My JCoSS Journey
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Pam Goldsmith, Director of Community Development at the Movement for Reform Judaism, reflects on her role in the establishment of JCoSS, the Jewish Community Secondary School, as it prepares to open its sixth form next year:
I am incredibly proud to have been part of the JCoSS story for almost ten years. Back in 2002 I was asked to join a small team of individuals to consider the financial viability of establishing a cross-communal secondary school. We had no site, no money and no head teacher, but we had enormous amounts of enthusiasm and dedication to the project.
Over the years I've lost count of the number of meetings starting at 7.30 in the morning or running late into the night and of the complex iterations of the long-term financial projections; I've negotiated with our stakeholders for money and learned an enormous amount about the running of a secondary school. I'm still refining our projections, but I’ve also been involved in the non-financial aspects of the project from helping determine the school's ethos to designing the uniform.
On the Jerusalem stone entrance to the school is engraved the phrase "These and these are the words of the living God". JCoSS is a school where difference is not simply tolerated; it is turned into a learning experience where ranges of views can be challenged, respected and embraced. This is very much at the heart of the school, not just for the pupils, but also the staff, trustees and governors.
From the very early days of the project, we were a truly cross-communal group; we wanted to provide a school where all our children would be welcomed and have the opportunity to learn in an environment where they would be respected for their Jewish outlook. Many individuals have given huge sums of money to the school over the years, and many have given years of their time – we would not have succeeded without either. There were many highs and lows in our journey; when we were knocked down by not achieving a goal, we picked ourselves up and started again. Without this tenacity, we would not have succeeded.
And so it was all worth it when on the first day of school last September we watched 157 excited eleven-year olds bound into their brand new surroundings. At the end of that day we recited the shehechianu prayer together and the shofar was blown; I know I was not the only one feeling very emotional – it had felt like a very long pregnancy and at long last we had given birth to an amazing child that was going to change the shape of British Jewry.
The next phase is about to be embarked upon. Our current year seven will need to learn to share their school with a new cohort of 187 students and I am delighted that a new sixth form will be opened in September 2012 – see the JCoSS sixth form website for more information.
I continue to be part of the fabric of the school, being on the Trustee Finance Committee and the chair of the Finance and Premise Committee of the governing body. I used to be seen regularly at the school - now with my role in the Reform Movement, I'm not there as often, but I feel JCoSS is part of our overall community development of which I'm very proud to be a part.
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