Sholem Aleichem College is an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

early learning and

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when comp ...

located in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metrop ...

suburb of

Elsternwick Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Elsternwick recorded a population of 10,887 at the 20 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seyche ...

, Australia. Established in 1947, the school caters to the religious and general education needs of approximately 300 students, ranging from early learning, to

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

and through to

Year 6 Year 6 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the sixth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between ten and eleven however some chil ...

Overview

Established in 1947 by the Bundist movement as a Sunday school that taught

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

and Jewish studies, the current day school opened its doors to ten Prep children in 1975. Sholem's approach to Judaism is secular and inclusive, it celebrates all the Jewish festivals with cultural traditions, music and food. Sholem Aleichem College is one of the very few secular Jewish schools in the world that teach Yiddish.

History

In 1935, the Melbourne IL Peretz Sunday School, and later in 1947 its sister Sunday school, Sholem Aleichem, were established. They taught Yiddish and Jewish Studies. These Yiddish schools were inspired by the forward thinking Tsisho schools of Eastern Europe.

Sholem Aleichem ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Pereiaslav, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = New York City, U.S. , occupation = Writer , nationality = , period = , genre = Novels, sh ...

(pen-name) is the namesake of the school. He was born Sholom Rabinowitz in the Ukraine in 1859. Sholem Aleichem was a renowned Yiddish writer of stories, novels and plays, and a humourist. He died in New York, USA, in 1916 where it is estimated that 100,000 attended his funeral.

Academics

Sholem Aleichem College is ranked using the

NAPLAN The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a series of tests focused on basic skills that are administered to Australian students in year 3, 5, 7 and 9. These standardised tests assess students' reading, writing, l ...

system. In January 2016, the school was the 8th ranked Primary School in Victoria and was the highest ranked Jewish Primary School. Between 60% and 90% of Sholem students have been in the top quarter of NAPLAN results every year since 2011.

Performing arts

Sholem Aleichem College has a well developed visual and performing Arts Program. A highlight of the Sholem school calendar is the school musical, in which every single student participates. Senior students also have the opportunity to become filmmakers, with a very unusual program that sees a specialist film director visit the school from the United States to tutor the students through the process of making a short film. Of particular interest is the instrumental music program. Every student in Years 3-6 has the opportunity to learn an instrument of their choice (from flute, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion), for free. This program has enabled Sholem to form ensembles / orchestras at each Year level. The students perform regularly at school and extensively within the Jewish and wider community.

House system

The four

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

, Molodovsky (green), Peretz (yellow), Reyzen (red) are Leyb (blue) are mainly used for interhouse activities such as sporting events and community involvement and are named for Yiddish writers and poets – Kadya Molodowsky, Mani Leyb, Avrom Reyzen, I.L. Peretz.

Notable alumni

Yvette Coppersmith Yvette Coppersmith (born 1980) is an Australian painter; she specialises in portraiture and still life. In 2018 she won the Archibald Prize with a self-portrait, in the style of George Lambert. Coppersmith studied at the Victorian College of th ...

- artist,

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

winner (2018), finalist (2017, 2016, 2009, 2008) * Husky Gawenda - award-winning singer-songwriter and principal writer, lead singer and guitarist of the band Hsuky (

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broadc ...

Unearthed winners, APRA award winner) *

Michael Gawenda Michael Gawenda (born 1947) is an Australian journalist and was editor of ''The Age'' from 1997 to 2004. He was appointing inaugural Director of the Centre for Advanced Journalism at the University of Melbourne, launched in 2008.The centre's miss ...

- multi-award-winning journalist and editor of

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

from 1997 to 2004

References

External links

Sholem Aleichem College website

Case Study – Sholem Aleichem College

Yiddish Attractions in Melbourne

Australian My School Entry
{{Jews and Judaism in Australia Educational institutions established in 1947 Jewish day schools Jewish schools in Melbourne 1947 establishments in Australia Sholem Aleichem