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Second Charedi school in a week gets good Ofsted

Torah Vodaas boys' primary is praised for maths and 'outstanding' early years provision

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A second Charedi school in North-West London in a week has turned around its fortunes and received a good classification from Ofsted.

The independent Torah Vodaas primary boy’s school in Colindale was upgraded from a school that required improvement at its last inspection two years ago.

Last week the Beth Jacob Grammar School for Girls, ranked inadequate two years ago, achieved a “remarkable” transformation to earn a good rating from inspectors.

The achievement of pupils at Torah Vodaas had improved “significantly” since its last inspection with maths a particular strength, Ofsted said.

Out of the five inspection areas, four were good and one – provision for early years – was outstanding.

Pupils developed strong literacy skills, were well prepared for secondary school and did particularly well in design and technology.

The religious and secular curricula were well-balanced; pupils were “respectful” of differences in modern Britain, learning about other faiths and cultures and “different types of families”.

Contemporary issues such as Brexit  were discussed with “maturity”, inspectors found.

They were also complimentary about the standards of Hebrew comprehension, remarking that pupils transferred between English and Hebrew “with ease”.

The school was praised for its support of pupils with special educational needs.

However, a Chasidic school in Salford, which was required to make improvements by inspectors last year, is still failing to pass independent school standards.

In a return visit, Ofsted said the building of the Talmud Torah Yetev Lev, for boys from three to 12, which is run by the Satmar community,  was "not in a suitable state for the welfare and safety of pupils".

There were "still some holes in ceilings and walls, which may more easily allow the ingress of smoke throughout buildings," Ofsted reported. "In addition, door closures are missing from some fire doors and some ceiling tiles in certain classrooms are missing. One classroom had a broken electrical switch and the lighting for a staircase on the top floor of the building was not operational."

 

 

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