The story behind Beis Yaakov
It all began in 2011. The kehilla had seen explosive growth in the past decade, with hundreds of children requiring placement in local schools each year.
The problem, of course, was space. So, a few enterprising askanim set about to provide a solution. They established Beis Yaakov Girls School – a school which caters to girls from the heimishe community and remains unaffiliated with any particular chassidus or sect.
In a relatively short time, Beis Yaakov Girls School solidly established itself as a school par excellence which encourages children to learn, engage fully with the world around them and develop positive personality traits.
BYGS is governed solely by parents who send their daughters to the school. This automatically results in a much more passionate and invested governing body who insist on the absolute best for the pupils and school itself. It also means that they have a constant finger, so to speak, on the pulse of the school.
At the same time, not a step is taken without consulting daas Torah. Rabbi Yosef Padwa shlit''a serves as the school Nasi, aided by his Sgan, Rabbi Meilech Schwartz shlit''a (Tchabe Rav) who heads the ruchnius Vaad, together with Rabbi M T Weinberg and Rabbi M L Twersky.
A school is usually as good as its teachers; and indeed, when it comes to its amazing staff, BYGS has much to be proud of. Led by the exceptional Head, Mrs R Barminka, teachers are skilled and highly motivated, which results in a high learning standard as well as an energetic & pleasant school environment. Beis Yaakov heads work hard to encourage pupil excellence in both Kodesh and Chol studies, focusing both on academics and personal growth. This was reinforced by our last Ofsted inspection which highlighted that the Headteacher has a clear vision for the school which is shared by parents, staff and pupils.
At the start of the new term, we opened the doors to a new high school at our premises on Amhurst Park. The premises provides the perfect place for a thriving, growing school; full of pleasing aesthetics, with natural details and little extras to enhance the learning experience. The interim location is ideal for allowing children to thrive, grow and develop their potential in a healthy Torah atmosphere.
While BYGS is ever-growing, it is at present still a small close-knit school of 120 girls which enables the staff to offer that much extra attention to the pupils and ensure that each and every girl is engaged and stimulated. However, the downside of running a small school is that the income is significantly lower with similar overheads to most larger school. That issue, coupled with the extremely high rental costs, as well as the expenses which the new high school will incur have left BYGS with a huge deficit that we have no way of covering.
Therefore, we are running a two-day Charity campaign on Tuesday the 19th and Wednesday the 20th of September, 2023 to reach our goal of £180,000, where every donation will be greatly appreciated.
Please donate as much as you can to allow Beis Yaakov Girls School serve our community and continue its very vital work!
0203 318 2224
