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Jun 10, 2021, 12:17 PM

Pressure on heads has created a crisis

School children in a classroom. (Danny Lawson/PA Wire via Jewish News)

Schools in England are facing a crisis. It has been brewing for a while and it is getting worse. In 2016 a study found that almost a third of school leaders were leaving within three years of taking up a position. More recently, a poll...

May 13, 2021, 3:05 PM

Sometimes our children don’t know how to ask

School children in a classroom. Photo credit: Danny Lawson/PA Wire. Via Jewish News

A short time ago we celebrated Pesach with our families. As we do every year, we read of the four sons – the wise, the wicked, the innocent and the son who doesn’t know how to ask. They reflect the differing facets of our children. We’re...

Feb 20, 2020, 3:47 PM

Show the importance of saying ‘thank you’

Partnerships for Jewish Schools (PaJeS)'s Rabbi David Meyer (Marc Morris Photography via Jewish News)

It started with a phone call. It was Justin Cohen from Jewish News with an idea for an awards event for Jewish schools. Coincidentally we had been discussing a very similar idea. We agreed to join forces, with Jewish News reaching the community and Partnerships for Jewish Schools (PaJeS)...

Oct 18, 2017, 6:26 PM

Teaching boys and girls separately should be for parents to choose, not the courts

Every educator needs to have an understanding of the importance of law, and there is certainly a place for law within education. However there can be significant dangers in allowing lawyers to determine educational policy. Last week’s decision by the court of appeal is a...

Sep 14, 2017, 1:34 PM

Our teachers deserve top marks for the job they do

A few weeks ago, I was eating at a kosher restaurant when a lady approached me and started thanking me. She told me that last year, she had received a nomination for the Jewish Schools Awards 2017. She wasn’t a finalist, didn’t know who had...

Feb 26, 2017, 12:29 PM

Let’s learn the importance of simply saying thank you

The Jewish community has every reason to be proud of our schools which, year after year, achieve exceptional results and are recognised in the national league tables as among the best in the country. These results are only a small part of the story, as...

Sep 14, 2016, 3:58 PM

Reflecting on the prime minister’s plan for education

I had the pleasure of being invited to hear the Prime Minister’s address on Friday. It was significant that she had chosen education as her first major speech in the UK, and her vision for the future sounded impressive. There were four key strategies for...

Feb 2, 2016, 4:26 PM

A chance for the community to say ‘thank you’ to our real heroes

A STORY is told of a man who was praying his heart out at the Kotel. He was so emotional that a concerned gentleman wanting to help, asked him for the name of the sick person for whom he was praying. He replied that no...

Sep 3, 2015, 4:26 PM

We’re working with Barnet council to give more pupils a Jewish education

One of the hot conversation topics of late has been the apparent lack of places in Jewish secondary schools. For the parents who spent months anxiously waiting to hear if their child will get a place at their preferred school, it’s been a challenging and...

Apr 18, 2015, 4:48 PM

It’s too convenient to blame Ofsted for the downgrading of our schools

There has been much publicity surrounding recent Ofsted inspections and the suggestion that it has discriminated against faith schools. The spate of no-notice inspections, coupled with the downgrading of a number of our community’s schools, would seem to support this perception. However, it is important...

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About Me

Rabbi David Meyer is Executive Director of the Partnership For Jewish Schools (PaJeS).