A year of hitting new heights in education
As her first year as headteacher at JFS draws to a close and a new term begins, Rachel Fink reflects on the school’s future and her role within it
Brigit Grant is the Jewish News Supplements Editor
Starting a new role is a bit like learning to drive a car. Anyone with a vehicle licence will tell you that you only develop real expertise once you have passed your test. Recently I was driving behind a car whose number plate was TII EAM. I thought to myself, did nobody ever tell you there is no ‘I’ in TEAM?
Walking in to any organisation ‘at the top’ is markedly different to taking over the helm in a place where you have already worked for many years. While the fundamentals are the same from school to school, each has its own personality, characteristics, and context.
The first few months of leading JFS was dedicated to getting to know staff, students and families in order to prioritise how to take this magnificent school forward.
In any organisation, the greatest assets are the people. JFS has incredibly dedicated staff, highly talented students and passionate parents who care deeply about their children’s educational experience. The challenge was to encourage everyone to work together and, like every good company, knowing and understanding the vision and values is key to achieving that.
If you ask a current member of the JFS community what is the school motto and how does it reflect the goals we have for our students, I am confident they would be able to tell you. Orah Viykar represents the ideal that JFS students should be bringing ‘Light and Honour’ to themselves and the world around them through their actions and behaviour. I am not convinced that, a year ago, this question could have been answered by everyone.
Coming together under a clear banner that highlights a Jewish idea we recall weekly at Havdalah and in the Purim Megillah has helped us redefine who we are as a school and create that all-important team mindset.
School rules tend to create a groan among young people and frustrate those who need to ensure their implementation. My approach has been to focus on the concept of ‘behaviour for learning’ and every rule reflects this. School is about providing all types of education, and anything that detracts from that, including behaviour, needs addressing.
Learning how to respect the environment and being considerate of others around you are the founding principles of any productive society. In schools, these expectations aid learning and decision-making, and in the wider world they enable us to become responsible and engaged citizens. Schools must also ensure that every student and family feels supported when life becomes more challenging.
I am very proud of the systems and structures we now have in place to assist our students. With thanks to support from the WOHL foundation, we have established a range of services and educational programmes led by our multidisciplinary team that focuses on well-being and mental health. Being part of the Jewish Leadership Council pilot project on this important topic is also a huge bonus.
The secret to success is finding the balance between creating that disciplined structure while helping those who need it. Most young people will
agree that they don’t mind boundaries if they know there is also help and understanding when the need arises.
This is what makes them feel safe and supported.
This first year has enabled me to experience each school event as the calendar cycle turns and using a well-known teaching phrase understand ‘what works well’ and ‘even better if’ to implement new initiatives or develop some wonderful long-standing traditions.
JFS is an exciting place to study and the children of our community are supremely privileged to have the wide range of opportunities we offer above and beyond the regular curriculum. All they need do is engage with the ones that spark their interest.
This year, aside from excellent public examination results, JFS students have topped the leader boards of all sorts of competitions in sport, music, Jewish knowledge, science, charity and art, to name but a few. The positive energy that is being generated is palpable both in the classrooms and corridors. It is fueling an exciting future, which I am certain will take the school to even greater heights.
As Rosh Hashanah approaches and I reflect on the past few months, I know that this is an exciting time to be part of the JFS family.
With continued supportive partnership between home and school, my hope for the coming year is that every JFS student finds their own personal success and that the school can provide them with the setting to work out how they can better themselves, how they connect to our community and how they can live a balanced and meaningful life.
It has been several months since I confidently removed my JFS L-plates, and while I may now be firmly in the driving seat, nothing would happen without the collective leadership and team effort across the school. The exceptional commitment of so many people ensures
that JFS continues to be the beating heart of
our community.
Perhaps the driver of that car I was following knew better than me, and the II in the registration T11 EAM registration is really the number 11 – to paraphrase a well-known quote: ‘This school goes to 11’.
Above: JFS Year 11 leavers’ party.
Inset: Rachel Fink
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
