Tu BiShvat

The Year 7-11 girls enjoyed a very successful Tu BiShvat event on Monday morning. Each year group participated in a fruit platter competition, which was followed by the girls cycling on a bike to blend their own smoothie. The energy in the hall was really vibrant as pedal power created a fantastic range of bright, healthy, fruity smoothies.

At the Boys’ School, they had a Tu BiShvat fruit stall in the main hall, as well as organic honey jars to promote Climate Change Awareness, which was implemented by Mr Sommers. The stall was ably manned by Rabbi Fachler’s Year 10 Gemoro class and all proceeds went to the Wellbeing Fund.

Thank you very much to all the staff who helped throughout the sessions.

Editorial 06/02/2020

Dear Parent,

Klal Yisroel find themselves in dire straits in this week’s parsha. Trapped between the Egyptian army in hot pursuit and the deep blue sea, they cry out to Hashem. The Medrash tells us that only on seeing רכוש של מצרים בידם, the wealth of the Egyptians in the hands of the Jewish people, did the sea split.

This is very strange. The waters did not give way for the men, women and children of Klal Yisroel, but only for the Egyptian plunder! What does this mean?

Rabbi Pinchos Roberts explains that after decades of slavery and persecution they were suddenly free and very wealthy. But their newfound wealth did not go to their heads, it was firmly in check – it was בידם, in their hands and in their control.

The Yam Suf witnessed this remarkable self-discipline of the Jewish people and only then split its waters.

Last week, we were witness to the amazing success of several Hasmonean students, success born from extraordinary self-discipline to study hard for the national Chidon HaTanach, the inter-school Bible Quiz.

I am proud to say that Hasmonean students stole the show, winning all the prizes in both the junior and senior categories. Mazal tov to Ilana Maierovits, Sara Solomon and Leah Kalmus, winners of the junior category and Batsheva Schwab, Reuven Simcha Garber and Avigayil Rowe, winners of the senior category. The senior winners will be representing Hasmonean and the UK in the famous annual World Bible Quiz on Yom Ha’atzmaut in Israel in a few months’ time.

Here’s a short video clip of the event to give you a flavour.

Special thanks to Mr Maierovits who organised the event, Rabbi Silverman who has put much effort in preparing many students for this, Rabbis Amram Landau (one of the judges) and Yossi Fachler (the quizmaster) as well as many members of staff who attended.

Further information about last weeks’ event and the syllabus for next year are attached on eNews. Please see the two documents from Mr Maierovits.

I very much hope that we can build on this year’s amazing success and spread the learning and love of Tanach to many more students.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi J Golker
Menahel

Girls’ School Football Fixture

Our Year 8, 9 and 10 girls are to all be congratulated on their outstanding performance in the football fixture against Copthall last week. Hasmonean Girls had a runaway victory against Copthall last week, with the final score being 13-3 to Hasmonean! Congratulations to all our players for their excellent result and superb sportswomanship!

Medical Society event at Cambridge University

Announcements are regularly made on the Show My Homework noticeboard which include: open days, courses and special events, like Career Fairs. One such opportunity that two of our girls took up was to attend the Medical Society event at Cambridge University.

One of our Year 12 students wrote the following about the event: “I wanted to write about my experience at the Gonville and Caius Medical Society event this week. During the event, the heads and officers from the Medicine Society spoke to us about the course and studying at Cambridge University; the application process and the examinations we would need to take before applying. Then we went on a tour around the campus, looking at the halls, the courtyards, the libraries and the common areas. This part gave us all an insight into what life would be like if we were studying in the college and the residential and community side was very appealing. These tours were led by the third year medical students and, therefore, we had the opportunity to ask any questions that we had about the course, the college and just university in general.

Following this, we were split into groups for a supervision (tutorial) session, where we spend 15 minutes in small groups learning briefly about parts of the anatomy, physiology and immunology aspects of the course. It was very useful for me to experience the style of learning used so often in the university and see if this learning style was suitable for me, especially as everyone learns in different ways.

Finally, we were given a lecture in the auditorium about why nerves are so slow, which is a topic taught when students first arrive on the course. The lecture was very interesting, both in style and topic, and so it was very beneficial for us to experience.

Overall, going to this event was very helpful for me when thinking about where to apply for university to do medicine next year. I personally always thought I would stay in London, seeing as the course is so long. However, seeing the campus life and the different teaching styles there, as well as the answers to the questions I asked about how the course is split, has made me reconsider and want to look further into universities outside London for my degree.”

Rebecca Hilsenrath, Chief Executive of the Human Rights and Equality Commission

We had the honour of hosting Rebecca Hilsenrath, the Chief Executive of the Human Rights and Equality Commission. She is an inspiring speaker who was able to give the girls an insight into careers in Law and the wide variety of job opportunities it opens. Rebecca went on to explain the important work that the commission conducts and gave interesting statistics about the challenges the UK faces. The students were able to ask insightful questions about the gender pay gap and the challenges of balancing family with work. Rebecca spoke eloquently about the joys of having a family of 4 boys and a foster daughter, whilst pursuing a rewarding and challenging career in the Law.

Mark Evison Foundation

The Mark Evison Foundation is an incredible organisation which provides students with funding to embark on a challenging project which takes students out of their comfort zone. Lots of girls signed up and we look forward to finding out more about their projects. Two of our Year 13 students came to inspire our Year 12’s by presenting their projects.

Sue Harris Trust – Jewish Swab Week

We are happy to be participating in the Sue Harris Trust initiative to create a donor register that will potentially help people in our community with forms of cancer that require stem cell treatment. We invited a guest speaker to discuss the initiative with our girls and the actual testing will take place on Tuesday 11th February.

Debbie Danon – Entrepreneur and Leadership coach

Debbie came in to talk to the girls about her career path. An academically successful person, she went to Cambridge but found that she was not interested in the career paths her peers were following. Instead she found that her strength was in fostering and coaching interpersonal relationships. Passionate about creating better understanding about diversity and its benefits to businesses she set up her own Consultancy that helped businesses to unlock the potential in all their staff and better recruit a diverse workforce. She spoke to the girls about the challenges of building a business and the value of taking calculated risks which will lead to a fulfilling career.

Gesher: Gateshead trip

Year 11:

On Thursday 30th January, some of our Year 11 students went on a Gesher trip to Gateshead. These trips enrich our girl’s experience of Hasmonean and fun was had by all!

EcoClub has started at the Girls’ School!

A group of students have begun work to develop a small corner of the Girls’ school into a garden space. The aim is to provide a flower habitat for bees, alongside a fruit, vegetable and herb garden to support our creative arts department and raise awareness of our responsibility to the environment.

So far, students have sown a range of seeds, which we hope to plant into the ground as spring approaches. The club is free and takes place in the science block during Monday lunchtime as part of our extra-curricular programme.

We are looking for support with this new project. If you wish to find out more information, please contact Miss Liley on m.liley@hasmonean.co.uk