A small independent school in Leeds is the latest to fall foul of Ofsted.

Leeds Menorah was downgraded from good to inadequate and told it was in breach of the Equality Act by avoiding LGBT issues because of religious objections.

The school, which has 31 boys and girls from three to 16, was also criticised over safeguarding and the quality of teaching.

Leeds Menorah, Ofsted said, did “not recognise gender reassignment or those who identify as non-heterosexual. This is a breach of the Equality Act 2010 and discriminates against pupils who may themselves be homosexual.”

It said the school did not teach pupils to respect all groups of people covered by the Equality Act - which includes sexual orientation and gender reassignment - as its leaders considered “this goes against their religious beliefs”.

Pupils take Jewish studies in the morning and secular subjects in the afternoon. 

But Ofsted said the shorter Friday afternoons in winter had impacted on secular studies and the quality of teaching had declined overall from the last inspection three years ago.

Until recently, staff had not received relevant safeguarding training, the inspectorate reported.