We believe that the future of the Jewish community in the UK lies in mutual trust, recognition and understanding between the various Jewish denominations. That understanding begins with our children.

We recognise that Judaism contains different communities. We do not try to make them one. Instead, we give our pupils a Jewish education acceptable to all groups. Each child’s background is respected and supported.

We are independent of all Jewish religious authorities, but work positively and productively with them, welcoming visits from all denominations.

We also provide a standard of kashrut acceptable to all.

Jewish Studies curriculum

Our curriculum focuses on the 95% of Jewish Studies which all the communities have in common. We are fortunate that, at the primary school level, Jewish concepts are relatively simple, and the differences in observance from one group to another are less marked. At this young age, even children’s services differ only slightly from an Orthodox to a Reform synagogue.

We are rigorous in ensuring that our staff maintain our ethos. Any questions about the legitimacy of one kind of Judaism over another are not our business; our business is teaching about Judaism, and our syllabus focuses on the enormous range of topics within Judaism that all groups have in common. If questions arise about comparisons between different communities, then it will be clear, in discussing them, that it is not our place to judge on the legitimacy of Jewish identity.

Jewish Culture curriculum

In addition to religious studies, we want to provide our children with a grounding in Jewish Culture. Cultural Judaism means learning about Jewish art, Jewish literature, Jewish history, philosophy, drama, architecture and entertainment.

We believe that being Jewish means more than purely religious understanding, and that both children and parents could benefit enormously from this curriculum.