JFS has found a new home for its Israel residential programme for year-nine students.

The Alexander Muss High School (AMHSI) in Hod Hasharon in the centre of the country will host students  for the spring term next year.

JFS has run an Israel study scheme for more than 40 years. Its headteacher Rachel Fink went on it as a pupil when it was based at Givat Washington.

For the past 15 years, Kibbutz Lavi in northern Israel has been the venue.

But Jamie Peston, director of operations at JFS, said the school wanted to refresh the programme. “Kibbutz Lavi has been great but we are always looking to offer the best,” he said.

AMHSI’s Jewish education includes a strong component of Israeli geography, culture and history, “which is really important for us,” he said.

“Bearing in mind the more stringent GCSE syllabus, it was important the secular curriculum was delivered to as high a standard as possible.”

The school had experience of running programmes for American students, he said. It was close to Ra’anana, a popular destination for English-speaking immigrants, and a number of teachers had been trained in the UK.

Polly Hyams, AMHSI’s dean of students, is an oleh from Britain herself.

The programme will return to a full term, after having been cut to nine weeks as a cost-saving measure.

“Research we had done by the UJIA found there was correlation between the impact and the length of the course,” Mr Peston said.  “One of their recommendations was to make it longer, without making it more expensive.”

A maximum of 60 students, a fifth of the year group, are selected for the course. Bursaries are available for those unable to afford the full cost, which is estimated to be in the region of £6,500.