School criticised over LGBT teaching gap

ANOTHER CHAREDI primary school has been told it is not complying with independent school regulations because it will not talk about LGBT people in class.

The Keser Girls’ School in Gateshead, rated good in three out of the four inspection categories, was told it “requires improvement” because it did not fulfil the conditions for good leadership and management.

The Keser Torah Boys’ School in Gateshead also fell down on its recent inspection over its avoidance of LGBT equality.

But the Ofsted inspections raise questions about the interpretation of educational guidelines, which were believed to exempt primary schools from having to mention same-sex relationships if they believed this was not appropriate for pupils at that age.

Pajes, the Jewish Leadership Council’s schools network, said it would be taking the matter up with Ofsted.

David Landau, chairman of Chinuch UK, the Charedi education group, said, “We feel every let down by Ofsted.”

The Ofsted report said that Keser Girls leaders “confirmed that the school would not be teaching pupils respect for those who are protected by the Equalities Act 2010 because of gender reassignment or sexual orientation.

“The impact of this action is that pupils will not be taught about gay, lesbian or transgender people during their time in school.”

Because they had “failed to ensure that all the independent school standards have been met, the school’s leadership requires improvement,” the inspectors reported.

This reduced girls’ understanding of “some types of bullying behaviour” — although generally they reported few cases of bullying.

The school had an “ambitious and carefully sculpted” curriculum, which was generally well taught and high pupil attendance reflected their clear enjoyment of school.

Meanwhile, an independent Charedi boys’ school in Stamford Hill was told it was failing to teach about “all of the protected characteristics” in equality law.

Although registered as an infant school, Bnei Zion Community School was currently taking pupils as old as 15.

Ofsted, which rated it inadequate, said it had more than 90 pupils, more than its official registration terms, which put the upper age limit at seven.

Although behaviour was outstanding, the school was rated inadequate in the other three inspection categories with poor English and weak secular education.