DfE registers school criticised by Ofsted

THE DEPARTMENT has registered a new Chasidic primary school for girls in Salford despite Ofsted criticism that it wanted to avoid teaching about LGBT equality.

Inspectors said in a pre-registration visit to Beis Rochel d’Satmar Mcr in July that it would be unlikely to meet all independent school standards when it opens.

The school, which will serve the conservative Satmar Chasidic community, had a suitable curriculum policy in place, Ofsted said.

Its anti-bullying policy was also “fit for purpose” and included a reference to homophobic bullying.

But Ofsted found fault with the personal, social, health and economic (PHSE) education curriculum, saying that “leaders judged that it was inappropriate to provide lessons for any year group in the school dealing with matters relating to gender reassignment or sexual orientation”.

The inspectorate’s assessment appears to fly in the face of Department for Education policy following the publication of revised guidelines for independent schools earlier this year, which indicated that schools could decide at what age it was appropriate to talk about people in samesex relationships.

In separate guidance for parents on relationships and sex education, the Department for Education also stated: “Primary schools are enabled and encouraged to cover LGBT content if they consider it age appropriate to do so, but there is no specific requirement for this.”

The DfE told the JC that it had decided to register Beis Rochel Mcr after receiving “supplementary information” from the school, although it did not go into detail. The school also declined to discuss what information it had provided.

Another new Chasidic girls’ primary in Salford, Bnos Margulis Viznitz, however, encountered no problems when Ofsted came to visit.

The inspectorate said the school, which teaches Jewish studies in Yiddish and secular subjects in English, was likely to meet all independent school standards.

Ofsted said, “Leaders have not shied away from planning to teach pupils about potentially sensitive issues in age-appropriate ways. For example, lessons are planned to cover anti-bullying, different types of family relationships and gender stereotyping.”

The school planned to teach tolerance and respect for others, and all “relevant policies refer explicitly to all the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act” (which include sexual orientation and gender reassignment).

In the meantime, the DfE has made clear that institutions that teach only religious subjects fall outside the official definition of a school and, therefore, the inspection regime.

A poster recently appeared in Stamford Hill announcing the opening of a new “primary school” as a “homeschooling club”.

But the DfE said that it was still intent on extending the law to cover “all education settings which are attended full-time by children of compulsory school age, meaning those which only teach religious studies will have to register as schools”.

Leaders have not shied away from planning to teach about sensitive subjects’