Editorial 24.03.2022

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Dear Parents and Carers,

Re: Communication Guidelines

We would like to remind you that Hasmonean has guidelines to provide a platform for effective and positive communications between staff and parents/carers. Parents/carers are entitled to expect courteous and timely communications from school staff just as staff are entitled to expect courtesy and respect from them.

This extract from the guidelines outlines the rationale behind them:
Research consistently finds that children achieve more when schools and parents/carers work together. However, the unique relationship that a parent/carer or teacher has with a child might at times lead to differences of opinion as to what is best for the child. Both parties need to appreciate and respect the special skills and insights that each brings to their relationships with a child and understand and appreciate each other’s perspective.

Tension in the parent/staff relationship can arise when both parties are strongly motivated to do the best for the child but occupy fixed positions about how to achieve this. The ability to voice differences of opinion, respectfully and with understanding, is key to a successful relationship and to minimising conflict.

It would be very much appreciated if parents and careers could avoid cc-ing a staff member’s line manager or superior (or a governor) into emails unless there is a specific and valid reason to do so. For routine queries or concerns it would also be helpful if you contacted the relevant member of staff to deal with it rather than starting further up the school’s organisational chain. This not only gives the staff member closest to the matter the opportunity to resolve it but it also prevents bottlenecks further up. However, if the matter relates to a serious concern or requires a middle manager, senior or executive leader to deal with it, then by all means address the query or concern to them. If the Executive Leadership have not managed to resolve your query or concern, then please contact a member of the relevant governing body via l.oskis@hasmonean.co.uk

A link to the guidelines, which are also shared with staff, can be found here: https://hasmoneanmat.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Communication-Guidelines-March-2022.pdf

The contact details for staff can be found on the individual schools’ websites:

https://hasmoneanboys.org.uk/contact/

https://hasmoneangirls.org.uk/contact/

We hope that all members of the Hasmonean community will find the guidelines helpful.

With kind regards,

 

Mr A McClusky, CEO, Hasmonean MAT
Mr Y Halberstadt, Chair of Local Governing Body Committee – Boys, Trustee of Hasmonean MAT
Mr S Blumgart, Chair of Local Governing Body Committee – Girls, Trustee of Hasmonean MAT

Editorial 16 03 2022

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Dear Parent,

The Gemara in Megilah (16a) tells us that when Haman looks for Mordechai to carry out King Achashverosh’s reward of riding on the king’s horse, dressed in royal clothes, he finds Mordechai in the Beis Hamedrash teaching hilchos kemitzah. Hilchos kemitzah are technical laws involving flour offerings.

Why hilchos kemitzah now?

A well-known public speaker once told me that he tries to throw in the word “relevant” in the first 60 seconds of any of his talks as a means of engaging his audience.

Hilchos kemitzah? The first Beis Hamikdash has been destroyed and the second has yet to come. There is no Beis Hamkidash, no flour offerings and no kemitzah? Hardly relevant or pressing!?

The answer is that Mordechai is teaching a powerful message. Klal Yisrael are in deep trouble. The noose is tightening around their neck. A date for state sanctioned genocide has been set. Mordechai does his hishtadlus, he makes every effort to guide Esther and together with the rest of the Jewish people, he fasts and prays. And then he teaches hilchos kemitzah.

In so doing, he is telling Klal Yisrael the message of last week’s haftorah that we read before Purim every year – נצח ישראל לא ישקר. Mordechai is saying we may be in a precarious state, but we will get through this, we will prevail. There will yet be a Beis Hamikdash and Kohanim will once again perform the avodah and take a kemitzah.

A timely and timeless message for Purim 2022. Covid turned our world upside down and we slowly emerge to find a world at war.

But we should take comfort in the message of Purim. We may be in a precarious state, but we will get through this, we will prevail. And just like Purim follows Ta’anis Esther, we hope and pray that light will follow darkness.

Wishing you and your families an enjoyable, meaningful and safe Purim.

Rabbi J Golker
Menahel

Editorial 10.03.2022

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Dear Parent,

כָל דְּבַשׁ לֹא תַקְטִירוּ מִמֶּנּוּ אִשֶּׁה לַה’ … עַל כָּל קָרְבָּנְךָ תַּקְרִיב מֶלַח

Our parsha tells us that we are not allowed to add honey to a korban (sacrifice) but must add salt. Why?

Even though honey and salt are both used to flavour foods, they each have a very different effect. Honey serves to sweeten and distort the natural flavour of the food whereas salt helps bring out the natural flavour.

Helping each child identify his strengths and weaknesses is a critical role of parenting and chinuch. So is helping the child have the confidence to become who he or she can become and not imitate another.

This is something we really strive for at Hasmonean.

The Gemara (Berachos 17a) tells us that when the Chachomim took leave of each other they would say: “Olomecho tireh bechayecho. May you see your world during your lifetime.” What exactly does that mean?

Rav Shimon Schwab, explained this Gemara as follows. The word Olomecho (your world) is connected to the word he’elomecha (the part of you which is concealed). A person’s world is the part of him which has not yet seen light of day, the part that is still potential. Realising that full potential is the work of a lifetime.

This was the blessing our Chachomim wished each other. May you see the world during your lifetime. May you achieve during your sojourn in this world the full realisation of all the potential Hashem has invested in you.

Realising that potential requires salt, not honey.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi J Golker
Menahel

Editorial 03.03.2022

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Dear Parents,

In a week where the external news has been so grim, it was heartening to see the amazing effort put in by so many people to enable us to have our most successful fund raising campaign thus far.

211 teams, 4263 donors and over £1.7 million raised. These are amazing and heart-warming statistics. It was very moving to read the messages of support which came in and to know how much Hasmonean is valued in the community. We are humbled by the trust placed in us to educate the next generation and strive daily to inculcate the values of Rabbi Dr Schonfeld and to produce young men and women of whom we can all be justly proud who will take their place in the world as confident Jews.

We are so grateful to all the donors whose generosity makes it possible to put into practice many of the initiatives we have planned to improve the education we offer even more and to provide timely and effective support to those who are experiencing challenges.

Thank you to each and every one of you for your continued support.

Shabbat Shalom!

Mrs K Brice
Headteacher
Hasmonean High School for Girls

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Dear Parents,

We are delighted to inform you that Hasmonean’s 36-hour fundraising campaign blasted through the initial £1.2m target and exceeded the bonus target of £1.7m.

We are hugely indebted to the boundless generosity and energy of the following people. First, we must pay tribute to Fundraising Chair and MAT trustee Ben Shooter and his wife Katie Shooter who have now raised over £10m for Hasmonean since 2015. This speaks for itself: it is a truly astonishing achievement. Heartfelt gratitude to all that they have given and continue to give to Hasmonean.

Campaign leads Jodi Benaim and Dalia Leaf have worked tirelessly to ensure that this campaign was a huge success. The effort they have put into this campaign from its outset to its end has been phenomenal and the funds raised are testament to this. Enormous thanks to them and their families for the time and boundless energy they have given to this campaign.

Huge thanks go to the rest of the fundraising committee Jackie Benjamin, Steven Blumgart, Daniel Green, Yossi Goldberg, Yossi Halberstadt, Moshe Klajman, Miriam Landau, Dawn Murray, Shira Rabson and Benji Shebson all of whom worked assiduously to ensure the success of the campaign.

We are deeply indebted to all of the school’s trustees, governors and community members who personally provided or secured the matched funding for the campaign. Without their financial backing, this campaign would simply not have got off the ground.
We are grateful to the many, many parents, students and staff members who worked tirelessly either to maximise the community’s donations and to those whose own families gave so generously.

Without the combined efforts of each segment of the community, Hasmonean would not be able to remain the flagship Orthodox Jewish institution that it is today. Thanks to you, Hasmonean will not only continue to survive but will flourish.

With heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this campaign such a fabulous success.

Thank you so, so much everyone!

 

Mr Gary Swabel – Chair of Trustees
Mr Andrew McClusky – CEO

 

#weareHASMO matched fundraising campaign

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Editorial 10.02.2022

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Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you so much to those of you who joined us last night for the update on developments with the schools and to launch our 2022 #weareHASMO matched fundraising campaign which will take place from Sunday 27th February to Monday 28th February.

It has been two school years since our last campaign and as was made clear at the launch last night, every year there is a significant shortfall of around £4.8m between what the government gives to the schools and what it costs to run them.

Parental voluntary Chinuch Contributions are essential but sadly do not fully cover the shortfall.

Kodesh, HIPE, smaller class sizes, a wide choice of subjects, mental health support, after school and lunchtime clubs, digital technology and most importantly what we can do to improve the quality of education, pastoral care and SEND provision – all of this and more will be affected by the outcome of this campaign.

It will determine whether we can maintain them, improve them or – very sadly – be forced to make cuts to them.

If you haven’t signed up already, please do so here 

A video of last night’s launch meeting can be found here: Hasmonean MAT update 9.2.2022 

Further information about the campaign and how to support it can be found here: Campaign Information

Thank you to each and every person who steps forward to support our schools. Your support really is essential for Hasmonean to continue to thrive.

With best wishes,

Mr Andrew McClusky
CEO, Hasmonean MAT

Editorial 03.02.2022

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Dear Parent,

The Gemoro in Menachos (28a) says that all the כלים (vessels) of the Mishkan were made לדורות (for all generations), except for the חצוצרות (the silver trumpets used to communicate to Klal Yisroel) which had to be made anew for each generation.

Why the difference? Why could the menorah, the shulchan, the mizbeach and all the other כלים be used for all generations and not the חצוצרות? What was special about these trumpets?

I once heard a magnificent idea from my dear friend Rabbi Malcolm Herman in the name of Dayan Abramsky ztl.

The function of the חצוצרות was to communicate to Klal Yisroel. It was the PA system used in the midbar. The lesson is that the message of Torah is eternal, but the method of transmission has to change to fit each generation. חצוצרות used for one generation would not be suitable for another generation.

Chalk on blackboards may have worked two generations ago and whiteboard markers for the previous generation, but interactive whiteboards and chromebooks are the new norm. We may be teaching the same parsha in Chumash or the same Bava Metzia in Gemara, but the method of communicating our eternal truth needs updating in each generation.

And the method of communication isn’t just in the classroom. Imbuing our students with the beauty of Yiddishkleit through this week’s beautiful Rosh Chodesh davening at both schools, HIPE activities, Kodesh Extra, Gesher trips, the soon to be resumed Poland trips, and so much more.

Dayan Abramsky’s answer is as important as it is timely and timeless. The message of Torah is eternal, but the method of transmission has to change to fit each generation, and this is something we are very aware of at Hasmonean.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi J Golker
Menahel

Editorial 27.01.2022

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Dear Parents,

The theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day which we are commemorating this week is: One Day. This can be interpreted in different ways – one day this will all be over or reflecting on the one day when everything changed. Or it can indicate endurance.

Iby Knill who is a Holocaust survivor said:
You didn’t think about yesterday, and tomorrow may not happen, it was only today that you had to cope with and you got through it as best you could.

There are important lessons for us here. The first is to value what we have as one day we could lose it. I hope none of us would be torn away forcibly from our families but illness, job loss or enforced separation are experiences we have all come close to over the past months.

The second is to live more in the moment and to make the most of each day. It can sometimes be hard to see the ordinariness of life as a gift, it is often easier to see it as a chore or series of obligations which need to be met. However, if we stop for a minute and really consider what it would be like to have everything snatched away, even the inconveniences or drudgery can become something to cherish.

So I would urge you this weekend to pause and reflect just how much we have to be grateful for.

Shabbat Shalom!

Mrs K Brice
Headteacher
Hasmoenan High School for Girls

Editorial 20.01.2022

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Dear Parents/Carers,

In this week’s parsha, Yisro, the concept of freedom is celebrated. Interestingly, this freedom is a result of the Torah being given, rather than the freedom following the exodus from Egypt. Many of the commentators discuss this shift in the concept of freedom: this is not freedom from oppression but a different kind of freedom which enhances personal liberties. The Torah can be viewed as providing us with a blueprint for human action and a framework to feel safe and free within carefully constructed parameters.

In a similar vein, we are welcoming the more relaxed Covid freedoms that have been announced by the Government this week. From Thursday 20th January, students no longer need to wear face coverings in our classrooms. They need to continue to wear them in the corridors and communal areas until Thursday 27th January. Please note that TFL still require students to wear face coverings on London Transport.

We are hopeful that the list of these new-found freedoms continues to grow and that soon we are able to put these past few years of the pandemic behind us.

Have a wonderful Shabbos.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs D Lebrett
Headteacher
Hasmonean High School for Boys

Editorial – 13.01.2022

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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.

Rabbi Dovid Kaplan tells a wonderful anecdote about a girl who lost a towel on a school trip. The mother, upset at the school for their careless supervision of the property of others, called the Headteacher.

After apologising and re-assuring the mother that the school would try to locate the missing towel, she asked the mother “What did it look like?”

“It was white,” said the mother, “with ‘Holiday Inn’ written across it.”

After decades of slavery and persecution, Klal Yisroel managed to ensure that their newfound wealth did not go their heads. It was בידם, in their hands and in their control. That, says the Medrash, is what so impressed the Yam Suf that it split its waters.

Chazal (Eruvin 65b) tell us that a person’s relationship with money is a good indicator of who that person is. To have newfound wealth and still be in control is impressive indeed.

Children have a canny ability to detect honesty or the lack of it, both of their parents and teachers. Let us live our lives with honesty and use whatever resources we are blessed with wisely. Our children will notice, and it is a true indication of who we are.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi J Golker
Menahel