Our supplementary school is called Orot which in Hebrew means ‘lights’ because our children are the shining lights of the future of this community.
We accept children from Reception through to Year 6. We meet on Sunday mornings during term time from 9.45am -12.30pm. We begin each morning with assembly which is an important start to our day and brings us all together as a community. Break-time also offers our children the opportunity to socialise while enjoying organised activities and games.
At Orot, we are proud to have a team of passionate and talented teachers who bring Hebrew and Jewish Studies to life through engaging, interactive lessons. Our dedicated staff use creative methods to make learning meaningful and fun, inspiring children to explore and connect with their Jewish identity.
Throughout the year, students enjoy a wide range of exciting activities and events, including Jewish festivals, community celebrations, ECO Synagogue projects, Mitzvah Day, and educational trips. These experiences complement classroom learning and help children form a deep connection with Jewish life and values.
Orot is not simply a place to learn — it is a warm, welcoming community. Whether your children attend a local state school, a private school, or a Jewish day school, Orot provides a nurturing environment where they can grow in confidence, creativity, and curiosity. It’s a place where children feel proud of who they are and where they come from.
We offer a weekly program for children from Gan (Reception) through to Years 7 and 8 (Key Stage 3). Most year groups have one dedicated class with a teacher and at least one classroom assistant. Our teachers are trained to support children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) and we adapt our teaching to ensure every child thrives in our inclusive and supportive environment.
Each year group follows a structured syllabus in Jewish Studies and Hebrew, but lessons are far from rigid. Teachers are encouraged to use their creativity to enhance learning with differentiated activities and a range of engaging experiences that cater to students of all abilities.
Our Hebrew curriculum gradually builds children’s confidence in the language they’ll need for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah and for participation in synagogue services — all while having fun and staying motivated. This approach is a far cry from outdated perceptions of “cheder” learning.
Our teachers are also lifelong learners. We encourage them to grow their own Jewish knowledge and skills through training programs and personal study, ensuring that Orot remains a vibrant and inspiring place for everyone.
Our Jewish Studies curriculum is designed to be relevant, personal, and deeply rooted in Jewish tradition. It encourages children to explore key areas of Jewish life and identity, including:
What it means to be Jewish
Jewish holidays, rituals, and life cycle events
A personal sense of God
Jewish values and ethics
The relevance and wisdom of Torah
A connection to the people and State of Israel
The history of the Jewish people
The Shoah and issues of antisemitism, belonging, and community (taught with age-appropriate sensitivity)
We would love to welcome you and your children to Orot — a place where Jewish learning is joyful, meaningful, and inclusive. Come and experience a community where your child can flourish, and where Jewish identity is celebrated every week with warmth, creativity, and care.
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We have Hebrew lessons every week that gradually builds the children’s confidence in the Hebrew they will need for their Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration and to participate in services. We use interactive technology and fun methods to teach, far removed from the perception of ‘cheder’ teaching. All our classrooms have interactive smart TV’s which are put to good use every week.
Our Jewish Studies is taught through projects; children choose a project from a selection that they will study for one and half terms. Over the academic year they will study two topics in depth. Topics are chosen by the children at the start of the year through taster sessions. Recent projects have included ‘Jews Around the World’, ‘Israel It’s Complicated’, ‘The Play of the Diary of Anne Frank’, ‘Caring for the Environment’, ‘Taste of Torah’ and the ‘Jewish Year Through Art’. We also celebrate festivals and other significant events like Mitzvah Day usually all together and with the community.
The vision of Orot is to build knowledge, confidence and pride in being a modern Reform Jew; to build a sense of kehillah (community) through nurturing friendships; and teaching our children to be caring individuals who warmly welcome all children, whatever their faith, ability or background. We will do this through interactive, dynamic teaching and learning and activities including drama, cookery, art and discussions.
Apart from Orot and Bar/Bat Mitzvah classes, which gives us the opportunity to get to know some of our children in the EHRS community, we want to get to know all our families with children and to build a sense of kehillah,. One of the ways we do this is by offering non-school related, fun events through the year. Many of the children at EHRS go to Jewish Day school; these events offer something different to what they experience at school and are open to all of our families with children.
If you are thinking about sending your child to Orot, you are very welcome to come to visit us and your child to join a class to try us out. If you want to know more about what else we offer our families, sign up for Our Week Ahead (OWA) emailed out every week, look out for the bi-monthly Le’Dor Va’Dor community magazine, check out our website, or contact any of our rabbis or Marian Cohen, we are always happy to talk to you and welcome you. We want you to feel at home at EHRS.
On Sunday 30 April 2023, students of Orot performed ‘Three Sisters’ a play written by their teacher, Laurence Stein, based on the book of the same name, written by Heather Morris who wrote ‘ The Tattooist of Auschwitz’.
Three sisters is the true life story of Cibi, Magda, and Livi who survived Auschwitz, made a life for themselves in Israel, married fellow holocaust survivors, and in the case of Magda and Livi, went to work for Vera Weizmann, the wife of the first President of Israel.
The play focussed on the life of the sisters after the holocaust and how Heather Morris learnt about their experiences.
Laurence Stein said, ” It is so important that children at religion schools learn about the atrocities of the holocaust, but it is also imperative that they learn that a number of Jews did survive and went on to make a valuable contribution to society. The students took the subject matter really seriously and maturely, performed the play responsibly and sensibly and were a credit to their families and friends as well as other members of EHRS who came to support them”.
EHRS has a moral and legal obligation to ensure that, when given responsibility for children and young people, staff and volunteers provide them with the highest possible standard of care.
EHRS believe that children and young people have the right to be completely secure from both fear and the reality of abuse and we are committed to safeguarding and protecting all children and young people in our care from harm.
We have so many wonderful events, groups, and services on offer for the whole community, including our incredible Together Groups which bring people with similar interests together and help build relationships.
From birth to age 100+, we have something on offer for you.
So please roam our website and jump on in!
