Whole School Events
February 2024 - THE MANY FACES OF ISRAEL - RUSSIAN ALIYAH. Every year the Ivrit department choose a community who made aliyah to Israel and learn about their culture, history, traditions and reasons for making Aliyah. This year we focused on the Russian community. Each class learnt something about the Russian Jewish community in Israel and did an activity accordingly.
JS/IVRIT SPECIAL ‘SOLIDARITY WITH ISRAEL’ EDITION NEWSLETTER AUTUMN TERM
Dear Parents,
It is hard to believe that we are now drawing to the end of this unprecedented term. As professional teachers, we constantly evolve, adapt and reflect on our teaching practices. This term, with the help and support of our wonderful team, we have waded through the darkness and worked incredibly hard to ensure that your children have been supported in every way possible. They have continued to grow and thrive and we are very proud of their resilience. Our passion to impart Jewish knowledge, love of Israel and Ivrit has never been more important and our devotion to illuminating these dark times has never been so apparent.
It goes without saying that our thoughts are with those directly impacted in Israel, and we stand united in solidarity.
From the moment the war broke out, the JS and Ivrit teachers led the whole staff team to put in ‘emergency’ measures.
From day one, we offered wellbeing and therapy sessions to children who were feeling anxious or confused. Morah Neta used meditation in Ivrit to help calm some of the children.
Every child wrote letters of support and solidarity to soldiers, ‘refuah shlema’ blessings to the wounded, and letters and cards of love and care to the displaced students in the North and South of Israel, as well as thank you cards to Israel’s medical volunteers. The children showed flexibility of mind and resilience, understanding the importance of our middot and using their Ivrit skills to write the letters, make games, puzzles and activities to send to Israel.
Our partner school in the North of Israel – Moreshet, received videos of prayer, songs and blessings in Ivrit from the children in year 6.
Every class learnt special tefillot and songs and our daily Tefillah has included prayers for the soldiers and the hostages as well as Tehillim. The children have enjoyed welcoming parents every Thursday to our whole school Tefillah and we hope that it helped to provide the comfort that we felt parents were looking for.
We invited Sarah Silkin, our Seed partner, to lead our whole school Hafrashat Challah which was a huge success. Not only did the children learn the meaning and importance behind this ceremony (and of course make their own challah), but it also gave them an opportunity to watch videos from soldiers and students who receive their letters, a beautiful personal touch which gave the children an even deeper and more meaningful connection to Israel. We want to once again thank the bakery BREAD for donating the dough and for the wonderful PTA who helped organise the event.
The festival of Chanukah was a much-needed celebration this term - a time to reflect and shine light on our challenges. The children embraced it with their usual enthusiasm, learning and singing songs and prayers in Ivrit, making chanukiot, sevivonim and participating in an olive oil workshop. They lit the chanukiah together and of course enjoyed eating sufganiyot and chanukah chocolate coins. Thank you to the PTA for donating the coins again this year.
We welcomed Israeli children into our school this term who were embraced with the love and warmth that the children always have to offer. The Ivrit teachers accommodated them in Ivrit lessons and helped them settle in and we are so grateful to have been able to offer our support to them at this difficult time.
Morah Neta, together with Ms Vinokur and Mr Style, worked on a special song ‘מְחַכָּה לְךָ (Mechakeh Lecha) - We Are Waiting For You’ that has been recorded professionally and will be sent out to all families.
Morah Sari has produced and edited our sixth edition Ivrit newspaper with lots of input from the children who have worked hard to produce articles, quizzes and photographs for the newspaper. Every family should have received their copy and we are sure you will enjoy reading it.
In the EYU, a new Ivrit curriculum was launched and the children have been enjoying having Morah Sari who now teaches all the Ivrit lessons in the EYU. They performed a song in Ivrit for Chanukah and learnt the words and actions and performed beautifully to parents at their Chanukah show.
We have attached a few photos and videos from this term for you to watch and enjoy. We hope they give you a little insight into how much has been covered this term.
In these challenging times, it's through our collective strength and support that we continue to find our way forward. Together, we stand strong.
With our very best wishes,
Mrs S Hill and Morah Sharon
https://clipchamp.com/watch/prPP5FFRthy
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bE84zQqqxzY?feature=share
