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FANCY THAT!
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Who won our Purim costume competition?
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GOOD LOOKING BRITAIN’S BIGGEST JEWISH NEWSPAPER 16 March 2017
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18 Adar 5777
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www.jewishnews.co.uk
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@JewishNewsUK
Photo by Blake Ezra Photography
Will they wave goodbye after Brexit?
With care staff from 71 countries, Britain’s EU exit poses a serious challenge to one of our biggest charities. Page 12
Schools announce expansion plans to meet rising demand Relief for parents as JFS and JCoSS offer additional 90 places a year There was good news this week for parents concerned about the shortage of Jewish secondary school places as both JFS and JCoSS announced permanent capacity expansions to cater for the increased demand. The Kenton and New Barnet campuses will offer a combined additional 90 places from September 2018 entry onwards – 60 at JFS and 30 at JCoSS, providing the funding can be agreed. In a joint statement, JFS executive headteacher Deborah Lipkin and JCoSS headteacher
Patrick Moriarty said: “We know there is a great deal of uncertainty and many anxious families among our community. From the research that has been carried out by JPR and others, it is likely that approximately 90 additional school places are needed from 2018 for children who wish to attend a Jewish school. “We believe that our proposed expansion strategy would solve this under-capacity and would have a positive impact on the long term sustainability of Jewish schools.”
Rabbi David Meyer, executive director of Partnerships For Jewish Schools, said: “We warmly welcome the announcement from JCoSS and JFS, which will help ensure sufficient secondary school places for the coming year. “This decision is a result of the close collaboration we have facilitated between all the secondary schools and was informed by the JPR research we commissioned. We will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure there is adequate secondary school provision for the community.”
Hasmonean recently announced building plans which will see boys and girls study on the same site after the school got planning permission to merge its premises from Barnet Council. This also includes capacity for additional places. News of JFS and JCoSS’s expansion comes as a new report claims this year has seen the largest number of unmet applications for Jewish children wanting to study at a Jewish school in northwest London or south Hertfordshire. Continued on page 4