A new Jewish school for Melbourne
The school opened with students from prep to grade three, starting with approximately 20 children.
The first new Jewish school in 50 years catering to the whole community has just opened in Melbourne.
The school opened with students from prep to grade three, starting with approximately 20 children.
Hyman, who serves as principal, said the school is built on pedagogy rather than ideology, balancing rigorous academics with a hands-on approach to learning and character development.
“The vision is simple. School should serve the needs of growing young people. They need lots of time to learn Maths and English, and plenty of time for play and adventure,” Hyman said.
“Children need to learn facts, but they also need to learn fortitude. It’s about the development of character, and you can’t teach these things in a classroom — they are taught by living fully.”
Hyman said the school drew on the idea that it takes a village to raise a child, with students preparing food and eating together, going on hikes and cleaning up the school as part of daily life.
“So we try to live fully. We prepare food and eat together and we go on hikes together and we clean up the school together. Nothing about this school is radical. It would have been entirely unremarkable in ‘the village’,” he said.
The school uses a subject-specialist teaching model, where students are taught by different teachers for each subject rather than having one classroom teacher.
Its approach also includes one non-academic day per week featuring excursions and workshops, and communal meals where students help prepare and clean up shared kosher vegetarian food.
Beit Hillel said its Jewish education will be joyful and skills-based, with a focus on providing children with the confidence to lead vibrant Jewish lives. Hebrew is central to the curriculum, with the goal of empowering students to feel at home wherever they find themselves in the Jewish world.
The school is named after Rabbi Hillel, whose teachings the founders believe are particularly accessible to young people.
Hasenfratz emphasised that Beit Hillel aims to complement rather than compete with existing Jewish schools.
“We have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for our Jewish schools,” she said. “We feel like we are offering something that is genuinely different and genuinely not available in the community.”