JFS

JFS Website homepage 13 November 2024.

JFS homepage, 7 October 2024.

JFS (formerly known as the Jews' Free School and later Jewish Free School) is a Jewish mixed comprehensive school in Kenton, North London, England and was founded in 1732. Amongst its early supporters was the writer and philanthropist Charlotte Montefiore. At one time it was the largest Jewish school in the world, with more than 4,000 pupils.

The school is run by the JFS Charitable Trust Limited (Company number 03942126)/JFS Development Charitable Trust (Charity number: 1114730).

Orientation to Zionism

JFS is a secondary school which names its four houses after racist settler colonial ideologues such as Chaim Weizmann, Israel Zangwill and Selig Brodetsky. The school says it is 'proud of its long standing and deep connections to the State of Israel. For over 40 years the school has offered a bespoke residential programme in Israel to provide an opportunity for students to immerse themselves in life in Israel, improve their Hebrew and enhance their knowledge of Jewish studies, culture and history beyond what is taught at school. ... The JFS programme [in Israel] promotes the values and ethos of JFS including the ideals of Zionist Modern Orthodoxy.'

• 'Students participating in Israel Club at school enjoyed a visit from speakers of Stand With Us. The session was focused on enabling students to distinguish differences between anti-Semitism and valid criticism of the state of Israel.'

• 'Our dynamic JiEP department delivered outstanding programmes in commemoration of Yom Hazikaron and in celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut this week. One Year 8 student commenting on Yom Ha’atzmaut said, “The atmosphere, the food, the fun, blue and white, Israel, the socialising, it was like a big birthday party!” HAPPY 73rd BIRTHDAY ISRAEL and well done JiEP!'

• 'Last night we were honoured to host her Excellency Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli Ambassador to London, to dedicate a special memorial garden at JFS for Dr Ami Shachori z’l who was the Israeli Agriculture Attaché in London from 1968-1972, assassinated whilst serving at the Embassy in London. His children, who are JFS Alumni, were present to cut the ribbon to the new garden... we were delighted to welcome the Sinai School Choir that sang Oseh Shalom and the Hatikvah.'

• 'Israel is at the heart of JFS. Students are encouraged to engage with Israel through visits in Year 9 ... our active Israel Club and the celebration of all Israeli festivals. We are proud that many students go on to complete a year of further study, volunteering and social action in Israel before commencing university... A range of high profile speakers also visit the Israel Society to keep students informed of current developments and points of interest... JFS has a long and proud tradition of association with the State of Israel. Since its earliest days in Camden Town, this has included offering students the opportunity to spend time in Israel on an organised programme. Currently JFS offers two schemes: Lev, a three month Israel programme for Year 9 students, based at Alexander Muss High School in Israel, and ATOI, the two week ‘A Taste of Israel’ programme.'

• 'This week our Head Boy and Head Girl team hosted the Senior Prefect teams from Immanuel College, JCOSS and Yavneh College for an Israel themed inter-school event. They discussed the various student-led initiatives taking place at each school, as well as Yom Hazikaron, Yom Ha’Atzmaut and October 7th; lighting candles and telling stories in remembrance. They then created hostage badges to be distributed to students in each school. This was a meaningful opportunity for the schools to reflect the unity within our community. A huge thank you to GIFT, for making these activities possible.

Funding

• The Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust | Wolfson Family Charitable Trust | Bluston Charitable Settlement | Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation | Garrard Family Foundation

People

Directors

Name	Correspondence address	Role	Position	Date of birth	Appointed on	Resigned on	Nationality	Country of residence	Occupation
Manpreet Kaur Bal	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Active	Secretary		5 July 2021
Robert Bradley Gershon	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Active	Director	July 1975	31 March 2023		British	United Kingdom	Chartered Accountant
Mark Michael Hurst	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Active	Director	January 1971	1 September 2024		British	England	Solicitor
Richard Ian Kafton	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, England, HA3 9TE	Role Active	Director	October 1956	13 December 2005		British	England	Ifa
Dr David Moody	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Active	Director	June 1979	26 January 2022		British	United Kingdom	Headteacher
Ishai Eliezer Novick	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, England, HA3 9TE	Role Active	Director	May 1971	6 July 2011		British	England	Company Director
Stephen Howard John Pack	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Active	Director	April 1950	22 April 2021		British	England	Chartered Accountant
Philip Bunt	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Secretary		22 July 2014	30 November 2020
Richard Anthony Gold	39 Oakleigh Avenue, London, N20 9JE	Role Resigned	Secretary		2 March 2000	13 December 2005	British		Solicitor
David Russel Lerner	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, England, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Secretary		13 December 2005	22 July 2014	British		School Administrator
Simon Appleman	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	August 1974	1 September 2016	4 June 2018	British	England	Headteacher
Julian David Bloom	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, England, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	October 1948	13 December 2005	31 December 2014	British	England	Solicitor
Julian David Bloom	70 St Albans Road, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD1 3RP	Role Resigned	Director	October 1948	16 April 2000	19 March 2002	British		Solicitor
Philip Alan Bunt	176 Whitchurch Lane, Edgware, HA8 6QJ	Role Resigned	Director	January 1958	13 December 2005	31 August 2011	British	United Kingdom	Chartered Accountant
John Anthony Cooper	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	February 1946	11 September 2017	30 March 2023	British	England	Chartered Accountant
Geraldine Fainer	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	July 1963	1 September 2017	31 July 2019	British	England	Lawyer
Rachel Harriet Fink	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	July 1969	4 June 2018	31 May 2021	British	England	Headteacher
Sidney Frosh	50 Lodge Close, Canons Drive, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 7RL	Role Resigned	Director	August 1923	22 March 2006	5 July 2011	British		None
Michael Stuart Glass	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, England, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	May 1962	11 January 2010	23 March 2015	British	England	Chartered Accountant
Richard Anthony Gold	39 Oakleigh Avenue, London, N20 9JE	Role Resigned	Director	October 1941	2 March 2000	13 December 2005	British	United Kingdom	Solicitor
Neil Barry Harris	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, England, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	July 1966	1 September 2011	27 June 2016	British	England	Chartered Accountant
Rachel Harrison	124 Hampden Road, London, N8 0HS	Role Resigned	Director	July 1946	3 September 2001	13 December 2005	British		Student
Russell Ivor Kett	62 Wychwood Avenue, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 6TH	Role Resigned	Director	May 1953	3 September 2001	11 January 2010	British	United Kingdom	Company Director
Jonathan Moss Miller	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, England, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	January 1962	1 January 2008	31 August 2016	British	United Kingdom	Headteacher
Graham Bennett Morrison-Wood	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, England, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	May 1951	13 December 2005	15 January 2020	British	United Kingdom	Solicitor
Andrew Moss	Jfs School, The Mall, Harrow, England, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	December 1972	1 September 2019	1 September 2024	British	England	Consultant
Ruth Renton	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	September 1970	8 December 2016	3 April 2017	British	England	Solicitor
Dame Ruth Laura Robins	31 Regents Park Road, London, NW1 7TL	Role Resigned	Director	October 1946	3 September 2001	31 December 2007	British	England	Headteacher
Dr Lorraine Sherr	The Retreat, Tenterden Grove, London, NW4 1TH	Role Resigned	Director	November 1952	3 September 2001	13 December 2005	British	United Kingdom	Prof Psychology
Arnold Wagner	91 Woodcock Hill, Kenton, Harrow, Middlesex, HA3 0JJ	Role Resigned	Director	September 1949	2 March 2000	13 December 2005	British	Uk	Personnel Director
Stuart Alexander Waldman	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	August 1968	26 July 2016	29 March 2021	British	United Kingdom	Accountant
Steven Woolf	Jfs School, The Mall, Kenton, Harrow, HA3 9TE	Role Resigned	Director	January 1967	24 March 2015	30 June 2016	British	England	Barrister

Trustees

• Ishai Novick Chair (28 December 2011)
• Stephen Howard John Pack (22 April 2021). Also trustee of The Work Avenue Foundation | AJEX Charitable Foundation
• Andrew Moss (01 September 2019)
• John Anthony Cooper (11 September 2017). Also trustee of The Corporation of the Hall of Arts and Sciences
• Richard Kafton (?)

Staff

Headteachers

2021–	Dr David Moody
2021	Paul Ramsay (Acting Joint Headteacher) Anna Joseph (Acting Joint Headteacher)
2021	Martin Tissot (Interim Headteacher)
2021	Sir Michael Wilshaw (Executive Headteacher)
2018–2021	Rachel Fink
2018	Simon Appleman (Acting Headteacher)
2016–2017	Debby Lipkin (Executive Headteacher) Simon Appleman (Acting Headteacher)
2008–2016	Jonathan Miller
1993–2007	Dame Ruth Robins
1985–1993	Josephine Wagerman, OBE
1973–1984	Leslie Gatoff
1958–1972	Dr. Edward S Conway
1897–1907	Louis Barnett Abrahams
1842–1897	Moses Angel
1732–1757	Samuel Grant
1700-1732	Marcelo Bielsa

Former pupils

A-C

• Barney Barnato, Randlord
• Gina Bellman, actress
• Raphael Benjamin, rabbi in Australia and America
• Eyal Booker, Love Island Contestant
• Selig Brodetsky, mathematician, Zionist leader, and President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Benjamin Cohen, journalist and Channel 4 News presenter
• Morris Cohen, adventurer

D-F

• Judith Flacks-Leigh
• Dean Furman (born 1988) - professional footballer

G-J

• Maurice Glasman, academic, social thinker and Labour life peer
• Jonathan Glazer, BAFTA and Oscar award-winning film director
• Samuel Gompers, first President of the American Federation of Labor
• David Joseph, chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK

K-N

• Ray Kelvin, founder of luxury clothing retail company Ted Baker
• Despite reports in the Guardian and the Independent, Jay Kay of Jamiroquai did not attend this school. Benjamin Cohen (who did and is listed here) recounts that the Guardian and Independent reports were themselves based on wrong information on Wikipedia – see [1]
• Josh Kennet (born 1987), English-Israeli footballer
• Bernard Lewis, founder and owner, River Island
• Joe Loss, musician

O-R

• Ofra Offer Oren, 'Israeli' writer, poet, blogger and translator
• Sandy Rashty, Journalist - Jewish Chronicle, Sky News;
• Steven Reingold, cricketer
• Barbara Roche, Labour politician

S-V

• Joel Samuels – DJ Luck, DJ
• Jez San, game designer, Argonaut Games
• Florence Schechter, founder of Vagina Museum and author
• Ian Stone, comedian

Resources

• https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/23/133724
• https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03942126
• https://th-th.facebook.com/story.php/?story_fbid=623138882944095&id=100057439660589
• https://www.thejc.com/news/news/ofsted-downgrades-jfs-to-'inadequate'-1.517835
• https://www.thejc.com/news/news/jfs-gets-'good'-rating-one-year-after-shock-downgrade-3EwNVeU88TrGh5t62X9UnW
• https://x.com/Tracking_Power/status/1772887855427207314
• https://s2jnews.com/jfs-school-in-north-london-unashamedly-hold-strong-zionist-links/