NORTHWOOD AND PINNER LIBERAL SYNAGOGUE

EDUCATION HANDBOOK

2009/2010

 

USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS

 

Judy Fox (Head Teacher)                  01923 720296 or on the NPLS office

                                                            number: 01923 822592

 

Rabbi Hillel Athias-Robles               

(Rabbi to the Cheder)                         NPLS Office, as above

 

Deborah Boffey

(Council and Parent Reps)                NPLS Office, as above

 

Ingrid Squires (Admin)                      NPLS Office, as above

 

Julian Rose (Security)                       01923 285485

 

Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue

 

We are proud of our lively and flourishing Cheder at NPLS.

 

Our key aim is to make the children aware of and enjoy their Jewish identity. 

 

We rely on parents to encourage their children to attend Cheder regularly, take a positive attitude towards what is being taught and take part in any social events that are organised.

 

The syllabus for each class lays out the knowledge and understanding appropriate for children at that age.  So parents can support their child/ren reach these objectives, class syllabi are published below.

 

NPLS takes its responsibility to protect and safeguard the welfare of children and young people entrusted to its care.  NPLS is committed to:

 

  • Listening to, relating effectively to and valuing children and young people whilst ensuring their protection within Synagogue activities
  • Ensuring that all personnel are given relevant support and training
  • Having a system for dealing with concerns regarding possible abuse

 

In line with Government guidelines NPLS carries out Police checks on all personnel working with children and young people at NPLS who are over the age of 16 by the beginning of the Cheder year.

 

Judy Fox                Rabbi Hillel Athias-Robles              Deborah Boffey          

 

 

 

AIMS

For pupils to:

  • Enjoy being, and feel proud to be Jewish
  • Wish to continue and active Jewish life after Cheder
  • Feel part of a caring and exciting community
  • Be introduced to the possibility of a spiritual and religious life

 

Skills necessary to achieve these aims are:

  • A reasonable knowledge of Judaism
  • Competency in reading Hebrew
  • The ability to take part in Synagogue and home services
  • To know that Judaism is an experience and not just a set of facts

 

For parents to:

  • Support the Cheder in its educational and social programme and its administration
  • Grow in their commitment to Jewish learning, practice and values
  • See Cheder and Judaism as high priorities in their own and their children’s lives by attending services with their children and performing Jewish ceremonies in the home.

 

To achieve these aims we will:

  • Support the professional development of our informed and committed teachers
  • Work with parents to enrich their children/s Jewish education, for example by offering appropriate adult education
  • Support parents in preparing for b’nei Mitzvah

 

Parents can help us achieve these aims by committing to:

  • Ensuring your children attend regularly and informing the Synagogue when they are unavoidably absent
  • Making sure they are fully equipped with the necessary books and writing equipment
  • Making sure they arrive promptly for the start of the morning at 9.45
  • Carrying out your annual security duty, ensuring that you arrive 20 minutes early
  • Taking the opportunities offered during the year to enrich your own understanding of Judaism and what it means to you, so that you are better able to support your children.

 

EDUCATION FOR ALL AGES

 

NPLS is proud to offer a range of educational activities, details of which can be found in Davar or elsewhere on the website.

 

Weekly

Nippers @ Northwood      Fridays 10.00am – 12, free play, art and marking                                             Shabbat & the festivals with the Rabbis

Creche                                       0 – 5 years, Saturday mornings and festivals 11am – 12.15

 

Monthly (please see Davar for dates)

Tots Shabbat                              0 – 4 years, Saturday morning, 9.30 – 10.15am

Reception Class               4 – 5 years, once a month during Shabbat services

Early Service                    All ages, last Friday evening of the month, 6.30 – 7.30pm

 

There are also many special activities during the year to mark the Jewish festivals and other communal activities, e.g. Mitzvah Day.  Please see Davar or your Cheder calendar for dates.

 

SECURITY

 

The security of everyone at Cheder is paramount.  We meet this requirement through a parents rota with two parents on duty for each session.  As a result, each family should be required to do Cheder security only once during the year.

 

With only two parents on duty for each session, it is not possible to miss a duty without creating a risk to the safety of our children.  All parents are therefore asked to confirm on receipt of the rota that they are able to attend on the date shown.  If this is not convenient, the options are to swap with another parent, or, if preferred, to contribute towards the cost of employing a security guard for the morning.

 

Guidance notes are sent with the rota and explain that security duty is about providing a visible presence to act as a deterrent, looking out for anything suspicious and reporting any problems to the head teacher or the security team leader for the Synagogue service.  No special training or level of physical fitness is required!  Please contact the Cheder Security Co-ordinator, Julian Rose, on 01923 285485 if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions regarding Cheder security.

 

REMEMBER: SECURITY DUTY IS NOT ABOUT BEING BIG AND TOUGH, FAST AND FIT OR ABOUT TAKING RISKS OR COURTING DANGER.  IT IS ABOUT BASIC SAFETY CHECKS AND A VISIBLE PRESENCE TO ACT AS A DETERRENT.

 

Please note that PARENTS REMAIN RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR CHILDREN UNTIL CHILDREN ARE ON THE PREMISES AT THE START OF THE MORNING, AND FROM THE END OF THE CHEDER SESSION (12.15).

 

Thank you for your support.

 

RELIGION SCHOOL – CHEDER

 

Registration

Children may enter Kita Bet when they are in school year 2.  Normally children will only be admitted at the beginning of the Autumn term.  It is necessary for you to re-register your child/ren each summer, either by post, by email or in person by coming to the Synagogue, by July 20th 2009.  Registration forms will be sent out to parents of those is Kittot Bet – Tet (years 2 – 9) with their reports on June 27th.  Invoices will follow over the summer. This year, Cheder begins for Kittot Aleph – Tet (years 1 – 9) on Saturday 5th September. If you have any problems meeting the contribution please contact Judy Fox or Rabbi Athias-Robles in confidence.

 

Please make sure that the email address that you give on the registration form is current and clearly written. 

 

 

Attendance

Cheder meets every term time Saturday from 9.45am to 12.15pm.  Please collect your children promptly.  There is a 15 minute break during the morning.  Please provide a snack and drink if your child needs one.

 

There are times when the whole Cheder meets; at assembly, at our special children’s worship, Tza’aka, once a month during the Cheder morning, or in the main service, also once a month. Your child will receive a Birthday card inviting them to a Birthday Blessing during the Tza’aka service led by Rabbi Hillel Athias-Robles – all parents and grandparents are very welcome.  Please make sure your child brings a kippah to use during these services.

 

Tzedakah – Charity

Giving to charity has always been a major factor in Jewish life and it is important that our children grow up in this tradition of giving.  Last year our students gave over £1,200 to tzedakah projects such as the Darfur Refugees and Physicians for Human Rights and the Tarapoto Jewish Community of the Peruvian Amazon.  Once again this year they will be presenting different tzedakah options and voting as a school on the projects they would like to support.

 

Fees Bet - KT

 

Members:

£105.00 per child

 

Non-Members:

£350.00 per child

 

Kita Aleph (School Year 1)

For children in school year 1.

 

This class is held, on average, twice a month at the same time as the Cheder session.  See Davar, or the Cheder calendar for details.  It provides a transition to the more formal weekly Cheder sessions which start when the child enters school year 2.

 

Subjects covered throughout the year include Jewish Festivals, Bible stories, life in the Synagogue and home observance, as well as an oral introduction to Hebrew.  Children are taught through drama, arts and crafts and music.

 

Fees Kita Aleph, per child

Members

£70.00

 

Non-Members

£230.00

 

 

Kita Bet to Kita Tet (School years two – nine)

 

Bible and History Syllabus

 

Kita Bet (school year 2)

  • Early Bible stories as well as a range of later Jewish stories
  • An introduction to Jewish Festivals and the role of the Synagogue
  • An introduction of modern Israel and the story of Jerusalem

 

Kita Gimmel (school year 3)

  • Bible stories from Moses to David as well as stories from later Jewish literature
  • Jewish Festivals and life cycle
  • ‘Let’s Discuss God’ – an introduction of Jewish belief

 

Kita Dalet (school year 4)

  • Later Bible stories and early post-Biblical stories (eg The Maccabees)
  • An introduction to aspects of modern Israel
  • The Ten Commandments – stories which look into the meaning of Jewish ethical concepts
  • Jewish Festivals

 

Kita Hay (school year 5)

  • ‘Partners with God’ – a course on belief and morality
  • The Bible as History
  • Shabbat project – an in-depth investigation of Shabbat observance
  • A look at the Jewish life cycle events

 

Kita Vav (school year 6)

  • ‘The Golem of Prague’ – stories which introduce a fascinating period of medieval Jewish history and issues of anti-Semitism
  • Spanish Jewry – a project on the Golden Age of the Jews of Spain
  • The Early Rabbis – an investigation of the rabbis of the period up to 200 C.E.
  • The Synagogue – a project on our Synagogue, its structure and religious items (eg: Ark, Scrolls etc)
  • A Jewish vocabulary: understanding common Jewish words and concepts

 

Kita Zayin (school year 7)

  • Prejudice – a course on prejudice and anti-Semitism
  • The Holocaust – an introduction to the history, tragedy and heroism of the Holocaust
  • The Sefer Torah – how a scroll is written (and related religious objects such as Tefillin, Mezuzah etc) and the story of our scrolls
  • The Kolin Project – reviewing the history of the communities from which the NPLS scrolls originated
  • Kashrut – investigating and discussing the practice of Kashrut
  • ‘Number the Stars’ by Lois Lowry – a novel about the Jews of Denmark set during the Second World War

 

Kita Chet (school year 8)

  • Jewish Ethics
  • The Holocaust – a  thoughtful extension of the introductory course
  • Tradition – Life in the Shtetl
  • The Roots Project – Anglo Jewry including students’ own family history

 

Kita Tet (school year 9)

  • Tet will study the first year of the OCR GCSE syllabus, Religious Studies, Judaism, which they will take as a final examination at the end of their KT year

 

Kabbalat Torah class (school year 10)
This year is a dynamic end to our young people's formal learning in the Religion School. The aim of the year is to encourage our young people to consider Jewish responses to contemporary issues, to compliment their Jewish skill base so that they can enjoy an active Jewish life, personally, in the home and communally, and to create a strong peer group. There is an expectation that the class and their parents will be active in the Community during this year to experience the various facets of community. The class will go on a number of outings, including an international trip which in the past has been to Amsterdam, Dublin or Prague. They will also meet with other Liberal Jewish KT classes across the country.  KT students for 2008/2009 are offered the OCR GCSE, Religious Studies, Judaism, studied as a one year course. 

Classes are held on a Friday afternoon or Sundays.  Parents and pupils will be notified of dates and times.

 

Hebrew Curriculum

We want students to gain the ability to read prayerbook Hebrew, and to feel

comfortable when in services and with commonly used lifecycle prayers, so that eventually they can participate fully in Synagogue services and other activities in the life of a Jewish community.

 

Kita Aleph              Oral programme introducing Hebrew ‘Al Peh’

 

Kita Bet                  Ha Sefer Sheli

 

Kita Gimmel           Ha Sefer Sheli

 

Kita Dalet               Ha Sefer Sheli

 

Kita Hay                 Ha Sefer Sheli and Hebrew and Heritage book 1

 

Kita Vav                 Hebrew and Heritage book 1 and The Hebrew Primer

 

Kita Zayin              Hebrew and Heritage books 2 and 3, the Companion Siddur

 

Kita Chet                Booklets are prepared for each student, containing the Bar/Bat Mitzvah portions for each student as well as relevant blessings and other readings.  Hebrew is also taught through

                              current Israeli pop songs and their lyrics.

 

Kita Tet                     Let’s Talk! Modern Hebrew for teens and modern Israeli

                                    literature

 

 

The Prayer Syllabus

In addition to the Hebrew Curriculum, the Prayer Syllabus is used as a quick starter or summary activity in Hebrew lessons.  Classes are introduced to lifecycle prayers and blessings on a termly basis.  The objectives of the Prayer Syllabus are:

 

·       To expose children to the prayers they will use throughout life

·       Through exposure and practice, to make children comfortable with the prayers they will need as adults, and to ensure that lifecycle prayers are well known before they are needed

·       To provide a short starter or end activity for Hebrew lessons

·       To provide extra reading practice

·       To make prayer accessible, enabling students to express themselves through prayer

 

Bar/Bat Mitzvah

These ceremonies will be held at the request of parents, but only under certain conditions, for example: extra tuition if deemed necessary by the rabbis, regular attendance at Synagogue and cheder, regular attendance of both candidate and parents at Bar/Bat Mitzvah study mornings, including the service after the session as well as an agreement to continue a child’s religious education up to Kabbalat Torah.  Further details may be obtained from the rabbis who should be consulted at least one year before the proposed date of the ceremony.

 

The Synagogue makes a charge to cover extra tuition provided by the rabbi and other administrative charges, currently £150.00.