We have started our holidays now and return to school on Monday, 12th April. The term ended with a breakfast for our primary pupils and our Easter assemblies for primary and secondary. The secondary assembly was addressed by Rev George Shand from St. Andrews Church of Scotland in Jerusalem and Rev Samuel Fanous, our chaplain from Ramle. Rev Fanous spoke of the link between Easter and Passover - that of freedom and the greatness of God to deliver His people. We wish all our Christian families and friends a happy Easter and to our Jewish families and friends happy Passover. Let us remember what God has done for us.
Spring is in the air, and of course that means that there is a lot happening in and around the school. It has been a busy week, with preparations for the annual Spring Fair which was held on Friday, 19 March. A great day was enjoyed by all, with many friends and family visiting the school and taking part in the many activities organized by staff and pupils. We had stalls from face painting to Play Station football and everything in between.
On Monday the grade 10 class made and sold pancakes to raise funds to cover their expenses for their Spring Fair activity.
We had a visitor from the Israel Antiquities Authority come and speak to our grade 6 and 7 classes in preparation for an archaeological dig which will be taking place next term, after the Easter/Passover holiday.
We break up for the holidays on Friday and return on Monday 12 April.
Our grade 5 pupils walked to the Arab-Jewish Community Center here in Jaffa and met up with pupils from Ramat Ha'hayal school. They enjoyed a morning of getting to know each other through games, music and movement.
By the end of the morning children were swapping email addresses and Facebook details!
Our MICC pupils were given an opportunity to report in greater detail concerning their trip to Poland for the Model International Criminal Court at an assembly recently. We heard how they had to act as judges and prosecuting attorneys in actual past cases.
From one of the pupils: "Firstly, we’d like to say that our trip to Poland and the participation in the MICC program was an amazing learning experience for us. We spent five days in a simulated court of justice, making decisions regarding human rights issues. While the judges, defense lawyers and prosecutors tried to achieve verdicts relating to genocide and war crimes, the press team was busy reporting on what was happening in the court room and what was the content of the arguments taking place."
And from another:
"As you all have probably heard, in December we went to Poland to participate in the MICC, the Model International Criminal Court. This year the countries who go to participate were Germany, Poland, Israel and Palestine. The MICC is a program which its aim is to raise our awareness on human rights. We all had a role in a case; we were prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and reporters. There were 3 cases: Erdemovic, Martinovic and Rwanda."
At the assembly, we were treated to a video which really brought the experience home for the rest of us.
Our grade 5 and 6 classes are beginning a partnership program with Ramat Ha'hayal school, northeast of Tel Aviv. It is a municipal primary school of 444 boys and girls. We will be meeting together, once a month over the next three months. Each meeting will consist of three sessions during which pupils will take part in sports, music and games.
Grade 6 had their first meeting today which was very successful. The children bonded and participated well in all events. Grade 5 is due to have their first meeting tomorrow.
Our middle school boys and girls soccer teams played a match yesterday at the American International School as part of the Peace League. These teams were also joined by the high school boy's basketball team.
Despite the adverse weather conditions the soccer teams took to the field. The boys drew one match, lost the second match and won the third. The girls won two of their first matches, drew the third match and lost the fourth. They are placed second in their division and the boys are placed fourth.
The high school boys basketball had two very good games. The first game, against AIS saw our team make a great come-back in the final quarter, and from a score of AIS 21 - TAB 14, they managed to catch up to end with a final score of AIS 35 - TAB 31.
We have started our holidays now and return to school on Monday, 12th April. The term ended with a breakfast for our primary pupils and our Easter assemblies for primary and secondary. The secondary assembly was addressed by Rev George Shand from St. Andrews Church of Scotland in Jerusalem and Rev Samuel Fanous, our chaplain from Ramle. Rev Fanous spoke of the link between Easter and Passover - that of freedom and the greatness of God to deliver His people. We wish all our Christian families and friends a happy Easter and to our Jewish families and friends happy Passover. Let us remember what God has done for us.
