Hasmonean Multi-Academy Trust

Hasmonean Multi-Academy Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales.(Company Number: 07706488) The Trust comprises Hasmonean High School for Boys and Hasmonean High School for Girls, serving the Orthodox Jewish Community of North-West London.

Hasmonean Multi-Academy Trust is a member of the Jewish Secondary Schools Movement.

History

The school was founded by the late Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schonfeld in 1944 as Hasmonean Grammar School. Schonfeld (1912–1984) rescued thousands of Jews from the Holocaust and pioneered Jewish day school education in England.

Schonfeld considered there to be a need for an Orthodox Jewish school in North West London, which, despite having high numbers of Orthodox Jews, did not have a religious school to cater for them. Many Jews had reached Great Britain from different parts of Nazi-occupied Europe, most of them settling in London. Since Orthodox Judaism places great emphasis on the upbringing of children, he saw a need for a school where the children could be educated in an Orthodox Jewish environment.

The boys’ school became a voluntary aided Local Authority School in 1957. In September 1975, the girls moved to the present purpose-built Page Street site in Mill Hill. In 1984, voluntary aided status was extended to the girls' school, and the two sections joined as one to become a five-form-entry school. In April 1994, the school became grant maintained, but returned to Voluntary Aided Status in September 1999, following the abolition of grant-maintained schools. In March 2008 Hasmonean was singled out as one of the faith schools in the news for its procedure of demanding contributions from parents as a condition of entry. The school converted to academy status in October 2011.

Donations

• Loftus Charitable Trust | Gerald and Gail Ronson Family Foundation | Wolfson Family Charitable Trust

Connection to Israel and Zionism

Among the signs of 'success' at the schools were said to be:

Our students have achieved academic success whilst being heavily involved in both the school and the wider community. Not only is one of the candidates Deputy Head Girl, she also ran the Israel Society, attended UJIA Israel advocacy courses, and is a Madricha in Bnei Akiva...

Hasmonean students contribute across the community. Four joined KEF on its recent respite trip, many more volunteer for Shabbat Walk and a selected group of Sixth Formers are part of the Mizrachi Yehudi programme, which sends students into primary schools to inspire the next generation in their love of Jewish Studies. Four students are also JNF ambassadors.

This success is all the more remarkable when seen against the backdrop of an intensive Jewish Studies programme which takes up a considerable percentage of the school day. This has resulted in admissions to some of the top Sems and Yeshivot in Israel, such as Michlala, MMY, HaRova and Midreshet Tehilla; while the boys are accepted to Toras Moshe, Reb Tzvi’s, Beis Yisroel, Hakotel and Keren B’Yavneh.

And:

Hasmonean Boys’ School had the pleasure of welcoming back many of their alumni to give small shiurim to the current Sixth Form. As part of the Beis Programme, 20 alumni who are currently studying in yeshivas in Israel prepared shiurim on the topic of Pesach. The Beis Hamedrash was crowded as the current Sixth Form boys were split among the various alumni to listen attentively to what they had to say. The content was superb, and the current boys really enjoyed seeing the progress of the alumni and what they had achieved. It was an empowering day for all and a real privilege to see a motivated responsible group of alumni who still feel connected to Hasmonean Beis and appreciative of all it has done for them.

Governing body

Soon after its opening, the school became part of the Jewish Secondary Schools Movement (JSSM). Under the terms of the JSSM scheme, the trustees of the school must be appointed by the rabbis of certain synagogues, namely, the Adath Yisroel, the Golders Green Beth Hamedrash Congregation and the Hendon Adath Yisroel. All three were at one point members of the The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, however only the Hendon congregation remains a member.

The trustees in turn appoint the Foundation Governors, who together with the Headteacher, two LEA appointed Governors, three parent-elected Governors, two teacher-elected Governors and the Staff Governor form the Governing Body.

The contemporary Rabbinic eloctors who appoint the Trustees are Rabbi Yisroel Meir Greenberg of Golders Green Beth Hamedrash and Rabbi Shloime Yitzchok Bixenspanner of Hendon Adath Yisroel Synagogue

The chairmen of governors in 2016 were Gary Swabel (MAT), Yossi Halberstadt (Boys) and Steven Blumgart (Girls).

People

Directors

Name	Correspondence address	role	Position	Date of birth	Appointed on	Resigned on	Nationality	Country of residence	Occupation
Steven Anthony Blumgart	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, NW4 1NA	Role Active	Director	December 1973	20 March 2015		British	England	Investor
Daniel Martin Green	14 Downage, London, United Kingdom, NW4 1AH	Role Active	Director	October 1966	30 April 2019		British	United Kingdom	Director
Joseph Halberstadt	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, United Kingdom, NW4 1NA	Role Active	Director	December 1967	15 July 2011		British	United Kingdom	Project Manager
Andrew Mcclusky	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, NW4 1NA	Role Active	Director	January 1973	29 June 2015		British	England	Headmaster
Jonathan Mark Miller	48 Wykeham Road, London, United Kingdom, NW4 2SU	Role Active	Director	January 1964	30 April 2019		British	England	Chartered Accountant
Benjamin Gideon Shooter	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, NW4 1NA	Role Active	Director	February 1973	1 May 2015		British	England	Finance Director
Shanni Solomon	16 Renters Avenue, London, England, NW4 3RB	Role Active	Director	July 1974	14 January 2020		British	England	Innate Health Practitioner And Emotional Wellbeing
Gary Ian Swabel	71 Highfield Gardens, London, United Kingdom, NW11 9HA	Role Active	Director	December 1968	30 April 2019		British	United Kingdom	Company Director
Malcolm Adler	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, Uk, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	July 1952	28 January 2013	31 August 2014	British	United Kingdom	Solicitor
Jacqueline Benjamin	55 Wykeham Road, London, England, NW4 2SS	Role Resigned	Director	September 1972	4 April 2017	30 April 2019	British	United Kingdom	Consultant
Ari Joseph Bloom	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Rd, London, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	June 1971	15 July 2011	30 April 2019	British	United Kingdom	Solicitor
Jonathan Isaac Cohen	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	December 1957	18 March 2015	30 April 2019	British	United Kingdom	None
Malcolm Cohen	Bdo Llp, 55 Baker Street, London, W1U 7EU	Role Resigned	Director	August 1956	15 July 2011	30 April 2019	British	United Kingdom	Accountant
Ioan Adrian Cristea	2-4, Page Street, Mill Hill, London, England, NW7 2EU	Role Resigned	Director	September 1964	15 July 2011	31 March 2015	Romanian	England	Teacher
Mark Jeremy Dembovsky	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, United Kingdom, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	May 1958	15 July 2011	15 December 2014	British	England	Chief Executive Of Law Firm
Justin Zakgerald Dewinter	18 Shirehall Gardens, London, England, NW4 2QS	Role Resigned	Director	April 1967	4 April 2017	30 April 2019	British	England	Chartered Accountant
Jonathan Andrew Feinmesser	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	February 1972	15 July 2011	28 July 2021	British	United Kingdom	Chartered Accountant
Rachel Harriet Fink	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	July 1969	1 January 2015	29 June 2015	British	England	Headteacher
Dr Lionel Finkelstein	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, United Kingdom, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	June 1948	15 July 2011	30 April 2019	British	United Kingdom	Teacher
David Michael Finn	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, United Kingdom, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	October 1964	15 July 2011	30 July 2014	British	England	Accountant
Daniel Jacob Ginsbury	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	January 1970	1 September 2013	26 March 2015	British	United Kingdom	Solicitor
Howard Philip Glyn	10 Gloucester Gardens, London, United Kingdom, NW11 9AB	Role Resigned	Director	June 1944	15 July 2011	14 July 2017	British	United Kingdom	Chartered Surveyor
Daniel Isaac Greenberg	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, United Kingdom, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	September 1965	15 July 2011	10 March 2016	British	United Kingdom	Lawyer
Amit Singh Kalley	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	January 1988	18 March 2015	30 April 2019	British	England	None
Dr Maurice Klajman	12 Shirehall Close, London, England, NW4 2QP	Role Resigned	Director	July 1974	4 April 2017	30 April 2019	Belgian	United Kingdom	Banker
Professor David Seymour Latchman	11 Gresham Gardens, London, England, NW11 8NX	Role Resigned	Director	January 1956	9 November 2020	12 April 2024	British	England	Vice Chancellor
Anushka Tanya Levey	15 Brampton Grove, London, England, NW4 4AE	Role Resigned	Director	September 1974	4 April 2017	30 April 2019	British	United Kingdom	Barrister
Abraham Levy	16 Mayfield Gardens, Hendon, London, United Kingdom, NW4 2QA	Role Resigned	Director	June 1957	15 July 2011	31 August 2014	British	United Kingdom	Company Director
Anushka Levy	15 Brampton Grove, London, England, NW4 4AE	Role Resigned	Director	September 1975	14 January 2020	12 January 2022	British	England	Qualified Barrister (Commercial Law)
David Meyer	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, United Kingdom, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	June 1966	15 July 2011	31 December 2014	British	England	Head Teacher
Marc Meyer	35 Brampton Grove, London, England, NW4 4AE	Role Resigned	Director	April 1959	27 September 2016	30 April 2019	English	England	Company Director
Roisy Nevies	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, United Kingdom, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	December 1960	15 July 2011	30 April 2019	British	United Kingdom	Teacher/Housewife
Leo Noe	4th Floor, 30 Market Place, London, United Kingdom, W1W 8AP	Role Resigned	Director	August 1953	30 April 2019	17 September 2020	British	England	Chairman
Hamboula Oskis	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	November 1960	15 July 2011	31 March 2015	British	England	Head Of Operation
Andrew Rashbass	Hasmonean High School, Holders Hill Road, Hendon, London, NW4 1NA	Role Resigned	Director	July 1965	15 May 2014	31 August 2016	British	United Kingdom	Company Director

Headteachers

• Walter Stanton M.A.(Oxon.) (1944–1980) founding head
• Rabbi Meir Roberg (1980–1993)
• Dr Dena Coleman (1993–1998)
• Rabbi David Radomsky (2000–2006)
• Martin Clark (2006–2007)
• David Fuller (2007–2009)
• Rabbi D. Meyer (2009–2015)
• Deborah Lebrett (2015–2023)
• Miriam Langdon (2023–Present)

Staff

• Phyllis Dimson

Former pupils

• David Mencer attended Hasmonean High School in London.
• Jonathan Kestenbaum

Resources

• https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/zionist-federation-appoints-new-executive-director/
• https://www.thejc.com/family-and-education/hasmonean-rabbi-under-fire-for-defending-yeshivot-that-do-not-teach-secular-subjects-y65w72pz

See also

• Hasmonean High School Charitable Trust (Charity number: 1068303)
• Hasmonean Multi-Academy Trust (Company number 07706488)
• The Jewish Secondary Schools Movement (Charity Number - 313109)
• The Trustees of the J.S.S.M. (Company number 02899353)
• Hasmonean High School Building Trust Foundation (1007227)
• Beit Shvidler Primary School Charitable Trust (Charity number 1118619)
• Helena's Nursery
• Happy Tots R Us Ltd
• Hasmonean Pre-Nursery (Closed)
• Hasmonean Primary School[
• Hasmonean High School for Boys
• Hasmonean High School for Girls

Contacts

Registered office: Holders Hill Road Hendon London NW4 1NA