Chief Rabbi and Lord Winston address inaugural Teaching Judaism conference

24 February 2016, 11:44 am
Lord Robert Winston addressing the conference

The Chief Rabbi and Lord Winston were key note speakers at the inaugural Teaching Judaism conference.

Religious education teachers learned about the new Judaism GCSE syllabus during the event, which was the first of its kind.

Held at Western Marble Arch Synagogue on Monday, with more than 90 educators present, the one day seminar saw sessions on ‘the essence of Jewish prayer’ run by Chief Rabbi Mirvis, and a talk entitled “Why Bother Learning About Judaism” by  Lord Robert Winston.

A session was also led by JCoSS headteacher Patrick Moriarty, with representatives from exam boards AQA, Edexcel, Eduqas and OCR in attendance.

The conference consisted of seminars and workshops about the new syllabus, due to be used for the first time in 2018. It also had a taster of the Board of Deputies’ Jewish Living Experience (JLE) exhibition of Jewish life in the 21st century.

The Chief Rabbi speaking during the conference

Partnerships for Jewish Schools Executive Director Rabbi Meyer said the event gave religious education teachers “an insight into the vibrancy of Judaism, and an understanding of how this can best be conveyed within the GCSE syllabus.”

 
The resources prepared by co-hosts PaJeS, and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, “will enable the teachers to convey this to students in a relevant and interesting manner”, said Rabbi Meyer.
 
The Board’s Education Development Manager Sara Perlmutter added they were “delighted” to host the conference which was a “positive experience working with religious studies experts from across the UK”.
 
 
 
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