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Yesodey ‘raising its game’ , Ofsted says

But Chaedi school still falls short in not teaching about same-sex relationships

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Leaders of the Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ High School in Stamford Hill are taking “effective action” towards lifting it out of special measures imposed after it was graded inadequate by Ofsted three-and-a-half years ago.

In the fourth follow-up visit since that inspection, Ofsted said the school had “raised its game considerably” and continued to improve the curriculum.

Much had been done to develop science, including the introduction of biology.

“At present, human reproduction is not included but leaders intend to introduce this topic to pupils in a way that reflects the values of Orthodox Judaism,” inspectors reported.

Careers education had greatly improved and as a result of one enterprise initiative, many girls had started their own small businesses with the help of the school.

But there remained “sticking points”, Ofsted said, with girls doing some GCSE courses over three years rather than two. This, together with pupils taking some GCSEs early, restricted opportunities to deepen learning.

Although they were learning about different religious beliefs, they did not learn about all the categories of people covered in equality law. “Pupils are not taught about gender identity, or the legal rights given to LGBT people,” Ofsted said.

Inspectors had found redacted books in the library. Leaders said they did not have resources to replace all of these at the same time. Ofsted said the redacted books were removed on the second day of inspection.

The school was heavily criticised for censoring textbooks in the inspection three-and-a-half years ago.

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