Dear Parents,

At this season of solemn reflection, when there is so much to depress us in the world, we have been heartened at school by the restoration of a form of normality. This enables us to see beyond the immediate crisis and to remember that what matters in life is the quality of the relationships we build with those around us. These can be sustained by online contact, but it is only when we meet together that we can truly deepen and extend our bonds with others. And so, it has been a joy to interact with our students again and to appreciate all that they bring us.

We have also benefited from the enthusiasm and energy of our HIPE teams who have been reinforcing the meaning of the festivals in creative and exciting ways. We all need to be reminded of how we should be grateful to Hashem for the gifts He gives us and to reflect on how we can make the world a better place.

Gmar Chatima Tova,

Mrs K Brice
Headteacher: Girls’ School

Dear Parents,

It has been an absolute privilege and a great pleasure to welcome back students in all year groups at school over the past week. It has been wonderful to see classrooms filled with students learning and a powerful reminder of the importance of education on academic, social and personal development. We have missed our students immensely, and some have even been brave enough to admit that they have missed school over the past few months!

Of course, the school is operating in a very different way than we have done before.  I would like to thank the students, staff and parents for following the new guidance carefully and taking the important steps to protect themselves and others by reducing the risk of transmission.  As I have mentioned to all of the students, this is a form of secondary education which is very different than one they have seen previously. We are, by necessity, working in an imperfect world, as the Hasmonean Boys’ school building was simply not planned nor designed with a ‘bubbled’ system in mind.  We continue to refine our systems in order to keep the students and staff as safe as we possibly can.

I would like to personally thank you for the many messages of support which I have received before the term started. In this important and auspicious month of Elul, it is important to remind ourselves that the middot of gratitude, positivity, kindness and resilience as well as respect for our fellow human beings are vital attributes which we all – adults and children alike – need to be showing at this time.

Wishing you all a relaxing and healthy Shabbat.

Mrs D Lebrett

Headteacher

Hasmonean High School for Boys

Dear Parents

The Alshich explains that the essence of the mitzvah of bikkurim which features at the beginning of this week’s parsha is hakoras hatov, expressing gratitude. After months of hard work, ploughing, sowing, tending, pruning and harvesting, the farmer brings the first of his fruit to the Beis HaMikdash as an expression of thanks.

The Alshich continues that hakoras hatov is fundamental to our emunah and observance of mitzvos. That is why the mitzvah was carried out with so much fanfare and the farmer made a public declaration of thanks to Hashem.

Not only does the concept of giving thanks give us our name (Yehudi), the Midrash Rabbah at the very beginning of Bereishis tells us that the world was created for the sake of the mitzvah of bikkurim.

And perhaps that is why we begin each day with Modeh Ani, words of gratitude.

As ever, the messages of the week’s parsha are timely and timeless and it is with much gratitude and a feeling of enormous relief that we are thankfully back in school. After many months of online learning and with much planning, we are again able to pursue our noble passion of educating and inspiring the next generation.

We have tried hard indeed to ensure that the school is safe as can be. Please remind your child that masks need be worn in all communal places in school.

In Modim D’Rabbanan we say a remarkable thing. “Modim anachnu loch”, we thank you Hashem … “al she’anachnu modim loch”, for being able to thank you.

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to thank the all those people who have worked through the summer to help us get to this day and I hope and pray that the entire Hasmonean family, and people the world over, stay safe and healthy and that we are blessed with a successful year ahead.

Good Shabbos

Rabbi Golker
Menahel

Dear Parents,

We write to you in regard to this year’s A Level and BTEC results.

We are pleased to report that the vast majority of students have attained grades to enter university or embark on the next stage of their life and we will be supporting students who have not been awarded the grades that they were hoping to achieve.

You will have seen headlines in the media that a student’s mock exam results may be able to be used instead of the calculated exam results if the former are higher than the latter.

We will be seeking to appeal all A Level and BTEC grades that are lower than mock grades wherever possible. However, Ofqual have announced that they will not be able to give any details on what counts as a ‘valid mock’ until next week, meaning that we cannot yet tell students if they have a grounds for appeal based on their mock results. This delay and uncertainty will obviously be extremely difficult and challenging for students and it is regrettable that the guidance on this important matter has yet to be produced. As soon as we have that guidance from Ofqual, we will share it with you and advise students accordingly.

Students who wish to know their centre assessed grades or who have any other queries about examination grades should contact the examinations officers at each school:
Hasmonean High School for Girls Exams Officer: Ms Nancy James n.james@hasmonean.co.uk
Hasmonean High School for Boys Exams Officer: Mrs Jane Leigh j.leigh@hasmonean.co.uk

Queries about university places should be directed to the relevant Head of Sixth Form.

Information about re-sits can be found in the examinations sections of the school’s websites.

Please bear in mind that there will be many, many more queries to deal with this year due to the way in which examinations grades have been calculated and the late announcement about how appeals can take place. We will deal with students as soon as we are able to do so.

With kind regards,

Mrs Debbie Lebrett – Headeacher, Hasmonean High School for Boys
Mrs Katherine Brice – Headteacher, Hasmonean High School for Girls

Dear Parents,

 

As you would expect, a great deal of thought is going into planning for how the full return to school in September can be managed as safely as possible. We are discussing our plans with staff tomorrow and will be sharing them with you next week.

 

Please note that the arrangements for the last week of term:

 

On Monday 20th, as was advertised in the calendar, there will be no teaching, nor will there be supervision in school until after break at 11:30. This is to allow for the traditional staff breakfast to take place where we thank staff for their hard work and say farewell to leavers.

 

Next week, we will be holding pastoral check-ins in school for all students as follows at both schools. Online lessons will not occur for year groups on the days when they are in school as outlined below:

 

Monday – Year 7 in school for their pastoral check-ins

 

Tuesday – Year 8 in school for their pastoral check-ins

 

Wednesday – Year 9 in school for their pastoral check-ins

 

Thursday – Year 12 in school for their pastoral check-ins – no live lessons for the whole school (see below)

 

Friday – Year 10 in school for their pastoral check-ins – no live lessons for the whole school (see below)

 

On Monday from 11.30am until the end of Wednesday, all other online lessons will be delivered as normal, with the exception of those outlined above.

 

Please note that the children of key workers and vulnerable children will continue to be supervised in school and pastoral check-ins will continue as scheduled throughout next week for all year groups except for Monday morning until 11.30am.

 

As previously mentioned, all staff who are not shielding will be coming in to school on the final two days of term, Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th July, to work in departments to prepare for September. They will therefore not be teaching live lessons on these days but instead giving students guidance to ensure they have completed all of the work covered during lockdown and will be signposting them to extension activities within the extension room on these final two days.

 

The Hasmonean High School Charitable Trust Kodesh programme will continue throughout next week as usual.

 

We are currently consulting on the Relationships and Sex Education Policy, the teaching of which is statutory from September 2020.

The policy can be found here: https://hasmoneanmat.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Hasmonean-RSE-policy-DRAFT.pdf

 

If you wish to comment on the policy, please do so here: https://forms.gle/BJFbtBhwDzTM29UB6 .  Comments should be submitted by 5pm on Monday 10^th August

 

 

Good Shabbos to all,

 

Mr A McClusky – CEO, Hasmonean MAT

Mrs D Lebrett – Headteacher, Hasmonean Boys’ School

Mrs K Brice – Headteacher Hasmonean Girls’ School

Rabbi J Golker – Menahel, Hasmonean MAT