Each year, Progressive rabbis, cantors and educators come together to learn, network and share ideas about the challenges and opportunities facing Jewish education today at the Progressive Educators Conference.

This year promises to be one of our most exciting programmes yet. Participants can either follow one strand for the whole day or dip into different strands depending on their interests:

Kef: Fun and creativity in the classroom

Teaching Assistant 101: Essential skills for those starting out on their cheder teaching journey

Hebrew and Torah: Text, prayer and language learning

Deeper Issues: Tackling contemporary questions facing Jewish life and education

Examples of topics include:

Tools and tips for classroom management & lesson planning

Inclusive teaching for pupils with different abilities and neurodiverse needs

Making the old new: familiar texts revisited

A deep dive into antisemitism

Unravelling the Mah Tovu prayer (Hebrew strand)

The ethics of AI and social media

Israel education

Music and song-leading in cheder

Games and crafts to bring lessons to life

…and much more!

The Jewish Book Service will also be joining us. This provides books and resources of Jewish interest for use in religion schools, Jewish day schools, synagogues and family homes. The service caters for children, teachers and adult learning, and is a consultancy service for anyone working in Jewish education. If there is anything in particular you would like to look at, email janet@jewishbookservice.co.uk and she will do her best to bring it.

Practical details:

Doors open: 9:30am | Close: 4:00pm

Venue: Edgware (details on registration)

Cost: £5 for members, employees and volunteers of Progressive (Liberal and Reform) communities | £25 for others

To keep costs low, we ask everyone to bring a packed lunch. Hot and cold drinks, fruit and biscuits will be provided throughout the day.

This is a fantastic opportunity for rabbis, cantors, head teachers, teachers and assistants to gain inspiration, strengthen skills and connect with colleagues across our communities.

We warmly encourage you not only to join us yourselves but also to circulate this to all your cheder teachers and assistants. This conference is for everyone involved in Progressive Jewish education, whatever their level of experience.