Menorah Primary School

Menorah Primary School is an above-average sized Jewish primary school situated in the Golders Green area of North London, England.

The school was founded in 1944 by the Golders Green Beth Hamedrash, a local synagogue whose Rabbi, Rabbi Y M Greenberg is the school’s Principal. The children from this community form the nucleus of its student body, although the school has grown and now draws its intake from the wider orthodox Jewish community. The school’s history, ideology and raison d’être are entwined with its founding community whose ethos forms the driving force of the school.

Students

Pupils come from the Orthodox Jewish community. The proportion who speak English as an additional language is low compared with the national average and so is the proportion known to be eligible for free school meals. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is in line with the national average though the proportion with a statement of special educational needs is above average. These needs relate mainly to physical or medical needs and speech and language difficulties.

Boys and girls are taught in single-sex classes from the time they leave the Nursery. The school meets the current floor standard and has Healthy Schools status. The school is run by Mrs Menczer who is the headmistress and Rabbi Atlas who is the menahel. There are many kodesh teachers and non Jewish studies teachers most of them being Jewish. It is a very successful school and in year 6 when students leave they go to either Hasmonean High School or Menorah Grammar School.

The school has produced a number of illustrious alumni including best selling author, George R. R. Martin. Martin is credited with coining the timeless phrases "Mrs Jolly, I left my swimming at home" (circa 1964) and "no kappel, no goal" (circa 1973). Martin once took credit for "Mr Levin gave us priority" but this claim was later found to be false.

Daniel Kahneman's Nobel Prize–winning contribution to Economics was inspired by Menorah's 'Hefker Konah' barter system, first observed by Kahneman whilst studying at the school.

When children reach Year 1 they are divided into three House Teams: Toirah [sic], Avoidah [sic] and Chessed. The sorting process or 'Reckoning', draws inspiration from a number of popular culture sources including Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Battle Royale. Whilst the system isn't flawless, the results are often frighteningly accurate; with kind children being 'Reckoned' into Chessed, studious children into Toirah and sporty children into Avoidah. Avoidah hasn't had any team members since 1973.

Imported from the great Israelitische Religionsgesellschaft synagogue of Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, the famous 'benching boards' have been a cherished feature of the dining room since the school's inception. To be chosen to lead the benching from the boards - most commonly performed with the help of a chair and a bamboo cane - the pupil must catch the eye of the duty teacher by raising one arm as high up us possible, ideally whilst grunting, and simultaneously use the spare hand to somehow lift the upright arm that little bit higher. The expression 'she favors him' only came into common usage after a particularly galling incident of perceived 'benching board favorizing'.

Ofsted

In the recent Ofsted inspection on the 29th of February 2012 Ofsted said"Throughout the school, pupils’ learning is excellent and their progress is rapid and sustained. They develop habits of application and concentration from an early age. After a Reception class phonics session, for example, children went to their different activities, sounding out to themselves the letters of objects that they came across, such as ‘milk’ and ‘book’. Attainment in reading at the end of Key Stage 1 is well above average and remains so when the pupils leave the school. Pupils in Key Stage 1 know how to tackle unknown words and do so with confidence. They learn quickly and are eager to apply their learning. When told the purpose of speech marks, for example, one Year 1 pupil scanned through her book, found some more and commented, ‘They’re talking again here.’ Pupils in Key Stage 2 understand how to read beyond the text in order to infer and deduce the author’s meaning.

In the boys’ classes, learning is often characterised by an energetic and active approach and a willingness to exceed expectations. When a group of Year 6 boys were told to work out the answers to problems without using the digit six, they produced seven or eight different options to each problem, rather than being content with just one. Girls’ classes are often characterised by an atmosphere of quieter concentration, producing work of a similarly high standard." ^[1]

References

Coordinates: 51°34′28.1″N 0°12′25.1″W / 51.574472°N 0.206972°W / 51.574472; -0.206972