How to raise a happy, healthy primary school

SACKS MORASHA has just begun its 12th academic year. It has grown from a handful of reception pupils in 2009, into a wellestablished singleform primary school. In hindsight, setting up was the easy part. A group of interested parents and supporters decided to set up Sacks Morasha in 2008, as they felt there was a need for a Modern Orthodox Jewish school for the Finchley community. Sacks Morasha was one of the last schools to gain voluntary aided status and since then, at least four Jewish schools (Free Schools) have opened, in different areas.

The challenges were endless: the need to establish oneself among existing schools; to create an identity and ethos true to how the school was set up; to work with other organisations to put the school firmly on the Jewish educational map and, probably most importantly, to ensure the children were given maximum educational Sacks Morasha: entering confidently into its 12th academic year

opportunities, secular and Jewish, and were equipped to move on to secondary schools and hold their own with others in the state and private sector.

Demands on all schools have grown: cuts to funding; falling birth rates leading to schools competing for pupils; Ofsted’s requirements; addressing the need to support children’s and staff’s mental health and wellbeing... Sacks Morasha has established a pastoral health and wellbeing champion and runs clubs for children at lunchtime, among other initiatives. A staff-led

happiness committee and a wellbeing room for staff, parents and pupils demonstrate that Sacks Morasha cares about everyone in its community.

New and established schools continue to be part of the landscape of British Jewry. Such schools are staffed by amazing professionals and supported by parents and governors. It is hoped that all these schools will continue to be as successful in years to come.

Hayley Gross is headteacher of Sacks Morasha JPS Everyday Parenting for Everyday Parents