SMART
By Jasmine Besser and Erin Wikler, Year 6
This week’s pupil blog focuses on SMART and has been written by Jasmine Besser and Erin Wikler, Year 6:
Jasmine: What SMART means to me is being a good friend and always making sure everyone around me is happy.
Erin: What SMART means to me is always keeping a smile on my face, working hard and enjoying Morasha.
S – stands for smicha. You should always have a smile on your face and make everyone around you cheerful. You should always use it in your daily life, especially in your classes.
M – middot means to have always have good behaviour in school and out, treat people how you want to be treated! Always help out when you can.
A – Achdut means team work and helping people out. Being part of a welcoming community is truly outstanding. You can always make new friends and meet new people.
R – Ruach means always giving things your all and trying hard in everything you do. Always put a lot of effort and enthusiasm in your work.
T – Torah is our guide book that keeps us in control. It teaches us our history – Jewish laws and mitzvoth.
SMART is a system in our school, to make sure that everyone is happy and learning properly. We now have SMART of the week certificates that our teachers give out on Fridays. If you get this certificate your picture will be put up on the smartie’s wall by the office.
Presidential Elections
By Aron Toubian, Olivia Onona and Shani Levy, all from Year 6
Business tycoon Donald Trump controversially ran out as an emphatic winner beating fierce rival Hilary Clinton to secure a place in the White House as the President of the US. The election ran all night on Tuesday 8th November. Trump surprisingly (for most) beat Clinton, his fellow New Yorker, by a huge amount of 74 electoral votes to succeed Barak Obama for America’s top job. Making a big difference, Trump won over many key states including: Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania whilst New York and Wisconsin voted the other way.
In the opinion of many, Trump beat Hilary, unlikely for him, but said some questionable words along the way. This made the resident of Trump Tower the underdog going into the huge election to determine the 45th Leader of America. People may have supported by they might realist that (and will surely hope) Trump is the right man. Good Luck Donald Trump!
Moving to a school in-year
By Olivia Onona, Rachel Lewis and Maia Zion
At the beginning of year 5 we joined Morasha and even though we were all new, we felt warmly welcomed by the teachers and the children. We all previously had a very different experience and we are all very excited to tell you about are time at Morasha. We had all come from different schools: Rachel came from America; Olivia from Wolfson Hillel and Maia from Simon Marks.
On a positive note, we all fitted in very well as it was a very warm and nurturing environment and we quickly made lots of friends. Also another thing we like about Morasha is the SMART award system which is unique, as it is what Morasha made up and it challenges us every week to try and be the SMARTEE of the week. Also the academic and Jewish education is of a very high standard and supports and stretches people with different abilities. As well as that I think one of the great things about the education is how in year 6 we can choose our own level of work and we all really like this, as we sometimes feel stronger in subjects than others and his system allows us to challenge ourselves from a range of “mild”, “spicy” and “hot” options. In addition to that, we think the Shabbaton was an amazing experience and we hand the chance to bond with other people and make lots of friends.
At first we found it difficult to adjust to a very small school, but we soon overcame that as Morasha became like an extended family. However one of the hardest things to adjust to was the small size of the playground which still remains an issue but it has encouraged us to be creative and to think of our games and we hope for future pupils that it will expand. Also there could be more outdoor equipment such as table tennis tables, climbing apparatus, mini football area, basketball/netball area which would make the playground more fun and exciting. Apart from that we felt like there was lack of choice school lunches and we would find the lunch options more beneficial if there could be a sandwich section and anyone who wants packed lunches should get them.
One of our favourite things about Morasha are the iPads because they are fun and educational way of learning. Also all the teachers have been really encouraging, inspirational and motivating and they made sure we achieved a high level of work to achieve our potential. As well as that, all three of us agree that there could be more sport and competitive activities. An exciting new addition is the library which we enjoy using. In summary, we have all had an amazing and unforgettable year and we will extremely sad to leave Morasha!
Sports Personality of the Year 2016
By Aaron Toubian, Year 6
Main Award – Top 3
Andy Murray – Tennis – 29
The scot made history by winning a second Wimbledon title earlier this year and claiming a Gold Medal in Rio. Murray also became workd Number 1 for the first time ever after he clinched viroty in London at the ATP World Tour Finals. Last year’s winner Murray, finished runner up in France and Australia to add to his global success in 2016.
Laura Kenny – Cycling – 24
Formely Laura Trott, Kenny became the first British women to win four Olympic golds. Laura is also part of Britain’s Golden couple, marrying fellow cyclist Jason Kenny in Rio. Laura is also Britain’s Golden Girl.
Alistair Brownlee – Triathlon – 28
Brownlee became the first man to retain the Olympic triathlon title, finishing ahead of his brother Jonny. Alistair is the first triathlete to be nominated for the award and deservedly so. Alistair won two triathlon series in Leeds, his home city and Stockholm, Sweden.
What a great year for the British in Rio and all the other events they succeeded in!
Congratulations Team GB and all the other athletes in British sport!
Holocaust Memorial Day
By Avi Landsman and Ellie Marantz, both from Year 6
Friday 27th January was Holocaust memorial Day. At school on Monday, KS2 had a special assembly and Year 6 had a talk from Mrs Sacofsky’s dad. Holocaust Memorial Day is not just for the Holocaust, it’s also for any events that have happened in history similar to the Holocaust.
When Mrs Sacofsky’s dad came to talk to us about the Holocaust, he told us two stories. One about a little boy called Rov and one about himself. The first story is about Rov. He was a young boy and lived in Augsburg. He and his family lived around lots of non-Jews. They got on well together until one day all the Jews in the area got rounded up and were marched down the street and tricked into going into a camp where they stayed for a few days before they were killed. Rov’s mum gave a few pictures of Rov and his t-shirt to their next door neighbour and Mrs Sacofsky’s dad brought than in. His mum went after the war to the next door neighbour and got the pictures and t-shirt.
The second story was about Mrs Sacofsky’s dad. He told us about the night of broken glass (Kristallnacht) and that they got taken to a big hall for fifteen hours. He also told us that his mum was very lucky and got a visa so they travelled to England. England said that because there were Nazi’s among the Jewish Evacuees, they were going to send everyone to other places. His dad was sent to Australia and he and his mum were sent to the Isle of Man. When they came back to England his parents got jobs as servants and he stayed in their house.
We all enjoyed the talk and asked lots of questions.
Year 5 & 6 Football
By Aaron Toubian, Year 6
Year 5 & 6 of Sacks Morasha produced a lightening performance on Wednesday afternoon and played with great team spirit. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t enough to progress from the group stage. The Year 6 team began with a frustrating 1-3 defeat to Wolfson Hillel and the Year 5’s didn’t pass their first test against Moriah, who sadly beat the boys 2-0.
They knew that they had to step up their game to have any chance of progressing to the last 8. The high of the day came from the Year 6 boys, who lack confidence in game, who comfortably saw off Naima JPS in a 1-0 victory that should have been more.
This really upped the confidence and spirit in the Morasha camp. Despite that high, Year 5 failed to match the Year 6 win, conceding 5 goals in the space of 2 matches, whilst Year 6 were the victims, controversially, of a lost second wonder goal from a Sinai play who scrambles past Morasha 1-0.
However, over with Mrs Neiman’s Year 5’s, the boys won, deservedly, their first point of the day with a goal-less draw vs Beit Shvidler. Knowing they had to win their final 2 games, which they knew would be tough, Year 6 went into their clash with Independent optimistically but it wasn’t to be, although they came out with a heard earned 0-0 draw. Kerem were the next opponents of the Year 5 teams and insufficiently lost 2-0. Huge disappointment of this was the end of the road for Year 5. The boys put up a great fight but this simply wasn’t enough. After their first draw with Independent, this meant that Year 6 also couldn’t reach the Quarter Finals. Although they could still end the tournament on a high vs Menorah Foundation, but failed to do so with a second consecutive stalemate.
This rounded off an intense day of football for Sacks Morasha, with Year 6 just failing to progress and Year 5 followed in Mr Friedman’s footsteps. What an enjoyable day/event this was. Well done Morasha!