Jewish education has been at the heart of JFS since its founding in 1732. Originally established as a place where orphaned Jewish children could receive a Jewish education, JFS is now the largest Jewish school in Europe, with some two thousand students. Jewish practices and values have always been a mainstay of school life. As well as a broad and balanced general education, we aim for students to leave JFS with a good understanding of their faith and deep pride in their Jewish heritage and connection to Israel.
We want our students to appreciate that Judaism is a living, breathing and vibrant faith that speaks to them. In this constantly changing and complex 21st century world, we want Judaism to be their anchor: enabling them to forge an unbreakable bond with their tradition, inspiring them to live meaningful and joyous lives as active members of the Jewish community, and empowering them to build a strong Jewish future. Today, JFS remains a pioneer in Jewish education and a vitally important institution for Jewish life in Britain. To advance this mission, we are now seeking to appoint an innovative and passionate Jewish Studies teacher to provide a dynamic Jewish experience to our students.
For context, JFS has been named the 2023 Top-Performing state school of the year in the ‘Sunday Times’ Parent Power list as well as achieving a Progress 8 score of +1.20 placing it in the top 30 secondary schools nationally. As a voluntary-aided school of over 2,000 students including a thriving Sixth Form of over 500 students, we are incredibly proud of these results but recognise that there is so much more to a school than academic success alone.
Given that the school was in Special Measures two years ago, there has been a rapid turnaround and improvement in all areas but we are never blind to all the things that still require our focus. Our wish is to build a truly exceptional school and enthusiastic, caring and talented staff are the cornerstone of that aim. Nothing is more important to us that the people we work with. By way of support for anyone who joins us, you will be joining an outstanding faculty led by our co-Directors of Jewish Life and Learning, Mrs Abi Keene and Rabbi Danny Baigel. Beyond that however, the school does everything it can to minimise distractions and staff are never expected to run detentions, meetings are kept to a minimum and duties are extremely limited. Our aim is always to allow people to focus on the core aspects of their role. Classes are calm and purposeful and our students are eager to succeed. Alongside strong lessons, our students also receive high-quality pastoral care across the board. We have a team of 17 full-time professionals coordinating our provision and, at a time when external services are so hard to access, we are proud of the support we are able to give in school. JFS is a school where relationships matter, where warmth and laughter are possible because boundaries are clear and where our teachers hold higher expectations for our students than they might hold for themselves.
