Ghana schoolchildren benefit from Noam Primary’s £3.9m new site
More than 200 pupils celebrate the launch of the school's new Burnt Oak building, as it donates items no longer in use to help students in Ghana
More than 200 Jewish primary schoolchildren in London moved into their new purpose-built school building this week and learned about how their old furniture was going to Africa to help schoolchildren there.
The opening of the new £3.9 million single-story facility at Noam Primary School in Burnt Oak heralded an end to two decades of making do, with “mismatched furniture cobbled together through haphazard donations” now on its way to Ghana.
Pupils in the central African country will receive hundreds of chairs, desks, cupboards and printers as a gift from their British Jewish peers, as a new fundraising drive began to kit the new building out with modern equipment.
Headteacher Chaya Posen said the building, which has eight classrooms and interactive screens, had been “designed to match our ethos of maximising potential, right down to the innovative walls of cupboards which double as huge whiteboards”.
She added: “We’re so proud of Noam’s achievements and can only imagine what pupils and teachers can now achieve with a state-of-the-art building.”
The new facility, which welcomed pupils for the first time on Wednesday, also includes break-out rooms, a Beis Hamedrash study, new library, school hall, playground and a dedicated early years’ play area.
It was privately funded by parents and donors after two decades of financial struggle and uncertainty housed in Wembley United Synagogue, and pupil numbers are already swelling, in part because the school topped the SAT tables.
As Noam’s business manager Marilyn Gerson organised for the old furniture and equipment to make its way to Africa, Governors’ chair Mike Levene said the move marks “a dream come true”.
He said: “Opening just two weeks after Chanukah is a fitting time for the culmination of a Maccabean-like struggle benefitting generations of Jewish children. We thank everyone who stuck with us.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
