Dena Coleman born Dena Friedman (7 September 1952 – June 2013) was a headteacher. She was a board member of the

Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...

in the United Kingdom and she was founding head of

Yavneh College, Borehamwood Yavneh College is a co-educational, Jewish, secondary and sixth form school. A comprehensive with five-form entry for ages 11–18 yrs, it is part of the Yavneh College Academy Trust. History When founded, the school was led by headteacher Dr. D ...

Life

She was born in Islington, on 7 September 1952. She was the first child of Muriel Amelia Rachel, born Kovler and Norman Friedman. Her father made handbags. She would have two younger brothers. In 1991 she wrote ''Science, religion and the London School Board: aspects of the life and work of

John Hall Gladstone John Hall Gladstone FRS (7 March 1827 – 6 October 1902) was a British chemist.* He served as President of the Physical Society between 1874 and 1876 and during 1877–1879 was President of the Chemical Society. Apart from chemistry, where ...

(1827–1902)'' which was published by the University of London. In 1998 she became the head teacher at

Bushey Meads School Bushey Meads School (also known as "BMS") is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England. The school forms part of the Bushey St James Trust, in partnership with Little Reddings ...

. This was a >1,000 secondary and sixth form school in Watford that had become grant-maintained to balance its budgets. The school had been built for 636 pupils and suffered from small classrooms. She was at Bushey Meads until 2005. She went on to be head of

Hasmonean High School Hasmonean High School is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status for pupils from Orthodox Jewish families, situated in the London Borough of Barnet, England. History The school was founded by the late Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schonfel ...

which was two Jewish secondary schools, a boys and a girls, operating as one in

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

. In 2002, she and Richard Gold who was a solicitor published ''Running a school 2002/03: legal duties and responsibilities''. She was at Hasmonean until 2005.

was established in 2006 with a new campus designed for 1,000 pupils. Coleman became its founding head. She was a board member of JNF UK which raises funds for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In 2009, she and her husband Gordon went to court over their religious rights as Orthodox Jews. They owned a flat in Bournemouth and the owners had recently installed an automatic hallway light. The light was welcomed by some residents but Orthodox Jews are not permitted to switch on lights on Jewish holidays, so they found themselves unable to use the hallway without switching on the light. Coleman died of meningitis in June 2013, 6 weeks before her planned retirement. Tributes included one from the Chief Rabbi,

Lord Sacks Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks ( he, יונתן הנרי זקס, translit=Yona'tan Henry Zaks; 8 March 19487 November 2020) was an English Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and author. Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United He ...

, who noted her idea that “Every child is good at something and it’s our job to find out what that is.” A sports hall at the Gevim School in

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

was dedicated in her memory in Israel in 2015, although the original ceremony the year before had to be postponed because of a rocket attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Dena Heads of schools in England 1952 births 2013 deaths People from the London Borough of Islington