Davening

The purpose of teaching Tefilloh (Prayers) at Beit Shvidler is to ensure that the pupils develop into long term Daveners (those who Pray) who feel a strong connection to Hashem through Davening.

The children, who at this stage in their lives have no obligation to Daven, should begin to engage with Tefilloh. They should understand whom we Daven to and what Davening is; thanks, praise, request and a chance to “touch base” with Hashem.

The children should develop an appreciation of how Davening evolved and was set into the Siddur as we have it today, and how our individual, private Tefillos should fit into this communal Davening. By sowing the knowledge of deep Mesorah (tradition) found in our Tefillos, we aim to instil a firm relevance of Tefilloh for today, tomorrow and beyond.

The children in KS1 Daven parts of Shacharis (morning prayers) every morning. Monday and Thursday we have whole school Davening assembly. The other days of the week the children Daven in their classroom.

KS2 Daven both Shacharis and Mincha (afternoon prayers) on a daily basis. Being mindful of the 20-minute slot dedicated to Shacharis it is not possible to Daven everything well each day. Teachers should choose a variety of Tefillos to Daven each day, ensuring that all Tefillos are said over the week.

The children learn the Tefillos of their year group, as per the syllabus. The first term of each academic year should be ensuring that prior learning is well embedded, with new Tefillos being taught from January. When teaching new Tefillos the emphasis is on the accurate and correct reading so that they Daven the Tefilloh correctly.

One element of teaching Davening is teaching the Tefillos, however this on its own will not achieve the goals of long term engaged Daveners. The children need to understand the structure of the Davening and the gist of the Tefillos they are saying.

To this end we have set aside one Davening slot each week for every class to focus on the meaning of the Tefillos, focusing on a different element of Shacharis, focusing on what Davening means to them and to Hashem. These sessions are known as “Tefilloh Talk”, allowing the children time to question, reflect and build their personal rapport with Tefilloh and Hashem. Tefilloh talk is largely discussion based; however, there is some written element to Tefilloh Talk, presented as a project, wall display or booklet.