Young People of the Year (“YOPEY”)

Is a campaign to give young people a fairer image in the media and society as a whole by revealing,

recognising and rewarding young unsung heroes. Yavneh College’s Keshet Dor age 13 won the

Hertfordshire Junior Young Person of the Year 2015 at a ceremony on 10 November 2015.

Keshet plans and runs services every Shabbat for up to 10 youngsters, aged three to seven,

at Elstree and Borehamwood Masorti Community Synagogue. Keshet also spends one

day a week reading to an 11 year-old boy who struggles to walk and is unable to speak.

Following her Bat Mitzvah last year, Keshet gave the £300 she received as gifts to help

Kisharon buy computer software to help an adult who has communication difficulties.

The competition judges, included Hertsmere Mayor Martin Worster as well as other members of the

distinguished audience and past YOPEY finalists, said: “Keshet has proved that if you put your mind and

heart to something you love doing then anything is achievable regardless of age.”

Latest community activities

The school is proud to outline its current community projects which

demonstrate its commitment to British Values and SMSC.

Visit from Mrs Nicky Morgan MP

We were delighted and honoured to welcome the Secretary of State for

Education, the Rt Hon. Mrs Nicky Morgan MP who visited our school at

the start of this academic year. This was an opportunity for us to show

the very best of what Yavneh College has to offer and the Secretary of

State was most impressed with what she saw. Mrs Morgan spent time in

a variety of classrooms chatting to some of the pupils and ended her

visit by addressing the Sixth Form, answering questions on all manner of

political issues.

The visit, of course was partly in recognition of the fact that Yavneh

College has been successful in

receiving Government funding to

open a primary school as part of

the recent round of Free Schools.

This is a very exciting time for the

school and I look forward to

updating all parents on the progress of the project in due course.

Mr Lewis

Edition 3 Spring 2016

“Yavneh College is a school which aspires to have the community

at its heart, and to be at the heart of the community.”

(Spencer Lewis, Headteacher)

Fitness Fun in the Community

Yavneh College PE Department has continued to develop its

involvement in sport in the community through competitions,

events and club links.

Yavneh pupils attend regular sports events organised by the

Watford and Hertsmere School Sports Partnership. The partner-

ship is a group of schools that includes Queens school Bushey,

Bushey Meads School, Watford Boys and Watford Girls School.

This term has seen the boys and girls in the Partnership Badmin-

ton tournament with excellent performances from the boys’

team of Ben Lazarus, Jake Valins, Aaron Lewis and Nathan

Bloohn. We look forward to further tournaments including foot-

ball, badminton, table tennis and athletics throughout the

year. Yavneh College is also part of the Mid Herts District Sports

Association which involves participating in fixtures, league

competitions and events run collaboratively within the schools

of Potters Bar, Welwyn and Borehamwood. Further involve-

ment in community sports events is also through participation

in the Maccabi GB Schools Sports events

Yavneh College has hosted several sporting events for local

Primary Schools led by Yavneh College Year 9 Sports Lead-

ers. The Sports Leadership team is made up of pupils in Sports

Leadership enrichments or pupils who have shown a particular

talent during their sports leadership lessons. Hertsmere Primary

Schools including Clore Shalom, Saffron Green, Kenilworth,

Monksmead and Cowley Hill were invited to Yavneh to take

part in the Watford and Hertsmere School Sports Partnership

Sportshall Athletics. Participation in both events was enthusias-

tic and competitive and the sports leaders demonstrated their

excellent planning, organisational and communication skills.

Primary schools were also invited to netball and football tour-

naments at Yavneh College and our sports leaders worked in

conjunction with Hertswood School to host a Primary School

Kwik Cricket tournament. Well done to all of the members of

the Sports Leadership team.

The Yavneh College PE Department has several links with local

community sports clubs and coaches. Throughout 2015, we

hosted two separate satellite clubs, set up through the

Hertsmere Community Sports Development team. These clubs

are Zenith Trampolining Club and Herts Phoenix Athletics Club

who now run weekly sessions

based at the school. Further

to this, the school has strong

links with clubs such as Arse-

nal Ladies Football, Saracens

Academy and Barnet Foot-

ball Club. These links involve

club visits, taster session and

regular liaison between club

and school.

The Yavneh College PE Department continues to work with

organisations, clubs and other schools in the community and

details of activities can be found in the sports news section of

the school website.

Mr Kirk

Macmillan Coffee

Morning

We were delighted to participate in

the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning

on Wednesday 14 October 2015.

Staff were invited to bake and bring

in their signature cakes/biscuits for

the rest of us to sample to our hearts

content, having made a donation

to this very worthwhile cause.

£173.07 was raised

Year 5 CSI Yavneh

Days

In July of last year Yavneh College

was pleased to welcome around

450 Year 5 pupils to the CSI Yavneh

days. When pupils arrived they were

greeted with the news that Mr Lewis’

Goldfish had been stolen from Sci-

ence Lab 101 the previous Mon-

day! Using techniques taught to

them throughout the day in Geogra-

phy, Computing and Science the

Year 5s set about solving the mystery

of who stole ‘Goldie’, gathering evi-

dence that led to the apprehension

of the thief. The day culminated in a

heartfelt confession from Dr Green

AKA Dr Lee who explained her mo-

tives in carrying out the

crime. Thanks to all the staff and

Year 11 pupils who worked so hard

on this wonderful experience for the

younger pupils.

Mr Jackson

Mitzvah Week

In the week leading up to Mitzvah Day, on Sunday 22

November 2015, pupils took part in this nationwide

project by supporting Am Echad, our 3 school

charities - Jewish Child’s Day Breakfast Clubs (a

service offering a daily breakfast

club to disadvantaged children

prior to going to school), West

Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust:

Watford General Hospital

Children’s Services (supporting

the paediatric ward – The Starfish Ward) and MDA UK

(Israel’s only medical emergency response and

ambulance service).

During Mitzvah week in school, pupils donated

various non-perishable items in our collectathon

boxes. This was presented to Jewish Child’s Day

together with breakfast bowls which were designed

by a group of Year 12 students.

During

Form

Period,

pupils

in

Years 7-10 had the

choice of making

cards for volunteers,

paramedics and

medics at MDA UK OR making seasonal/Winter

decorations to give to the Starfish Ward at Watford

General Hospital. MDA UK ran a stall over lunchtime

allowing pupils to make friendship

bracelets to accompany the cards

which were sent to Israel.

All gifts were greatly appreciated by

the recipients.

Thank you to staff, parents and students involved in

supporting these worthwhile charities.

Mrs Harrod

Shabbat UK

At the end of October, to prepare for the

Chief Rabbi’s Shabbat UK project, the IJE

department ran Shabbat Week. During

Shabbat Week, Jewish

Studies lessons were

themed around the

topic of Shabbat and

we promoted a number

of Shabbat UK activities

that ran locally. On Monday 19 October,

we ran our Shabbat Fair with pupils coming

together to play Shabbat games, make

Havdalah candles, dance for Shabbat,

make Shabbat posters, eat Shabbat food

and listen to Shabbat music.

Later in the week, all pupils took part in the

Great Shabbat Challah Bake, where all

pupils in the school baked their own Challot

for Shabbat.

Thank you to all staff and pupils involved.

Mrs Harrod

Annual school production - InTo the Woods

December saw pupils from Years 7- 11 tackle the challenging musical ‘InTo The Woods’. The cast did

an outstanding job and put on yet another successful school production, complete with comedy,

tragedy and even a pantomime cow. This year the production was added to by the fantastic set

created by our incredibly talented Art Department who delivered a fabulous beanstalk complete

with giant’s feet.

I have yet again been blown away by the hugely talented pupils at the school and all that they can

achieve, as well as the fantastic dedication they have shown through the months of rehearsal. I

would also like to take this opportunity to thanks all of the amazing staff who contributed to the

show and helped the pupils put on such a successful performance, as well as the very generous Mrs

Ben-Hur for providing us with all of the costumes.

I look forward to yet another astonishing performance next year.

Ms Saunders

Magistrates in the Community

Following on from its success in 2015, as part

of their Magistrates in the Community visits

to schools 2015/16 programme, Stephen

Pam visited Yavneh and presented an

assembly to our Year 9 students on 9th

January 2016. Stephen is currently a magistrate with the

West and Central Herts Bench.

The assembly had a number of objectives including

aiming to help pupils understand the role of a

magistrates’ court as well as understand the decision

making process and how judgements are reached. The

assembly included active participation of over a dozen

Year 9 pupils who took on various roles of the court and

put on a role play of a trial (with the help of Stephen) of

a middle aged woman accused of shoplifting. Year 9

pupils took to the stage and played the roles of clerks,

lawyers (for defence and prosecution), three magistrates

and a range of witnesses including law enforcement

officials. By the end of the assembly most Year 9 pupils

agreed with the eventual guilty verdict although there

was some lively discussion and debate. The final part of

the presentation dealt with how sentencing works,

including bringing in prior convictions which obviously

had not featured in the trial itself.

There was also an opportunity for questions and answers

at the end of the assembly and one of the issues raised

which surprised our pupils most, was that local

magistrates are not actually paid. The assembly was a

great success and we are very grateful to Stephen for

giving up his time to talk to our pupils.

Mr M Kendler

Learning Ambassadors On Thursday 10 December 2015, fourteen

Learning Ambassadors from St Albans Girls

School spent the day with us at Yavneh Col-

lege. Each STAGS girl was partnered up with

a mix of Yavneh pupils (from Years 7 to 11)

and shadowed them throughout the day.

The STAGS girls really seemed to enjoy their

visit and found it to be a great learning expe-

rience.

It was then time for our reciprocal visit to

STAGS which took place on Tuesday 15 De-

cember. The Yavneh pupils (boys and girls)

paired up with the same girls who had shad-

owed them the previous week. The Yavneh

pupils spent a full day soaking up the atmos-

phere of STAGS. As one would expect, there

were similarities, as there might be in any sec-

ondary school. There were of course notable

differences, which the pupils discussed at the

conclusion of the programme.

The STAGS Learning Ambassadors comment-

ed positively on their first experience of Jew-

ish Studies lessons, afternoon prayers and ko-

sher food. The Yavneh pupils got a feel for

what it is like to attend a single-gender

school as well as one which has such a multi-

cultural population.

It was clear that the pupils from both schools

gained much insight into how the other oper-

ates and also the way in which the Jewish

ethos permeates the Yavneh school

day. The programme has real value in open-

ing up avenues to learn about other cul-

tures. The pupils all enjoyed describing the

aspects of their host school that they liked

the most. The teaching staff from both

schools also had opportunities to share good

practice.

It is very much

hoped to repeat

the experience

on a regular ba-

sis in the future.

Mrs H Simon

Tu B’Shvat

On Monday 25 January, pupils

celebrated Tu B’Shvat (the New Year

for the trees) by raising money for

tzedakah. Pupils had the opportunity

during break and lunchtime to choose from 15 different

fruits to create their personalised smoothie by pedalling

on smoothie bike or choosing a selection of fruit to dip

in to a large chocolate fountain.

For Year 7, Tu B’Shvat Sederim took place in which

pupils looked at the importance of caring for the

environment and Jewish sources about trees. They ate

four different fruits and drank four different coloured

cups of grape juice.

The Yad Yavneh Enrichment pupils packed 30 baskets

of fruit which was kindly donated by pupils and parents.

These were distributed to GIFT as part of the annual GIFT

fruit collectathon.

A special thanks to Yossi & Sharon

Ben Hur for all their generosity and

help on the day, staff, parents and

pupils involved.

Mrs Harrod

Alan Senitt Community

Leadership Programme

Year 10 pupils participating in

the prestigious Alan Senitt

Community Leadership

programme have been

dedicating an incredible

amount of time and effort

towards the cause.

Alan Senitt was a bright young communal

leader and political activist who was murdered

aged 27 in July 2006. The Trust was set up in his

memory and the aim of this particular project is

to give young people the necessary skills to

become active leaders in their own

communities and the wider community. It also

aims to bring young people of different faiths

together.

The programme is run by Streetwise and the

Alan Senitt Memorial Trust. It trains Year 10

pupils to become active communal leaders

and links pupils from Mainstream and Faith

schools.

Pupils attend seminars which include leadership

skills training and interfaith dialogue. Within the

programme, each school organises and runs a

local community project and have to involve

more people in that project.

The Yavneh College team have chosen a

project that they hope will both raise awareness

and support for veterans of the British army and

their children. The pupils have been in contact

with a range of charities and connections in the

veterans’ community. This is all in

preparation for the assemblies

and major lunchtime event they

intend to run for their fellow

students, as well as promoting

their cause in local primary

schools.

Mr Cohen

Links with

Borehamwood Library

The Librarians at Borehamwood

Library frequently welcome Yavneh

College pupils, who they find to be ‘enthusiastic and

polite’. A number of pupils have successfully worked

at the Library as part of their Yoni Jesner volunteer

award or for their Duke of Edinburgh community

service.

Several of our Sixth Form have been given work

experience at the Library and others were volunteers

at the ‘Summer Reading challenge’. It was notable

that many of the volunteers had benefitted from the

‘Reading Challenge’ when they were younger and

now wanted to ‘give back’ to the community.

The majority of Year 7 classes visited last term as part

of their ‘Information Literacy’ course and were able

to investigate the online resources and explore the

facilities available.

A group of Year 8 and Year 9 pupils enjoyed an

inspirational talk from Joe Craig, author of the

popular thriller series ‘Jimmy Coates’ and another

group of Year 7 and Year 8 pupils participated in a

creative writing workshop with ‘fantasy’ fiction

author Philip Womack. Both events were also

attended by pupils from Hertswood Academy.

We are very grateful to Borehamwood Library for

continuing to provide these enriching opportunities

to our pupils.

Mrs Kaiser

Pupils meeting author Joe

Craig

Pupils enjoy a creative writing

workshop with Philip Womack

Studio Y

Yavneh pupils are now able to rehearse and record their own music in a state of the art music studio,

thanks to the incredibly generous donation of the Family of Jonny Arnold z’l. The music department now

boasts a new drum kit, specialist microphones and recording programmes, new amps and other fantastic

new facilities. The studio was opened with performances from some of our own very talented performers

and surely will see many more to come in the future.

Ms Saunders

The Yoni Jesner Award

The Yoni Jesner Award was launched

to all Year 8 pupils in October. Pupils

have been invited to undertake the

challenge to complete 20 hours of

volunteering in memory of Yoni Jes-

ner, a 19 year old boy who was killed

in a terror attack in Israel in 2002. The

time Yoni Jesner gave to a variety of

projects demonstrated his commit-

ment to and love for the Jewish com-

munity. He represented all that is

great about the community and do-

ing good. Volunteering is a great

way to express these attributes and

uphold his legacy. Pupils have taken

on a wide range of volunteering ac-

tivities both in and out of school, in-

cluding Yad Yavneh - baking food

for GIFT, helping young children and

volunteering in the healthcare indus-

try. Pupils have a lot of fun taking

part in the Yoni Jesner Award whilst.

At the same time, learning the value

of giving to others.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award

The concept of the DofE is simple – anyone aged between 14

and 24 can do a programme at one of three progressive levels

which, when successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or

Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Here at Yavneh College we

offer Bronze, Silver and Gold DofE programmes. There are four

sections at Bronze and Silver level and five at Gold.

With assistance from adult leaders, participants select and set

objectives in each of the following areas:

Volunteering: undertaking service to individuals or the com-

munity.

Physical: improving in an area of sport, dance or fitness ac-

tivities.

Skills: developing practical and social skills and personal in-

terests.

Expedition: planning, training for and completion of an ad-

venturous journey in the UK or abroad. At Gold level, participants must do an additional fifth Residen-

tial section, which involves staying and working away from

home doing a shared activity.

Each section must be done for a minimum period of time. It

must be monitored and then assessed by someone with

knowledge of that particular activity to achieve an Award.

Each progressive level demands more time and commitment

from participants.

We at Yavneh College are proud of the hundreds of pupils who

have and continue to participate in this scheme.

Years 8 & 9 Pupil Volunteering Roles

De

mo

cra

cy

- w

e e

nc

ou

rag

e p

up

ils

to e

ng

ag

e p

osi

tiv

ely

with

a life

of

de

mo

cra

cy

th

rou

gh

:-

Str

on

g c

om

mitm

en

t to

‘st

ud

en

t vo

ice

’ th

rou

gh

ou

t th

e s

ch

oo

l.

PSH

E/C

urr

en

t A

ffa

irs

– Y

r 9 p

up

ils

co

mp

lete

on

e s

ess

ion

pe

r w

ee

k fo

cu

sse

d o

n r

e-

sea

rch

ing

ab

ou

t ‘W

orl

d R

elig

ion

s’

Cu

rre

nt

Affa

irs

– a

ll y

ea

rs -

Ye

ar

12 p

olitic

s st

ud

en

ts u

pd

ate

th

is n

otic

eb

oa

rd o

n a

re

gu

-

lar

ba

sis

to c

ov

er

cu

rre

nt

aff

air

s.

Ya

vn

eh

Co

lle

ge

Ele

ctio

ns

- Th

is w

as

run

in

ta

nd

em

with

th

e G

en

era

l Ele

ctio

n o

f 2

01

5.

Ea

ch

Ya

vn

eh

Ho

use

(five

) a

cte

d a

s a

co

nst

itu

en

cy

. Th

e t

hre

e m

ain

po

litic

al p

art

ies

we

re r

ep

rese

nte

d b

y S

ixth

Fo

rm s

tud

en

ts.

All y

ea

r g

rou

ps

we

re in

vo

lve

d.

Stu

de

nt

Su

rve

ys

Lea

rnin

g A

mb

ass

ad

ors

His

tory

- I

n t

his

un

it s

tud

en

ts e

xp

lore

th

e c

ha

ng

ing

att

itu

de

s o

f th

e p

ub

lic

an

d g

ov

ern

-

me

nt

tow

ard

s im

mig

ratio

n,

the

“p

erm

issi

ve

so

cie

ty” o

f th

e 1

96

0’s

as

we

ll a

s c

ha

ng

ing

att

itu

de

s to

wa

rds

ho

mo

sexu

ality

, a

bo

rtio

n a

nd

wo

me

n.

His

tory

– K

ey

fe

atu

res

an

d c

on

seq

ue

nc

es

of

Wo

rld

Wa

r 1

His

tory

– T

rip

all y

ea

r 8 p

up

ils w

ill b

e o

ffe

red

th

e o

pp

ort

un

ity

to

att

en

d t

he

Yp

res

ba

ttle

-

fie

ld

Ru

le o

f La

w -

Pu

pils

are

ta

ug

ht

the

va

lue

of

the

im

po

rta

nc

e o

f

Law

s, w

he

the

r th

ey

be

th

ose

th

at

go

ve

rn t

he

cla

ss,

the

sc

ho

ol, o

r th

e c

ou

n-

try

, a

re c

on

sist

en

tly

re

info

rce

d t

hro

ug

ho

ut

reg

ula

r sc

ho

ol d

ay

s, a

s w

ell a

s

wh

en

de

alin

g w

ith

be

ha

vio

ur

an

d t

hro

ug

h s

ch

oo

l a

sse

mb

lie

s. P

up

ils

are

tau

gh

t th

e v

alu

e a

nd

re

aso

ns

be

hin

d la

ws,

th

at

the

y g

ove

rn a

nd

pro

tec

t u

s,

the

re

spo

nsi

bilitie

s th

at

this

in

vo

lve

s a

nd

th

e c

on

seq

ue

nc

es

wh

en

la

ws

are

bro

ke

n.

‘Ma

gis

tra

tes

in t

he

Co

mm

un

ity

’ a

sse

mb

ly-

Aim

s o

f th

is a

sse

mb

ly a

re f

or

pu

pils

to u

nd

ers

tan

d t

he

ro

le o

f m

ag

istr

ate

s’ c

ou

rts

an

d u

nd

ers

tan

d t

he

imp

ac

t o

f c

rim

e.

His

tory

– C

rim

e a

nd

Pu

nis

hm

en

t -

In t

his

un

it p

up

ils

exp

lore

th

e c

ha

ng

ing

na

ture

of

crim

e,

pu

nis

hm

en

t a

nd

la

w e

nfo

rce

me

nt

fro

m R

om

an

Brita

in t

o

the

pre

sen

t d

ay

. Fo

r e

xa

mp

le,

pu

pils

stu

dy

th

e d

eve

lop

me

nt

of

the

priso

n

syst

em

an

d t

he

po

lic

e f

orc

e a

s w

ell a

s th

e f

ac

tors

wh

ich

ha

ve

in

flu

en

ce

d

ch

an

gin

g s

oc

ial a

ttitu

de

s to

crim

ina

l a

ctivity

an

d p

un

ish

me

nt

in B

rita

in.

Tole

ran

ce

of th

ose

of

diffe

ren

t Fa

ith

s a

nd

Be

lie

fs -

We

en

co

ura

ge

pu

pils

to s

ho

w a

n in

tere

st in

in

ve

stig

atin

g a

nd

offe

rin

g r

ea

son

ed

vie

ws

ab

ou

t

mo

ral a

nd

eth

ica

l is

sue

s, a

nd

ap

pre

cia

te t

he

vie

wp

oin

ts o

f o

the

rs t

hro

ug

h e

xtr

a-c

urr

icu

lar

ac

tiv

itie

s:-

M

itzv

ah

We

ek

- H

an

ds

on

ac

tivitie

s w

hic

h p

rovid

e n

on

-fin

an

cia

l su

pp

ort

fo

r o

ur

3 s

ch

oo

l

ch

ari

tie

s.

A

m E

ch

ad

Ch

arity

- C

ha

rity

eve

nts

ru

n b

y p

up

ils

for

pu

pils

to

ra

ise

mo

ne

y fo

r o

ur

3

sch

oo

l c

ha

ritie

s.

Ea

ch

ye

ar

the

pu

pils

vo

te f

or

on

e U

K J

ew

ish

ch

ari

ty, o

ne

UK

no

n-

Je

wis

h c

ha

rity

an

d o

ne

Isr

ae

li c

ha

rity

.

T

he

Ala

n S

en

itt

Co

mm

un

ity

Le

ad

ers

hip

Pro

gra

mm

e -

brin

gs

tog

eth

er

Ye

ar

10

pu

pils

fro

m

4 d

iffe

ren

t sc

ho

ols

, G

uru

Na

na

k S

ikh

Ac

ad

em

y,

Ya

vn

eh

Co

lle

ge

an

d W

atf

ord

Gra

mm

ar,

to g

ain

sk

ills

to

en

ab

le t

he

m t

o m

ak

e a

diffe

ren

ce

with

in t

he

ir lo

ca

l c

om

mu

nity

. Th

e

pro

gra

mm

e is

run

by

Str

ee

twis

e.

L

ea

rnin

g A

mb

ass

ad

ors

Pro

gra

mm

e –

14 o

f th

e Y

av

ne

h L

ea

rnin

g A

mb

ass

ad

ors

we

re

pa

ire

d u

p w

ith

14

pu

pils

fro

m S

TAG

S f

or

the

da

y a

t Y

C.

YC

Am

ba

ssa

do

rs t

he

n m

ad

e a

trip

to

STA

GS s

ch

oo

l a

nd

pa

ire

d u

p w

ith

th

eir

am

ba

ssa

do

rs f

or

the

da

y.

Ind

ivid

ua

l Li

be

rty

P

up

ils

are

ac

tive

ly e

nc

ou

rag

ed

to

ma

ke

in

form

ed

ch

oic

es,

kn

ow

ing

th

at

the

y a

re in

a s

afe

an

d s

up

po

rtiv

e e

nviro

nm

en

t.

T

he

sc

ho

ol h

as

an

in

clu

sive

ph

ilo

sop

hy

in

wh

ich

to

lera

nc

e a

nd

ac

-

ce

pta

nc

e a

re k

ey

.

P

up

ils

are

en

co

ura

ge

d t

o k

no

w,

un

de

rsta

nd

an

d e

xe

rcis

e t

he

ir r

igh

ts a

nd

pe

rso

na

l fr

ee

do

ms

in a

re

spo

nsi

ble

wa

y t

hro

ug

h e

-sa

fety

an

d P

SH

E le

s-

son

s a

nd

ass

em

blie

s.

P

art

icip

atio

n in

extr

a-c

urr

icu

lar

clu

bs

an

d o

pp

ort

un

itie

s fo

r a

ll p

up

ils

in

suc

h t

hin

gs

as

spo

rt,

mu

sic

, D

ofE

Aw

ard

en

ab

lin

g p

up

ils

to d

eve

lop

th

eir

self-k

no

wle

dg

e,

self-e

ste

em

an

d c

on

fid

en

ce

.