Education
Activities
Our Religion
School meets on Sunday mornings from 10.00am to 12.30pm for children
between 6 and 13. Our Principal, Rabbi Pete Tobias, welcomes comments
regarding the Religion School and is normally available on Sunday
mornings during term time, or you may contact him via e-mail.
We celebrate both Bar- and Bat-Mitzvah at 13 and families are
encouraged to support their children's further study to Kabbalat
Torah at 15. Our booklet on preparation for Bar- and Bat Mitzvah is
reproduced here.
Parents are
expected to share in a security rota and the Friends of the Religion
School support the school and raise funds for special activities.
Education
is the cornerstone of any Jewish community. Education gives a
community the basis upon which to make its decisions and guarantees
its future. This is particularly important in a Liberal
synagogue. One of the principles of Liberal Judaism is that of
informed choice. This means that we make our decisions about
our attitude towards and our practice of Judaism based not only on
knowledge of Jewish history and tradition but also by applying the
wisdom and understanding of our own time to that history and tradition.
This
questioning, challenging approach to Judaism places a double
responsibility on the educational process which takes place at The
Liberal Synagogue Elstree: not only must a knowledge of Judaism be
imparted but a critical approach to it must be cultivated.
Moreover, this critical approach must be born out of love for Judaism
with a view to shaping it and making it relevant to members of the
community (young or otherwise); being critical for its own sake is
simply not enough.
This is the
aim of the education programme at The Liberal Synagogue Elstree.
Whether it be in the reception class in the Religion School, the
fortnightly bar-/bat-mitzvah class or an adult education session, the
aim is the same. To foster an awareness and an appreciation of
the ancient ideas of Judaism and to create an atmosphere which allows
for some of those ancient ideas to be challenged. Although it
could be argued that this is a process which takes place at any
synagogue event (a service, a seder, even a fundraising social event)
the main focus for this process as far as the younger generation is
concerned is our Religion School.
Adult education
TLSE offers a
varied programme of adult education. Classes always take place
on Thursday evenings and cover a variety of topics of Jewish
interest. There is a Basic Judaism programme, primarily (but
not exclusively) intended for those wishing to convert to Judaism as
well as other discussion on Jewish matters, historical and
contemporary as well as the occasional film of Jewish interest.
Details of programmes can always be found in the synagogue magazine, Ha-Kol.
Religion
school overview
The Religion
School at TLSE meets between 10.00 am and 12.30 pm on Sundays.
Lessons are held for children from Year 1 to year 7. Normally,
children graduate from the Sunday Religion School at the beginning of
the term which is one year before they celebrate their bar- or
bat-mitzvah ceremony and enter the Shabbat morning class. This
arrangement is flexible and some children remain in the Sunday
Religion School while studying in the bar-/bat-mitzvah class.
The overall
aim of the Sunday Religion School is to introduce children to the
history and teachings of Judaism. As they move further up the
school, the specifically Liberal approach to Judaism is encouraged as
children ask more questions about their heritage.
TLSE and
Clore Shalom School
Many of the
children of TLSE members attend Clore Shalom school, a local primary
school whose ethos is pluralistic in its approach to Judaism.
Clore Shalom parents (and children) often wonder why they need to
attend the shul's Religion School if they already receive a full-time
education at a Jewish school.
There are many
answers to this question. As mentioned, the Liberal approach to
Judaism is unique and needs to be fostered. Although Liberal
Judaism is ostensibly a feature of Jewish education at Clore Shalom,
it is not formally taught, nor is its approach genuinely
presented. This can only happen in a Liberal synagogue.
The place of
the synagogue as a central focal point for Jewish education cannot be
overemphasised. For countless generations, the Jewish community
has regarded the shul as a centre for the community, for prayer and
for education (beit ha-k'nesset, beit ha-t'fillah and beit
ha-midrash). These are inseparable elements of Judaism and
there is little point in learning about Judaism if there is not a
synagogue context in which it can be expressed.
The curriculum
at TLSE's Religion School, as outlined in this handbook, is
deliberately devised to appeal to children whether or not they attend
Clore Shalom (or another Jewish primary school). What is on
offer on a Sunday morning will be completely different to what the
children have experienced during the school week. Its purpose
is to educate, enrich and entertain. Most importantly its aim
is to ensure that our children develop a positive association with
their synagogue so that they will feel encouraged to remain attached
to it and be a part of it in their adult lives.
Ages
Children are
invited to commence the Sunday Religion School in the September after
they have turned five years old. They remain in the school
until a year before the agreed date for their bar- or bat-mitzvah
ceremony. At this stage, those children celebrating a bar- or
bat-mitzvah ceremony will join the Saturday morning class.
Further Hebrew tuition, as preparation for the ceremony, is available
on Sunday mornings but a long term commitment to this is necessary as
special arrangements will be made in such cases.
Teachers
Our teaching
staff is drawn from members of the congregation whose devotion to
their job far exceeds the modest amount they are paid by the shul for
their efforts. Many of them have attended courses at the Centre
for Jewish Education to improve their teaching skills.
Teaching assistants:
Some of our
post bar- or bat-mitzvah students are invited to assist in the
Religion School. This occurs no less than 6 months after their
bar- or bat-mitzvah ceremony and depends upon their Hebrew ability
and their willingness to teach. It is not an automatic
process. In their first year, teaching assistants do not get
paid; they receive a small token of appreciation at the end of each term.
Sunday timetable
Broadly
speaking, the Sunday Religion School is divided into two halves -
those in school years 1-4 are the junior school and those in year 5
and above are the seniors (though this dividing line can occasionally
be somewhat fluid to allow for friends to remain together!).
Half the school will study Hebrew while the other half is working on
Jewish Studies and vice versa.
|
10.00-10.15am |
10.15-11.05am |
11.05-11.25am |
11.25am-12.15pm |
12.15-12.30pm |
|
Juniors (1-4) |
Assembly |
Jewish Studies |
Break |
Hebrew |
Service |
|
Seniors (5+) |
Assembly |
Hebrew |
Break |
Jewish Studies |
Service |
Details of the
content and structure of the above sessions can be found in
subsequent paragraphs.
Hebrew
Ideally, this
handbook should say that the Religion School will train a child in
the reading of the Hebrew language so that s/he can be able to read
from the Torah for a bar-/bat-mitzvah ceremony. Unfortunately,
with the best will in the world, this is unlikely to be the
case. Hebrew is a difficult language to learn in the best of
circumstances; when it is being taught for 50 minutes a week for 36
weeks of the year (assuming 100% attendance at Religion School - a
rare phenomenon) it is virtually impossible.
The aim is for
our children to be familiar with the language, particularly its use
in prayer. We recognise that children progress at different
speeds, also that those at Jewish Primary schools are at a very
different level to those who are not. Hebrew teaching takes
place in small, ability-centred groups within the Junior/Senior
divide outlined above. The Hebrew scheme used at TLSE is the
Hebrew and Heritage scheme, which focuses on Hebrew in prayer and
each child has its own workbook. In an ideal world, follow-up
work could be carried out at home; in practice this is highly
unlikely to happen and we are grateful for the opportunity to teach
Hebrew for 50 minutes per week and try to make the most of that
opportunity. Our intention is to provide an environment where
Hebrew can be taught so that, by the age of 12, children are ready to
prepare for a bar- or bat-mitzvah ceremony. As mentioned above,
further tuition is available on Sunday mornings in the preparation
year but children wishing to take advantage of this must make a
regular commitment to attend on Sunday mornings.
Jewish studies
The aim of our
Jewish Studies programme is to entertain and to educate in roughly
equal proportions. The same topic is covered by all the
children in the school, though the Juniors and Seniors approach the
subject material from a different perspective. The curriculum
content is spread over a four year period meaning that the children
will encounter each topic twice - the second encounter being four
years after the first. Broadly speaking, topics in the Junior
school present Bible stories, festivals, Jewish history and theology
from the perspective of 'this is what traditional Judaism tells
us.' When a topic is encountered for the second time in the
Senior School, the Liberal perspective is emphasised and attitudes
towards Bible and Jewish tradition are discussed and alternative
interpretations are considered. Topics are covered from a
variety of different educational perspectives: drama, written work,
discussion and art are some of the approaches used. At the end
of each weekly session, a brief review - usually requiring a written
summary of the morning's work - is expected from each child.
Sometimes the
Jewish festivals are covered at the appropriate time of the year; on
other occasions we will pay only passing attention to them as this
tends to be somewhat repetitive. The major festivals are, in
any event, covered by synagogue services to mark their
occurrence. Many such services are specifically geared towards
younger children - please see below for details.
The proposed
topic areas for the four year cycle are as follows:
Year 1 -
Stories from the Torah - from Adam to Moses (3 terms)
Year 2 -
Stories from the later Hebrew Bible, (2 terms) How Jews pray (summer term)
Year 3 -
Mishnah and Talmud (1 term) The Jews of Spain (1 term)
The synagogue and Jewish symbols (1 term)
Year 4 -
Jerusalem and Israel (1 term), The Jewish Life Cycle (1 term),
The Jews of Eastern Europe, (1 term),
These topics
may be altered but, in general. What is important here is not so much
the subject material, rather that it encourages the children to feel
positive about their Jewish identity, to feel comfortable with the
concept of challenging traditions (in the later years) and, most
important, that they leave the class with a sense of joy with regard
to their Jewish heritage and a yearning to discover more about it.
For the year
2005/6 we are on year 2 of the cycle.
Opening assembly
Each Sunday
morning begins promptly at 10.00 am. All children should give
their names to the person at the door with the register and then make
their way to the synagogue hall. An opening assembly takes
place between 10.00 and 10.15 am. This is an opportunity for
the children to be introduced to the topic being covered that day and
also for new songs to be taught.
12.15 Service
Every Sunday
Religion School session concludes with a service. The
expectation is that parents will arrive promptly for this at 12.15 pm
and will sit with their children for its duration. This service
is an important element of the Religion School education as it allows
the children to experience a relatively formal service as a community
and, hopefully, with their parents. Unfortunately, many parents
tend to arrive nearer 12.30 pm and stand at the back of the shul
conversing. This is highly regrettable and completely
undermines the experience. Parents' co-operation is greatly appreciated.
Break
There is a
20-minute break built in to the Religion School morning. We
provide squash and biscuits for the children so it is not necessary
to send them with additional snacks. No charge is made for
these refreshments. If your child has special dietary
requirements and needs to bring an individual snack for break, please
let us know.
Discipline
In recent
years, it has been our experience that children are showing less and
less respect for teachers and their fellow pupils. This is a
very regrettable development. It may be that the children
resent having to engage in educational activities for a 6th day of
the week but this is no excuse for the level of insolence and
disruptive behaviour which has been witnessed. Our policy is to
keep a written record of serious instances of indiscipline and,
should this behaviour persist, parents will be contacted when a third
report of bad behaviour is recorded. At any time, we reserve
the right to contact a parent and ask for a child to be collected if
that child's behaviour is unacceptable.
Security
Clearly it is
important that our children are properly protected while they are at
Religion School. Parents are asked to play a role in this by
being part of the Sunday morning security rota. A meeting to
explain how this operates is usually held at the beginning of each
academic year - please make every effort to attend this meeting and
to carry out your duty as assigned.
Tzedekah
Judaism
encourages the giving of charity. This year we will be
supporting the Karen Morris Memorial Trust. A collection box
will be at the door as the children enter on a Sunday morning.
Please encourage them to give a little of their own money to this
worthy cause (literature and other materials will be distributed to
explain to you and the children the aim of this charitable project)
Preparation
for bar-/bat-mitzvah
As mentioned
above, the education on offer at Religion School is not primarily
intended to prepare children for their bar- or bat-mitzvah
ceremonies. This process begins a year before the proposed date
of the bar-/bat-mitzvah ceremony and is detailed in a separate
handbook. Children who lack confidence in their Hebrew
ability may elect to continue to attend on Sunday mornings where they
can benefit from the learning environment to focus on preparing the
Hebrew element of their bar- or bat-mitzvah ceremony.
Kabbalat Torah
It is the
policy of TLSE that children should continue their Jewish education
until their 15th or 16th year when they will celebrate a Kabbalat
Torah ceremony, usually at Chanukkah. More details of this
programme are available on request.
Synagogue services
On the final
Saturday of each month, our service is geared towards our younger
members and their families. There is a Tots' service from 10.15
- 10.40 am, then our regular service at 11.00 am which, on the last
Shabbat morning of the month, is geared more towards our younger
members. This is also the service when children who have
celebrated a birthday during the past month are called up to the
bimah to receive a birthday blessing from the Rabbi. All
children (and their parents!) are welcome.
There are also
other synagogue services during the year which are partially or
exclusively dedicated to our younger members. For example,
there are special children's services along with the regular services
on Rosh ha-Shanah morning and Yom Kippur afternoon and services such
as those held at Simchat Torah, Chanukkah and Purim are always aimed
specifically at children.
For those
children who attend Jewish schools (and therefore have the day off
school for all Jewish festivals) special activities are often
arranged on those days to encourage them to attend shul (which is,
after all, the purpose of being given the day off school).
Please
remember that synagogue attendance is an integral element of Judaism
and the Religion School experience alone provides an unbalanced view
of what being a Jew in a synagogue is all about. We look
forward to seeing your child(ren) at many of our different services
and functions.
Work of our Cheder Children
Our cheder
encourages a love for Israel and our 7 year olds have recently been
sending illustrated letters of support that you can see here.
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Youth Activities
We
fully and actively support all Liberal Judaism LJY-Netzer
activities for young people from the age of 8 upwards and regularly
send representatives to all events, including Kadimah Summer Camp for
8 - 15's and on Israel Tour at 16. Our scholarship scheme makes these
activities accessible to all members, regardless of their financial situaation.
