Shofar
The last year at Shofar has been full of challenge as we are living in a strange Covid world with ever changing rules and regulations. Our main focus, as always, is to ensure that our lovely children get the best possible experience and education, and we have kept this at the forefront of our planning, whilst also trying to ensure that everyone keeps safe and well.
We have worked in smaller groups for a lot of the past year, and have spent lots of time outdoors on our wonderful site, which includes our dedicated playgrounds, a large field and a wonderful woodland area, which we have adapted into a Forest School classroom, now that we have our own qualified Forest School leader. Our children have learnt to connect with nature and learn and discover the world around them whilst gaining new skills, such as learning how to whittle or use a saw or learning how to build a den out of natural resources.
We are proud that during the year, Shofar achieved our Bronze award for Health Early Years London and next year we shall be working towards our Silver award, with Oral Health and Healthy Eating as our focus. With this in mind, we welcomed a local dentist in to talk to the children about good oral hygiene and joined the Sugar Smart campaign.
Throughout the year, our curriculum is filled with experiences that foster a love of Reform Judaism, as well as fun experiences to teach our children about other faiths and practices, such as our Indian role-play restaurant at Diwali. This year we needed to do things a bit differently because of Covid, as visitors were not permitted into educational settings. What seemed initially a drawback actually brought benefits for many, as parents who would otherwise have been working, and relatives as far afield as America and Australia were able to join us on zoom for Purim and Pesach festivities.
In the summer we celebrated our school leavers’ graduation with a leavers Shabbat and outdoor family picnic. Thankfully at Chanukah time, things had eased up enough for us to take our older pre-school children on the bus to the Arts Depot to see The Tiger Who Came to Tea and our younger children enjoyed a Chicken Shed performance of Tales from the Shed.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my amazing staff team, who work tirelessly to give the children a wonderful educational experience. In addition my thanks go to our board of Trustees, under the Chairmanship of Paul Israel for all their care and support.
Please don’t hesitate to get in tough if you have any questions or want to know more about Shofar.
Sharon Lee
Shofar Headteacher
