25 May A Shout Out to Yavneh’s Incredible Teachers and Staff
All parents went to school and have spent 13 years in an education setting as a student. Many adults are also familiar with this education setting from the perspective of their child being a student in this setting. Combined, this can result in parents falsely believing they are education experts. Unless you’ve stood in front of 20+ students, each with unique needs and challenges, and actually taught them something meaningful – your opinion on education is just that… an opinion. My article is not a rebuke for parents thinking this way. Its purpose is to give parents some insight into the dedicated, ongoing efforts teachers make every day to manage the complex needs of 20+ children in their one class, double/triple this if they teach two/three classes and includes many more when out on yard duty. Teaching requires an incredible sustained effort to be able to consider each young person’s needs. My article is a SHOUT OUT to the incredible teachers at Yavneh and the education support team, who NEVER stop thinking about the needs of our children and how best to meet them so that every individual can flourish. I see you and what you do every day before, during and after school, on Sundays and in the holidays. I appreciate you beyond measure. You are my heroes.
There is so much more to being a teacher than what parents know and what parents can even imagine. We are also counsellors, mentors, parents, umpires, nurses, adjudicators, entertainers, and more.
Parents would be familiar with the daily decisions you have to make when catering for the needs of individual family members, running a home, working part or full time, and all that goes with these situations. Now imagine the decision fatigue you would feel if you were trying to cater for the needs of many more young people, every minute of your working day. Take into consideration that a teacher’s working day extends well beyond 8:00am to 4:00pm. More decisions are made per minute in the art of teaching, most would agree, if they understood what teaching involves. For this alone, teachers deserve our utmost respect and unending gratitude.
Parents and teachers share a deep commitment to students’ wellbeing and success. Flourishing occurs when we work together in genuine partnership. Each person—teacher, student, and parent—has responsibilities and plays an essential role.
Thank you, parents, for your ongoing commitment.
Because education is among the highest Jewish values, being a teacher is one of the highest honours, and is a highly valued and deeply respected profession.
“One must honour and revere a teacher even more than one does his father.” Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Talmud Torah 5:1
To our dedicated Yavneh teachers:
We see you. We thank you. We honour you.
Hailey Joubert Head of Primary School
