Primary Christmas Show

This was a great success!! The children really enjoyed themselves and looked so happy throughout the performance. Thank you to Mrs. Lazarous and Mrs. Hoffman and all the primary teachers for all their hard work. Well done everybody!!

You can see photos at the following link:

http://www.yomnet.net/ShowNews.php?id=11548&Cid=4

Christmas comes but once a year....

Once again, we are fully into the Christmas season at Tabeetha. There are preparations being made for the Primary Christmas Show taking place at the Peres Peace Center today, Christmas parties and a Winter Wonderland Fair after school on Thursday.

We are also preparing for a visit by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt. Rev. David Arnott. We are very excited about this and look forward to his visit on Tuesday, 20th December. Of course, photos will be posted of all these activities.

"Chocolate Experience"

The smell of chocolate and excited chattering filled the air of the classrooms of grade 3 and 4 as they tried their skills as chocolatiers today. We had representatives in the school teaching the children how to make various goodies from chocolate. The children co-operated beautifully and their creations were really amazing!

Poland trip

During the half term holiday, six students from our school- Nadia Tannous, Stacie Buckalew, David Strelnikov and Chakrit Thongek from grade 12 and Nayreen Fanous and Rana Abu Manneh from grade 11; along with the Art teacher Mrs. Linda Rosenthal participated in a human rights programme called Practice Peace that was held in Krzyzowa, Poland. They were joined by students from Beit Jala, Berlin and Wroclaw.

The programme was eight days long and took place during the 11^th to the 18^th of November. It focused on issues of human rights such as discrimination within societies and how each individual's identity is often misperceived by others due to stereotypes that exist.

At the core of the programme, was a simulation which was set in Northern Ireland and it dealt with the conflict between the Catholic s and Protestants who live there. Each student took on the role of either a local government member, an NGO or a member of the press. Cooperation was needed within every political party or group which was comprised of students from each of the four schools.

Three main topics had to be negotiated which were: reconciliation and inter-community relations, economy and education and lastly security.

All participants had to commit to their roles and fulfill their own agenda. However to do so, they soon realized that compromise was needed and they had to reprioritize their set of goals. In addition, the press team covered the negotiation process through six news shows in which they aimed at neutrality.

The entire group stayed at an estate in Krzyzowa which was formally the site of the German resistance movement against the Nazis. The Practice Peace group was taken on a tour in Wroclaw and they had a chance to eat at a local Polish restaurant. In addition, the Tabeetha students had a two hour guided tour of the historical sites in Berlin on the day of their arrival.

To sum it all up, it can be said that this was a once in a life time experience from which a lot was learned; self's perception of the other, how misjudging and discrimination happen on a daily basis without our awareness and how stereotypes often cause us to label people and relate them to certain groups without knowing enough about them to make that kind of judgment. As well as cooperating and communicating with people you've just met and knowing how to handle pressure in situations you are put in- are all just a few of the things that were learnt during this trip.

We are very grateful to have had such an experience- one that will stay with us forever I believe. We would like to thank Mr. Antony Short, our Principal and Mrs. Pam Gilboa our Assistant Principal for granting us all this wonderful opportunity.

By: Rana Abu Manneh, grade 11

Day of Tolerance

Last week was the International Day of Tolerance on Wednesday 16 November. Today we had a parade through the streets of Jaffa to celebrate. It was truly special to be a part of this event and have Tabeetha pupils represent the school. Jaffa is such a diverse and colourful community and the event really helped celebrate these differences and yet come together to make something so beautiful.

50 days

Today we celebrated the 50th day of school this year. There was a challenge put out to the senior primary classes at the beginning of the school year for each class to read a collective total of 50 books each. Our pupils have reached and even passed this goal! Grade 3 have read 85 books, grade 4 have read 76 books and grade 5 have read 88 books!

This week the primary enjoyed a day out at an olive farm. They learned about picking olives and the process of making olive oil. Grade 5 and 6 enjoyed a trip to Beit Guvrin National Park which has underground cities and caves. They spent some time exploring the caves as well as doing some archaeological digging. Pictures will be posted soon.

International Food Day

We enjoyed another successful International Food Day recently. We had plenty of amazing food from 37 countries, all brought by the Tabeetha Family. The weather was perfect to enjoy the afternoon together out in the playground.

Road Safety Lessons

We were visited by a representative from the Tel Aviv/Jaffa municipality who came for the day yesterday to teach the children from Kindergarten to Grade 6 about safety on the roads.

They played games and looked at different scenarios of what happens on the roads, from the point of view of being pedestrians and cyclists.

The lessons were very well presented and the children all had a good time and learned many important values.

First two weeks

We have been back at school for two full weeks now and everything is going very smoothly. Teachers and pupils are quickly falling into routine and new members of the Tabeetha Family are feeling settled.

We have already had a bomb shelter drill and we are preparing for an earthquake drill and fire drill to happen soon. Many events have already been planned. We had a group from Scotland visit us last week on Monday and we are expecting another group next Monday. We always enjoy these groups, as it is opportunity to share the good news of what is happening in our school. There are a few other visitors coming to the school soon. A counselor from the British Council is coming to talk to our grade 10, 11 and 12 pupils about studying in the UK. We have a special lecture/workshop about safety on the roads for our grade 12 pupils scheduled for Monday 19 September.

A very proud moment was shared by members of the Tabeetha Community yesterday evening when a street in Jaffa was named after a relative of some of our pupils. Ya'acoub George Hanania, who passed away in 2007, was leader of the Jaffa Orthodox Community for forty years and grandfather of some of our pupils has the honour of keeping his memory alive. The street naming ceremony was attended by many important Jaffa and Tel Aviv dignitaries, including Mayor Ron Huldai.

Back to School 2011-2012

With 327 boys and girls from over 30 countries waiting to converge on the school tomorrow, Thursday 1st of September, we are all very excited and eager to start a new school year.

Graduation speech from ex-Tabeethan.

It gives me great pleasure to post the transcript of the speech presented by Dr. Belinda Copitch at our 2011 Graduation ceremony. Dr. Copitch was a pupil at the school in the 70s.

Tabeetha

Tabeetha gave me a good solid educational grounding; it taught me to be a good citizen, gave me good values and ethics. It gave me a bunch of strong friendships all over the globe and across the religious and cultural divide. And, as a Jew, Tabeetha gave me the chance to make solid genuine friendships with Palestinians to whom I could talk and with whom I could debate politics and discuss serious issues and still remain friends even if we disagreed (although I actually think we rarely did). The school gave me an insight and empathy for other cultures.

Tabeetha changed my world. It really did. Hey, the school even gave me a sister-in-law.

I came to Israel from South Africa in 1973 at the age of 14. My parents were escaping the oppression of the apartheid regime. Talk about timing! Israel in 1973 was perhaps not the best place to be escaping to. As a Jew growing up in South Africa, I was led to foster warm fuzzy feelings of settling in the Jewish homeland but instead I turned up in the Middle East! Everything was different. Everything was strange. Everything was extremely difficult.. AND there was a war to contend with. I didn’t speak the language, didn’t understand the cultural nuances and would have killed to stand in line whilst waiting for a bus.

I spent a year in a local Israeli school, crossing out days in my hand-drawn calendars because I didn’t understand the lessons, writing long letters to my classmates back home. That summer, I determined to find myself an educational institute that would actually give me an education. There were several possibilities. I had heard of the Anglican school - but that was in Jerusalem so not practical, there was the American school but I was not keen on an American education. I even visited a school in Holon which offered a “Bagrut be Ivrit Kalla” – matriculation in simple Hebrew. What an anathema. An education that encouraged you to learn slowly!

When I came to Tabeetha I had found my family. In Tabeetha, I was no longer the outsider. We were all outsiders together. There were children of embassy staff, children of business people located in Israel for a few years, journalists’ children; there were local Christians, Muslims, Armenians and Jews - Youngsters of every shade and creed. We created our own society.

Third Culture Kid

Now I am looking out at a sea of faces that are not familiar to me. I know you - not personally perhaps but I know who you are. I know your thoughts and feelings. Your insecurities and your certainties. You feel like you fit in everywhere but nowhere, that you are an outsider yet on the inside of something very special. You feel like you have more in common with your schoolmates than other people from your passport country. You have empathy and understanding of other cultures and an innate flexibility. You are keenly adaptable, multilingual, and globally-minded. You are more mature than your local peers, have more adult relationships and you have probably learnt to be more independent, autonomous and self-reliant than others of your age. You value your friendships, knowing that they may be short-lived. You are more observant and less judgemental than most. Does that sound like you?

I know you because you are me. You are a TCK, a Third Culture Kid. You have assimilated parts of your passport culture or ethnic culture with parts of the local culture and come together in Tabeetha to create an amalgam of the two, a third culture, a synergy (something that is greater than the sum of its parts) of the best bits of all of your friends’ cultures, assembled to create this uniqueness. I was bowled over when I recently discovered this concept. Academics have been deliberating about ME. TCKs are in every walk of life and on every part of the globe. They permeate every part of society. The most famous TCK is Barack Obama; Binyamin Netanyahu is one too. You have been given a special asset. Use it wisely and take advantage of all that it has to offer.

Tabeetha is a very special school. I have attended many schools as a pupil … and even more since I became a teacher. However, it is only Tabeetha to which I hold a strong affinity.

Failure

Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you a failure. Don’t be fooled by the letters after my name. I left school and went to live in the UK with 6 poor O’ levels. I went on to take some more O’ levels in my twenties and then studied to become a dental hygienist. I did that for sixteen years whilst picking up the odd qualification here and there and eventually returned to university to gain a B.Sc., an M.Sc., a teaching qualification and finally a PhD. Tabeetha had given me the resilience and perseverance to knock disadvantage on the head and to regard every setback as an opportunity.

Don’t be scared of failing. The only people who don’t fail are those who never try.

Listen to the clichés. They are all true.

Go out there; make a difference – not necessarily to the world, to the country or to the school. Make a difference for yourself. Be the person that you want to be, not the person that the world needs. Fulfil your dreams by being true to yourself. Tabeetha will be proud of you for that.

History...

We have discovered some amazing pictures dating back to the early 1900s showing Jane Walker-Arnott and some of her students, as well as other staff members of the school. You can read more about the history of this incredible school on our website.

Summer Holidays 2011

Nothing too exciting happening around the school at the moment. Unlike last summer where we had so much to do as for as renovations go, we are painting the exterior of the school and doing some minor repair work. Already one side of the school has been completed and everything should be finished by the end of July.

Throughout this last term we have had pupils working on our Peace Wall. This is a wall that has mosaic and painted images of doves, as well as the word PEACE in seven different languages. It should be finished by December this year.

The end...

We have reached the end of another year.

Speeches have been delivered,

goodbyes have been said,

reports have been received,

tears have been shed,

and the last page of the year book has been closed.

We enjoyed a very special graduation ceremony where we celebrated the moving on of 23 graduates. On Thursday we had prize giving assembly for the secondary school where excellent pupils were honoured. There were also prizes for progress and special prizes for English, RE and History.

A link to a video and photos of the graduation can be seen here:

http://www.yomnet.net/ShowNews.php?id=6062&Cid=4

School's out until 1st September for summer holidays.

Interesting visitors

Our kindergarten class had two special visitors today: a 2.5m boa and a Mediterranean Spur-thighed tortoise - fully grown. The children had a lot of fun interacting with these fascinating creatures!

End of year activities

We have been quiet on our blog but most certainly we have not been without action! All our pupils are now finished with exams. Reports have been written and are now ready to be given to pupils. Many of the children have been involved with end of year activities, ranging from beach BBQ parties for grade 7 to 10 and the annual surfing trip for grade 6.

The junior primary classes (kindergarten to grade 3) presented a spectacular end of year show for the local community and parents and friends. This took place on Wednesday night at the Arab-Jewish Community Centre here in Jaffa. It was the culmination of the year's work and consisted of music, dancing and gymnastics. It was truly entertaining with many colours and lots of variety.

Today we were visited by a group of some 20 alumni from 20-30 years ago. They are currently in the country enjoying a reunion and a time of reminiscing and catching up after many years. Some of them will be at the Grade 12 graduation next Wednesday, 29 June and one of them will be speaking to our graduates and Tabeetha community about how the School has impacted her life.

Grade 5 had their graduation today and the ceremony was really amazing! Based on three songs from Annie they said goodbye to primary and are now ready for secondary.

We have one more week to go and look forward to the trip to the water park for the whole school, Grade 12 Graduation and the Final Prize Giving Assemblies for primary and secondary; all closing off another busy and eventful year here in our unique little school.