JFS, the country’s largest Jewish school, has been praised for the quality of its Jewish education by Pikuach, the Board of Deputies-run inspection service.

A report published today said that the school’s Jewish studies was good overall, with a number of outstanding features.

JFS head Jonathan Miller said, “We have high aspirations for all our students and this includes a wish that they make progress on their individual Jewish journeys. It is pleasing that the inspectors recognised that JFS provides a Jewish environment where students are able to make this progress.”

Inspectors found “a very positive and healthy climate for learning and students are in the main interested and engaged”.

Pupils’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development was outstanding, as was the curriculum and leadership of Jewish education at the school.

More than two thirds – 69 per cent – obtained an A* or A at GCSE religious studies.

Pikuach felt that this was “ a direct result of the Jewish studies department’s constant drive towards an upward trend in academic progress and achievement”.

The report is a morale boost for the school after Ofsted inspectors downgraded it from outstanding to one requiring improvement in summer – although a follow-up visit noted that the school had since made progress.

According to Pikuach, students “think deeply about their own and others’ experiences and try to relate them to a clear set of personal and Jewish values”.

But they felt that some students, particularly in the sixth form, could be achieving more in their Jewish education.

JFS chairman Michael Glass said that the report “highlights the high standard of Jewish education provision on offer at JFS. The judgements of the inspectors are a testament to the excellent opportunities that students enjoy.”