The Chief Rabbi and United Synagogue swung round in support of Kavanah, since Barkai wanted to permit such things as girls leyning from the Sefer Torah in female prayer groups and non-Orthodox rabbis speaking on interfaith and social action.
The case for a new school was based on predictions that there could be a shortfall of 135 places in five years, with existing Jewish schools unwilling to commit to expansion.
But there was a fresh twist as the year ended. Barkai’s application was rejected by the Department for Education partly because its proposed diet of Jewish studies and Hebrew — one fifth of the curriculum — was thought disproportionate. And the news was swiftly followed by a rejection for Kavanah as well. Most recently there was new talk of existing schools, such as JFS and JCoSS, adding a class or two in future to cope with rising demand — a possibility which could obviate the need for a new school.
The head teacher of JFS, Jonathan Miller, departed and his place was taken by Executive Head Debbie Lipkin. The school has weathered that storm, banishing the nightmare of its critical Ofsted report of two years ago when inspectors returned and pronounced it a good school with an outstanding sixth form. Its 17 Oxbridge places were the icing on the cake of another strong year’s exam performance.
Ofsted continued its pressure on independent Charedi schools felt to be shortchanging students by giving them too little secular studies. One Yiddish-speaking school in Stamford Hill was shut down earlier this year, while another failed to overturn an order preventing it taking new pupils until inspectors gave it a clean educational bill of health.
