The Sacks Morasha Ethos

The Sacks Morasha Ethos is made up of 6 broad pillars, and the second pillar – Valuing Every Child – is where our SMART values sit. We hope that this Ethos statement helps parents understand our core principles and vision for the school, and that the SMART values translate this for our children.

• 1. תורה וחכמה | Torah ve’chochma – we encourage a Judaism engaged with the wider world, combining our Torah mesorah (tradition) with secular wisdom and engagement with British society.
• 2. Valuing every child – we want our children to be confident and happy, combining self-belief with self-awareness.
• 3. We expect all our children to achieve their potential. We seek to facilitate children of all abilities to achieve their potential and to inspire our children with a love of learning, and become independent lifelong learners.
• 4. Creating community both inside the school and beyond the school gate. We have strong links with the local community. We play our part in the wider Jewish community and British society as a whole.
• 5. Aiming for equality of opportunity – we promote equal opportunities for both boys and girls in Chol and Kodesh.
• 6. We are an accepting modern orthodox Jewish community school which values observing Shabbat, kashrut (keeping kosher), the centrality of Israel within religious Jewish life, and the importance of Hebrew as both a biblical and a living language. We are warm and welcoming to all our families in the school.

Learn more about our Ethos

1. Torah ve’chochma

• Our school curriculum promotes integration combining Kodesh and Chol wherever possible and appropriate.
• Children learn about current events – local, national, international.
• We teach an understanding of and respect for other traditions, faith, lifestyles and beliefs. We teach Torah (written and oral law) as the basis and source of Halacha.
• We equip our children with the tools and skills so that they leave at age 11 Jewishly literate and able to access and engage with Jewish texts.

2. Valuing every child

• Our assessment process combines class teacher and school leader insight to ensure that each child progresses from whatever their starting points.
• Promoting mutual respect among our children.
• We support each child to make maximum progress and attainment from whatever their starting points, ensuring their needs are carefully catered for.
• We teach our children how to keep themselves safe and secure.
• Our SMART values permeate all parts of school life and help us create a community of happy and confident children, striving to do their best in an encouraging atmosphere, who are proud to be British Jews, committed to Torah Umitzvot.

3. Achieving potential

• We facilitate children of all abilities to achieve their potential in all areas.
• We monitor our children’s development and encourage their progress.
• We encourage children’s academic, physical, emotional and spiritual development.
• We provide an outstanding, rich and meaningful curriculum focused on developing practical skills for life and academic knowledge.
• We seek to inspire our children with a love of learning, creating independent lifelong learners.
• We equip children with contemporary skills such as digital literacy, critical thinking and problem solving.

4. Creating community

• We partner with our parent community, encouraging a sense of social responsibility so that we can lead by example, to pass our values onto our children.
• We are engaged with our local community, as well as the wider Jewish community.
• We teach the children to understand and respect British values, and how they reflect our Jewish values.
• We also enable our children to understand the multicultural society in which we live and to be tolerant and respectful of those of all faiths and none, and of those whose lifestyles may be different from those to which our children are accustomed.

5. Aiming for equality of opportunity

• We aim for equality of opportunity for boys and girls across the whole curriculum, both Chol and Kodesh.
• We aim for equality of opportunity for girls and boys across all aspects of school life.
• We support pupils of all ability and ensure they have equal access to the curriculum.
• We aim to prepare all pupils to thrive and succeed in their next phase of education.

6. An accepting modern Orthodox Jewish community

• The school promotes observance of Shabbat and kashrut by all families within the school community.
• We provide and promote an environment in which families are made to feel welcome and supported.
• We promote the centrality of Israel within Judaism and its traditions, and Jewish history and culture, including Hebrew as both a biblical and a living language.

This ethos is set in the context of Sacks Morasha being a modern orthodox school under the auspices of the Office of the Chief Rabbi.  Thus, it reflects orthodox Jewish belief and practice, embodied in the principles of Torah and Halachah, in a modern setting. These include encouraging and preparing for lifelong Jewish learning, spiritual growth and practice, mutual responsibility within the Jewish community and the wider world, and the importance of Israel in Jewish life. Jewish belief and practice are intended to permeate every aspect of Sacks Morasha’s activities.