Immanuel College Celebrates Its 18th Birthday

Thursday, 7th May 2009

On Thurday 7th May, Immanuel College celebrated its 18th Birthday with a Gala Dinner at St. John’s Wood Synagogue. The guest speakers were The Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, Lady Amile Jakobovits, and Dr. Rafael Beyar, Director of the Rambam Hospital, Haifa.

The Dinner celebrated the achievements of Immanuel College since it opened in 1991 with 40 pupils. Among the 200 plus guests were communal leaders who had helped to make Harav Lord Jakobovits’ vision a reality, the first two head teachers of the College, Denis Felsenstein and Myrna Jacobs, and parents of current and past pupils. Almost £200,000 was raised at the Gala Dinner towards the building of a new eight-classroom block to replace the unsightly portakabins installed at the College in recent years to accommodate the expansion of the school roll to over 490 pupils. Canvassing for the project in the weeks leading to the Dinner had raised a further £350,000. With £700,000 now raised, work on the building will begin later this year.

The Chief Rabbi said that Immanuel College had “achieved everything that Lord Jakobovits, the school’s founder, had wanted to achieve.” He praised the College’s integrated curriculum which ensured that Jewish and secular learning enriched one another at “this model school.” He commended the staff and governors for creating a hugely successful, top-ranking school that the entire community is proud of and thanked them for providing pupils, including his daughter, Gila, with the direction and support needed for success in adult life. He recalled his friendship whilst an undergraduate with the current Head Master, Philip Skelker and spoke warmly of his insight into children and his ability to ensure that they reached their potential, qualities which are reflected in Immanuel College’s position in the top 3% of all secondary schools in terms of pupils’ admission to the leading 13 UK universities.

Lady Jakobovits, spoke with great affection for the school – “Immanuel College is a bijoux school – a real gem of our community and, indeed, an example for schools across the globe. It is with huge emotion, that I recall the very evening in my house, 18 years ago, when my husband and a small group of people, dreamt up the idea of a Jewish ‘Eton’ so that Jewish children would have the same opportunities as their non-Jewish counterparts. By the end of the evening, although many in the room though the idea was crazy, my husband decided to call “The Jewish Chronicle” and announce the inception of this new school! With the grace and help of Hashem, Immanuel College has grown and thrived, and is a huge success. There could be no greater tribute to my husband and what he wanted to give back to the community that had grown and educated him than Immanuel College.”

Dr. Rafael Beyar, General Director of the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, was the last speaker of the evening. The Rambam Hospital is the pupils’ chosen Israel charity for this academic year and, accordingly, the Dinner Committee had decided to allocate some of the funds raised during the evening to the Rambam which is the leading medical centre in the North of Israel. Dr Beyar expressed delight at Immanuel College’s support for the Rambam and presented the College with a history of the hospital’s first 70 years.

Members of the Dinner Committee, who worked tirelessly to ensure that the event was an overwhelming success included Michael and Audrey Dangoor, Lynda Dullop (Chair), Annette Koslover, Ruth Basrawy, Sari Eleini, Jacqui Chody, Jane Murad and Sabine Smouha.