SEPHARDI HEAD’S FREE-SCHOOL ROLE

SUPPORTERS OF a proposed new Jewish secondary school for London say they are “thrilled” Rabbi Joseph Dweck, senior rabbi of the S& P Sephardi Community, has agreed to be its religious authority.

The New Jewish High School team say they intend to submit their bid as soon as the government announces the date for the next round of applications for free schools this year.

Rabbi Dweck, who headed a Jewish school in New York before he took up his post in the UK three years ago, said the NJHS would “provide a robust Jewish education within a modern and relevant framework”.

Jewish education had been his “pas- sion and profession for over 20 years”, he said, and he looked forward to “helping raise the quality and level of Jewish education in England”.

The NJHS team told supporters that “since moving to London in 2014, Rabbi Dweck has become one of the Jewish community’s most sought-after speakers and educators”.

He will help shape the Modern Orthodox ethos of the school.

The NJHS team say they represent “a cross-section of the Jewish community and are committed to ensuring that the school is inclusive to all parts of the Jewish community,

Rabbi Joseph Dweck regardless of levels of observance or denomination, as well as to the wider community.”

The NJHS project was formed from the merger of the groups previously behind the separate Barkai and Kavanah College free-school bids, which were turned down by the Department for Education in December. They are now hopeful that a unified proposal will fare better. Kavanah had been backed by the United Synagogue and the Chief Rabbi.

The Chief Rabbi, however, now prefers the expansion of existing Jewish schools to cater for rising demand rather than the creation of a new school.