It is no secret that the past year has not been easy, yet all of Year 11 had the opportunity to celebrate the end of their time at JFS with a triumphant celebration this week. Students received heartfelt messages from teachers, accompanied by musical performances and messages from their friends that really made this event truly special.

The breakfast began with letters from parents that stirred the emotions, yet gave us the opportunity to feel them with us, as due to the current pandemic, our parents were unfortunately unable to be there. Following this, students, Rachel Levy, Max Morris, Yossi Hurst and Katie Hillburn, addressed us with a jovial speech that was well received and expressed the words many of us were feeling.

There were a variety of speeches from our teachers that were so special, with Mrs Joseph talking first and resonating with us via fantastic Macbeth references. Mr Appleman soon followed with an uplifting speech, that even graced the congregation with his famous words to his music students, “Knowing, understanding, applying”. The Year 11 Team provided the final words. Miss Hyer concluded with an invitation to visit her at any time, and expressed the importance of not giving up. Dr Alin gave us a fantastic anecdote about tea, and Mrs Hancock shared how she wished she could have seen us all during the lockdown. Mrs Fink and Rabbi Cohen also spoke, reminiscing on our time at JFS, with Rabbi Cohen taking time to look back on ATOI and Mrs Fink exploring the importance of not comparing ourselves to others. The speeches were all tailor made to us and these were really significant in our lives as a result. It was even hinted a number of times that we may or may not happen to be our teacher’s favourite year group!

Additionally, there were musical performances from students throughout the morning, kicking off with some Sinatra on the saxophone from Jasmin Jones, followed by Angelina Levicki singing “Feeling Good”, which left us much like what the name describes. Later on, we saw the Dire Straits hit, “Sultans of Swing”, played expertly by Adam Lieberman and Oliver Shooter, followed by Yonatan Merkier closing the event with some beautiful piano playing.

The event was perfect, and a truly memorable occasion that was wonderful for the entire Year 11 cohort as well as our teachers.

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To all of Year 11, we wish you all the very best next year.
Wherever your journey takes you, bring light and honour in all you do.

Mrs Hancock, Dr Alin and Miss Hyer