencing the different stations / activities at the gym. Hannah, Year 5.

I love going to the gym because at the start we play really fun games, I especially enjoyed the trampoline. The teachers are so nice too. Zac, Year 6.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for collaboration and showing good middot - for working hard on how he plays with others.

Nursery - for showing good middot and being kind and understanding to others and for sharing the activities he did out of school so confidently with the class. 

Reception - for persistence as he always strives to be the best he can be! He had an injury this week and tried his best to smile and work hard!

Reception - for being a risk taker as she always loves to try new things- especially a challenge!

Year 1 - for persisting with her work, even though it felt tricky.

Year 2 - for showing curiosity and persistence in lessons.

Year 3 -.for demonstrating persistence in all of her lessons, working hard on each task that she has been set. 

Year 4 -  for fantastic middot to all her teachers and amazing risk taking and persistence in maths when learning about factor pairs.

Year 5 - for showing flexibility of mind when learning new routines and class schedules. Well done for settling in so well.

Year 6 - for persisting and applying his flexibility of mind during our maths topic on volume and surface area.

Well done to these children for demonstrating your hard work in your Hebrew reading, moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Spotlight on staff

This is Mrs Ranson.

Mrs Ranson has been teaching for the past decade in both Canada and England. Since she volunteered at a Special Needs school when she was 15, she knew teaching was the right profession for her. Mrs Ranson believes that happiness and feeling safe and secure are the key fundamentals to education. The centre of her life is working with children and her aim is to ensure that children feel happy and grow through their educational experiences. Once a child is happy, that child can be successful in every way, shape and form. Mrs Ranson has worked as a class teacher, a middle leader, a mental health coach, and was the history and geography leader of her former school in central London. She has also created a whole school enrichment programme where she collaborated with WholeFoods and took her class to a farm, developed school wide- career fairs and worked alongside the National Theatre to teach Shakespeare. Mrs Ranson’s passions are drama ( she loves writing and acting), playing team sports ( she’s played varsity level American football and volleyball), swimming and running. She also enjoys travelling which is initially how she ended up moving to London in the first place! Over the past decade, Mrs Ranson has participated in several half and whole marathons, she has travelled to over 20 countries and she continues to push herself to speak four languages. 

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

8.1.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Noah who turns 10 this week.

Hannah who turns 11 this week.

5.1.2024

It has been lovely to welcome the children back to school for the start of the spring term.

Even short weeks are busy weeks and although the children have only been at school for 2 days, there has already been a visitor to school. Today we were fortunate enough to welcome Mike Freer MP to school. He talked to the children in Years 1-6 with a more in depth conversation with Years 5 and 6. Having Mr Freer in school supports the wider work that we do with the children to ensure that they are knowledgeable about the world around them; teaching them about democracy and the rule of law and helping them to understand the role of Members of Parliament and how the government is run.

During the holidays, Mr Antony and his partner became proud parents to a baby girl named Ada. He will be on paternity leave for the next 2 weeks but I am sure that you will join me in wishing them both mazel tov. 

Spotlight on staff

This is Miss Tapper.

Miss Tapper works as a teaching assistant in Year 1. She has always been around children and really enjoys watching children learn and develop. Miss Tapper previously worked in Fashion PR and after lockdown she decided to work full time with children. She loves to walk and she often gets told by the children that they see her walking around the suburb in her bright trainers and jacket! Miss Tapper also loves to travel in the holidays.

Shabbat Shalom.

3.1.2024

Happy Birthday to:

Judah who turns 6 this week.

Joey who turns 10 this week.

11.12.2023

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for showing resilience by listening and following instructions.   

Nursery - for showing resilience  and risk taking - since starting her confidence has built up and she is confident to try new things.

Reception - for showing perseverance as she always strives to be the best she can be. She loves a challenge!

Reception - for showing initiative as he always comes up with amazing ideas and he loves exploring them!

Year 1 - for taking risks, being very brave and practising hard in order to take part in the show. 

Year 2 - for showing curiosity in lessons by asking and answering questions, showing interest and excitement in lessons.

Year 3 -.for demonstrating wonderful middot and always volunteering to help around the classroom. 

Year 4 - for showing great reflectiveness during his maths lessons, checking his work thoroughly and improving his work.

Year 5 - for showing curiosity in all her lessons and engaging well in class discussions.

Year 6 - for perseverance and applying his flexibility of mind during our maths topic on volume and surface area.

Happy Birthday to:

Micah who turns 4 this week.

Carmi who turns 5 this week.

Bobby who turns 5 this week.

Eden who turns 6 this week.

Hannah who turns 4 in the holiday.

Kaia who turns 8 in the holiday.

Joey who turns 8 in the holiday.

Jordan who turns 8 in the holiday.

Lianne who turns 8 in the holiday.

Freya who turns 9 in the holiday.

Jonathan who turns 9 in the holiday.

Ofri who turns 10 in the holiday.

Annabelle who turns 10 in the holiday.

James who turns 11 in the holiday.

Salomé who turns 10 in the holiday.

Samuel who turns 8 in the holiday.

Hannah who turns 10 in the holiday.

8.12.2023

Wishing all our families, Chanukah Sameach and Shabbat Shalom.

4.12.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Noa who turns 5 this week.

Joshua who turns 7 this week.

Lexi who turns 8 this week.

Oliver who turns 9 this week.

Maya who turns 9 this week.

Zara who turns 11 this week.

1.12.2023

It is hard to believe that it is December already, particularly when the world changed so dramatically and time seemed to stop for our community in early October. 

Each month brings familiar activities and December is no exception. In terms of the familiar patterns of the school term, we had our first parents’ evening yesterday. It was lovely to see so many parents in school and for teachers to be able to share the children’s achievements with them. It is also lovely for me to catch up with parents as they are waiting for their appointments and to hear how pleased they are with how their children are progressing. Thank you to the PTA for providing refreshments for parents. We look forward to welcoming the second half of parents to school next week. 

Next week also sees the start of Chanukah. Chanukah teaches us that in the ongoing struggle against persecution we need to look for hope and that light overcomes darkness. This message could not be more pertinent now. Having not been in school during Chanukah last year, it is really special for us to have 4 nights of candle lighting in school that we will be able to share with the children. I want to re-iterate Mrs Craig’s thanks for the support parents gave to the Chanukah gift project. The gift bags have been delivered and are on their way to Israel. The children wrote such beautiful messages which were added to the bags, really demonstrating their understanding of the needs and feelings of the children who will be receiving the gifts. I felt very proud of each of them as I read them. 

We are also looking forward to parents’ joining us for the end of term shows, an opportunity for children to share some of the learning that they have been doing as well as for us to gather together to celebrate Chanukah and Shabbat.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for showing excellent middot by being very kind and always helps to tidy up.

Nursery - for showing excellent middot. He is always being a sweet and kind boy. He has also developed his confidence and now separates beautifully at drop off.

Reception - for being a risk taker and sharing her story in front of the class, as normally this isn't something she enjoys doing. 

Reception -  for being a huge risk taker yesterday when he climbed up the tree in Forest School.

Year 1 - for taking initiative and working extremely hard on his writing in English lessons. 

Year 2 - for showing excellent middot and always being kind and for working hard in all lessons.

Year 3 -.for persevering with his handwriting in English and joining up all his letters. 

Year 4 -for fantastic persistence and initiative in English when writing his persuasive letter.

Year 5 - for showing great curiosity in his English and topic lessons, by using his general knowledge to discuss and describe various characters in Greek mythology and referring to texts he has read.

Year 6 - for challenging herself and applying flexibility of mind whilst attempting area and perimeter problems.

Spotlight on staff

This is Ms Dalwai. She teaches Year 6 and has been a teacher at Kerem for over 11 years.

She is a mother of a teenage daughter who is currently in Year 9 at NLCS. Before becoming a teacher Ms Dalwai spent many years working as a virologist, both in London and the USA. Due to her scientific background, she is passionate about STEAM and she is the science subject leader. Ms Dalwai also loves mathematics and logic problems. She even subscribe to the logic problem magazine! Ms Dalwai believes that her role as an educator is to help every child realise their potential. She prides herself in being a teacher who will always adapt her learning style to the individual pupil. She loves to travel and she spent last summer trekking across Madagascar and swimming in Lake Geneva. 

Shabbat Shalom.

27.11.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Zac who turns 5 this week.

24.11.2023

At Kerem, we are always looking for ways to improve and enhance opportunities that pupils have and this week saw one of those changes come to fruition. 

When watching the Year 1s waiting for their siddur last year, I realised that the children have a school siddur which they use in Reception and then there is a gap in Year 1 whilst they wait for their Chagigat Ha Siddur. 

Wanting to change this and inspired by a personalised siddur that Mrs Sharman found belonging to her nephew, I tasked the Jewish Studies team with creating a personalised Kerem siddur which is appropriate for younger children. 

Today saw an incredibly special event as we had our first Reception Chagigat Ha Siddur. It was an incredibly special event and I am looking forward to watching the children use their new siddur both in Reception and Year 1. 

This week our thoughts have continued to be with family, friends and those that we do not even know in Israel. In school, we held a Hafrashat Challah with all children making their own challah. It was a lovely occasion which started with singing and ended with beautiful challot which I am sure you will all enjoy tonight. A huge thank you to Mr Avital who donated the dough to the school. 

This week, children from year 6 joined with children from all over the world to sing in support for Israel. You can watch here on this video which was produced by UnitED Jewish Education.

We are looking forward to meeting with parents at the first of our two parent consultation sessions next week. Teachers really look forward to the time that they have with parents, sharing their child's success with them. In a change from previous years, written reports will be sent home two days before appointments.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for her lovely middot, she is always so kind to her peers and teachers and is also great at tidying up.

Nursery - for his great middot, he is always helpful and also for his persistence as he finds socialising hard but has really worked on developing his friendships.

Reception - for showing her curiosity when working on new and simple equations in maths this week.

Reception - for showing his risk taking this week by trying new foods and doing it with ease and a smile on his face. 

Year 1 - for taking initiative and working hard all week long with a positive attitude. 

Year 2 - for showing excellent middot and collaboration, working well with other children at Forest School

Year 3 -.for persisting in all his lessons this week and working really hard.

Year 4 - for showing great kindness and middot at break time, with both his friends and younger children.

Year 5 - for demonstrating initiative in her homework, often going above and beyond and for staying on task at all times during a lesson

Year 6 - for showing resilience and curiosity during his time at Kerem.

Well done for demonstrating your hard work in your Hebrew reading, moving up an Aleph Champ level.

Spotlight on staff

This is Mrs Uddin and she is a nursery teaching assistant. She started working at Kerem EYU in September 2022, and she loves working here because of the diverse curriculum and structured learning environment which gives children the ability to achieve their goals. Mrs Uddin has had over 15 years of experience working with children in various settings and age groups. She is dedicated to helping others and believes that children are our future which is why one of the most rewarding things she could do is to play key role in enabling them to reach their full potential. Working with children, she likes to keep a positive attitude towards broadening their horizons so that they can find their way in the world. Outside of school, her interests are arts and crafts, cooking new food from different cultures and travelling to new places.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

20.11.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Gabriella who turns 11 this week.

17.11.2023

It was lovely to welcome parents from Years 1-6 to school this week for the first of our education showcases. Subject leaders appreciated the opportunity to showcase the learning that takes place in their subject and class teachers enjoyed watching children conversing with their parents about the work that they had completed over the term. We hope that the parents who were able to join us enjoyed the event. Next term’s dates are Thursday 7th and Friday 8th March.

Mitzvah Day ( held on 19th November), a global Jewish-led initiative, champions the ethos of "Tikkun Olam" or "repairing the world." Annually celebrated, it calls people to unite through acts of kindness, emphasising our shared responsibility to make the world a better place. This year at Kerem, our contribution was to create a joke/puzzle book for children that will be sent to one of the Great Ormond Street Hospital children's wards. Children from Years 1-6 have contributed jokes, riddles, and puzzles to entertain the children during what must be a very difficult time. We are also planning to translate the book into Ivrit over the coming weeks and send it to a hospital or hospitals in Israel. Please do ask your child about what they contributed.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for settling in so quickly. He is so kind and sweet and has great middot.

Nursery - for always showing lovely middot and always being kind.

Reception - for always showing eagerness, dedication and persistence in order to succeed.

Reception - for showing enthusiasm and resilience towards his learning.

Year 1 - for taking initiative to look after classroom equipment. She has been a role model to others and is always helpful.

Year 2 - for showing excellent middot and always being kind and polite to the children and adults around her.

Year 3 - for taking the initiative to complete his tasks on his own and for staying really focused in class and trying his best.

Year 4 - for displaying fantastic persistence in all lessons this week, working hard to show her best work.

Year 5 - for consistently showing kindness and excellent middot to those around him.

Year 6 - for showing persistence and mastering how to measure angles and showing resilience during maths this week.

Well done to these 2 boys for working so hard and moving up a level in Aleph Champ.

Spotlight of the week

This is Miss Nathan and she is our Year 1 teacher. She is passionate about making school an exciting, fun and welcoming place to be. Each year, she loves getting to know her pupils and finding out about their likes and interests. She vividly remembers her own time at school and believes that there is nothing we remember as clearly as the way our teachers made us feel. With that in mind, she always strives to make sure her pupils feel valued, trusted and important. Miss Nathan is also the phonics lead at Kerem. She is responsible for ensuring that our phonics teaching is effective and consistent across the school. She thinks that phonics is perhaps the most important subject there is, as learning to read is vital for accessing the entire curriculum. Miss Nathan takes great pride in overseeing the wonderful phonics teaching, resources, and interventions that Kerem provides.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom. 

13.11.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Elijah who turns 6 this week.

10.11.2023

Last Shabbat saw our Year 4 Shabbaton, an event which is always a special time for the children and adults alike. The class spent time in class ahead of the event preparing for it, learning about the different laws of Shabbat and writing D’vrie Torah on the different elements of Shabbat. They spent Friday preparing for Shabbat by making challah and a havdalah candle as well as creating a spice bag and decorating candle holders. During Shabbat, there were services and activities which all enhanced Shabbat and there was even a break in the wet weather to allow for a Shabbat afternoon walk. The event ended with parents joining the children to make havdalah. This year’s havdalah service was the most incredible I have ever been fortunate enough to attend, with spontaneous Israeli dancing and singing which celebrated both the unity of the children, parents and staff as well as the pride in our Jewish identity at a time when we are all feeling unsure about what this means in the wider world. It was yet another example of the very special Kerem community that we are all blessed to be part of. 

Two other examples are the welcome that the community has extended to the new families that we have had join us from Israel. I can only imagine the upheaval and uncertainty that they have experienced in the last month, yet watching the children seem more relaxed and confident in their surroundings reminds me what a privilege it is to be able to play a very small role in them feeling safe and secure in their temporary new home. 

The other example is the support given to our Tzedakah drive for the CST and the United Hatzalah Israel Campaign. At the time of writing, a total of £2000 has been collected which will be shared between the two charities. Thank you to everyone who has made a donation, I know that it will be put to good use. 

Over the coming weeks we will continue to participate in other initiatives to be sure that as a community we are continuing to support the needs of the community in Israel. 

At Kerem, we recognise and celebrate wonderful pieces of work created by our incredibly creative pupils. They have worked hard in lessons to develop their artistic skills, of which we are constantly amazed and impressed by and we are sure that others would be too! We would like to encourage all children to share their amazing artwork and to enter Comic Relief : Unlock a Smile Challenge. This exciting competition invites children to unleash their creativity by drawing their most imaginative and joy-filled ideas that bring a smile to their faces. The competition closes on Friday 24th November 2023.

Entries to to the competition need to be uploaded directly to Comic Relief but if your child enters, we would love to see a copy of their design.

Well done to these 2 girls for working so hard and moving up a level in Aleph Champ.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for showing resilience. She has worked hard to stay focused and give new things a try, even if they felt tricky at first.

Year 2 - for showing resilience and persistence in her work.

Year 3 - for demonstrating wonderful middot by sharing his materials in DT with someone who didn't have as many materials.

Year 4 - for her risk taking during the Shabbaton - doing things that she didn't think she would be able to and enjoying herself.

Year 5 - for demonstrating curiosity when engaging in all lesson - showcasing her ideas and understanding.

Year 6 - for great initiative and creativity during the class debate.

Spotlight of the week

This is Miss Le Fort. She is proud to be a Teaching Assistant at Kerem Early Years Unit. Miss Le Fort joined the team in 2019. Her role includes looking after the children, following their interests and supporting their learning in play and small group activities. Her favourite part of the day is listening to the children’s news in the morning and sharing picture books. Kerem has afforded her the opportunity to support children in Nursery and Reception classes and she feels blessed to be part of a caring school community. Key achievements include completing a Level 3 Diploma in the Children’s Workforce and learning to deliver fun, online learning sessions for Nursery children and families at home during lockdown in 2021 - she could not have met either challenge without the help and encouragement of her colleagues. She is inspired by Maria Montessori’s educational philosophy: “Follow the child” and guide him/her to do things for themselves to develop self-belief. Miss Le Fort graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in English and History of Art (a long time ago!): She loves creating games and craft activities for children. Outside of work, she enjoys going on adventures on her trusty ‘Dawes’ bike with friends, drawing and painting in the garden and watching football. 

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

6.11.2023

Thank you for your generous donation to Magen David Adom which you made on the occasion of your birthday.

Happy Birthday to:

Reuben who turns 6 this week.

Max who turns 8 this week.

3.11.2023

Connecting with Israel

There is a line in our vision statement which reads “The school infuses pupils with a love of Israel and a connection with its people”. Over the dark weeks since the 7th October, the connection with the people is something that has really been felt. 

As a primary school, it has been important for us to maintain an appropriate balance between school being the safe place that pupils are familiar with and a space where what is happening in Israel is given its rightful place. 

We have carried out a number of initiatives since the return to school on Monday 9th October. Since that first tefilah, special teffilot have been added to our daily tefillah. Acheneinu has been added along with tehilim 121 and 130 and on reaching Sim Shalom and Oseh Shalom, a mention is made about the particular need for prayers for peace in Israel and a moment given for these prayers.

Within class, a number of initiaves have also been happening to connect pupils with Israel. These include:

• Creating a wall of solidarity
• Year 5 writing letters to children in one of our link schools in Israel
• Making cards for soldiers and volunteers 
• Writing letters to soldiers

In addition to that, our Ivrit team have been supporting children with personal connections to Israel. 

Next week, parents will receive an email about a new tefilah initiative that we will be launching the following week.

עם ישראל חי

Spotlight on Staff

This is Mr Portnoi. Mr Portnoi is our Wellbeing Practitioner and has been working at Kerem since 2018, initially as a Teaching Assistant, including a year with Reception at the EYU, He is passionate about supporting children's social and emotional development and is in his final year of a degree in Psychology for Education. He works across the Nursery - Y6, both on an individual basis and in small groups outside of the classroom. He believes strongly in getting to know each child as an individual, supporting their natural curiosity and encouraging them to become more autonomous learners. A staunch advocate of the importance of play for learning and development, Mr Portnoi can often be found in the playground, whatever the weather. He enjoys an active lifestyle and may be spotted swiiming amongst ducks and gulld on Hampstead Heath throughout the year.

Shabbat Shalom.

2.11.2023

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for wonderful middot. She is always kind, thoughtful and helpful to her peers.This has shone through this week when welcoming a new student. 

Year 2 - for showing risk taking when starting a new school and settling in so well.

Year 3 -.for demonstrating great persistence in maths, not giving up and reaching the challenge question. 

Year 4 - for displaying amazing collaboration and kindness during the trip to Legoland.

Year 5 - for displaying humour and a positive attitude when taking on new tasks or responsibilities. He always puts a smile on everyone's face.

Year 6 - for collaborating and using her initiative in maths lessons this week.

30.10.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Lexie who turns 4 this week.

Asher who turns 8 this week.

Amit who turns 6 this week.

Ariella who turns 6 this week.

Ethan who turns 8 this week.

Ruby who turns 7 this week.

20.10.2023

Sports

Much research has been conducted into the benefits of physical activity for children with the results showing that it has both physical and mental health benefits as well as contributing to the development of character. 

Something that is a focus for this year is to increase the amount of sporting opportunities that all children have as part of PE lessons, through the extra-curricular activities that we offer and through friendly and competitive matches. 

During PE lessons, all of the children cover general ball skills, football, tag rugby, hockey, tennis, netball and athletics. In addition to this, children in Year 3 have a term of swimming lessons at Poolside Manor and Year 5 and Year 6 have a term of gymnastics lessons at Hendon Leisure Centre. It is wonderful to have the facilities for these two extra lessons so close by and for the children to not miss out on them because of the physical restrictions of our own building. 

The sporting clubs that we offer include tennis, football, cricket, table tennis, netball, multi-sports, karate and hip hop. This term, multi-sports club has been successfully introduced for the children in Reception. What is wonderful about the clubs is the opportunity that they give children to try out a range of sports, develop their fitness and discipline and collaborate with their peers all whilst getting fit and having fun. Last year, we had our first ever cricket match and we are hoping to get tennis matches set up for this year. We currently have 68% of children doing at least 1 sports club a week but it would be great if we could increase this number further. 

Friendly and competitive matches give children the opportunity to demonstrate their sporting skills against other schools, again, working on their collaborative skills with their peers. 

As a means of increasing the children’s fitness and stamina, Mr Antony has been facilitating regular timed and distance driven runs in PE lessons and using his knowledge about the children’s running ability this week children from Years 4,5 and 6 participated in a cross country event. Children ran a mile against children in their age group and we were delighted that Zach in Year 4 came in 3rd place. Well done to all of the runners.  

Boys from Year 5 and 6 went to the Maccabi football tournament this week and it was great to hear them returning to school, telling tales of their success. One of the teams reached the semi finals and their joy at this success was palpable. We look forward to seeing if they can make it a step further in the spring term!

Even if sport is not your child’s favourite pastime, I would urge you to help them find the physical activity that they can join in with in order to gain as much as possible from the benefits of participating in sport.

Spotlight on Staff

This Is Ms Wang. As a dedicated teaching assistant at Kerem, Ms Wang believes in fostering an inclusive learning environment that taps into each child's unique strengths and their capabilities. She understands that learning can be a bumpy road, and uses her own experiences to connect with and support children during their educational journey. She is passionate about unlocking their potential and helping them thrive academically and personally.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for taking initiative and working hard in maths to write a sentence explaining his reasoning. 

Year 2 - for showing persistence and reflectiveness in his writing.

Year 2 - for showing persistence and using descriptive language in her writing.

Year 3 - for demonstrating wonderful middot, kindness and respect to all his peers and teachers.

Year 4 - for displaying fantastic middot in his tefillah every single morning.

Year 4 - For displaying fantastic persistence in all her lessons, working hard to find the answers

Year 5 - for demonstrating reflectiveness when learning different styles of poetry in guided reading.

Year 6 - for working collaboratively and using your initiative in maths.

Well done for working so hard and for moving up a level in Aleph Champ.

Shabbat Shalom.

16.10.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Lia who turns 7 this week.

Aria who turns 6 this week.

MJ who turns 5 this week.

Ben who turns 10 this week.

Levi who turns 11 this week.

Louis who turn 11 next week.

Amit who turns 6 next week.

Lexie who turns 4 next week.

13.10.2023

It does not feel appropriate to write a blog in the same way that I would any other week, as the week has been nothing like any other week. However, at the same time, it does not feel appropriate to not write anything.

The word resilience is the one that strikes a chord this week. 

Your children have shown it in abundance this week. From not going to Legoland, through to changes to PE lessons and Forest School, to them getting on with learning despite the palpable difference in the mood of the school, they have been amazing. 

The staff have shown it in abundance this week. For our Jewish staff, as with the rest of the Jewish population, there is no one who has not been directly affected by the events in Israel, yet, they have continued doing what they do best, working hard to produce exciting and engaging learning experiences. Our non-Jewish staff have sat alongside us, sharing the pain we are feeling and supporting us and the children through this time. I am sure that you will join me in thanking them all for all that they have done this week.

May we see better times ahead.

עם ישראל חי 

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for showing curiosity in lessons and at Forest School by asking interesting questions.

Year 2 - for showing persistence and using descriptive language in her writing.

Year 3 - for showing flexibility of mind in maths by learning a new technique to add and subtract.

Year 4 - for displaying fantastic persistence in all her lessons, working hard to find the answers.

Year 5 - for collaborating with others when creating a terrific video about factors of a number.

Year 6 - for working collaboratively and using his initiative in maths.

Shabbat Shalom.

9.10.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Harry who turns 9 this week.

Jesse who turns 9 this week.

6.10.2023

Jewish Life and Learning

As a Jewish school, Jewish life and learning runs through the heart of everyday school life and is intrinsically linked with who we are and all that we do. This goes beyond the teaching of Jewish Studies in formal Jewish Studies lessons, with engagement running through the veins of the school, seen both in the integration of Jewish life and learning in national curriculum lessons and through everyday experiences. 

This was clearly seen this week as there was a real buzz as children from every year group went off on succah visits. On my visit with Year 6, they did a great job of explaining the different dimensions that were needed when building a succah. A huge thank you to every family who generously invited a class into their succah and to Mrs Hill for organising such a special week. Back in school, it was fabulous hearing Hallel being sung enthusiastically each morning and watching the children shaking their arba minim. Thank you to the PTA for organising these. As with all chaggim celebrations, Succot has been cross-curricular. In their design and technology lessons, children in Year 2 designed succot before making them out of junk modelling materials. They tested them using wind and manufactured rain to see how stable and strong they were. Next week they will begin building them out of wood. 

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for taking initiative all week by finding ways to take part despite an injury! You have put your best effort into all of your learning. 

Year 2 - for showing risk taking in creative writing, experimenting with new vocabulary and ideas.

Year 3 - for demonstrating great resilience in maths by not giving up and trying again and answering the questions on her own.

Year 4 - for showing excellent middot, being especially polite and respectful towards the children and adults around him.

Year 5 - for showing wonderful collaboration during his music lesson when playing the xylophone with his partner.

Year 6 - for working efficiently and methodically and showing resilience during maths this week.

Spotlight on Staff

This is Sharon Walters, otherwise known as ‘Morah Sharon’. ‘Morah’ means teacher (and not her first name as some children believed). She says that she has the best job in the world - teaching Ivrit to all the children in Kerem school! Morah Sharon has been at Kerem for 14 years and in that time the Ivrit curriculum has developed and grown into an integral part of the school, with the love of Israel embedded into every part of the learning. Morah Sharon was born in Israel but grew up in London so she is very much bilingual.  She still feels that Israel is her country and is her happy place. She passionate about the country, the culture and the language and her all-time favourite thing to do is to impart that passion onto the children she teaches. Morah Sharon loves drama and used to be involved in amateur dramatics, playing the part of Yente in Fiddler on the Roof, Mrs Sourberry in Oliver Twist and the dance teacher in FAME the Musical. Apparently, she’s ‘type cast’. 

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach.

2.10.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Micah who turns 4 this week.

Lily who turns 7 this week.

Yonatan who turns 8 this week.

Rosie who turns 10 this week.

Isabel who turns 11 this week.

29.09.2023

Pupil Voice

An important development over the past few years has been giving the children a voice within the school. Not only does this help them to see that they are valued but it also gives them leadership skills that they will go on to use beyond Kerem.

As part of this, we invite children in Year 6 to apply for leadership positions. We have 5 different areas which have their own prefects and house captains for each house. Each child filled in an application form, explaining why they wanted the role that they are applying for and talking about the attributes they have which will support them in their role. The forms that the children filled in really were phenomenal and demonstrated the passion and commitment that they have towards the school. 

I am delighted to share with you the new prefects and house captains for this year and look forward to watching them grow into their roles as the year progresses.

Prefects

House Captains

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for showing wonderful middot by sharing playground equipment thoughtfully at break time. 

Year 2 - for showing persistence, particularly in maths work.

Year 3 - for persisting with all his tasks even when they are challenging.

Year 4 - for excellent collaboration when making her science poster, ensuring her group produced the best work possible.

Year 5 - for displaying a deep curiosity in various topics one of which was solving the Year 6 maths problem wall.

Year 6 - for always using her initiative and problem solving skills during challenges and always striving to learn from her mistakes.

Spotlight on staff

Mrs Prais is the Year 3 teacher and here is her introduction to herself.

I completed my teacher training at London School of Jewish Studies three years ago which provided me with the opportunity to work in many different schools across Key Stage 1 and 2. I am currently the class teacher in Year 3, in addition to being Humanities Lead. Alongside this, I am training to be a dyslexia specialist through the British Dyslexia Association. I am very passionate about ensuring that every child reaches their full potential and creating a safe learning environment in order for them to achieve this. I encourae the children to become curious learners and have the confidence to take risks, as well as being reflective in their learning.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach.

26.09.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Jacob who turns 4 this week.

Jospeh who turns 4 this week.

22.9.23

Community and belonging

An important aspect of Kerem is the community that it creates for all of us. Amongst other things, community gives us a sense of belonging. Within the wider Kerem community, we all fit into smaller communities - pupils, parents, staff, classes and houses and it is this last community that I want to talk about today. 

The reason why many schools have houses is to enable relationships to develop between children from different year groups. The youngest children get to spend time with the oldest, learning from them and the oldest children get to help look after and nurture the children who are younger than they are. 

In July 2021, after a debate held amongst the Year 6s, new house names were chosen - the 4 people chosen being Jewish personalities who had an impact on the world. The 4 people chosen were Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Ilan Ramon, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and Hannah Szenes. All of the children are allocated to houses. Children in Nursery and Reception only join with others in their house at sports day.

We are really keen for the children to feel a sense of belonging to these houses, to connect with the children who are in them who are not in their class as this will help to strengthen the Kerem community. 

One of the ways that we are doing this is by holding a weekly house Tefillah. This gives the children an opportunity to be together in their smaller group. During this time, the younger children watch the older children leading tefillah and they also discuss the middah of the week. Another way is for the children to earn house points which are collected together and counted each week. This gives the children a sense of working towards a common goal with the children who are in their house. Last year, house captains ran house activities for the children in each house to enjoy.  Another way is through the beautifully designed house badges. As a tight knit community, when the children are walking around the school, everyone knows what year group they are in but without their badges on, it is much harder to know what house they are in. When the children see another child wearing the same badge as they are, you can see a connection between them, a bit like a knowing glance between old friends and it is this that we are looking to increase this year. For this, we need your support. We are asking that you please encourage your child to wear their badge on their uniform every day. 

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for collaborating beautifully with her peers during partner and group work. She has been thoughtful and responsible.

Year 2 - for showing curiosity in all lesson by asking and answering questions.

Year 3 - for demonstrating flexibility of mind in his maths learning and using different methods to partition his numbers.

Year 4 - for putting his best foot forward in his learning, showing persistence and having good Middot.

Year 5 - for demonstrating persistence by developing her ideas when planning her mystery story.

Year 6 - for using her initiative and collaboration skills to complete complex mathematical challenges.

Shabbat Shalom and G'Mar Chatima Tova.

Spotlight on Staff

Karen is the School Administrator and Finance Manager and here is her introduction to herself.

I have been working at Kerem School for the past 4 years, starting as the School Administrator and for the past 2 years, I have been the Finance Manager too. My career started in banking where I worked for Barclays Bank. Once my daughter was of school age, I started working at Clore Shalom as a Teaching Assistant. I stayed there until my move to Kerem.

My secret hobby / passion is that I am a postbox spotter - did you know that all postboxes have a royal cypher and the cypher depends on which Monarch was on the throne? I even went to the Isle of Man this summer, purely to see the first King Charles III postbox!

18.09.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Joshua who turns 4 this week.

Isaac who turns 8 this week.

15.09.203

Wednesday evening saw our annual Meet The Teacher event which is an opportunity for me to formally address the parent body and then for parents to meet their children’s teachers. 

This year was different for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because I was not able to be present during the evening. This was the last thing that I would have wanted but to know that the evening continued and, from what I have heard from staff and parents, was a great success, fills me with a huge sense of pride. 

The other reason that it was different was that it gave an opportunity for parents to see the physical changes which have taken place over the summer. This included our STEAM Lab, Wellbeing room and our new stair art. In addition to this, those parents who had not attended one of our coding showcases last year, were able to see our new computing equipment. 

During the address that Ms Rose gave on my behalf, she mentioned that we have written a new Vision Statement and Principles of Learning. The full documents can be seen through the links. 

I am pleased to let you know about a new leadership position that we have introduced this year. Mrs Collins will be taking on the responsibility of Leadership Development. This will encompass two areas of leadership - subject leadership and pupil leadership. This means that she will be supporting the subject leaders with the development of their curriculum area as well as overseeing the pupil leadership teams of prefects, house captains and the Kerem Cares committees. 

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova - may this be a year of health and happiness for everyone.

Spotlight on Staff

Morah Cassie is the Jewish Studies teacher at the EYU and here is her introduction to herself.

I am the Jewish Studies teacher at the EYU. I love my job at Kerem School and I love being Jewish! I try to bring this love into everything I do in the EYU. I use lots of crafts, scents, images and props in my lessons so that the learning the children do is very physical and tactile. I love bringing songs and humour into my lessons which encourages a joyful and very personal deep connection for the children with their Judaism. 

I studied at the University of Manchester for my undergraduate and then I trained as a teacher at David Yellin College of Education in Jerusalem. I have taught adults and children both here and in Israel and I spent a Summer in South Korea working for Hyundai, teaching English at a camp for local teens, which was great fun. 

I have 3 boys of my own; Micah 10, Joel 7 and Rudi 4 who inspire me every day in my personal life and in my teaching. One of my sons has Autism and the more I learn from him and the more I develop my own knowledge of Autism and of SEN in general, the more I am mindful to create lessons and a classroom atmosphere that is warm and inclusive for each of my students. 

14.09.2023

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for taking risks and trying lots of new things in his first week of Year 1. 

Year 2 - for showing curiosity in lessons by asking and answering questions.

Year 3 - for demonstrating initiative to complete her tasks independently, and presenting her work neatly.

Year 4 - for displaying good middot in all of his lessons, specifically when helping his friends.

Year 5 - for demonstrating excellent initiative by setting an example for others when following an instruction.

Year 6 - for showing great initiative whilst leading house tefillah and setting an excellent example to the younger children.

12.9.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Ben who turns 7 this week.

8.9.2023

Welcome to my first blog of the new academic year. It really is wonderful to be back at school and seeing the children settle back into routines has been really pleasing. 

It is important to me that parents engage with my (and teachers) blog as a means of feeling connected to school. As such, I intend to use the blog to focus on specific strategic areas of the work that we are doing. 

I will, of course, still use this platform to share significant events and celebrate achievements of sports teams and other competitive events. 

In order to help parents feel that they know the staff better, I am also going to use my blog to shine a spotlight on different staff each week. 

This week, I shall shine the spotlight on myself to help you get to know me a little better:

I have been teaching for 24 years and have worked in a village school, an inner-city school, and two small Jewish schools. I also spent time teaching in New Zealand. Having found my own schooling tough and uninspiring, I am passionate about teachers giving children opportunities to thrive both in and outside the classroom, and helping children recognise and develop their talents - whatever they may be. 

I love the buzz I get when I am in the classroom so I decided that as Head Teacher, this was something that I did not want to lose. As a result, I have continued to teach a day a week in Year 4 and Year 2 respectively during the first couple of years of my headship. Doing this really helped me to develop a connection with the pupils in those classes and enabled me to directly support the academic achievement and progress of the pupils in the class. This term I will be teaching one lesson a week in Year 4, 5 and 6 and I am really excited to be doing so.  

As a child, I was not an avid reader and I am keen that all children develop a love of books and reading. It is for this reason that our developed curriculum has a text focus in all subject areas and not just in English. 

When I am not at school, I love to travel and am always looking forward to the next trip that I will be taking. 

Shabbat Shalom.

6.9.2023

Happy Birthday to:​​​​​​

Ethan who turns 8 this week.

2023 - 2024

10.7.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Levi who turns 8 this week.

Eloise who turns 5 in the holiday.

Serena who turns 6 in the holiday.

Natalya who turns 9 in the holiday.

Sophie who turns 11 in the holiday.

Adam who turns 11 in the holiday.

Rafael who turns 4 in the holiday.

Oliver who turns 4 in the holiday.

Elise who turns 4 in the holiday.

David who turns 5 in the holiday.

Harrison who turns 6 in the holiday.

Jimmy who turns 5 in the holiday.

Sienna who turns 6 in the holiday.

Liora who turns 6 in the holiday.

Eliya who turns 6 in the holiday.

Freddie who turns7 in the holiday.

Ely who turns 8 in the holiday.

Joshua who turns 9 in the holiday.

Sophia who turns 9 in the holiday.

Chloe who turns 11 in the holiday.

Lihi who turns 11 in the holiday.

Jamie who turns 10 in the holiday.

Josie who turns 11 in the holiday.

Ori who turns 12 in the holiday.

Natalie who turns 11 in the holiday.

Ethan who turns 8 in the holiday.

7.7.2023

Today saw the newest members of the Kerem family join us for their very first stay and play session. Welcoming a new cohort of nursery children into the school whilst simultaneously preparing for the cohort of Year 6 pupils to graduate allows an opportunity to reflect on the journey that the children take during their time at school. 

This journey was represented so brilliantly on Wednesday when we had our end of terms shows. The progression in confidence and stage presence was clear to see and each child in the school performed brilliantly. Once again the talent of the teaching staff was on display through the plays and songs that they had written. It was a wonderful day which left me which a real sense of pride.

Even though we are heading into the final week of the term, there is still plenty to be done - Year 2 have their final trip of the term, Year 5 are off on a secondary school taster day and Carla Bishpam from the Royal Free Charity is joining our assembly so that we can present her with a cheque of funds raised through events and weekly tzedakah collections. The term will then end with a leavers’ assembly, a chance for us to celebrate the successes of each of the children in Year 6 and wish them well on their journey. 

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for the amazing progress they have made with their reading.

Reception - for showing great initiative in his play with his friends. 

Reception - for having really good middot and always being kind to her friends. 

Reception - for showing flexibility of mind when agreeing to take on the role of Princess Pat at quite the last minute. 

Year 1 - for taking risks and always finding ways to challenge herself during lessons. 

Year 2 - for showing risk taking and persistence particularly in maths.

Year 3 - for demonstrating wonderful middot and helping out his peers when they need it.

Year 4 - for showing good humour when things didn't go as planned.

Year 5 - for displaying a fabulous attitude and great collaboration skills during the end of year show.

Year 6 - for excellent collaboration with teammates and excellent organization of the stall they sold at.

Wishing you Shabbat Shalom.

3.07.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Hanna who turns 7 this week

Zac who turns 1o this week.

30.06.2023

Success comes in many different forms and this week, Kerem had success in abundance!

Ms Vinokur ran 5 coding showcases for parents to give them the opportunity to see what it is that the children are learning in computing lessons. 25 parents attended the sessions and were incredibly impressed with what they saw, some of them even being brave enough to have a go themselves. If you were unable to attend then, on Tuesday 11th July at the informal Meet and Greet with new teaching teams, Ms Vinokur will be set up for more parents to see what we are able to offer the children. The event was such a success that we will be offering 3 whole school showcase sessions next year. Keep an eye out for the dates for your diary document which will be sent at the end of term. 

On Wednesday, we entered a team into the Year 4 Mixed Maccabi Netball match. Although teams could be made up of just Year 4s, we entered a team which was made up of Year 3 pupils as well as Year 4 pupils. This was the first match for many of the children but from the very first game, they demonstrated the skills and game play that they have been working hard on all year and got through to the semi-finals without a loss. After winning that, they went on to win the final, beating Akiva 2-1. A huge success for the pupils as well as Shar and Mrs Goodall for all of their hard work for enabling the children’s success. 

Growing fruit and vegetables from a seed is an incredible learning experience for children. This week, our nursery pupils were able to see the fruits (and vegetables) of their labour. Having planted seeds and looked after the growing products, this week they were able to successfully harvest carrots, onions and raspberries. 

From the success of our youngest pupils to that of our oldest, it was hard to find the words to describe just how phenomenal the Year 6 play was. Mrs Sharman had written a personalised script and songs for the children. Miss Weiner directed the show, choreographing both the stage direction and the dancing. But, even the best script and best direction needs the best company of actors and after weeks of collaborating with each other, demonstrating persistence, taking risks and reflecting in order to improve, Year 6 produced the most unbelievable performance. It was a huge success and a wonderful start to the final days of their time at primary school.    

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery -.for always being interested in learning new facts, particularly learning about the different life cycles of a ladybird and the butterfly.

Nursery - for showing resilience and risk taking - trying the different activities in Forest School.

Reception -for good middot, always being kind to his friends.

Reception - for great collaboration when creating a beautiful tree for our end of the year show.

Reception - for persistence and hard work when writing her chick diary.

Year 1 - for taking initiative in both maths and English by working independently and checking her own work.

Year 2 - for showing curiosity with his Hebrew reading and for collaborating well with others.

Year 3 - for always persisting with her work and putting so much effort into it.

Year 4 - for having fantastic middot and working hard in every lesson.

Year 5 - pushing herself to try more challenging work and not being afraid to take a risk.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

26.06.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Eva who turns 6 this week.

Yanai who turns 6 this week.

Arya who turns 7 this week.

Ilse Bella who turns 6 this week.

23.6.2023

The idea of change sparks different reactions in everyone but, my view on change is that if we are well prepared for it, then it can feel exciting rather than nerve wracking. This is the reason for building a strong transition programme into what is already a busy end of term. 

Today, the children from Nursery to Year 5 spent time with the new teachers in their new classrooms. This is always a strange day for the current Year 6s as, even though they definitely knew it before, it confirms that there is no classroom for them next year. It was lovely to welcome the Reception class into Norrice Lea and as well as spending time with Miss Nathan, they got to see their buddies. The buddy system is very special with a Year 5 pupil being paired with a Reception pupil so that, when they are in Year 6 and Year 1 respectively, the Year 1s have an older pupil that looks after them in whole school tefillah and for other activities. 

As well as the second official class swap, teachers will be making sure that they informally touch base with the children in their new class at lunch times and break times. 

Even though there are only 2 and a half weeks left of the school year, we are not slowing learning down. Year 4 went on a trip to Hampton Court this week as part of their topic on The Tudors and Year 5 and Year 2 still have trips to come. Year 5 are also off to compete in the annual Etgar challenge and we have 3 Year 6s representing the school in the Ivrit Spelling Bee. 

Sport has also not slowed down and this week, the mixed Year 6 netball team won their final tournament representing Kerem and we had our second ever cricket match. Miss R Simon’s passion for cricket has really inspired the children who have attended the cricket club that she runs with Mr Terblanche and it has been wonderful to see a new sport being enjoyed by the children. 

Ms Vinokur is really looking forward to the 5 coding showcases that she is offering to parents next week in order for you to see for yourselves the fabulous coding resources that the children are fortunate to have. You will have the opportunity to engage with some of the robots, programs and devices that we use to develop their computational thinking and technology skills. If you have not signed up then please do so via this link. 

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery -.for his great risk taking in Forest School when using the slack line.

Nursery - for his great collaboration, also playing so well with his friends.

Reception - for always showing lovely Middot and for always being kind and helpful to her friends and the teachers.

Reception -  for taking a huge risk in Forest School and walking the slack line

Reception - for having a great sense of humour and telling a lovely joke about a banana during Jewish Studies.

Year 1 - for working independently and putting lots of effort into her learning.

Year 2 - for demonstrating persistence and reflectiveness in his English writing.

Year 3 - for persisting with the very hard challenge in maths and not giving up.

Year 4 - for showing fantastic initiative in English lessons when exploring sentence structure and subordination.

Year 5 - for perseverance and showing flexibility of mind during an art lesson on Iranian architecture.

Year 6 - for showing humour and a positive attitude towards his work in lessons.

Shabbat Shalom.

19.06.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Joshua who turns 7 this week.

Ariel who turns 9 this week.

Daniel who turns 10 this week.

16.6.23

People always comment on how special the Kerem community is and this week we had four fabulous community events. 

Sunday saw the Kerem Fun Day and it most definitely was fun! After months of hard work, we were blessed with a beautiful day to enjoy all of the activities that had been arranged. It was lovely to see both children and adults enjoying themselves and there was a very special vibe buzzing around the school. With bumper cars, laser tag, a climbing wall, a petting farm, can throw, hook a duck, throw a hoop, face paints, hair braiding, decorating biscuits and of course the stall with the Kerem Kids’ homemade goodies, there was barely time to stop and with the hundreds of burgers being cooked on the BBQ, there was no danger that anyone was going to get hungry! A huge thank you to Mrs Sweetland and Mrs Gelley for organising the event, to the PTA chairs for all of their guidance and support and to all parents who helped out in any capacity ahead of or on the day. 

On Tuesday, the whole school came together for sports day, and as with Sunday, it really was a fantastic morning. Mr Antony had organised a seamless set of activities for the children. School staff worked hard to ensure the smooth running of each of the stations, children participated with enthusiasm, good sportsmanship and a sense of camaraderie and parents supported children, showing pride in their successes and supporting staff with our principles of fun, inclusivity and healthy competition. It was the combined efforts of children, staff and parents which made the event such a success and I wanted to thank parents for their part in it. It was then lovely to see families picnicking together in the sun. Bader-Ginsberg was the winning house but I genuinely left the event feeling that the whole Kerem community were the winners. 

The third event of the week was the Chaggigat Ha Chumash which saw the Year 2 children receive their Chumash. They put on a great presentation, studied with their parents and were thrilled to receive their Chumash. A huge thank you to Ms D Rose for all of her hard work preparing the children for this special event. 

The final community event of the week was the whole school photo and it was amazing to see all of the children and staff sitting together. This moment will be marked in the history of the school, joining the other whole school photos, two of which sit proudly outside my office. 

As Lord Rabbi Sacks said “Community is society with a human face, the place where we know we are not alone.”

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea parties today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery -. for collaboration by playing nicely with his friends.

Nursery - for showing initiative when writing her brother’s name on a picture for him and showing good middot by being kind to everyone.

Nursery - for showing curiosity as he is always interested to learn and comes up with interesting questions.

Reception - for using great initiative in Forest School to make himself a pirate sword (using two sticks) to go with his pirate eye patch.

Reception -  for great collaboration with a large group of children when making a palace using the foam bricks in the construction area.

Reception - for persistence in working out a maths problem and risk taking to venture an answer which he wasn't sure was correct.

Year 1 - for showing a huge amount of resilience at sports day. You were determined to keep going and were a wonderful sport.

Year 2 - for demonstrating persistence in all her work.

Year 3 - for her persistence at sports day and having a go in every race.

Year 4 - for displaying amazing middot in forest school showing kindness and also collaborating amazingly with her table in maths, while also showing strong leadership skills.

Year 5 - for displaying all the Kerem school characteristics and being excellent Kerem representatives during Annemount’s visit this week.

Year 6 - for demonstrating flexibility of mind in her Ivrit lessons.

Shabbat Shalom.

12.06.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Rachel who turns 6 this week.

9.6.2023

We have had a great first week back at school with everyone eagerly getting started on their new topics. 

Having spent 20 years as a class teacher prior to becoming a head teacher, the days that I get to go back into the classroom to teach feel really special. Prior to half term, I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to teach in both Year 1 and Year 2 and although I was not with them this week, children from both classes came to see me to show me some fantastic writing that they had done. As well as the Year 1 and 2 children, this morning, four children from Year 4 came to see me with the work that they had been doing on subordinating conjunctions. I love seeing the work that the children have done, the progress that they have made and how proud they are to have been chosen to come and show me their work.

As we come to the end of the fourth full year of Forest School, it is easy to take for granted what an amazing and enriching opportunity it is for the children. To have an hour and a half exploring and playing in the outdoors is not something that children have enough time to do and is something that we should celebrate that we have as part of our curriculum. Whilst exploring and playing, the children are developing many of the Kerem Characteristics whilst learning how to use a range of tools and materials - mallets, saws, ropes, tarpaulin and fire starters - which they would not get to use during a regular school day. This week saw our Nursery children have their first session as they use this half term to prepare for the full year they experience in Reception. 

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery -.for great middot, always sharing resources with her peers and accepting boundaries.

Nursery - for his lovely middot towards his friends and always singing beautifully in Tefillah.

Nursery - for collaboration and great middot, always playing beautifully with her friends and for her lovely nature.

Reception - for great collaboration in creating a new table football game.

Reception - for curiosity in Forest School in finding and then finding out about the ladybirds.

Reception - for good middot towards her friends in always wanting to help them.

Year 1 - for persisting with his work in all subjects and always putting his best effort into his learning. 

Year 2 - for demonstrating reflectiveness and risk taking in English writing.

Year 3 - for always persisting with a task even when it is challenging, especially when problem solving in maths.

Year 4 - collaborating amazingly with her table in maths, while also showing strong leadership skills.

Year 5 - for persistence and excellent attitude towards Ivrit lessons.

Year 6 - for showing curiosity in her lessons, displaying an eagerness to learn.

I am looking forward to seeing children and parents at the funday on Sunday. If you have not bought your tickets yet, there is still time to do so. 

If your child would like to design a birthday card for our design a card competition, please can these be handed in on Monday (12th June). All entries should be on a piece of card that measures 15cm x 15cm.

Shabbat Shalom.

05.06.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Naveh who turns 7 this week.

Mila who turns 8 this week.

25.05.2023

Well done to these children who have worked so hard and have moved up a level in Aleph Champ.

Chag Sameach - have a great half term.

22.05.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Noah who turns 4 this week.

Sam who turns 4 this week.

Arianna who turns 4 this week.

Zachary who turns 6 this week.

Charlie who turns 10 this week.

Hillel who turns 12 this week.

Dylan who turns 5 in the holiday.

Joshua who turns 8 in the holiday.

Mila who turns 5 this week.

Ruby who turns 6 this week.

Ari who turns 10 this week.

19.5.2023

A school feels different when a class is out just for the day but to have had two classes out for a week has meant it has been really quiet. However, watching the updates on the Year 5 and 6 blogs has been a real source of joy. The Y5 children spent 4 days and 3 nights at an outward bound activity centre, pushing themselves out of their comfort zones, testing their resilience and for some of them, spending an extended time away from home for the first time. Visit their blog to see for yourself the fun they had. 

Year 6 on the other hand had a completely different experience. They travelled to 5 different locations over their 5 days and 4 nights, combining learning about the Holocaust and the history of the Jews in Britain with more relaxing activities. They visited Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre, learnt about the history of the Jews in Lincoln and York and spent a day with Year 6s at Brodetsky Primary School in Leeds. When not learning they visited a wildlife sanctuary, the Jorvik Museum and Go Ape. Take a look at their blog to see more for yourselves. 

As teachers we really believe in the value of these experiences for the children but do not underestimate what it takes for them to spend an extended amount of time away from their families, or the trust families have in the school to enable the trip to happen. Similarly, teachers give wholly of themselves for the whole trip, giving up time with their families to offer these experiences and for this I am so grateful. 

Whilst Year 5 and Year 6 were away, the remainder of the school continued to work hard at school. Martin from Mini First Aid returned to school to run sessions for the classes that did not have theirs last week. This is the 2nd year we have run the programme and Martin commented how impressed he was with how much information the children had retained and we know that as they learn more, year on year, they will be well prepared should they even be in a position where they need to draw on their knowledge. I am proud that this extra, which was supported by the PTA, is something that is being built into our annual programme of enrichment opportunities for the children. 

This week also saw the children in the main school having an opportunity to play with their new playground equipment. Inspired by the big equipment and creative play opportunities that were offered in the EYU, crates, rod and wheels were purchased - seeing children playing with them really was wonderful. It was also finally warm enough for the children at the EYU to use their new water feature and great fun was had by the children who used it.

This morning, Mrs Craig and I hosted a coffee morning for class reps. This was a catch up with no specific agenda but more an opportunity for an informal catch up with a small group of parents. Often our time with parents is a brief hello or goodbye at the start or end of the day so it was nice to be able to catch up in a more relaxed manner. We shall be looking to build in opportunities to do this again with other groups of parents throughout next academic year and beyond. 

We were also joined in school today by a dyslexia specialist who we invited to give feedback on the support we are giving to our pupils with a diagnosis of dyslexia as well as guidance for additional support that we could be giving them as well as other children who struggle with specific literacy difficulties. It was great to hear that she thought our provision and monitoring were excellent; she was really impressed with our interventions, pre-teach materials and adaptations that we make in class. She was able to make further suggestions which we will now explore. It is always good to know that we are able to draw on the skills of professionals that we have developed relationships with over the years. 

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for his good middot, showing kindness towards his friends.

Nursery - for his humour, particularly when he is sharing his news with his peers.

Reception -  for persistence with his sound talking and starting to read.

Reception - for her great middot, always sharing and being kind to her friends.

Year 1 - for taking initiative when describing a forest using the senses. You thought of some wonderful adjectives and descriptive phrases.

Year 2 - for demonstrating persistence in using the phrase 'ani ohevet.../ani loh ohevet..'

Year 3 - for demonstrating excellent persistence in Ivrit and working really hard.

Year 4 - for demonstrating consistent flexibility of mind and initiative in all our lessons this week, especially maths, history and our mini first aid session.

As we head into the final week of the Omer and the journey we have made from Pesach to Shavuot, it suddenly feels like the end of the year is edging closer at quite a rate. With lots to fit in after half term and transitions to next year to think about, I hope that everyone has a wonderful chag and a restful half term.

Shabbat Shalom.

15.05.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Léo who turns 4 this week.

Gabriel who turns 5 this week.

Emma who turns 5 this week

12.05.2023

This week was another busy one with celebrations and visitors all culminating in enriching experiences for the children.

On Tuesday, Martin from Mini First Aid ran sessions with Nursery, Reception, Year 5 and Year 6. He was teaching important life skills, which although we always hope that children will never need to use, it is good that they have them if they need them.

We celebrated Lag B’Omer with indoor picnics and ice-creams - the children had a great day. 

Wednesday also saw solar workshops which were led by Mr Budwig. It was great for the children to see the different ways in which solar energy can be used. Huge thanks to Mr Portnoi and the Kerem Cares: Tikkon Olam council for setting this up and to Mr Budwig and his team for organising this for us. To see photos head over to Facebook or Instagram. 

We also had two football teams playing in the Macabbi tournament. For many of them it was their first tournament and they all had a great time. 

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Nursery - for his great middot, always being so kind, the best helper and he always tidies up and helps without being asked.

Nursery - for her great midott, she always listens and is kind and respectful towards her friends.

Reception - for great collaborative work when making his big construction using the Octons in the playground.

Reception - for good middot when she went to get a wet tissue when someone had hurt their leg in the playground.

Year 1 - for consistently showing persistence and hard work in her learning, with particular effort made in her reading practice.

Year 2 - for demonstrating perseverance and reflectiveness in her story writing.

Year 3 - for demonstrating wonderful collaboration during Forest School and guiding his team to complete the challenge.

Year 4 - for showing enthusiasm, curiosity and collaboration in the renewable energy workshop.

Year 5 - for persevering and using his initiative during maths challenges this week.

Year 6 - for collaborating well in both the classroom and in the playground particularly during the science workshop.

A huge well done to these children who have worked so hard and have moved up a level in Aleph Champ.

School will seem very quiet next week as Year 5 and 6 will be away on their residentials. We look forward to hearing their daily updates and wish them all a wonderful week. Huge thanks go to all of the staff who are joining them, being away from home and their families in order to give our children a great experience. 

Shabbat Shalom.

09.05.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Jessica who turns 7 this week.

Roy who turns 9 this week.

Jasmine who turns 9 this week.

Pepsi who turns 3 this week. 

Although it has been a short week, it has certainly been an eventful one! As we headed towards the Coronation weekend, every class did a range of activities to prepare them for this historic event. 

At the EYU the children painted bunting for their Coronation party. Nursery also made red, white and blue paper chains. The children have also been exploring their creativity and have painted portraits of King Charles and Queen Camilla. Mrs Dagul made beautiful cupcakes with the children and decorated them with red, white and blue icing. The children had great fun enjoying the Coronation Tea Party. Along with Year 1, they also participated in a Perform drama workshop. During the workshop the children learnt about King Charles' interests and acted out playing polo, digging for fossils, sailing, saluting as Royal Navy officers and pretending to water his garden! They then played a game about his interest in the environment and pretended to recycle, reuse or bin various materials, such as cardboard and plastic bottles. They were asked what they would do if they were king for the day. and one suggestion was they would let everyone be themselves and another child suggested they would give their clothes to babies whose mummies don't have clothes. It was wonderful to see all of the children participating and expressing themselves through drama. 

Nursery, Reception and Year 1 all had great fun with a drama workshop, led by Perform, on the theme of the Coronation.

As well as the drama workshop, Year 1 made their own crowns which they decorated with jewels.  

Year 2 learnt all about the Coronation and what would happen on the day.  We then discussed what it might be like to be King. The children wrote about what they would do for the day if they were King. We also listened to the music that will be played at the Coronation and then made commemorative bookmarks. Year 2 joined with Year 3 together to learn about crowns around the world. They then designed their own crowns labelling important features.

Year 3 also learnt about King Charles and his family. They learnt about the significance of the Coronation and the ornaments that are used during the ceremony, including the crown, orb and sceptre. They discussed all the celebrations that will be happening over the weekend, like street parties and fairs. Together with Year 2, they learnt about crowns from around the world and then went on to design their own crown. 

Year 4 discovered what a coronation is, and learned more about the role of the monarch and about the symbolism behind the Crown Jewels and other ceremonial objects. They explored British values and how these are represented by the monarch and ourselves.

Year 5 learnt about the history of the Coronation and created a proclamation rap for King Charles III. The rap expressed the values our new monarch may wish to uphold and impart during his reign. They also completed a maths activity applying their knowledge of simplifying fractions to key events in the King’s lifetime.  

As we head into the era of King Charles III, Year 6 decided to research King Charles I and his son King Charles II. Based on the information that they were given and independently researched, they then made a video about each of their lives. 

In Jewish Studies, the children looked at and practised reading the Tefillah for the Royal family. They also learnt how the Chief Rabbi is able to attend the Coronation in a church on Shabbat!

Having celebrated Yom Haatzmaut last week, it was really special to be able to mark a momentous occasion in British history with the children - really ensuring the children recognise themselves as citizens of both Britain and Klal Yisrael.

This week saw more success for Kerem pupils. After many lunchtime practices, 2 teams entered the Maths Quiz club competition. Over 300 teams entered and our teams finished in 9th and 30th place, which is an amazing achievement. The top 22 teams go through to the next round and it is wonderful for us to have a team there. There was also success for our netball and football teams and each of these successes is a testament to the hard work that the children put into training and the support they received from their teachers and coaches.

At the start of this half term we launched a new parashah project where each week as well as the children learning about the weekly parashah in their JS lessons, they also focus on a middah (good deed) message that can be found in the parashah as well as a wellbeing message that can be found in it. All teachers aim to focus on these messages throughout the week. This week the parashah is Emor, the focus of which is giving tzedakah from the produce of one’s field. The middah focus was on giving in a sensitive manner and the wellbeing focus was on helping friends in a kind and thoughtful way. I know that parents received news this week that some found upsetting but, I would like to ask parents to think about the way in which they respond to such news and be mindful of how they speak to and write to school staff. We are always happy to receive feedback and comments but we ask that it is given in a respectful manner. 

Next week sees more celebrations with Lag B’Omer falling on Tuesday. We are looking forward to celebrating with picnics and treats. 

Over the next two weeks, all children from Nursery through to Year 6 will be having age-appropriate mini first aid courses. This is the second year that we have arranged for these courses and we really believe in the importance of them. Whilst they do not fit into any specific curriculum area, the skills they offer are so valuable. A huge thanks to the PTA who have once again sponsored this event. 

Shabbat Shalom.

05.05.2023

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for showing curiosity by asking interesting questions at the London Transport Museum.

Year 2 - for demonstrating perseverance and reflectiveness in his creative writing.

Year 3 - for always demonstrating wonderful middot and always being kind to his friends.

Year 4 - for showing persistence during assessments and persevering through challenges.

Year 5 - for great collaboration with his peers when playing King Charles III when his group did the Proclamation Rap .

Year 6 - for showing curiosity in her history lessons about Israel as well as that of The Royal Family.

02/05/2023

Happy birthday to:

Annabelle who turns 4 this week.

Eli who turns 8 this week.

Lyla who turns 9 this week.

Layla who turns 9 this week.

28.04.2023

I started my week by visiting JFS to meet with Dr Moody, to hear all about life at the school and be taken on a tour. As with my visits earlier in year to other schools, the purpose of the visit was to find out about the school in order to be able to support parents when making decisions about secondary schools for their children. It was lovely to see familiar ex Kerem faces as I walked around the school.

Tuesday saw our Year 6 pupils lead a Yom Hazikaron tekes, which was attended by children in Year 4 and 5 as well as parents, and it was lovely that it was not just Year 6 parents who joined us. It never ceases to amaze me the level of decorum that the Year 6 children bring to this important event, they demonstrate an understanding beyond their years and this is down to the amazing teaching and preparation that they receive. 

Yom Ha’atzmat came at the end of a week where Ivrit lessons had focused on all things Israel and was celebrated in style. The children had a wonderful day and it was lovely to see the connection they feel with Israel. It is especially lovely to see our Israeli children share their love of Israel with their friends. 

As with every week, I visited classes throughout the week and it was great to see focused and purposeful learning taking place. I watched a Year 6 maths lesson, a Year 3 science investigation lesson, saw Ivrit in Year 5, joined a maths intervention in Year 2, watched English in Year 1 and spent time with Year 4 when they were with a speaker from Maccabi Streetwise. The common factor in all of these lessons was focused and engaged children who were being challenged to push themselves further with their thinking.

A huge well done to these children who have worked so hard and have moved up a level in Aleph Champ.

The children had great fun celebrating their achievements at the EYU this week when they joined Mrs Craig's tea party.

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 -for taking risks and having a positive attitude towards making mistakes when writing independently. 

Year 2 - for showing reflectiveness and flexibility of mind in his creative writing.

Year 3 - for demonstrating wonderful middot during bensching and helping his friends follow along in the benscher.

Year 4 - for settling in so well and showing persistence with her maths work.

Year 5 - for showing perseverance during maths challenges this week and writing excellent explanations.

Year 6 - for demonstrating strong initiative in his prefect role by rising to extra responsibilities.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

27.04.2023

Thank you for making a donation to Camp Simcha on your birthday.

24.04.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Chloe who turns 5 this week.

Isabella who turns 5 this week.

Sophie who turns 7 this week.

Mia who turns 11 this week.

Joshua who turns 9 this week.

Noah who turns 10 this week.

Mia who turns 8 this week.

21st April 2023

As ever, we hit the ground running and it is hard to believe that we have only been back at school for one week!

On Monday, the staff met for an INSET day. School days, weeks, and terms are so hectic that on these days, there is great value in taking stock, looking back at the previous term, celebrating successes, and reflecting on where improvements could be made. Listening to the staff talk with pride about the achievements and initiatives was very special as the passion that they have for their work is clearly evident. The list included: the range of interventions that were offered and their impact, the integration of new pupils within the school, the amount of sports fixtures and the number of children who participated in a fixture for the first time, Rosh Chodesh learning sessions, the number and range of clubs that the children participate in, Year six 11+ results, the choir trip to Hammerson House, model sederim and the trips that children went on which included Kew Gardens, The Barbican, The Florence Nightingale Museum, Bletchley Park, Celtic Harmony, and London Zoo.

After that, a key focus for both the EYU and the main school teams was looking at ‘challenge for all’ and extension through personalised questioning. As adults, we are also learners and we regularly attend training and read educational blogs and journals to ensure that we are up to date with the latest research and initiatives. As a result, we are always developing our teaching methods making sure that we are enhancing learning for all children, and ensuring we have the highest expectations of them, whilst offering lessons that are exciting and engaging. 

Before the official start of the school day, Tuesday morning saw children in school for both clubs and interventions and it is always special to see the children eagerly come into school with smiles on their faces. ILP (Individual Learning Plan) reviews also got underway with Mrs Sharman and class teachers meeting with parents to review their children’s individual targets.

Ms Rose, Mrs Collins and I spent Tuesday working on the development of a new English curriculum. We are looking to create a text-rich curriculum that will expose children to a range of genres and authors linking English with the other areas of the curriculum. We were also looking at where the different spelling, punctuation, and grammar elements of the curriculum will be best inserted to ensure that the children are learning these key skills and applying them in all of their written work. Although the children are not having formal spelling tests, spelling lessons, and practice sessions are a key feature of our English curriculum.

Friday saw the first Rosh Chodesh learning of the term with Year 2 parents joining us for the session. Supported by Sarah, our partner from SEED, the children created mosaic maps of Israel. It also saw the first tea party for children in Nursery and Reception and Mrs Craig enjoyed meeting with the children and celebrating their achievements from this week.

3 more children demonstrated the progress that they have made with their Hebrew reading by moving up to the next Aleph Champ level. A huge well done to them and to all of the children who are reading on a regular basis in order to make progress with their reading.

Having marked Yom Ha Shoah on Tuesday, the children in Year 6 have spent time this week preparing to lead a Yom Ha Zikaron tekes (ceremony) which will take place on Tuesday morning. All parents and other family members are welcome to join us. As the week has progressed, the school has turned progressively blue and white as the Ivrit teachers have been preparing for Yom Ha atzmaut. There are wonderful activities planned for Wednesday and we are looking forward to celebrating together. 

As the wider community also prepares for Yom Ha atzmaut, some of our children created artwork that will be exhibited at JW3. Here you can see Year 5's micro calligraphy based on Jewish texts that are relevant to the Israel-themed image they have used. Year 4 designed their own hamsas filled with words of hope. Year 2 created their own clay amulet based on ancient Israelite amulets. Thank you to Mrs Hill who partnered with PaJeS to run this project. The exhibition opens on Sunday and will remain open until the 11th of May. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to visit it. 

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom.

21.04.2023

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for taking initiative and using her creativity to make a kite in Forest School.

Year 2 - for showing persistence and risk taking, particularly in maths, to reason and problem solve.

Year 3 - for demonstrating initiative by always having a go completing his tasks and showing so much enthusiasm in his learning.

Year 4 - for taking risks in maths, choosing the more challenging option.

Year 5 - for showing  a more mature approach to his learning this week and applying his flexibility of mind to adapt and push himself during maths challenges.

Year 6 - for engaging well in all lessons and showing her curiosity throughout our world religion sessions.

17.04.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Anoushka who turns 10 this week.

Bella who turns 11 this week.

27.03.2023

Well done to all the children who have worked so hard and moved up a level in Aleph Champ.

Happy Birthday to:

Talya who turns 5 this week.

Zachary who turns 6 this week.

Henry who turns 7 in the holiday.

Olivia who turns 8 in the holiday.

Rafi who turns 8 in the holiday.

24.03.2023

In assembly last week, I spoke to the children about an article I had read in the paper which reported that most children are hearing poetry less than once a week. The report was based on a survey that was conducted by The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) and Macmillan Children’s Books.

The children and I talked about what poetry was and what made it different from other genres of fiction and they told me that they did not fall into that statistic, that they are in fact  exposed to poetry at school. The way in which the children described poetry was really lovely with comments such as “it is like a song but without music’, “poetry is a group of words that make you feel something special when you hear it”, “poetry makes patterns on the page”, “poetry can be happy or funny or silly”. 

During the assembly I read a variety of poems to the children and then invited them to find a poem that they might want to share with everyone else in the second poetry assembly which fell this week. 

During the week between the two assemblies, it was wonderful how many children came to tell that they had found a poem that they wanted to read. By the time we reached the assembly on Wednesday, 13 children had prepared poems to share, some of them having worked with partners to prepare something, demonstrating the time and thought that had gone into their efforts. Not only did we have poems that children had found in books but 3 children shared with us poems that they had written themselves and 3 classes of children had all been working on poetry this week, some of which you can see on the Year 6 class blog.

It never fails to amaze me how much confidence our children have when it comes to standing up in front of each and this was seen by the number of children from Year 1 and 2 having the confidence to stand up in front of all of the other children to recite their poem. 

Wednesday also saw the second of our parent consultation evenings and it was lovely to see parents engaging in dialogue with the teachers. We hope that parents found both the meetings and the written reports an important and meaningful part of the dialogue between home and school. One comment that was heard a number of times over the two consultation evenings was that parents are not reading the class blogs. The blogs are a communication platform for the teachers to keep parents informed about what is happening in their class. Information about learning that has taken place is shared and photos of the children during lesson times are uploaded for parents to see their children in action. Teachers put a great deal of time and thought into these blogs and I would encourage all parents to read the blogs for their children‘s class in order to feel further connected to the school. 

Walking around both sites, you can’t fail to know that Pesach is just around the corner with decorations adorning the walls and the sound of Pesach melodies coming from the classrooms. Children have been creating haggadot and Seder guides which I am sure will be well used in your homes in a couple of weeks time. We welcomed Year 5 parents to school on Thursday for Rosh Chodesh tefillah and a pre-Pesach learning session which was run by Seed and the final event in the lead up will be seen next week when children will experience a model Seder.

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for taking initiative and using expression when learning to perform a poem in English.

Year 2 - for showing persistence and hard work in lessons.

Year 3 - for taking the initiative to complete her tasks to the best of her ability and putting a lot of effort into her work.

Year 4 - for showing persistence in lessons, especially maths. For consistently working hard, staying focused and trying her absolute best.

Year 5 - for persevering during fraction, decimal and percentages work even when she found it challenging.

Year 6 - for displaying reflectiveness of his own actions and listening well to teacher feedback.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

20.03.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Erin who turns 6 this week.

Isabella who turns 6 this week.

Scarlett who turns 6 this week.

Jethro who turns 6 this week.

Raymond who turns 7 this week.

Jemima who turns 10 this week.

Ollie who turns 11 this week.

17.03.2023

This week started with Year 6 children presenting their independent homework projects to each other and their parents. The children were given the word Freedom and they needed to come up with a piece of work of their choice. It needed to link to both Jewish Studies and Israel. The projects were quite amazing with children focusing on freedom of dance, music, expression and fashion as well as looking at freedom for the Israelites, a study of Apartheid South Africa and Yosef’s journey from jail to 2nd in command. The children painted, wrote poems, created PowerPoints, painted canvases and created multi compartmental houses for their projects. We were truly blown away by their creativity. They were on display in the hall last night for parents to see and they will be back there for the second parents’ evening on Wednesday -  I really recommend taking time to have a look at them. 

There was more sporting success this week with the whole of Year 3 participating in a football match and a mixed Year 6 team playing netball in the Maccabi tournament. There was success for both Y3 and Y6 and a wonderful time was had by all. 

I have spent a great deal of time this week with governors, meeting with the different committees to feed back to them about the aspects of the school that they support. 

The Education Committee received feedback about the English, Maths and Hebrew Reading data from Year 1 - Year 6. They also saw the Nursery and Reception data for all of the areas of learning. In addition to this, they received reports from subject leaders about the development of their subject over the past term and talked in detail about the purpose of the ECM meetings - the meetings we hold where each member of staff who teaches a class meet to discuss the learning behaviours and the social and emotional needs of each child and the pupil progress meetings where the Year 1 - 6 class teachers meet with Ms Rose and me to discuss the academic progress of each child in the class. In addition to this, the JS and Ivrit staff meet together to discuss progress in their subjects and the Nursery and Reception teachers meet with Mrs Craig, Ms Rose and myself.

The Safeguarding and Wellbeing Committee heard feedback from a governor who had visited the school with a specific focus on health and wellbeing through our PE provision. She had spoken with Mr Antony and with a small group of children from Years 4 - 6. I shall share more about her feedback at the start of next term. During the meeting, we also shared information with the committee about a new wellbeing award that we have signed up for. A few years ago, the school earnt the Optimus Wellbeing Award but that award will need renewing within the next year so, in order to keep ensuring that we are making wellbeing a priority, we have committed to another external audit and working towards achieving the PaJeS Wellbeing and Me awards. 

The governing body is made up of a group of people from a range of professional backgrounds who span a wide age range. If you are interested in being part of a team of people who work in a supportive way to develop the strategic direction of the school then please feel free to contact Sam Leek, Chair of Governors to find out more. You can contact her on contactgovernors@keremschool.co.uk.

This morning I was invited to judge Year 5’s Victorian Bake off. The children have been learning about the Victorians and were asked to make an authentic dish. When presenting their dishes the children needed to explain why they were authentic and how they made them in a way that was - many had used hand whisks rather than electric ones.

It is hard to believe that we only have one more full week at school before we finish for the Pesach break. Of course, that does not mean we will be slowing down, as there is plenty to do in that time. We are looking forward to meeting with the parents who are coming to parents’ evening next week. We have got our trip to the Barbican, model Sedarim, the General Knowledge Quiz Club heat and an activity for the children to do in their houses which will be run by the house captains. 

Next week sees the last Forest School session of the term and for Year 6 this means their last session ever. It has been amazing to see them enjoying playing in the mud in the same way that the youngest children in the school do. Next week looks like it is going to be a wet week so please make sure that all children who are going to Forest School have the right clothing and waterproof gear with them. Based on what I saw yesterday, sending spare socks might also be a good idea!

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for persisting with her report writing during English lessons.

Year 2 - for showing curiosity and risk taking in maths lessons.

Year 3 - for demonstrating persistence when completing his tasks and for working hard in all his lessons.

Year 4 - for persisting in maths lessons and her comprehension work.

Year 5 - for showing perseverance and initiative during all lessons alongside a mature approach to her learning.

Year 6 - demonstrating a collaborative spirit during all her lessons, encouraging others to achieve their best.

Well done to all the children for their hard work and for going up a level in Aleph Champ.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

15.03.2023

Thank you for making a donation to PJ Library on your birthday.

13.03.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Jacob who turns 5 this week.

Zachary who turns 8 this week.

Daliyah who turns 8 this week.

Yasmin who turns 11 this week.

Zachary who turns 4 this week.

10.03.2023

On Monday, Year 5 and 6 children had a learning session with the Jewish Blind and Disabled Society. The talks were really informative and the children even got to test out a bionic arm. Like trips, inviting speakers into school is a way of enriching the experiences that the children have in school. 

Tuesday was Purim and everyone had a wonderful time. The day started with the Megillah reading and it was lovely to have so many parents join the reading at Norrice Lea. Although the children from the EYU did not join the synagogue reading, Rabbi Luis went to see them and read it to them. Children in Years 1-6 enjoyed Zumba, which they did to raise money for Jewish Care. Thank you to all parents who made donations to Jewish Care as well as for GIFT and The Royal Free Charity. A contact at The Royal Free Charity sent the following message and photos:

Thank you so so much to all the families at Kerem that donated gifts for our elderly patients.

These have all been given out this morning and were so gratefully received, a few tears were shed by a couple of the patients who very rarely receive gifts.

Please find attached some photos for you to share with the children and their families. The first one is of Doris who is the Dementia Lead here and Sue, one of our volunteers who works alongside Doris. The other three photos are of patients who received one of the gifts from yourselves this morning.

Thank you once again for your support and I look forward to continuing working with you.

Despite the snowy start to the day, Year 2 headed off to The Florence Nightingale Museum on Wednesday. The children thoroughly enjoyed the visit and it help to embed the learning they had done in school.

Unfortunately, we have had a few teachers who have been off sick this week and we wish them all refua shelama. One silver lining of that for me was that I spent some of Thursday morning with Year 6. My time with them included going to Forest School and although it was wet, it was incredible watching how happy they were jumping in muddy puddles! 

Thursday night saw our e-safety evening that was hosted by ECP. 10 parents joined us to hear about how to help keep children safe online. Although we would have loved it if more parents had joined us, it was great to see these parents benefit from the session.

Today, ECP returned to school to run sessions for the children from Years 1-3 as well as sessions for parents and children in Years 4-6. These sessions are an excellent way to give a reminder about how to stay safe online. The message of both the adult and the pupil talks are not that children should not be online, but how to make sure that when they are online, they feel safe and we know how to reduce the risks to them. We will be sending out the slides that were shown to the parents and we would highly recommended spending time going through them. 

Unfortunately, it looks like the wet weather is due to last so please make sure that the children have coats with them each day. Please also make sure that if they are going to Forest School that they have clothing that will keep them both warm and dry. 

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for demonstrating persistence and reflectiveness in Ivrit.

Year 2 - for showing reflectiveness and persistence in her writing.

Year 3 - for demonstrating persistence during Ivrit lessons and putting a lot of effort into his work. 

Year 4 - for demonstrating fantastic collaboration with those on her new table and taking risks with new learning in maths.

Year 5 - for persistence and good attitude towards Ivrit lessons.

Year 6 - demonstrating a collaborative spirit during all her lessons, encouraging others to achieve their best.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

09.03.2023

Royal Academy Young Artists’ Summer Show

Now in its fifth year, the Young Artists’ Summer Show is a free, open submission exhibition for students aged 5 - 19 studying in the UK and British schools overseas. Artworks are judged by artists and arts professionals with selected artworks displayed online and on-site at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Below is Zara's entry to the competition. Zara made the hat out of clay and named it 'Magic Hat'.

07.03.2023

Thank you to the PTA for organising and distributing Mishloach Manot baskets to all the staff and families at Kerem School.

Have a magical Purim.

06.03.2023

We are currently in the middle of Fair Trade Fortnight. During assembly this morning, the children learned about what Fair Trade means, why it is important that there is a Fair Trade movement, and how we as individuals and a school can play our part in supporting the work that they are doing. 

03.03.2023

This week started with news from our chess team that all four teams had made it through to the semi-finals of the national championships. 

On Monday, we had an uplifting visit to Hammerson House on The Bishops Ave. The Kerem Cares: Tzedakah committee had suggested children getting out into the community as a means of giving time to others rather than us only giving material items or possessions. Morah Sharon and Mr Fingerhut organised for the choir to visit and it was very special watching the children singing to the residents. Each of the residents that I spoke to commented on the confidence of the children and could not believe that many of the children were only in Year 1. The children sang in English, Hebrew and Yiddish and the resident that I was sitting next to was particularly moved when the Yiddish song was sung. 

Year 6 spent Monday at Bletchley Park, learning about the enigma and code breaking that took place during World War Two. They learnt about the different machines and enjoyed the interactive exhibits. 

On Tuesday, we had our annual Israeli theatre visit and it was again a wonderful experience for the children. The pre-teaching that the Ivrit teachers had done really paid off with children understanding the story as it was performed. 

Wednesday saw the Y5 Maccabi netball tournament. We entered two teams with all of the children playing brilliantly. One team reached the semi-final but sadly lost out on a final place whilst the other, won the whole tournament. Congratulations to all of the children who played. 

On Thursday morning, children from Y3 were joined by their parents for a pre-Purim learning session which was organised by Mrs Hill and run by SEED. It is always lovely to watch the children learning alongside their parents. We are very lucky to have such a great programme of events that Mrs Hill has organised. 

Today, children from Y4 - Y6 took part in the Barnet Cross Country competition - the children had a long run through some fields and woods but were still smiling at the end! Well done to all the children who took part, with nearly all of the children finishing in the top half of their race.

This week also saw our Pupil Progress Meetings. In these meetings, we look at the academic progress of each child in the class. The meetings are an opportunity to look at how far the children have come as well as to set them challenging but achievable targets for the remainder of this term and the first half of next. This is the term where we can see the impact of interventions that have been put in place and considering how many children are in school at 8.15am for additional teaching sessions and the pre-teach documents that get sent out this week, it is no wonder that such great progress is being made. As ever, I am grateful for the hardworking team of adults that we have working with the children. 

Looking ahead I can see that next week will be just as busy with a special visitor for Year 5 and 6, Purim, a Year 2 trip and no doubt much more!

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for persisting with her poetry writing in English. 

Year 2 - for demonstrating reflectiveness when writing a diary entry about Florence Nightingale in our history lesson.

Year 3 - for taking the initiative to write his own sentences in English and for writing an excellent diary entry.

Year 4 - for pushing himself to speak and write in English.

Year 5 - for perseverance during maths challenges involving metric/imperial conversions.

Year 6 - for using her initiative at the start of all lessons, having her book out ready to begin a task.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom.

27.02.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Liam who turns 5 this week.

Rafaela who turns 4 this week.

Jesse who turns 7 this week.

Rafi who turns 11 this week.

Amelie who turns 11 this week.

24.02.2023

It is hard to believe that we have only been back at school for one week but, as ever, we have been packing it in.

I have spent most of the week in ECM (every child matters) meetings, listening to all staff who work with each class talking about each child individually in terms of their social and emotional development and their learning behaviours. In a fast-paced environment, it is such a privilege for everyone to be able to take an extended time out of their day to engage in really meaningful, professional dialogue.

Wednesday saw Year 5 parents join us for Rosh Chodesh learning. It was lovely to see so many of them studying with their children. As always, Mrs Hill put together a wonderful learning resource for them and Sarah from SEED joined us. As it was a special Teffilah, it took place in the synagogue and it was lovely to be back in that space.

Wednesday also saw both football and netball matches and it was lovely to see the children excited about their extra-curricular activities.

On Thursday, children from Year 1 had their Chaggigat Ha Siddur which was truly wonderful. Rabbi Levene spoke to the parents ahead of the ceremony and then again to the children. Huge thanks go to Ms Rose for helping them prepare for the special occasion. 

In Ivrit lessons, the children have spent the week preparing for our annual Israeli theatre visit which takes place next week. The whole show is performed in Ivrit so the children have been learning vocabulary which will help them to follow the story.

Before the half term break, many of the children in Year 6 heard how they had faired in their applications for the selective independent secondary schools. Once final wait list places have been offered I will share the full outcomes with you but it was wonderful to see the results of all of the children's hard work. 5 children received scholarship offers and places were offered at 8 different schools. Scholarships were received for academic, art, creative, Jewish Studies and music. We really should not underestimate the toll the process takes on the children, particularly for those who do not receive the outcomes that they had hoped for - we have been so proud of how the children have demonstrated resilience when managing their disappointments.

In the same way that the children are, the staff are always learning and developing our knowledge and skills and I always look to promote professional development training. I am thrilled to let you know that Mrs Prais has been accepted to study for a Level 5 Certificate in Dyslexia; Literacy, Support and Intervention. The study will take place alongside her current role and she will remain at Kerem. The course is a year in length and at the end, Mrs Prais will be qualified to teach children with dyslexia. As well as being fantastic for her, it will be wonderful for Kerem to have a member of staff who, with this qualification, as an addition to offering direct teaching to those children with dyslexia, she will also be able to give further advice and guidance to all teachers working with children with dyslexia.

I am very much looking forward to seeing many of you at the PTA Havdalah event on Motzei Shabbat. A huge thank you to the PTA team and the class reps for the work that they have put into organising the event.

We have 24 children participating in The National Primary School Chess Championships on Sunday. We wish them luck and look forward to hearing all about how they get on when they com to school on Monday.

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - For taking initiative in English and writing fantastic sentences with finger spaces, capital letters and full stops.

Year 2 - for demonstrating initiative in Ivrit and using plurals to describe trees and colours

Year 3 - for risk taking in Ivrit and using her spoken Ivrit more readily.

Year 4 - for showing curiosity during Ivrit Theatre preparation and thinking deeply about the story.

Year 5 - for using her initiative and flexibility of mind during Ivrit Theatre show preparation lesson.

Year 6 - for demonstrating resilience in PE when working on different skills even when success is not guaranteed.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom.

20.02.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Mia who turns 5 this week.

AJ who turns 7 this week.

Leo who turns 10 this week.

10.02.2023

Monday really was a fabulous day and the perfect start to Mental Health Week. For those of us at Kew Gardens, it really was very special. The weather was glorious, the education sessions excellent and although each class went their own way, knowing everyone was together felt magical. Connecting with the trees and plants emphasised how lucky we are that Judaism allows us to pause to recognise the importance of the natural world. For the children in Nursery, the session they had with Seed, alongside their picnic lunch made their day really memorable too.

The rest of Mental Health Week saw a range of activities both in class and at lunch times. The theme of the week was connecting and we chose to show how children could connect through nature, music, drama and art. It was lovely to have our safeguarding and wellbeing governor, Claire Barth, visit us on Thursday lunchtime to see some of the activities taking place. 

On Wednesday, our Year 5 and 6 girls played in the Maccabi football tournament. It is lovely to see more and more girls excited about playing football. Hopefully this is the start of the legacy of the Euro winning England women’s team back in the summer of 2022. If your daughter would like to play football then please consider signing her up for the school football club. If we have enough interest from girls, we will look to run a dedicated girls’ football club. 

Wednesday also saw the semi-final of Quiz Club Science Quiz with Josh from Year 6 alongside Zac, Isabel and Daniel from Year 5, collaborating brilliantly to answer the questions. Unfortunately, they did not get through to the final but we were really proud of their efforts. 

Over the last couple of weeks, Mr Lipman has been visiting the EYU to first bring a fish tank and get it set up ready for the arrival of the fish and then to bring the fish in. The children have loved this experience and we are all excited about the new additions. 

Well done to all the for their hard work and for going up a level in Aleph Champ.

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for taking risks by challenging herself to extend her writing in English.

Year 1 - for collaborating beautifully with others during Forest School.

Year 2 - for demonstrating flexibility of mind in maths when learning new topics particularly when subtracting two 2-digit numbers.

Year 3 - for persisting with his handwriting and putting a lot of effort into presenting his work neatly. 

Year 4 - for working so hard on your resilience and persistence in PE and maths, we can see how hard you are working.

Year 5 - for persevering during more challenging maths activities.

Year 6 - for demonstrating an improvement in his collaborative skills which was seen at Kew and during his lessons.

The February half term break marks the halfway point of the year and it seems hard to believe that we are there already. We look forward to seeing everyone back at school after the break, ready for the second half of the year. 

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom.

06.02.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Alex who turns 6 this week.

Ariella who turns 8 this week.

Freddie who turns 10 this week.

Maya who turns 4 next week.

Emma who turns 5 next week.

Emily who turns 8 next week.

Ethan who turns 8 next week.

03.02.2023

It has been another action packed week. On Monday, Carla Bispham, who works for the Royal Free Charity, came to assembly to explain the work that the charity does. The Royal Free Charity is one of the two charities that we are supporting this year so it was great for the children to hear about the help they are supporting. 

Jenny Rodin, a governor who is the chair of our education committee who also has a focus on the support for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), also visited on Monday. She observed some interventions, met with Morah Sharon and Mrs Hill to find out how the children with SEND are supported in Ivrit and JS and with Mrs Sharman to discuss the overall provision for SEN children at the school. Jenny Rodin also visited the EYU, met with Mrs Craig, Miss Cowen and Mrs Collier as well as meeting some of the children. It is always lovely when governors see the school in action.

Still on Monday, Y4 visited London Zoo to support the work that they have been doing about rainforests and animal habitats. The weather was kind to them and they had a thoroughly enjoyable day. 

This week we welcomed Rachel Higgenson to school. Rachel is an education consultant who works with schools to help them develop curriculums that allow pupils to develop the knowledge, skills and character to make a difference in the modern world. We chose to work with Rachel because we feel that her beliefs align with the work that we have been doing over the past three years, particularly with the development of our Kerem Characteristics. 

During her time at the school, Rachel met with subject leaders as well as a selection of children from each class. In addition to this, she spent time in each class. It was lovely to hear Rachel’s feedback about the school, which she shared with us at the end of her visit. She said that it was clear that there is an incredibly strong culture at the school, that our values and ethos were tangible. She commented on the sense of community that ran through the school and that not only had she sensed it but that also the children had articulated it to her. She commended the passion of the teachers, again, something that the children had mentioned as well as the children’s thirst for learning.

As we approach Tu Bish'vat, the new year for trees, it has been a good time to reflect on how we nurture our most treasured 'plants', our children. We watch, encourage, educate and try to instil values as they develop from tiny shrubs to blossom and bloom into magnificent adults who will be able to contribute to make the world a better place. To this end it has been very timely that we have had the opportunity to welcome and respond to feedback. Some of the feedback caused us to stop and think about incidences of low-level disruptive behaviour e.g. calling out, that occur and the impact that it is having on learning. In response to this, we spent time reiterating to the children (Y1-6) our expectations for the choices they make in the classroom, the way in which they listen and respond to instructions given by adults and the importance of not interrupting adults or other children. As well as talking to the children together in assembly, I visited each class and talked with them about the benefits of decreasing disruption during learning. The children responded fantastically to the conversations, making many insightful comments. 

The conversations with our tirelessly enthusiastic teachers have shown me how much they care and want to encourage learning in the best environment. The children too, have listened and heard. They too have responded both in their behaviour but also in being able to explain to us what helps them most as they learn. As you come together as families over Shabbat please support our encouragement to the children to listen to others and respect others, to allow all our children to blossom into the strong, upright community members we hope they will become.

This week, children in Year 5 and Year 6 had the incredible opportunity to witness and participate in a  production of the Shakespearean play, Hamlet. The actors portrayed multiple characters well and made sure the children were really immersed in the story. Year 5 and Year 6, created soundscapes during the performance to evoke an emotional response to the performance. Overall, all pupils had a brilliant afternoon.

Later in the week, Year 4 boys and Year 5 girls played two exciting matches vs King Alfred’s school. A number of the children were playing their first football match for the school, and did so with intensity and courage and left the fixture in high spirit and full of confidence!

Well done for all your hard work and for going up a level in Aleph Champ.

We are looking forward to celebrating Tu Bishvat next week. The children in Nursery will have a session run by Seed whilst everyone else will be visiting Kew Gardens. 

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom.

Celebration Tea Party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for collaborating beautifully with others during Forest School.

Year 2 - for demonstrating reflectiveness and persistence in her creative writing, she is always determined to use interesting vocabulary and to do her best work. 

Year 3 - for showing flexibility of mind in English and writing excellent instructions, using adjectives, prepositions and adverbs.

Year 4 - for showing good collaboration and persistence in PE and for her enthusiasm at Forest School.

Year 5 - for his positive attitude and resilient approach to all tasks.Well done for thinking outside the box!

Year 6 - for always having an excellent attitude towards learning and for supporting other children around the school.

30.1.2023

Thank you for donating a book for your birthdays.

Happy Birthday to:

Maya who turns 8 this week.

Leo who turns 4 this week.

Shachar who turns 11 this week.

27.01.2023

I started my week marvelling at the beauty of the frozen park as I set off with the children from the running club toward the tennis courts. Even though it really was freezing, the children pushed through the cold and joined in with enthusiasm. 

On my return from running club I joined Year 3 and many of their parents for a Rosh Chodesh learning session with Mrs Hill and Sarah Silkin from SEED. As we entered the month of Shevat, the children were thinking about plants and trees. As part of the activities, the children planted parsley seeds which should grow in time for Pesach.

After delays due to heavy rain, snow, and frost, the Reception children were finally able to get out into their new outdoor learning area. It was lovely getting over there to see them playing in it and hearing them making suggestions about making signs and traffic lights for their bike track. I want to say another BIG thank you to everyone who helped make this project possible.

Wednesday saw 2 Year 5 and 6 teams head off to the Maccabi Football Tournament. Whilst they did not come back with a trophy, they did come back with big smiles. 

Thursday took an unexpected twist for those of us on the Norrice Lea site when we lost power shortly before midday. 3 classrooms and the dining room kept power but we had no phone lines or internet. Teachers rapidly adapted their plans to allow for lessons that did not require iPads or interactive whiteboards and children in the powerless classrooms managed brilliantly with just daylight. It sparked lots of conversations about our dependence on electricity, devices, and the internet.

This morning saw Year 1 and 2 have a road safety session with a theatre company that used a story about Muffin the cat to teach children all about how to keep safe when crossing the road.

Our week ended with a special pre Kabbalat Shabbat assembly about Chinese New Year which Ms Wang led for us. After listening to the different customs, we talked about the similarities with some of our Jewish traditions, at both Rosh ha shana and other festivals. It was a privilege to hear from Ms Wang and an important way for the children to learn about our diverse society. It was one of many activities that took place this week to mark the event with Year 6 doing maths coding on the theme of Chinese New Year and in Mandarin club, the children made decorations and wrote Chinese characters.

I received an email from Doodle Maths and Spell this week, telling me which classes and which children were doing well working through their Doodle work. It is wonderful to see how many are using the app at home. It would be brilliant if parents could encourage a short amount of time each day/week/weekend (depending on your family’s screen time rules)  for children to work on the app to consolidate the learning that they have been doing in school. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

Shabbat Shalom.

27.01.2023

Celebration tea party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for persisting with his learning during lessons. He has particularly worked hard on handwriting this week. 

Year 2 - for demonstrating resilience and flexibility of mind in Ivrit.

Year 3 - for persisting with this handwriting and really trying hard in all his lessons this week.

Year 4 - for showing creativity and using initiative in his writing. Also for showing resilience at forest school and for having lovely middot.

Year 5 - for her perseverance and resilience during maths lessons. Pushing herself to attempt harder challenges.

Year 6 - for displaying terrific collaboration whilst creating her air raid shelter in DT and a book for nursery during Book Week. 

Royal Academy Young Artists’ Summer Show

Now in its fifth year, the Young Artists’ Summer Show is a free, open submission exhibition for students aged 5 - 19 studying in the UK and British schools overseas. Artworks are judged by artists and arts professionals with selected artworks displayed online and on-site at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Below is Oli's entry to the competition. Oli named it 'Out of this world' - it is a rocket that has been made out of glass. 

23.01.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Amelie who turns 4 this week.

Ari who turns 5 this week.

Eliott who turns 9 this week.

Emmi who turns 10 this week.

Naomi who turns 11 this week.

20.01.2023

What an amazing week! 

Throughout the school the children have been immersed in books. From meeting authors, going on a book scavenger hunt, attending a book tasting, reading in houses, listening to Ivrit stories, writing a set of Jewish Mr and Little Miss stories and going on a teddy bears picnic, the week has been action packed. Be sure to check out Facebook and Instagram to see photos of it all. In addition to all of that, we had the book fairs and huge thanks to everyone who helped run it and who purchased books. The school receives a percentage of book sales so we look forward to selecting some new books for both libraries and the class libraries. 

What can I say about the story scenes? They were unbelievable and one of the things that I have learnt about myself this week is that I make a terrible judge! I found it impossible to choose a winner or even one from each phase or class. 4 children in Reception made a story scene and they are all receiving a prize as they were all excellent. With a great deal of support from Mrs Sharman and Mrs Craig, I chose 9 story scenes from Y1-Y6 which really stood out - though as I said, I could have chosen them all. The ‘winners’ will be announced in school next week and prizes will be given out to the children who made the 9 chosen boxes - as most were not named, I don't even know who the winners are! Every child who made a story scene will be receiving a small prize as we really were impressed with all of them. 

As mentioned in my blog last week, I spent a large part of Monday and all of Tuesday at the PaJeS Head Teacher’s conference. Whilst I always find it strange to be away from school, it was really excellent professional development which was shared with over 50 Heads and aspiring Heads. As well as coming from North West London and Ilford, heads had come from as far as Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester and it was wonderful to meet them and work alongside them. We had sessions from Craig Kacev from The Pincus Fund on ‘navigating conflicting values’ and John Tomsett, a nationally renowned school leader supporting schools to improve the quality of teaching and learning. This session was called ‘truly great teaching, truly great teams.’ In addition to this, the evening session was a ‘Question Time’ style session with Dame Christine Ryan DBE, FRSB and Chair of Ofsted Mr Daniel Levy, Chair of Immanuel College and businessman. I am grateful to both PaJeS for putting on the event and for the senior team and the rest of the staff, who held the fort in my absence. 

Next week the Jewish Studies team has their day conference and I am sure it will be just as informative and thought provoking.

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for persevering with missing number problems in maths. 

Year 2 - for demonstrating persistence and reflectiveness in Ivrit and other areas of the curriculum

Year 3 - for taking the initiative to write her Stone Age recount and putting a lot of effort into her work. 

Year 4 - for showing good middot and curiosity in our Geography lesson when exploring rainforest plants.

Year 5 - for using her initiative and challenging herself during maths lessons .

Year 6 - taking risks in all lessons by answering questions and for putting herself forward for  a singing role for Boystown.

Well done for all your hard work and for going up a level in Aleph Champ.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

16.01.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Harry who turns 4 this week.

Joshua who turns 11 this week.

13.01.2023

The week started with Mora Neta giving the children in Years 1-6 an interesting assembly all about Eliezer Ben Yehuda. They enjoyed hearing why and how he had created the modern language of Ivrit which is used in Israel today. 

In relation to some weeks at Kerem, this week has been a quiet week with no big events taking place. However, there has been lots of planning both for next week’s book week and for future events. We are looking forward to celebrating books and reading next week and we hope that the range of activities will inspire all of the children. Children in the EYU will have events organised by their teachers and will join together with children in Year 5 and 6. We have visiting authors, a book tasting, a library scavenger hunt and much more. We are looking forward to seeing the children’s ‘story in a box’ creation although based on the children’s descriptions, I am not looking forward to having to judge them as they all sound amazing. 

Staff spent time together planning the trip to Kew Gardens which looks set to be an exciting day. All we need now is for the sun to shine that day, or at least for the rain to stay away. A letter with finalised details will be sent the week before the trip.

I spent lots of time in class this week and it was lovely to see the range of learning that takes place over the course of the week. From creating art based on the work of Van Gogh, to translating chumash in Jewish Studies, writing stories based on one that they had listened to in creative writing, writing a story based on a piece of music with Mr Fingerhut and fitness circuits with Mr Antony, no two lessons are the same!

After delays due to poor weather, it was exciting to see the Reception playground transform this week as the grass was laid and the wet pour surface created. We are looking forward to the finishing touches being done.

Next week, I will be attending the PaJeS Head Teachers' conference which is an opportunity to spend a day and a half learning alongside the Head Teachers from the other Jewish schools. It will be strange being away from school for this time but know that it will be looked after by the senior leadership team in my absence.

Shabbat Shalom.

Celebration tea party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for taking initiative in her science lesson by sounding out and writing her own sentences. 

Year 2 - for demonstrating persistence and risk taking in PE.

Year 3 - for always persisting with his work and challenging himself in class, especially in maths.

Year 4 - for demonstrating initiative in lessons and thinking for herself, coming up with sensible solutions to problems or methods to try.

Year 5 - for persistence and a great attitude towards work across all lessons.

Year 6 - for showing excellent humour and a positive mindset in lessons this week.

9.1.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Hannah who turns 10 this week.

Eliana who turns 11 this week.

Bella who turns 11 this week.

6.1.2023

Happy New Year! It has been lovely to welcome the children back to school and hear about their holiday adventures, both at home and away. 

The staff spent a wonderful day together on Tuesday, engaged in a variety of professional development sessions. 

During the morning, the staff at the EYU focused on enhancing the current computing program and developing observations. Ms Vinokur led the computing session with our computing consultant Emma Davis. They looked at a range of resources which will support the children’s technological development including remote control cars, programmable robots, new educational apps for the iPads and coding apps. Mrs Craig led the observation session where the revised early years curriculum was looked at in depth and consideration was given to ways to select next steps for the children when they have achieved the different objectives. 

Meanwhile, at Norrice Lea, the staff had three morning sessions. One on ‘challenge for all’, one on the development of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths) and DT (Design and Technology) and one on Israel 75. 

During the ‘challenge for all’ session, we looked at the work of a number of education consultants and talked about ways to further ensure that all children are being challenged at the appropriate level. We focused on a model which looks at the panic zone, challenge zone and comfort zone and how to make sure that, during lessons, children do not slip into the panic or the comfort zones. Although all lessons should be pitched in the challenge zone, it is widely agreed that homework set in the comfort zone helps to build self-confidence and that, away from the classroom, it is better that children complete work that consolidates their learning, which they might interpret as “finding easy” rather than struggling and feeling despondent. One of the models that we looked at was James Nottingham’s pit of learning and this is something that we are going to explore further with the children. We will be devising our own visual to represent the pit and will be sharing it with parents so that you can use the same language as we do when approaching work. 

During the STEAM and DT sessions, Ms Dalwai and Miss Weiner led us in a range of activities which teachers could use in all subject areas which develop key skills of investigation, initiative, trial and error, collaboration and many more. Teachers had great fun trying out the activities and competitive spirits shone through as staff battled to create the longest paper chain out of 1 piece of A4 paper!

Mrs Hill then led the staff in a session relating to Israel 75. We are taking part in a PaJeS project called ‘Building Artistic Connections’ where the children are going to be creating artwork based on an artefact that they have studied. 

In the afternoon, the staff from both sites joined together for a session run by Jackie Engleberg on Restorative Practices. During the session we learnt more about restorative approaches and how they can be used in a school as a means of managing behaviour. We talked about ways in which staff can facilitate dialogue between those affected by wrongdoing, encouraging those affected to share their story. Staff then facilitate those responsible for causing harm to take account of their actions and repair the harm. It then encourages all parties to find a mutually acceptable way forward. Not only does this method help to repair relationships but it also gives the children a fantastic set of skills which they can use in all aspects of their lives - these include talking, listening, negotiating and making agreements. Jackie returned to school on Wednesday to see the school in action and to start planning future sessions that she will run with staff. 

Staff left at the end of the day feeling really excited about the upcoming term and the opportunities that they will have to implement all of the new learning. 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday saw us get straight back into learning with new topics being started in each class. We have made slight changes to the timetables this term. These changes have been made to facilitate three, rather than two, lunch sittings. Whilst two sittings used to work, increased pupil numbers have meant that we felt that it would be better to have more space in both the lunch hall and the playground. It now means that Years 1 and 2, 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 are together in class pairs for half an hour in the dining room and a further half an hour in the playground. 

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom.

4.1.2023

Happy Birthday to:

Sammy who turned 7 this week.

Judah who turns 5 this week.

Hannah who turns 9 this week.

Joey who turns 9 this week.

13.12.2022

Thank you for making a donation to Camp Simcha on your birthday.

12.12.2022

Happy Birthday to:

Carmi who turns 4 this week.

Eden who turns 5 this week.

Bobby who turns 4 in the holiday.

Mila who turns 7 in the holiday.

Kaia who turns 7 in the holiday.

Joey who turns 7 in the holiday.

Jordan who turns 7 in the holiday.

Lianne who turns 7 in the holiday.

Freya who turns 8 in the holiday.

Jonathan who turns 8 in the holiday.

Nili who turns 8 in the holiday.

Ofri who turns 9 in the holiday.

Annabelle who turns 9 in the holiday.

James who turns 10 in the holiday.

Salomé who turns 10 in the holiday.

9.12.2022

It was lovely to see so many parents join in the fun at the Bingo evening. Thank you to the PTA for organising such a fun event. 

Wednesday saw the 2nd of our parent consultations. Again, it was lovely to see parents in face-to-face dialogues with teachers and even to have a chance to speak to a couple of parents myself. Parents sometimes feel that they have further questions to ask after reflecting on a meeting; I hope that you know that class teachers, phase leaders (Miss Mansoor and Miss Weiner) and Mrs Sharman, in her role as inclusion and pastoral lead, are always happy to have conversations with you. Whilst I am also always happy to talk to parents, speaking first with one of these members of staff is often more appropriate for the question that you have. 

Kerem participated and entered two teams into the Maccabi Games Year 5 and 6 football tournament. As Year 6 were engaged with exam preparations, we sent some Year 4 children to join our Year 5s. Both teams battled hard against older opposition. Mr Antony reported that they held their own very well with performances that they should be proud of, and narrowly lost in the group stages. 

It has been lovely listening to the sounds of Chanukah this week as the children have been learning a range of Chanukah songs. We are all looking forward to the end of term shows next week where we will get to hear them.

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for taking initiative in all of his lessons and always working hard. 

Year 2 - for demonstrating persistence and hard work in his phonics and reading.

Year 3 - or always demonstrating good middot and helping and caring for others.

Year 4 - for consistent hard work, risk taking and curiosity when learning about area in maths. 

Year 5 - for having the flexibility of mind to take on feedback and apply it in her work.

Year 6 - for demonstrating collaboration during all lessons and encouraging others.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom.

8.12.2022

Thank you for donating a book on your 8th birthday.

5.12.2022

Happy Birthday to: 

Noa who turns 4 this week.

Lexi who turns 7 this week.

Oliver who turns 8 this week.

Maya who turns 8 this week.

Zara who turns 10 this week.

2.12.2022

It is hard to believe that it is December. With just a couple of weeks left of the term there are still so many exciting events taking place. We are looking forward to the end of term shows, preparing for Chanukah and the House Captains' end of term house events. House Captains are going to be asking children in their houses to remember to wear their badges each day. I understand that there have been issues with the badges tearing shirts and t-shirts, for which we are of course very sorry but there does not seem to be an issue with the PE jumpers or grey jumpers. 

It was lovely to see so many parents in school yesterday for the parent consultation meetings. It is always good to be able to discuss a pupil's progress with parents. There was a lovely vibe in the hall and it was great that parents were able to leaf through their children’s work. For those of you who are coming next week, we are looking forward to seeing you then.

This morning I spent some time with each class. It is always lovely to see the variety of lessons that are taking place. I joined Year 1 for some maths, Year 2 for geography, Year 3 for maths, Year 4 for Jewish Studies and Year 5 for art. It was wonderful to see how engaged all of the children were with their learning and how keen they were to tell me all about it. Year 5 were particularly excited about the Greek vases that they are making. Today saw fewer children in school than normal as the first of the 11+ exams took place. Over the past months, the children have worked so hard preparing for their exams and we are proud of each and every one of them for the motivation that they have shown. In addition to their hard work, Miss Weiner and Mrs Sharman have worked incredibly hard to prepare the children, working closely with each of them to help them develop their individual areas for development. 

As you know, last week was Chai’s crazy hair day. There was no obligation to bring money in but many of you generously did. As a result, we were able to make a donation of £66 to Mrs Craig’s page for Chai’s Big Impact fundraising campaign which was very special for her and for us. 

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for developing lovely middot by being kind to his friends and always being polite to adults.

Year 2 - for demonstrating perseverance and reflectiveness in his English work.

Year 3 - for demonstrating initiative by completing his non-fiction report independently and for putting so much effort into it.

Year 4 - for developing her initiative and resilience in maths. 

Year 5 - for using her initiative to research a Greek myth independently.

Year 6 - for showing curiosity in his maths lessons, finding new ways to solve problems/calculations.

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

28.11.2022

Happy birthday to:

Zac who turns 4 this week.

Joshua who turns 6 this week.

25.11.2022

This week has seen some unforgettable moments for the school community.

It started on Monday when children from Year 1- 6 watched England beat Iran 6-2 in the Men’s Football World Cup. The atmosphere in school was incredible and those children who chose not to watch the game had lots of fun doing other activities in class. 

Wednesday saw three classes out on school trips and other children out at netball meaning that school was very quiet. It did mean though that Year 1,5 and 6 had lunch together which was a nice treat for the Year 1 children. 

The trips went to The London Eye, Kidzania and Cadburys World and you can see lots of photos on Facebook and Instagram.

We have had a successful week in terms of competitions with our Year 6 mixed netball team winning the Maccabi tournament. We also had a team pass through the heats of the Science Quiz Club to the next round.

In addition to all of this, I visited Immanuel College to meet with the new Head Teacher, Dr Sachania, to hear all about his vision for the school. It was lovely to spend time with him, hearing about his plans and I know that any of our children who move on there have exciting opportunities ahead of them. As part of my trip, I was taken to see some of ‘our’ Year 7s in their lessons. During the tour I also saw some other ex Kerem pupils and it was lovely to see them all in their new (and not so new) school.

This morning saw Year 1 parents join us for Rosh Chodesh learning which was planned and led by Mrs Hill. A big thank you to Mrs Hill for working so hard to engage parents in the children’s Jewish life and learning at school. They then joined us for tefillah - it is always very special to have parents with us on these occasions. As soon as she had finished that, Mrs Hill swapped sites and joined the Nursery and Reception children with their parents, making chanukiahs and sharing their Shabbat parties. Huge thanks go again to Mrs Hill as well as to Mrs Craig for arranging the activities as well as to Mrs Collier, Miss Cowen and their teams for making the morning such a success. 

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for taking initiative in his writing and always pushing himself to take on a challenge. 

Year 2 - for demonstrating curiosity about all of the different landmarks on our school trip.

Year 3 - for demonstrating such curiosity about the different roles at Kidzania and for collaborating well with the others in her group. 

Year 4 - persisting so strongly in his learning, especially learning and reading English.

Year 5 - for always displaying excellent middot in every aspect of school from collaborative work in lessons to kindness in the playground.

Year 6 - for consistently demonstrating initiative in her work and attitude in and towards lessons.

Well done to the children who have gone up a level in Aleph Champ.

Shabbat Shalom.

21.11.2022

Happy birthday to:

Dylan who turns 6 this week.

Gabriella who turns 10 this week.

18.11.2022

For some of us, last week ended on motzei Shabbat with a special havdalah service at the Year 4 Shabbaton, led by HGSS’ Rabbi Louis and Rabbi Fine from Seed, and attended by the parents as well as the children. This followed on from the wonderful Shabbat experience that I had shared with Year 4, Mrs Hill, Mrs Collins and Miss Goodkin. The children had a fun-filled experience which focused on the customs of Shabbat, the parasha of the week and of course food! Mrs Hill designed a wonderful programme of events for the children and Mrs Collins and Miss Goodkin gave a tremendous amount of energy to it.

The week itself seems to have flown by with Anti Bullying week playing an important part of each day. The theme for this year was REACH OUT. There was a focus on how we can reach out to others that need our support and how we can reach out for support if we need it. The children also discussed how to be an upstander and not a bystander. Everyday there were different activities that the children participated in, including a drama workshop which was run by an external company. The children also worked their way through different scenarios, talking through what they would do in the situations presented to them. A huge thank you to Mrs Sharman for planning the week. 

This week also saw the final of our ECM meetings, more netball matches and of course, plenty of learning! In addition to this, we had the first of this term’s pupil progress meetings. Unlike ECM meetings, these meetings focus on the academic achievement and progress of each of the pupils, celebrating their successes and looking ahead at the targets that the children will be working towards as they move into the final weeks of the term and into next term. 

Well done for demonstrating your hard work in your Hebrew reading, moving up an Aleph Champ level.

The weather has begun to turn but, where possible, we want to get the children outside at break and lunch times so please make sure that they have a coat with them each day. 

Next week is a busy week with 3 classes off on school trips. Each of the trips will enhance the learning that the children have completed in school and cover history, geography, art, design and PSHE. As a Head Teacher, it is very special to know you have a team of staff who have such enthusiasm for arranging these experiences for the children. 

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

Celebration tea party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for taking a risk and being courageous when performing her story to the class.

Year 2 - for demonstrating reflectiveness when choosing vocabulary and writing an excellent poem.

Year 3 - for demonstrating persistence with his handwriting and continuing to join up his letters.

Year 4 - for persistence and taking risks in her maths learning.

Year 5 - for reflecting on her feedback and self-improving.

Year 6 - for showing collaboration during the anti-bullying workshops, listening to others and demonstrating inclusivity.

11th November 2022

Following on from last week’s Faces of Israel week, it was a quiet week in terms of the curriculum but no week at Kerem is really a quiet week!

On Monday, Miss Mansoor led an assembly explaining what Remembrance Day is and why we mark it. Today we marked Remembrance Day with a 2-minute silence. 

Work started on the outdoor learning area at the EYU and the children were particularly excited to see a digger in their school!

Both girls’ and boys’ netball matches took place this week, with all children doing well and demonstrating the skills that they have developed as the year has progressed.

Year 1 to Year 6 teachers have started their termly ECM meetings this week. ECM stands for every child matters and the meeting involves all of the members of staff who teach a class coming together to talk about how the cohort and each individual child in it is progressing socially and emotionally. Having this time together offers a great understanding for the staff to share their knowledge of the children with each other to further improve everyone’s understanding of them. 

This morning saw the Year 4s head off to their Shabbaton for a special shared Shabbat experience. They have spent today preparing for Shabbat, which has included making candle holders, challah cloths, challah and a havdalah set. Tonight they will enjoy Kabbalat Shabbat, games, a parasha activity and a special Friday night dinner. Saturday will be filled with more activities and this year, we are very excited that parents will be joining us for a special havdalah service. I am heading off to spend Shabbat with the class and I am really looking forward to what the next 30 hours will bring. A huge thanks must go to Mrs Hill who, as well as spending Shabbat with the class, has also prepared the programme. Thanks also to Mrs Collins and Miss Goodkin who are also spending Shabbat with the class. 

Wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

11.11.2022

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for being reflective in English by checking and editing her writing.

Year 2 - For demonstrating persistence in maths.

Year 3 - for demonstrating initiative by completing her work independently and to the best of her ability.

Year 5 - for showing perseverance during a maths challenge.

Year 6 - for being a reflective learner by always taking time to look at how he can improve his working and exploring different methods in maths.

8.11.2022

We are excited that the new Kerem Cares committees have been selected and we are looking forward to the different projects that each of the committees will introduce during the year.

7.11.2022

Happy Birthday to:

Reuben who turns 5 this week.

Elijah who turns 5 this week.

Max who turns 7 this week.

Annabel who turns 11 this week.

4.11.2022

It has been a busy and exciting week. 

On Monday, we launched this term’s ‘Many Faces of Israel’ project, focusing on the Persian (Iranian) Jews for the week. We are lucky to have some staff and parents who are of Iranian descent. Mrs Goldfarb, who was born in Iran, spoke to all the children in assembly telling them about her experience leaving Iran as a child. She showed us beautiful photos of the stunning colourful architecture she left behind in Iran. Mrs Abramson kindly came in to talk to Year 5 and Year 6 to share her experience of Iranian culture and traditions. She taught the children some Farsi (Persian language) and showed them pictures of the colourful spicy food she cooks. The children also heard a ‘modern’ Iranian pop song and compared the tunes and style to the pop songs they are used to. Mrs Elghanian's sister came in to talk to Year 4 to share her personal experience about leaving Iran with her family and going to Israel. She compared the difference in culture and architecture in Iran and Israel. Mrs Slagel came in to talk to Year 1 and Year 2 and showed them Persian art, food and music. The children designed their own Persian carpets and found out how intricate the patterns need to be. In Ivrit, Year 1 and Year 2 recreated the mosaic tiles used to build the very elaborate synagogue that was built in Persia in the 16th century. They remembered the Ivrit words for the colours. Year 3 and Year 4 looked at Persian carpet designs and learnt why they are so intricate and delicate. They learnt about the weaving process and where the silks and wool stemmed from. Year 5 focused on food and baked Persian rice cookies, Persian rice and omelettes. They learnt that these foods have become part of the typical Israeli cuisine and are served in markets and restaurants. I was lucky enough to be able to taste them and they were all delicious. In Year 6, the children looked at the Farsi language, compared letters and direction to Ivrit letters and learnt to say some words. They discovered that calligraphy is a Persian skill and is used in many plaques, signs and books. The children wrote their names in Farsi on a name plaque and decorated it with ‘Islamic influenced’ designs. 

What made the project particularly special was that the project did not just take place in Ivrit lessons but class teachers also integrated the project into their lessons. Ms Dalwai showed Year 5 and Year 6 many of the spices used in Persian cooking and the children learnt the names and the sources of the spices and how to grind them to make a powder and were intrigued with all the amazing natural colours of the spices. Miss Mansoor showed the children the map of Iran and played them the songs of Rita - a famous Iranian/Israeli singer who is still very popular in Israel today. With Year 6, Miss Weiner talked about the geography of Iran and where it is placed in the world. The children looked at the size and borders surrounding Iran and tried to imagine the geographical journey out of Iran for those who left. In creative writing, following on from Mrs Goldfarb’s story, Mrs Prais asked the children to write a diary entry imagining how it felt to leave your home and arrive somewhere new. Miss Nathan and Miss Mansoor read stories from ancient Persia making connections with the Purim story. Mrs Collins talked to the children about the history and modern day politics of Iran and Israel. The children made a news report and interviewed a member of that community about their experiences. In music, Mr Fingerhut taught the children in Year 5 to sing the Tfilla ‘Lecha Dodi’ in an authentic Iranian tune. In JS, the children compared the tropes of Ashkenazi Tfilla to Mizrachi Tfilla  and compared the Sefer Torah that the Persian community uses to the Sefer Torah in our shuls. Children in the early years made Persian cookies. 

Tuesday evening saw the first PTA meeting of the year and it was lovely to see parents coming together to plan social and fundraising events for both parents and children. I look forward to us all enjoying events together and thank all of those who attended for the time that they gave to support the school. 

On Wednesday, children from Y3 and Y4 attended the Maccabi football tournament. For many of the children it was the first time that they had represented the school and they did so fabulously. All of the teachers were so proud of each and every one of them. One of the teams did not make it through the knockout stages whilst the other made it through to the quarter-finals.

It was lovely to have Rabbi Herzaft join us for Kabbalat Shabbat today and we look forward to sharing many more school events with him.

We are very excited that the refurbishment of the Reception outdoor learning is starting on Monday. This project was made possible thanks to generous donations received as part of Kerem’s BIG Fundraising Campaign so thank you again to everyone who donated. 

Shabbat Shalom.

4.11.2022

Celebration tea party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for being persistent and hardworking during all of her lessons, and paying particular attention to her handwriting.

Year 2 - for persistence and resilience when working in maths.

Year 3 - for risk taking in class and putting her hand up in class to share her wonderful ideas.

Year 4 - asking engaging questions which showed his curiosity about the Jews of Iran and their journey to Israel.

Year 5 - for displaying excellent middot in the Ivrit cookery session.

Year 6 - showing resilience throughout the Year 6 assessments.

2.11.2022

Thank you for planting a tree to mark your 7th birthday - your tree will be planted at Green Farm in Norfolk as part of The Queen's Green Canopy.

31.10.2022

Happy Birthday to:

Ariella who turns 5 this week.

Ruby who turns 6 this week.

Ethan who turns 7 this week.

28.10.2022

Tuesday saw our prospective parents' evening and we were joined by families who are looking to send their children to Kerem. The evening is somewhat of a highlight for our Year 6s who have the opportunity to take the families on a tour of the school, giving them an insight into it from their perspective. It is very special to hear the children talking with such pride about the school. As part of the event, JoJo and Naomi, our Head Prefects, talked alongside myself, Mrs Craig, Ms Rose, Mrs Hill and Mrs Sharman to the parents about different aspects of the school. They articulated themselves beautifully, oozing confidence, which as I said to the guests, is a culmination of the public speaking opportunities the children at Kerem get from as early on as show and tell in Nursery. Show and tell, class performances, sharing book reviews and teach and tell are all ways in which we prepare the children for public speaking. 

I have also walked around the school with a couple of governors this week, both of whom have commented that there was a calm and purposeful learning atmosphere. 

Please can we remind parents to make sure that their child and any others that they are collecting have told the teacher that is dismissing them that they are leaving. This will ensure that we know who has left and who is still in the teacher's care.

Please may we also ask that you let the class teacher know if your child is being taken by someone who is not the person who collects them on a regular basis. Even if it is another parent from the school we need to know that they have permission to go with them. 

Many thanks for your support with this.

Shabbat Shalom.

Well done for demonstrating your hard work in your Hebrew reading, moving up an Aleph Champ level. 

Celebration tea party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - showing good middot by being kind to her friends and looking after the equipment in her new classroom carefully.

Year 2 - demonstrating flexibility of mind whilst reasoning in science to give fabulous answers.

Year 3 - taking the initiative in maths and using the counters to help her work out the answer.

Year 4 - showing humour and persistence in all areas of school life.

Year 5 - persisting and challenging himself and improving his running time.

Year 6 - showing reflectiveness in PE and at Prospective Parents' Evening.

24.10.2022

Happy Birthday to:

Amit who turns 5 this week.

Asher who turns 7 this week.

Louis who turns 10 this week.

21.10.2022

It has been lovely seeing the children back in school these last couple of days and hearing about their Sukkot adventures, be they the variety of sukkot that they ate in, holidays they went on or places they visited.

The months of the chaggim are very special and play an important part in school life but now that they have finished, we have a long second half of the term to look forward to. Many classes will be heading on their first trips of the year including our first residential trip, sports tournaments are starting and there is a change in the classes who will be attending Forest School. Alongside this will be exciting lessons which will support the academic progress of all of the children. S

The days are getting shorter and the weather is definitely turning so please make sure that you children have coats with them each day in case of a sudden downpour.

On Tuesday night we have over 25 people booked in for our prospective parents, an event for families considering our nursery for September 2023. If you know anyone who might be interested then please ask them to get in touch with Daliah Epstein via depstein@keremschool.co.uk to book their place.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom.

to Sophia who won first prize in the READ Foundation's writing competition. Her story will be posted on the blog after the succot break.

03.10.2022

Happy Birthday to:

Isabel who turns 10 this week.

Yonatan who turns 7 this week.

Lily who turns 6 in the holiday.

Harry who turns 8 in the holiday.

Jesse who turns 8 in the holiday.

Rosie who turns 9 in the holiday.

Benjamin who turns 9 in the holiday.

Levi who turns 10 in the holiday.

Avia who turns 5 in the holiday.

Lia who turns 6 in the holiday.

30.09.2022

Another short but busy week! It was lovely to welcome the Nursery and Reception parents to the EYU for their curriculum evening on Wednesday. This was an opportunity for the teaching teams to go into more detail about the curriculum that they will cover over the year and for parents to meet the staff. It was lovely to have a full building and, as with the Meet the Teacher evening the previous week, there was a wonderful atmosphere. Thank you to the PTA who again provided refreshments for the evening. 

Celebration tea party

Well done to all the children who came to the celebration tea party with me today - it is so lovely to hear about all the fantastic work that they have been doing.

Here are the nominations for this week:

Year 1 - for being reflective and editing her writing in English.

Year 2 - for demonstrating persistence in all areas of the curriculum.

Year 3 - for showing excellent middot and always helping others.

Year 4 - for showing curiosity during creative writing and guided reading and thinking deeply about the passage.

Year 5 - for using her initiative and creativity to create a fabulous poster on the Congo river.

Year 6 - by responding to difficult challenges in maths in positive ways.