The Lubavitch Multi-Academy Trust will merge classes next term to cut costs.

In each of the girls’ and the boys’ primary schools, there will be two rather than three classes for years 3,4 and 5, with one class serving year 3 and some of 4, and another for the rest of 4 and 5.

The trust’s interim chief executive Geoff Hadlow, informing parents of the departure of two teachers, said it was because of “budgetary constraints”.

But he said “great care” would be taken to minimise disruption for the children and their learning. “Our chol [secular study] teachers are provided with ample planning, preparation and assessment time in comparison to national norms. Therefore, the standards of teaching and learning will remain good,” he said.

Interim primary headteacher Steven Isaacs will run numeracy and literacy classes in the afternoons for year-3 boys.

The trust had a deficit of nearly £1.5 million in 2019 and was warned earlier this year by the agency that funds academies to put its finances in order..