The Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge Grand Final – Monday 29th November 2021

Monday evening saw the dazzling Grand Final for the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge at the Cambridge Theatre.

Fifteen students from different schools in London and Essex were carefully selected by a panel of expert judges to share their inspirational speeches.

Natan B-W, Year 11, achieved a place to represent Hasmonean Boys’ School with his powerful and highly topical speech: ‘Is Big Tech a Force for Good’. Natan delivered a calm, collected performance that won over the hearts and minds of all in attendance. Natan was supported by family, teachers and fellow Year 11 students, who raised the roof with their pride in his performance.

Well done, Natan, your confidence and positivity is an example for us all!

Senior Maths Challenge

The Senior Maths Challenge results are back! Thank you to all who helped to organise this fabulous achievement.

Out of 39 students participating, 29 received a certificate including 5 gold certificates, 14 silver certificates and 10 bronze certificates.

Uriel S was the top student with a score of 112, which qualifies him to enter the British Mathematics Olympiad 1. This makes him one of the top 1000 students in the country.

Four others from the Further Y12 and 13 boys got gold certificates and qualified for the Senior Kangaroo Challenge. Three girls were awarded silver certificates.

Maccabiah Games

Hasmonean student Gilad G. has been selected to represent Great Britain in the upcoming Maccabiah Games to be held in Israel next year (July 2022). He is playing as the keeper in the Team GB under 16 Football. It was a very competitive selection process against many other great keepers, so it is a real achievement to be selected and we are, of course, very proud of him having got this far.

Gilad will be attending the Maccabi GB training sessions, which includes a game against Everton’s Academy in January 2022. The Team GB coaches will be doing their utmost to give the players every advantage in winning a medal.

Good Luck to Gilad and all of the U16 football team!

Remembrance Day

On Armistice Day both Schools observed the two minute silence, many listening to the haunting sounds of ‘The Last Post’. On the following day, Sixth Form students led an assembly, reminding younger students of the need to remember that ‘for our tomorrows they gave their today.’ To add brightness to the memories, it was Wear-Red-to-School day at the Girls’ School and a non-school uniform day at the Boys’ School, with donations going to AJEX, the Poppy Appeal, and the NHS.

Hasmonean Predators Football

Huge congratulations to the Girls’ School Football Team – the Hasmonean Predators – for qualifying in the first round of the Spurs series at White Hart Lane on Friday.

In the qualifying game, the team were leading 2-1 then SUDDENLY in the follow-through of saving a goal, Ayelet B. fell out of the area and Fortismere were awarded a penalty and scored. All roads led to a penalty shoot-out! Unfazed by the penalties, ALL the Hasmonean Predators penalty-takers scored. Our legendary goalie saved a Fortismere goal securing our place in the Grand Final on the 1st July.

Imperial War Museum Trip

Mrs Abecasis organised two brilliant trips to the Holocaust Galleries at the Imperial War Museum. Hasmonean was invited as a pilot school for their new education programme. They will be using their feedback to run the same programme for other schools. The museum was really impressed with our students. In turn, our students found the visits very rewarding.

We must bear in mind that our students will be the lead Holocaust educators in the future.

We have had so some lovely feedback from our students:

‘I learnt a lot about many personal experiences of the holocaust in great detail which really resided with me as a great grandson of survivors. Also, the pictures and facts they had were unbelievable and really boosted my knowledge. Lastly the mix of technology and data moulded together worked perfectly to make it an easy, interesting and worthwhile experience.’
By Zacharia B.

‘The Imperial War Museum Holocaust exhibition taught me a lot about the experiences of the unfortunate people in the Holocaust. I learnt a lot about how terrible the conditions were for minority groups targeted by the Nazi’s and how and why these disastrous events took place and how they developed into the Holocaust over time. I think the exhibition successfully conveyed important information very well and in an engaging way.’
Year 11 student

‘Our class trip to the Imperial War Museum was an experience that edified and enlightened us. Although many of us knew the raw dry facts about the tragic events of the holocaust, we had never experienced these with the raw and vivid detail with which they were presented to us in the exhibit. The sepia footage and images documenting the lives of Jews living ordinary lives in Europe were tinged with a subtle retrospective sadness. This was the general tone of the exhibit: one of connection with a past that is often disregarded to instead focus on the atrocities perpetrated, rather than the individual victims involved.
Saadya L.

 

Year 10 Boys’ School Wellbeing Day

The Year 10 boys were treated to an incredible Wellbeing Immersive Experience at Saracens Rugby Club. They were offered PSHE sessions from Hope not Hate, JWA, the Clubhouse, and the Met Police. The students were also treated to a delicious lunch.

This experimental project was the brainchild of Ms Benarroch and it was amazing to see the boys engaged in some challenging topics in a positive way. Thanks to Ms Benarroch for organising an incredible day.

Thanks to Mr Simberg and Ms Ordman for accompanying the boys, and to Mr Tutty for helping to arrange the venue and to Kevin for arranging security.

We look forward to offering this experience to more students in the near future.

Black History Month

Our amazing Mrs Abecasis and Mrs Katz created a phenomenal cross-curricular programme of events for Black History Month (BHM). Staff from almost every part of the curriculum found a way to integrate the themes of BHM into their lessons.

In Art, the students explored the work of Yinka Shonibare MBE, who created ‘Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle’ for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. They looked at inspirational quotes from Black figures such as Shirley Chisholm, Michelle Obama and Martin Luther King.

Our Food Preparation and Nutrition department rose to the challenge of creating kosher-Covid compliant food tasting which was related to the African diaspora. This was certainly one of the most popular activities- thank you so much to Mrs Akintunde for bringing this all together.

Mrs Algranati had the students listening to Blues music, creating African drum rhythms, and absorbing the collaborations of Idan Raichel who has worked with Ethiopian Jews, Arabs, traditional Yemenite vocalists, a toaster and percussionist from Suriname, and a South African singer, among others.

In English, the students realised the danger of a single story. Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. In her TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk, novelist Chimamanda Adichie told the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding. They had to rewrite a story which had been studied in the past in relation to the African diaspora and try to write it from their point of view. There was a lot of lively discussion in the lessons about the ‘hidden’ Black icons of our time, and of the Jewish contribution to the Civil Rights movement in America and anti-apartheid in South Africa.

History, French, Maths, Economics, Science, Psychology, and Business Studies all had their part to play in creating awareness of the often hidden contribution of the Black community to every aspect of our lives.

The JS department began with a Dvar Torah on the origins of race after the fall of the Tower of Bavel. The students watched a YouTube clip about racism in modern Israel and examined the religious response to racism. Rabbi Lerer’s excellent speech about the recent protests in America was also used.
Naftali Aklum came to the school to speak about Ethiopian Jews, their culture, some of their struggles in Ethiopia and thereafter in Israel. He also spoke about the journey to Sudan, using the film “The Red Sea Diving Resort” where his own brother was the Mossad agent. He shared his own experiences and how he overcame any misconceptions and started to believe in himself and his abilities.

This month’s experiences have provoked discussion, raised awareness, and increased interest in Black History and the contribution of the Black community to every aspect of our lives.

     

Interview with Michal Oshman

HIPE created an unusual and exciting event with Michal Oshman, Head of Company Culture, Diversity and Inclusion at TikTok Europe and formerly responsible for international leadership and team development at Facebook. Throughout her career, Michal has trained and coached hundreds of tech leaders. She has three university degrees in psychodynamic and systemic thinking, sociology and anthropology.

Mrs Friedman interviewed Mrs Oshman, asking her the following questions:

Can you tell us a bit about your professional background, as well as your journey towards becoming religious? As a teenager, Michal was lost in her life. She tried too hard to be perfect all the time. Her career trajectory certainly mirrored her desire for outward perfection, gaining three degrees and working with the most cutting edge companies. Her work includes team development. This means that if you are clear about who you are in the workplace, you are more likely to inspire others around you. She joined TikTok a year ago where her role seems to be to establish the values of TikTok and how people in the company experience those values. She also helps people deal with challenges in life and make them feel that they belong to the company.

Where does Judaism / spirituality fit in? – Until age 38 she suffered with her own mental health. The lack of spirituality in her childhood, growing up in secular North Tel Aviv meant that she had no awareness of what Judaism had to offer. Years of therapy and medication did not really help. She did not even have any idea that she had a soul until she was 38. Michal was searching- literally searching Google as she typed in: anxiety/ depression/ Judaism. That last was a stroke of luck or a Heavenly hand. The articles of a Chabad professor (Freda Lowenthal) popped up and began to lead her on her journey of Jewish self-discovery.

How did that discovery change things? – Michal reconnected to her faith and heritage. She was curious. What does Judaism have to offer me? She realised that the deep ideas, once you allow them into your system- work. There is nothing more complete than a broken heart. She felt damaged and broken and learned that the best part of being broken is that you can mend yourself. You do not have to be perfect. Cracks are good.

Not looking for G-d but finding yourself – The big realisation was that it is not all about me. As a Jew, you are part of something which has been there for thousands of years. Michal found her answers in Chasidic wisdom.

Why do you end each chapter the same way? ‘If you change nothing, nothing will change’. Can you explain this? – You need to do this. What is the thought in your head which is not helping you? Can I get rid of it? If I don’t change it how can I help myself? One way to change is to admit that I make mistakes.

One chapter is about making space for others – most self-help books are about me not we. Her book is different as she posits that you could make yourself less so you can make more space for others. By reducing your own ego you can have more sensitivity to others.

Making mistakes is a sense of completion- what was your ‘best’ mistake? She thought one boyfriend was ‘the one’ but on the day she thought he would propose he said ‘I know we are being serious, but if we were to go to a desert island I would not take you’. At the time it broke her- she felt she would never be loved and was like that for two years. He broke her heart and her confidence. But now she is here with her husband and four children. ‘This too shall pass’ – please G-d we should all have a long life and we have to believe that the things which seem to break us will eventually pass.

After the interview, ice coffee, grapes and rogelach were on offer, as well as the chance to buy HIPE ‘merch’ such as a card holder that goes on your phone case which says: ‘Feel like you will achieve, and you will achieve’ .

The second part of the event was a guided learning session, using sources about the ability to achieve. Sixth Form students worked with girls from Years 10 and 11 to delve into the texts to understand the Torah perspective on confidence.

It was a fabulous, inspiring morning for all the students. Thank you to our HIPE team, Mrs Friedman and to Michal Oshman for facilitating this unique event.

   

 

 

Boy’s School Football News!

The first match of the football season was played last week by a strong Year 8 team against Saracens High School in the U13’s Barnet Cup. Hasmonean were victorious with a 3-1 win.

This week, our school was represented by the Year 9 team for the U14 Barnet Cup vs Archer Academy, Finchley. Hasmonean were again triumphant with a 4-3 win! Well done to our footballers!