Morasha buys site for school

The Morasha Jewish Primary has acquired the former Barnet College site in Stanhope Road, North Finchley, for its new premises and hopes to move in later this year, subject to the completion of refurbishment.

Once the school moves, it will be renamed the Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary, honouring Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, "who has done so much for the development and expansion of Jewish education and

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Kisharon centres could shut in service revamp

Learning disability charity Kisharon could close day centres in Hackney and Golders Green to facilitate users' greater integration within the mainstream community.

Kisharon chief executive Bev Jacobson said the charity had been given around a year by Hackney Council to examine ways the services offered by the Stamford Hill day centres could be provided by alternative means.

Councils in north

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Noam's fans in high places

Education Secretary Michael Gove, London Mayor Boris Johnson and Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks sent admiring messages to the annual gala dinner of the Noam Primary School.

Contributing to the dinner brochure, Mr Gove wrote that the Wembley-based school's "unique approach to teaching a combined secular and religious curriculum has clearly paid off as the most recent excellent SATs results have shown".

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Mill Hill school wins extra approval

Barnet planners have once again approved a proposal for permanent premises for the Etz Chaim Jewish Primary in Mill Hill after a procedural failure by the council invalidated the original application.

However, the enforced delay means that the free school is unlikely to open on the new site in September as intended, and will have to remain in its temporary accommodation until a "more probable"

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Hasmonean gives highest value in DfE league tables

From September, pupils at the Hasmonean High in north-west London can take GCSE Chinese.

It is as an example of the forward thinking that is paying dividends at the Orthodox school, the top Jewish secondary in terms of academic progress made by pupils from 11-to-16, according to new Department for Education performance tables.

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Special-needs pupil barred from Israel trip

The father of a 14-year-old King Solomon High School pupil with moderate learning disabilities is "bitterly disappointed" that she is not being allowed to join the Redbridge school's Israel trip.

But King Solomon teachers maintain the girl is unsuited to a mainstream school and have "health and safety" concerns about her going on the Israel tour in May of next year.

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Leeds high school is in demand

Evidence of community support for the proposed Leeds Jewish secondary school was apparent in a turnout of 150 for a consultation meeting on Tuesday.

The campaign for a 210-place secondary suffered a setback last year when the Department for Education rejected an earlier application for a school to be established on the Brodetsky Jewish Primary campus in Alwoodley.

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Finchley free school planning on 2013 opening

Supporters of a new cross-communal Jewish primary in Finchley intend to apply to the Department for Education next month to open it as a free school in 2013.

"We look like we're making good progress," reported Matt Plen, director of the Assembly of Masorti Synagogues and one of the steering group of parents.

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JCoSS alters entry policy following oversubscription

The Jewish Community Secondary School (JCoSS) in Barnet is changing its admission rules to give applicants from outside the borough a better chance of a place.

Explaining the change, due to come into effect for 2013, JCoSS head Jeremy Stowe-Lindner said: "The rationale is that we are increasingly very heavily oversubscribed.

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Golders Green free school is set for synagogue site

The steering committee for the Golders Green Jewish Primary School is in advanced negotiations with the United Synagogue to use land at the back of Golders Green Synagogue for its premises.

GGJPS, one of the government's free schools, will open its reception class in September.

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Schools taking a disciplined stance

Secondary schools are finding varying methods of maintaining discipline in the classroom and playground.

The Hasmonean schools in north-west London operate a zero-tolerance policy towards violent behaviour, with immediate exclusion, even in instances of "play fighting". Boys' school head Andrew McClusky said the threat of suspension had proved an important deterrent.

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Debate over teaching the Holocaust in UK schools

One of the leading figures in Holocaust education has challenged a former education minister after he called for an end to teaching about the Nazis in British classrooms.

Lord Baker of Dorking, who developed the National Curriculum during his three-year stint as Margaret Thatcher's education secretary, told the Telegraph that the study of Nazism should be banned from the curriculum.

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Setback for Yavneh primary

Yavneh College's plans to open a primary section in September have received a setback after Hertfordshire Council said that it could not provide funding this year.

The proposed two-form entry school has been seen as vital to meet the demand for Jewish primary school places in outer north-west London.

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