Head of Cheder and Youth, Caroline Loison – a qualified teacher for over 20 years – has been a life-long member of the BSS Community, having attended the Cheder herself before going on to teach there and now leading it. Her message to both current and prospective pupils is as follows:
“Appreciating the uniqueness of Belsize Square and understanding its background and traditions puts me in a particularly good position to recognise what our members and their families are looking for. Our aim is to create “A Community Cheder, For the Community, By the Community” whilst fostering an atmosphere that is conducive with both learning and having fun. Educating the next generation has always been my passion and I can think of nothing better than being Head Teacher of BSS Cheder and promoting the education of the children at my own Synagogue with a view to enriching their Jewish lives for the better.”
Caroline feels that, having experienced Belsize Square Synagogue personally for many, many years, this puts her in a particularly good position to appreciate the uniqueness of Belsize Square, understanding both its background and its traditions. It also means she is able to recognise what members and families are looking for with a view to delivering this in both innovative and creative ways. There is a strong focus on Hebrew reading using the Aleph Champ programme, and this has been instrumental in ensuring that our students are ready to learn to read their Bar or Bat Mitzvah portions when they get to this important milestone. In addition, pupils are taught about the main Jewish Chagim/festivals with a view to raising both their awareness of the Jewish calendar as well as their understanding of what each Chag/festival celebrates and stands for. In between the various Chagim, pupils study projects based on our Jewish History and Culture, which cover a wide range of topics such as Shabbat, Biblical characters and Jewish signs and symbols. Educating the next generation has always been a passion of Caroline’s and she is delighted to have been appointed to become Head of BSS Cheder and loves sharing this passion with pupils, staff and parents alike.
In addition to being Head of Cheder, Caroline has also recently taken on the Belsize Youth remit and she is thoroughly enjoying encouraging children of all ages to participate in new and exciting events that she has organised.
Again, having attended BSS Youth events herself when she was younger, Caroline has very fond memories of going on weekends away in Northampton as well as attending Youth events such as “Movie nights” at the Synagogue and she went on to become one of Belsize Square’s earliest Youth Leaders. Her knowledge and experience of organising a wide variety of events for young people ranging from Nursery-aged children to university students and everything in between stands her in good stead for this new role and she has plenty of ideas for more interesting and unusual events in the future. Keep your eyes open for more BSS Youth events coming up in the near future!
If you would like any more information about BSS Cheder and/or Youth, please contact Caroline on caroline@synagogue.org.uk
Art/T-shirt printing event in September 2021 run by professional artist and Belsize Square member, Sara J Beazley
Ninja Warrior/Frankie and Benny’s event in October 2021
