Another strictly Orthodox independent school has been heavily criticised by inspectors after its curriculum was found to be too narrow.
Talmud Torah Tiferes Shlomoh in Golders Green, which teaches 219 boys from three to 15, was ranked inadequate on all counts following a recent Ofsted visit.
The curriculum was narrow, inspectors said, mainly because the school’s aim was “to secure a place for every pupil at a yeshiva at the age of 15”.
As a result, they spend “most of the time in school learning Jewish studies. The rest of the school day involves pupils learning a very restricted set of secular subjects, resulting in inadequate achievement.”
They were also “not taught about… cyber-bullying and the potential dangers of the internet. Neither are they provided with drugs or sex and relationships education, or able to discuss issues around homophobic bullying.”
Nor were pupils informed about other cultures or religions or adequately prepared for life in modern Britain.
Oftsted said that boys, who spoke Yiddish as a first language, were hard-working and determined to do their best.
But they made "very slow progress" in reading, writing and maths and were "not systematically taught basic skills of spelling, punctuation or grammar". Reading English should be given the same priority as reading Hebrew.
More recently, students had been studying for a limited range of qualifications in English, maths and business studies and 78 per cent had obtained a grade C or above in GCSE maths.
The latest report appears further evidence of a tougher policy by the inspection service, particularly in bringing schools into line with requirements to promote “British values”. Five years ago the standard of education at Tiferes Shlomoh was rated good.
In March, the Talmud Torah Toldos Yakov Yosef school in Stamford Hill was judged inadequate by Ofsted, as was Getters Talmud Torah the previous month and a third school, Yetev Lev, run by the large Satmar sect, a few weeks earlier. A fourth school, Chaim Meirim, is fighting a closure order issued last year.
The state-aided Beis Yaakov High School for girls in Salford also received an “inadequate” inspection grade last year, prompting criticism from the National Association of Orthodox Jewish School at the approach taken by Ofsted towards religious schools.
Najos has complained that some of the inspectors’ questions, for example on same-sex relationships, were inappropriate for strictly Orthodox schools.
But Charedi schools have been able to come well out of inspections. One of Hackney’s largest Chasidic schools in Hackney, Talmud Torah Machzikei Hadass, which is run by the Belz community, was rated good by Ofsted at the end of last year.
