The inspection service Ofsted has admitted that it made a mistake in criticising a Chasidic primary school for omitting to teach about LGBT identity.
In a monitoring visit to Beis Rochel Mcr, an independent school in Salford linked to the Satmar community, the inspectorate noted that it did not “pay regard” to all of the groups protected under equality law “including the specific teaching of other religions, civil partnerships, sexual orientation or gender reassignment”.
The requirements of the relationships and sex education curriculum have proved a headache for many Charedi schools, which argue these contravene their religious ethos.
While primary schools are expected to teach children about different types of family set-up, schools have some discretion in deciding the appropriate age to introduce certain subjects and are not required to cover LGBT topics specifically until secondary education.
According to the inspection report, the school was not meeting independent school standards because “pupils do not learn about different kinds of families or puberty”.
The report went on to state: “The school ensures that the curriculum does not undermine fundamental British values. Pupils are taught to have mutual respect for their own and other cultures, faiths and beliefs.
“However, the school does not pay particular regard to all of the protected characteristics set out in the 2010 [Equality] Act, including the specific teaching of other religions, civil partnerships, sexual orientation or gender reassignment.”
When the JC questioned the reference to LGBT issues, Ofsted responded: “While all schools need to take care to ensure that there is no stigmatisation of children based on their home circumstances and must teach about different family make-ups, you are right that primary schools do not need to teach sexual orientation or gender reassignment, and we will amend the report to reflect that.
“This was an error in drafting the report and in no way impacted on the inspection outcome.”
More generally, inspectors noted that the school’s leadership had taken action to improve the curriculum in most subjects since its previous inspection, but children in early years had insufficient opportunities to reach a good standard of English.
The school has been approached for comment.
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