Our world reverberates with change and we know that our children’s world will be very different from ours. Yet it is our responsibility, as parents and educators, to prepare them for it.

The reality of today’s world forces us to stop and think – to re-evaluate what is important in life and what it is that we want for our children. Indeed, what is the purpose of education?

More than any one single thing, we aspire to educate for ‘menschlichkeit’. We want each child in our care to grow to be a knowledgeable, ethical, responsible and caring human being.

Being a ‘mensch’ involves knowing how to deal thoughtfully with people and situations, developing strong values grounded in tradition and history, and valuing other people – their emotions, ideas and concerns. We must, therefore, conceive of education as dealing with all the needs of a child – intellectual and emotional as well as ethical and spiritual.

Education, at its best, engages students, encourages deep thinking and allows them to recognise that the making of mistakes is part of life and that these mistakes are opportunities for further learning.

The Talmud tells us that the great value of study is that study leads to action. Our imperative is to teach our children to know, to want to know, to hope, to care and, ultimately, to affect. Parents and educators are partners in this sacred endeavour.