The leadership team, governors and trustees of Hasmonean High School would like to congratulate Head of Hasmonean Girls’ Rachel Fink on being appointed as the next Headteacher of JFS.

 Chair of Hasmonean’s Governors Marc Meyer and Executive Headteacher Andrew McClusky commented:

 “We are both happy and proud of Rachel’s appointment but this news is, of course, tinged with sadness as she has been a very significant part of Hasmonean’s recent history.

 “Given just how much Rachel has achieved during her career at Hasmonean, we are not surprised that she now feels ready to take on a new challenge.

 “Hasmonean has improved immeasurably under her leadership. She leaves Hasmonean having attained a Progress 8 score of 1.4 for last year’s GCSE girls’ results and an Outstanding Pikuach inspection which highly praised the school’s Kodesh provision. We wish her every success for the future.

 “A working party of governors and members of the Executive Leadership Team will be taking on the responsibility of appointing a suitable candidate to take Hasmonean Girls’ School to its next stage of development.”  

 Rachel joined Hasmonean in 2002 as a teacher of science and occupied various positions such as Year Leader and Assistant Headteacher before becoming Head of the Girls’ School. In this role, she has passionately promoted the school’s ethos of Torah im Derech Eretz. She has been instrumental in ensuring that her students are proud of their Jewish identity, religion and culture; for example, she has strengthened Jewish studies at the Girls’ School to ensure that textual skills are rigorously taught whilst arranging numerous activities to create an inspirational and inclusive atmosphere. She has also worked incredibly hard to ensure Hasmonean is ‘outward facing’ by collaborating with Islamia School, for example, to celebrate human rights and commemorate the holocaust. 

 Rachel has been responsible for the strategy across both the Boys’ and Girls’ schools with regard to care, guidance and support. She understands that every child is different and that the profile of each child requires her to be treated differently. She has also ensured that children are taught that others’ needs are as important and sometimes more important than their own, nurturing them to take responsibility for their actions and to treat others with courtesy and respect.  In addition, she has been responsible for ensuring that the school is compliant with the most up-to-date legislation pertaining to safeguarding and child protection, safer recruitment and the ‘Prevent’ strategy. She has also worked very hard to develop the school’s mental health provision.

 In addition, Rachel has also been responsible for Hasmonean’s recruitment and retention strategy. In recent times in particular she has developed a number of creative ways to meet the challenges Hasmonean faces due to the national recruitment crisis, and has left no stone unturned to ensure the best teachers are employed to teach our students. She has focused on staff wellbeing both at a strategic and personal level to ensure our best staff are retained and that all staff are well cared for and supported.

 Rachel’s final working day at Hasmonean will be Friday May 25th 2018.