closeicon
Family & Education

Ofsted: Orthodox school must better prepare pupils for 'life in modern Britain'

Beis Ruchel d'Satmar will not teach about sexual orientation or gender reassignment

articlemain

A Chasidic girls’ secondary school in Salford which provides a good quality of education is the latest to find itself in hot water for not teaching about LGBT people.

Ofsted reported this week that Beis Ruchel d’Satmar offered a wide curriculum, produced strong GCSE results and teachers had increased girls’ expectations of learning since its previous inspection.

But owing to its religious convictions, it did not “help pupils to find out about the full variety of people in modern Britain”.

Ofsted said, “In accordance with the Orthodox Jewish community’s convictions and practice, the school does not teach about the full diversity of people…

“This includes avoiding reference to… sexual orientation, gender reassignment, civil partnership and some aspects of religion and faith.”

This limited “pupils’  knowledge and understanding of the range of relationships and religions in society. Leaders must ensure that pupils are better prepared for their lives in modern Britain.”

While inspectors identified educational gaps such as the limited opportunities for music, their main criticism was over the omission of LGBT-related issues.

Since the school was unable to provide them with “open access” to pupils, they added, “we were not able to be sure that we had been fully informed about their views and opinions”.

Last week, rabbis representing the UK’s main Charedi’s communities stated that schools should ensure that inspectors do not discuss “alternative lifestyles” with pupils.

Despite a “good rating” for quality of education and behaviour and attitude of pupils, Beis Ruchel was marked as a school that “requires improvement”.

Ofsted said it had been asked to visit by the DfE to advise on the school’s suitability to remain registered as an independent school.

Share via

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive