Stamford Hill schools fails LGBT standard

AN INDEPENDENT Chasidic school in Stamford Hill has been rapped by Ofsted for refusing to teach LGBT issues.

Yesodey Hatorah, which teaches nearly 700 boys and girls from five to 16, maintained that it did not have to talk about sexual orientation or gender reassignment because it did not consider students old enough.

But Ofsted rejected the argument and said the omission meant the school failed to meet the necessary independent school standards.

Yesodey Hatorah was rated as a school that “requires improvement” when inspected last year.

In a follow-up inspection this year, Ofsted stated that the school now ensured children developed respect for other faiths.

It also noted improvements in teaching about diversity such as looking at apartheid, migration and democracy in South Africa and politics in Ireland. However, the inspectorate said the school believed certain equality issues were required to be taught “only to the extent that it is considered age-appropriate.

“Since leaders and parents do not consider that making pupils aware of gender reassignment and sexual orientation is age-appropriate, they believe that the school meets the requirements.”

The school was also told last year it was in breach of equality law for teaching boys and girls separately. As a result, it is applying officially to split into two schools.

The independent Yesodey Hatorah is different from the state-aided Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School in Stamford Hill.

Ofsted rejected the school’s argument’