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Jewish schools have lower than average pupil: teacher ratios

A majority of Jewish secondary and primary schools have a lower than average proportion of children per teacher

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Fewer than half of state-aided Jewish schools are paying the average salary for teaching in England, according to the latest available data from the Department for Education.
But the proportion of children per teacher is lower than the English average in the vast majority of Jewish schools.

Ten Jewish secondary schools had lower than the average of one teacher for every 16 pupils in the 2017-18 academic year —  the latest for which data is available — compared to three Jewish schools above the average.

At primary level, 30 Jewish schools had lower than the average of 20.9 children for every teacher, and just seven higher.

The schools with the lowest teacher:pupil ratio were Lubavitch Senior Girls in Hackney with 9.6 and Menorah High School for Girls with 10.9. Menorah — which is a Barnet school although actually located in Brent — was the sixth highest-ranking state school in England last year for progress  made by pupils from entry to GCSE.

The highest secondary ratios were Kantor King Solomon High School in Redbridge with 19.2 and King David High School in Liverpool with 17.8.

Among primary schools, Beit Shvidler in Barnet recorded the lowest proportion of children per teacher with 11.9, followed by Simon Marks in Hackney with 12.3 — compared with a national average of 20.9.

The two Jewish primaries with the highest ratio were Yesoiday Hatorah in Bury with 27.2 and Clore Tikva in Redbridge with 26.3. 

Pay averages vary according to region and the number of older, more experienced staff employed by a school.

While six Jewish secondary schools were paying above the national average of £39,762, seven were paying lower. 

Among Jewish primaries, 18 were paying above the national average of £38,697 and 19 below it.

King Solomon recorded the highest average for secondaries with £45,340, followed by Hasmonean with £44,952; while the lowest were Beis Yaakov in Salford with £31,923 and Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls in Hackney with £33,623.

In the primary sector, the average salary at South London’s only Jewish school, Mosaic in Wandsworth, was £47,602 and £46,334 at the Independent Jewish Day School in Barnet. IJDS was the top-performing Jewish school in last year’s Sats.

The lowest average salaries for teachers in primaries were £29,836 at Broughton Jewish Cassel-Fox in Salford and £34, 524 at Brodetsky in Leeds.

The secondary school which spent the most money per pupil was Yesodey Hatorah (£9,434) and primary, Simon Marks (£10, 415) — both schools have small intakes relative to their capacity. The lowest spenders were King David Liverpool with £5,298 and Beis Yaakov in Barnet with £4,005. 

Spending per pupil figures are not published by the DfE for free schools and academies.
 

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