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Broughton Jewish Casssel Fox Primary School is this year celebrating its 75th anniversary

The school started as a small Cheder class of 8 pupils in 1946 and today has 500 pupils on the roll.

What is most striking about this particular School is how it has stayed so true to its founding fathers principles.

Set up in the aftermath of the Holocaust, its German founders were determined to set up a School which would be built firmly on the principles of Torah Im Derech Eretz, combining excellence in both Secular and Jewish studies and at the same time, would ensure that each child’s individual needs were catered for.

When one walks around the school, these ideas and principles are not only physically on the wall displays of the school but one can feel it within its walls.

The other thing that hits you is the warmth and happiness of the children. There are so many smiles to greet you as you walk along the corridors of this lovely school. The happiness and friendliness of the children is perhaps no surprise once one delves a little deeper into the thoughts and processes going on behind the scenes.

I had the opportunity to talk to the current Chair of Governors, Dov Black, who explains that he is only following in the footsteps of his predecessors, “I took on the role 12 years ago, I had been a pupil at the school myself and all my children have also been through the school. What was clear to me was that there was something very genuine about the school which I was determined, together with my fellow governors, to maintain. I feel that whilst the school has grown tremendously in numbers during this period as the community of Manchester has grown, we have hopefully stayed true to these principles”.

When I ask Dov to explain what he thinks is so special about Broughton Jewish, his face lights up and says “Just let me take you round the school, you will see for yourself. I always say that when education is genuine and real, just watch the kids, the classrooms, the playgrounds, the interactions between the children and staff and you will see all you need to know”.

And he’s right. There is a genuineness to the place and a real sense of warmth and happiness that radiates throughout the school from the Senior Leadership Team, headed by Rabbi Yehuda Pearlman through to all the Staff and the Children.

I also had the chance to speak to Rabbi Pearlman and again, a real enthusiasm for the values of the School comes through.

“Covid was obviously, like for all schools, a challenging period but we were determined to learn from that time and see how we can improve the education and experience of the children”, explains Rabbi Pearlman.

At this point, Rabbi Pearlman explains to me that the School has approximately 60 children per year and that they are now divided into 4 classes of approximately 15 per class. There are 4 teachers for each year group throughout the day, each year group in its own corridor with separate toilets and in the earlier years, their own separate playground and break times.

“We call it the Bubble of the Future. Going back to the founding principles, we wanted to create a model that allows us to nurture and develop each individual child. That’s much harder in a school of 500 and so we have created this new model where there is Kodesh and Secular being learnt throughout the day by 4 dedicated year group teachers. This allows for far more cross curricula work between Kodesh and Secular subjects and means that we can cater for the emotional well-being needs of every child”.

“We look at the child as they are today in the here and now, explains Rabbi Pearlman. The approach to the children is founded on 2 ideals. We believe that the relationship between the teacher and the child is key. Developing strong attachments at this stage of their development is hugely important and so we have worked very hard on building that idea into our approach and at the same time, the curricula is designed to cater for the children’s educational and emotional needs. With this two pronged approach, we hope to allow the children to flourish in the warm environment of our school”.

One can’t but help be impressed by the school. I asked Mr Black how they are celebrating the 75th anniversary. “We are holding a Matched Funding Campaign. We know there are so many of these campaigns going on and I guess it has replaced the old Dinners. We wanted our campaign though to focus on the children. So there is going to be a fun day for all the children of the school on the day of the campaign and we are also engaging the children in other ways to celebrate the 75th anniversary. Whatever we do at the school, it is really important to us that it should always be child centred”.

So what are the school raising funds for. Mr Black explains that “the governors have some really exciting ideas for the future. We are focusing on 3 main capital projects. Firstly, we want to enhance the outdoor play areas of the school. With our new bubbles of the future, we are able to create separate outdoor provisions for each year group upto Year one. These new play areas will be specially designed to allow the children to develop their creativity, problem solving, independence and confidence.

We are also building a specially designed Learning Hub. This area of the school will be available for all children of the school and will be permanently manned by a member of staff who will work with children who have either self refered or been refered by a teacher and who require extra intervention. Included in this Learning Hub will be a sensory room, and therapy rooms for children to have Speech and Language Therapy, music therapy, art therapy and play therapy. All of this of this will be designed with those founding principles at heart, every child matters and every child deserves to be the best they can be”.

Thirdly, explains Mr Black, “we are building a Beis Hamedrash. We felt it would be special for the children to combine all the learning that goes on with an attachment at an early age to the world of Torah and the Beis Hamedrash. The Beis Hamedrash has been carefully designed with this in mind and we are very excited to add this to the children’s wonderful experience here at Broughton Jewish”.

This Beis Hamedrash is being kindly donated in memory of one of the Schools Trustees, Rabbi Kupetz, who took a close and active involvement in the development of the school. Rabbi Kupetz is sorely missed by the two other Trustees of the school, Rabbi Avrom Jaffe and Rabbi Berel Cohen, also the Menahel of the school.

Rabbi Cohen says that whilst the school is well known for its excellent Kodesh and Secular standards, what gives him most pride is the beautiful Middos Tovos (behaviour) of the children and this is something which is remarked upon by many people within the Manchester community, including Rabbonim and also the teachers of the High schools that the children go on to.

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From the front line…

Mr Johnson must deliver. It’s about time!

BY JACQUELINE CURZON

Protasevich and his partner. Dominic Cumbria Integrated Care NHS FounRaab, the Foreign secretary intended dation Trust said 'an investigation was I'm getting married in the morn- to give Putin a slap on the wrist when underway,' and a spokesman said the ing. Ding dong, the bells are going they met at a Nato summit earlier this outcome will also 'determine any further to chime. So goes the well known, week, although Sergei Shoigu, Russia's action they may need to take.' In a sepcheery refrain from My Fair Lady. defence minister, said more troops arate story, two young men in Aberdeen Never mind the bluster and bluff of would be sent to the Russian West, in decided to remove a sofa from their flat, our PM kidding us that the nuptials response to what (he claimed) was a via a window. The two men had checked were bookmarked for 2022; - it was growing Nato threat. This 'threat' likely the coast was clear before dropping the of course all ministerial smoke and referred to Nato operatives running sofa 5 metres to the ground, but unformirrors, as we discovered when the drills for thousands of troops, dozens tunately it hit Edita Butkeveiciute (31), press released the story of the new of aircraft and warships across the At- causing her severe injury. She spoke for Mrs Johnson and husband. It was lantic. Nikolai Patrushev, chairman of them in court, and after sentencing said, confirmed that the bride borrowed the National Security Council indicated 'they know it was a stupid thing to do, and her dress, and went barefoot in the Russia could use force in response to they have to live with that.' The men were gardens at their low-key affair, but it is 'hostile actions.' At the end of the day, spared jail, but ordered to pay compensanot known whether Dylan or Wilf were Britain is great at rhetoric and hot air, tion totalling £15,000, and each given 150 in attendance. 'Three times a lady' is a but to a die-hard Soviet, actions speak hours community service. well known song by the Commodores, Jacqueline Curzon louder than whispered sweet nothings, Zolgensma is not a drug we are familiar often played at weddings. Let's hope PHOTO: LARA MINSKY PHOTOGRAPHY and Putin has shown he is fearless. with, but it has recently been approved BoJo stops at three though, as mem- Stsiapan Latypau (41), an activist, as an NHS medicine for a condition bership of his ex-wives club comes at tried to committ suicide when attend- called SMA {Spinal Muscle Atrophy}. a hefty price. Scottish separatism, they reported that ing court in Minsk - he attended with Zolgensma, a gene therapy drug which

At least the wedding was a welcome 20% of English people strongly opposed obvious signs of a beating. A 17 year-old has shown effectiveness in babies born distraction from the Dominic Cummings independence. The Nationalists have died by suicide the previous week, and an with Type 1 SMA, comes in at a ticket farce, during which multiple fronts been regularly complaining that they opposition politician also died in mysteri- price of £1.8 million per shot. Arthur of attack were lobbed at Johnson and feel short changed by the central govern- ous circumstances. Andrei Pivovarov (39), Morgan (5 months), has just been treated his government. Now, I'm not saying ment, resulting in bickering over Brexit, a prominent Kremlin critic, was forcibly with this at Evelina Children's Hospital, everything was all sunshine and roses in road and rail transport and particularly removed from a plane in St Petersburg, and Dr Elizabeth Wraige, consultant at Downing Street, but it is so easy to have over Scotland’s share of the national UK headed for Warsaw. It's an indictment Evelina, said 'this revolutionary treatment the 20/20 gift of hindsight, and as Cum- wealth. When have we ever heard the on a security state when a person is so will bring new hope to families.' Some mings said with unusual perspicacity, he Scottish agenda being fundamentally terrified of their captors, and prison con- children treated with it have reached 5 [DC] ‘should never have been in charge of about anything other than independence? ditions so bad, they would prefer to end it years old. Now I am well aware that PCTs anything.’ On that count, I'm sure the PM Perhaps they forget that the Kingdom all. We have no current news on Navalny. will frequently refuse to authorise specific will certainly agree. of Great Britain was established in 1707 Murders and attacks have happened proprietary drugs, instead forcing the

Sir Kevin Collins, the government when James VI of Scotland became aplenty on UK soil without meaningful public to accept cheaper - and someeducation recovery commissioner, has King of England, subsequently making a consequences; think of Litvinenko (polo- times less effective - generic equivalents. drawn up a plan to provide all children decree that the title of King would refer nium) and Skripal (novichok). If anything It's all about cost saving…. As with IVF with an extra 100 hours of education each thereafter to the joint Kingdoms of Great the perpetrators often come out looking treatments amongst individual PCTs, year from 2022. The additional hours Brittaine. Boris Johnson is now trying more terrifying and 'untouchable…' exactly how they choose to disburse their would average out to an extra 30 mins in to impress upon us a new term 'Global Maybe we are just too polite and conserv- budgets seems to be anybody's guess. Still each school day, bringing class time for Britain,' whatever that is. But the Unit- ative!? Any political weakness will always in the news is the ongoing saga of the GPs. students to a minimum 35 hour week. ed Kingdom is a title that requires no be exploited, and Lukashenko has proven Matthew Trotter, FRCS, writes [Telegraph In a document leaked to The Times, the introduction, no explanation or apology, that. Regardless, the EU has now pub- 31 May]...’there may be a role for virtual proposals also included a suggestion whereas a new-fangled descriptor of our licly pledged to provide Belarus with €3 appointments, but by removing the ability that an extra year of sixth form could be country would need all sorts of expla- billion in grants and loans, as soon as the to see a doctor, one is removing a central available for those struggling to complete nations. If all continues to go badly in country 'changes course and transitions' tenet of good medical practice. The effects studies in the conventional 2 year win- Scottish negotiations, Global England to democracy, implying Lukashenko's will be seen when complications, mortalidow. However, the estimated £15 billion may be all that is left. potential resignation. I don’t think that's ty and litigation become apparent.' There, cost of all this is giving the Chancellor Following the debacle of last week's going to happen any time, ever. you have it from the doctor's mouth. pause for thought, especially as it would air piracy, a meeting between Lukashen- In the medical press, a patient died after Death rates from covid reached zero this create financial ramifications for teach- ko and Putin saw the former hand a she was dropped off an operating table week, out of a daily figure of 1,500, but we ers, whose contracts would need to be briefcase to Putin, saying it contained during surgery. Jeanette Shields (70), was must still do our bit to encourage vaccichanged to reflect additional hours. Gavin some documents to 'show you, so that receiving treatment in Cumberland Infir- nation uptake. Dr Sue Pavord, who leads Williamson has confirmed that disadvan- you understand what really happened.' mary for gallstones. Her husband told the an expert haematology panel advising taged children will get tutoring to catch Maybe it was just a little thank you gift BBC that his wife had broken her hip after the government, has said that people are up, but stopped short of pledging a longer for borrowing some KGB agents or for leaving her bed to visit the bathroom, at extended risk of clots from the AZ jab. school day. sending up the MiG? European countries after getting no response to her buzzer. There have been 332 cases of vaccine

According to a survey English voters have since banned the air carrier Belavia Two days later she underwent surgery to induced thrombosis and thrombocytoare not prepared to provide more funding Belarusian Airlines from entering their repair this, after which he was then called penia in the UK. Just as a side comment, for Scotland as a price for keeping the airspace, following a fierce row over the by the hospital to say, 'the surgery had I mentioned many months ago I had the UK together. 25% were in favour of giving recent hijacking. The principal purpose of been successful, but unfortunately they AstraZeneca vaccine, and as I've now more funding, but 35% were opposed to the meeting at the Black Sea resort of Sochi dropped her off the table after surgery…' developed another lung embolism, so I any further financial incentives to pre- was to secure the backing of Russia against He said his wife had a big bump on the will not willingly have a repeat dose of AZ. serve the Union. The Barnett formula is the Western nations who have issued back of her head and just deteriorated. Let’s see how that goes! very unpopular with English voters, as it sanctions and flight bans. Lukashenko said Mrs Shields died 6 weeks later on May allocates proportionally more generous the information in the case would indicate 21st. Her husband was initially told there monies to Scotland. On the matter of 'what kind of people they are', referring to would not be a post mortem but North Love