Ofsted repeatedly fails three Jewish schools that won’t teach about LGBT or non-Jewish people

Independent faith schools are continuing to operate despite repeatedly failing Ofsted inspections for refusing to teach about LGBT people or those of other faiths and beliefs. In reports published this month, three Charedi Jewish faith schools failed to meet the Independent School Standards because they do not prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. Humanists UK, which has long campaigned for a fully inclusive education system that treats all pupils equally, said the schools and their continued operation display a total disregard for the wellbeing of young people and make a mockery of the law.

All independent schools in England are required to comply with the Independent School Standards. These set out the basic standards that such schools are expected to meet in order to operate. Last year, Beis Trana Girls’ School in Hackney, East London, failed to meet these standards and received criticism from Ofsted for failing to teach secondary age pupils ‘about the different types of relationships that people may have and the legal rights of those with protected characteristics’ (which include sexual orientation, sex, and gender reassignment). Despite this damning verdict, during its most recent inspection in May this year, school leaders said they do not intend to teach pupils about different types of relationships or the rights and responsibilities that they have with regards to the different protected characteristics.

The report also noted that there is currently no sex education at Beis Trana as ‘all parents have chosen to withdraw their children’. This is a common practice in Charedi schools and there is evidence to suggest that it sometimes happens as a result of pressure being placed on parents by school staff.

In an Ofsted report on the Shiras Devorah High School in Finchley, inspectors found that, ‘Leaders continue to omit any encouragement of respect for other people in particular regard to the protected characteristics of sexual orientation, civil partnership or gender reassignment.’ They also noted, ‘in line with the school’s religious ethos and parents’ and carers’ wishes, no pupils are taught the required range of relationships education content.’ In its previous inspection, Shiras Devorah was also criticised for providing a curriculum that ‘did not enable pupils to develop tolerance and appreciation of other faiths, beliefs and cultures’. Although the new report says some ‘positive steps’ have been made on this issue, it states ‘there is still much to be done’.

In 2022, Bnei Zion Community School in Hackney had also failed to meet the Standards because pupils were ‘not taught about different types of relationships’ and ‘leaders [had] taken too long to decide what pupils should learn about religions other than their own.’ The latter issue had been picked up by Ofsted in 2016 but had still not been implemented six years later. The latest report from June this year states that new plans have been drawn up to ‘provide pupils with an age-appropriate understanding of different types of family structures in society, incorporating reference to the protected characteristics’. But, again, the plans are not being fully implemented and, despite now being taught ‘about some countries and religions other than their own… pupils in Year 6 struggled to remember anything more than the names of these religions.’

All three schools have failed multiple inspections, with Beis Trana not receiving a grade higher than ‘Requires Improvement’ since 2014 and Bnei Zion being rated ‘Inadequate’ in every inspection from 2016 onwards. Shiras Devorah opened in 2018 but has never received anything other than an ‘Inadequate’ grade.

Humanists UK Education Campaigns Manager Robert Cann commented:

‘It is deeply concerning that, despite their continued failure and, in some cases, outright refusal to comply with the basic legal standards required of independent schools, these schools are continuing to operate with impunity.

‘Some of the pupils attending these schools will be LGBT and all are growing up in a country that is made up of people of a wide variety of religions and non-religious worldviews. For this reason alone, any failure to teach about LGBT people or those with different beliefs does not just make a mockery of the law but displays a total disregard for the wellbeing of the children. We urge the Government to crack down on this wilful non-compliance and, if necessary, close down the offending schools for good.’