Jewish Studies

Learning what it means to be Jewish

The Jewish Studies Department aims to teach what it means to be Jewish. We see our task as giving our students not merely a deep understanding of Judaism as a religion—its beliefs, laws and literature– but also its values, its cultural traditions, and its commitment to charity and community action.

Students are taught a wide variety of topics covering the basics of Jewish life and learning. These topics include Torah, Mishnah, Tenach and Siddur as well as an in-depth study of the Jewish festivals as they occur. GCSE in Jewish Studies is a compulsory subject and students achieve extremely high grades with 92% of students gaining A*-C grades.

At AS and A2 level we offer the OCR course in Religious Studies which covers a number of different aspects of Judaism in a challenging and interesting manner. The uptake of Jewish Studies at A Level is good with many students doing very well indeed.

At King Solomon we pride ourselves on the fact that we are a Jewish community high school. Our students are heavily involved at Sinclair House, the local Jewish Youth and Community centre both as participants and as leaders, with many undergoing training through the school to become qualified youth workers and community leaders. We work closely with JLGB and their volunteering certificates. We run leadership training seminars and are part of the TRIBE Israel Ambassador course.

The Jewish Studies department arranges lots of residential trips throughout the year groups. Looking down the list there certainly is something for everyone!

We also work with other organisations and have informal activities lead by JNF during Succot, and The Jewish Agencies Zionist Seminars during Yom Haatzmaut week. We have many other informal activities during the year lead by our own Informal department such as special activities on Chanukah and Purim.