Voice of the Jewish News: Time to celebrate our class of 2019

This is the fourth year that we have run the Jewish News Awards in conjunction with PaJeS and the fourth year we have been wowed by the ideas and dedication of the educators nominated by their peers. This year’s event takes place on Monday evening at JW3.

We’ve heard about those initiating book weeks, school newspapers, student writing competitions, literary puzzles, pop-up books, turning their classrooms into literary cafes and even using comics to help those who struggle.

We’ve heard about those celebrating Chinese New Year with young Jewish children, using Disney’s Frozen to educate about Arctic climes, and turning their classrooms into ‘planes’ for ‘a trip to Israel’, complete with teacher dressed as cabin crew!

We’ve heard how some forgo lunch in order to give extra essay-writing skills to students with exams coming up, how some are breaking new bounds to make sure those with sensory or hearing problems feel part of the class, how some are making learning fun by introducing quizzes and, most importantly, how many know that the best teaching often doesn’t happen in the classroom.

We’ve heard of those dubbed “the sixth-form mum”, those helping older students mentor their younger peers, those asking their young flock to collect maths resources for children their age in Ghana, and those whose love for Israel is being passed on to the next generation.

We hear all these things and we are reminded that, of all the awards in the Jewish community, we support one of the best.

We’ll celebrate all the winners in next week’s issue.