Family & Education
JFS to fast-track offers of school places
But school is still undecided over whether it will have a bulge class this September
March 31, 2017 08:38
But school is still undecided over whether it will have a bulge class this September
March 31, 2017 08:38JFS is still not in a position to decide whether to offer an extra entry class in September 2017.
But the country’s largest Jewish school says that it has arranged with its local authority Brent to make offers more quickly.
Earlier this year the United Synagogue-backed school promised to increase its Year 7 intake from 300 to 330 this autumn if there were sufficient demand.
The cross-communal JCoSS has already added a bulge class of 30, increasing its entry from 180 to 210.
Along with other Jewish secondary schools in north-west London, JFS has been trying to gauge the number of children on waiting lists without a place at any Jewish school.
But while it had hoped to make a decision by the end of this month, a spokesman said: “There is no final indication of whether we’ll have a bulge class. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely”.
Demand will be freshly assessed next week following the second round of offers due to be made today.
Whereas in previous years, the third round of offers at JFS did not take place till around the end of April, it will now be brought forward to shortly after Pesach.
There is no central database where the number of children without a Jewish school place can be immediately counted. Children in that predicament will commonly appear on more than one school waiting list.
JFS announced plans this month to add two extra entry classes in 2018 to meet an expected rise in demand for places at Jewish secondary schools.