Three primaries join new academy trust

THREE ORTHODOX primary schools in London have agreed to come under a single administrative umbrella in the first consolidation of its kind within the Jewish community.

Sacks Morasha in Finchley, Moriah in Pinner and Wolfson Hillel in Southgate will be the first schools run by a new multi-academy trust (MAT) backed by the United Synagogue.

While each school will retain its independence with its own governing body and admission rules, the MAT framework will enable greater co-operation.

The Jewish Community Academy Trust (JCAT), to be formally launched this year, will be a “huge milestone in our community’s Jewish education,” said US president Michael Goldstein.

“Whether through sharing successful models of strategic implementation, bringing about cost efficiencies, or providing staff development opportunities, the new MAT will take some of the best schools in the UK and help them to become even better,” he said.

The headteachers and chairmen of governors of the three schools told parents in a letter: “By working together, individual schools can be far stronger than by working alone”. They expect more schools to join in time.

The trustees of the JCAT will be appointed by the Chief Rabbi, the US, and Joshua Rowe, chairman of Manchester’s King David Schools.

As voluntary-aided schools, Sacks Morasha, Wolfson Hillel and Moriah are currently under local authority control but will enjoy greater independence as part of a MAT set-up.

Each school will continue to set its own level of voluntary contributions from parents for Jewish studies.

The government has been keen to encourage the creation of MATs rather than local council-run schools. Pressure on budgets has also prompted schools to explore greater efficiency.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis hailed “an historic opportunity to shape the future of Jewish education”.

Yavneh College in Hertfordshire has already set up a MAT which encompasses its neighbouring primary school.

Other Jewish schools are considering the MAT option.

Moriah has called in an interim head, Paul Dodd, to run it in the absence of headteacher Ruth Gafson. “I am certainly not replacing her,” he told parents. “I wish her well and hope she makes a speedy recovery.”