Gateshead | Imamother

amother

Khaki

Sun, Nov 01 2020, 1:56 am

My SIL went to new also a few friends of mine went to new. New is jewish studies in the morning and courses in nutrition, sheital macher and lots more in the afternoon. They say that new is less frum.

Old is learning all day in the morning shiurim and in the afternoon you learn with your chavrusa. They say that old is really serious and more frum however some girls are not serious with the chavrusha part and hang out while new is also attracting more frum girls like girls who are getting a Kollel live. My SIL went to new and she is a kollel wife so it gets also more frum there.

I can ask my friends and SIL for more since my husband's uncle has been the frum GP for many years in Gateshead I can also aks my DH cousins if they know anyone who is related to one of these sems.

amother

Saddlebrown

Sun, Nov 01 2020, 2:18 am

Old also has college courses in the afternoon. They started doing this a few years ago.

I think the main difference is that one is way bigger than the other and much older, therefore it has a brand name.

The new sem used to be more modern but now it's almost the same. Very good girls are going to either if the two.

The old is a little bit heavier and more serious but there are plenty of more modern girls who attend and feel very much in place.

amother

Blonde

Sun, Nov 01 2020, 2:43 am

Both are good seminaries. Old yes has the brand name and is the larger of the two. New has a much more practical bent which I think makes more sense in today's world. For those girls who think learning ramban inside is so important, then go to old. If you want to know how to navigate in today's world new has a much better syllabus. The focus is strongly on haskafa and practical lessons. The attitude is more, well there is this thing called internet and here's guidance for it, rather than internet is all bad and don't use it. They also have courses in the afternoons so the girls can train and learn some useful skills. Both have a range of girls. New had a more modern name a few years back but they have been much stricter with the intake and I don't think it's any different to old these days.
What is it you are looking for? If you explain more about the type of girl etc can maybe guide you better.

amother

Mauve

Sun, Nov 01 2020, 2:57 am

I went to New Sem 18 yrs ago so not sure if things have changed for now. The difference is the New has college courses in the afternoon and it's a smaller Sem it has 3 different buildings to navigate for shiurim to eating to sleeping. Old sem is in all one building and you have more chasidish type of girls there. The shiurim in the mornings are more like hashkafa way rather than textual. I didn't feel forceful to marry a kollel type man.

amother

Mint

Sun, Nov 01 2020, 3:27 am

I went to Gateshead Old (not too long ago) and I absolutely loved it - really gained a lot from my time there. It is definitely more text-based but there is a large focus on hashkafa as well, and while it is geared to the more studious, a girl who just wants to cruise through and enjoy life will manage to do that. This is largely because of the sem's attitude towards the students which treats them as adults and inculcates a sense of accountability - you have to do things because that's what you want your life to look like, not because some rabbanim told you to do that.
That being said, lately they have been adapting and becoming slightly more on top of girls' attendance and studying, because too many were simply flying under the radar. They've also started offering some A-levels and other secular studies qualifications, certified through Gateshead College.
My opinion is that if a girl really applies herself and recognises what she stands to gain, the sem can have a really positive impact on her, but you need a certain level of maturity that. Then again, I personally know many girls who didn't have this attitude in the beginning, but then absorbed the messages they were taught and really thrived.

amother

Sienna

Sun, Nov 01 2020, 3:59 am

amother [ Mint ] wrote:

I was there too and fully agree with everything this poster has written. I didn’t marry a kollel guy and knew before I went that I didn’t want to, but still felt in place in the sem. There are not many hard and fast rules- you are just expected to behave in a certain way and it works. There are more courses there now then there used to be. Exam results are only given out if you ask for them- if you choose to study and do well then good. Most girls do choose to do so. If you don’t, they may have a word with you but not force you either way. You can cruise through and take out of it what you wish, or really apply yourself and make the most of it. There are 400 girls there- you are bound to find like minded girls. I had a good time there.

amother

Beige

Sun, Nov 01 2020, 4:34 am

I was in the old sem 8 years ago.
Really loved it and I went as a totally non cookie cutter type girl. I didn't find it hard to make friends but by the third year it was more difficult as many like minded girls did not opt to stay.

The old sem is more catered to intellectual girls, whereas the new sem focuses on practical, more spoon fed hashkafa. Simpler girls go there, but no less frum than the old sem girls. I don't have strong textual skills and I needed help from other girls in sem, but thrived on the depth of the classes and the encouragement to think. Both sems have a huge diversity in frumkeit, nationalities etc. There's a strong heimish presence in the old sem and the girls there are more reserved, perhaps refined than the new sem.

As an example of the teaching style, we were never taught about kollel lifestyle or working Vs learning, it simply wasn't mentioned. All we learnt was the profundity, depth and fundamental nature of Torah. I remember my friend in the new sem telling me that they had a shiur on the pros and cons of living a kollel lifestyle - this is what I mean as practical, non intellectual but also helpful to that kind of girl.
As it happens, probably a higher proportion of old sem girls look for a boy who wants to stay in kollel but I think that's more because of the type of families who send there.

Neither sem is 'frummer' than the other. But also, I don't categorize long term learners and their wives as frummer than working families. And neither would the sem encourage that kind of black and white thinking.

dilego

Sun, Nov 01 2020, 7:43 am

They are both frumm sem the difference used to be more modern dressed and less so but there wherw superfrum yeshivish dressed girls in new. and the level of shiurim seems to be as described above old as more intellectual and less intellectual. But every year is a new class a new group comming in and new sem is smaller.R Katz used to teach us in old sem abt niflaos habria it was amazing shiurim I loved them. His books are based on these shuurim

amother

Tangerine

Sun, Nov 01 2020, 8:52 am

Dd just graduated from new sem.
Shiurim were fantastic and very practical. Focused more on hashkofo whole the old sem is more heavy and academic minded. It seems that there's more structure in the afternoon for courses in new sem where they organise it for you while in old they wpuld have to organise it themselves. Some have teaching jobs there in the afternoon.

Both sems are frum, new one seems more openminded I got the impression.
And some thrive in a smaller environment....

amother

Maroon

Sun, Nov 01 2020, 8:58 am

amother [ Blonde ] wrote:

not sure what you're trying to say, I was in the old sem a couple of years ago and actually grew up in gateshead. whilst old sem definitely does expect the girls to look at more texts inside, the purpose is for the hashkafa and to give the girls practical guidance in how to navigate life. its not just about learning ramban inside. thats a common misconception about the sem, that its all about learning sefarim and intellectual stuff and 'you have to marry a kolel boy' totally not. not once in my entire 3 years there did any rav tell us to marry a kolel boy. both sems are brilliant both have excellent rabanim who are approachable to the girls. the main difference is that new has a much more family atmosphere, its smaller the aim bayis comes to make sure your in lesson in the morning, there are madrichot. whilst in old, there are more girls. and they kind of leave you to your own devices. if you stay in bed all day unless your roommate or rep reports you the aim bayis wont come check on you unless your sick.