Thursday 24 December 2009

Jaffa Parade

Colourful, joyful and bringing everyone together. This is how to describe the annual Christmas parade along Yeffet street in Jaffa. Many of our pupils could be seen wearing various costumes from angels to Santas. Joined by what must have been thousands of Jaffa residents, the scout group bands of Jaffa marched to well-know Christmas favourites like Jingle Bells and Gloria in excelsis deo. A very fitting and special way to start the Christmas festivities!


Christmas Holidays!

After a long and busy term, we are finally enjoying a bit of a break until 11th January 2010.
The term ended with the usual Christmas productions by the primary school, high school disco and high school Christmas assembly. Special thanks to the primary staff for all their input and efforts in making the productions successful and very entertaining. There was great participation from all the children! Even the many parents enjoyed it.
In the weeks leading up to the end of term the Tabeetha primary school (Reception-Grade 5) visited Kibbutz Nir Eliahu for a 'food experience' on Wednesday 9 December.
Throughout the day the children made their own orange juice, cheese, butter and pita. The children held baby chicks, patted various farm animals, ground wheat, and played a seed and tree products identification game during which, among other things, they learned where cane sugar and chocolate come from. At the end of the day the children ate the food that they had made along with fresh vegetables provided by the Kibbutz. Fun was had by all.


Wednesday 16 December 2009

Holiday bug has bitten!

The holiday season is fully upon us! Celebrations are heating up and decorations are filling what once was empty space. The main school hall has been transformed into what looks like Santa's workshop! The walls in the upstairs primary hall are filled with Christmas-themed artwork from our primary classes.
We even had a visit from one of our Reception parents who came into school with materials for making spinning tops and all kinds of other goodies for celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hannukah. The children (and teachers) were even treated to freshly baked jam-filled doughnuts; a special treat during this holiday time. The children were taught about the holiday of Hannukah and its importance and lit candles together.
Our MICC pupils will be arriving back from Poland at 1am tonight, so we are looking forward to posting their experiences as soon as possible.

We also have our High School Christmas Disco tomorrow night - a highlight of the Student Council's social calendar, as well as the primary Christmas play tomorrow and the high school Carol service on Friday, packed full of music, singing and readings from the Bible of the Christmas story, and of course plenty of Christmas Carols!

Tuesday 8 December 2009

Getting ready for MICC

As mentioned in one of our previous postings, we are getting ready to attend the Model International Criminal Court in Poland from Friday 11th December until next week Wednesday 16th December. Twelve of our pupils from grades 10, 11 and 12, as well as one of our teachers, will be flying out in the early hours of Friday morning from Ben Gurion Airport, here in Tel Aviv, and will make their way to Krzyzowa, Poland.

Yesterday, we were interviewed by a reporter from the Jerusalem Post, one of Israel's leading English newspapers. The story, which appeared on page 5 of today's print edition will soon be uploaded. We have also had an interview by a local Arabic newspaper as well as interest been expressed by a Jaffa member of parliament! This is truly an honour to be part of something so amazing!

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Cricket comes to Tabeetha!


Yes, believe it or not, the game of gentlemen has come to our little school in Jaffa.


We had a visit by a representative of the Israel Cricket Association who introduced the game to our grade 3 to 10 classes, many of whom have never heard of cricket.


The idea is to increase awareness of cricket amongst the youth of Israel. Already there are teams of Israelis and Palestinians playing together through the Peres Center for Peace . We are also hoping this will gain momentum in Tabeetha and we will have a team or two playing against other teams in the region.