The new president of the prestigious Cambridge Union debating society is trying to decide what will be harder: a term as Union president, or being the head of a Noam camp for the first time this summer.

“Probably Union president,” decides Joel Fenster. “I’ve only been at Cambridge two years — at Noam I feel like everyone gets 10 years of training to be a rosh (leader).”

The photos have been taken, the memories made. The bags are now strewn across the floor. Voices have been lost, friendships formed. There have been tears and thrills, smiles and sing-songs, even a smidgen of Jewish education. The holidays are coming to an end for another year, and with them the summer camps and tours that have become a staple of the Anglo-Jewish calendar.

GCSE revision and preparations for Israel tour would be enough to keep most Jewish teenagers busy over the next few months, but Yolanda Shamash will also be starring in an opera in Germany.

The 15-year-old from Palmers Green is to share the part of Flora in the opera version of Henry James's ghost story The Turn of the Screw.

The opera, written by Benjamin Britten, is being staged in the 1,3

Many youth movements will be showing more of their feminine side this year.

Habonim Dror, Noam Masorti Youth and BBYO are being led by women, while two other movements have scrapped the single director system in favour of leadership teams.

The new directors include two philosophy graduates, two former Cambridge students and an ex-university level netball player.

Participants on gap year schemes in Israel could find that their time abroad helps them win a university place.

Students can boost their Ucas tariff points by 70 points – equivalent to an A grade at AS Level – by earning a Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (Cope).

A coalition of communal organisations has launched a 10-week mini-gap year experience to attract those giving up the traditional gap year in Israel to start university before the rise in tuition fees.

Youth movements are concerned that those trying to beat the increased fees of up to £9,000 annually, effective from 2012, will miss out on the gap year experience.