Hope for extra places at JCoSS in September

JCOSS MAY be in a position to offer additional places this autumn if it reaches its £4 million target to fund a new building in time.

The cross-communal secondary school in East Barnet is looking permanently to increase its annual year-7 intake from 180 to 210.

Headteacher Patrick Moriarty said he was ready to install temporary classrooms in September if necessary.

“We are still hopeful that we may be able to secure funding from either public or private sources to enable the expansion to proceed,” he said.

Demand is higher than ever with half of all the Jewish 11 year olds in the North London area putting JCoSS either first or second preference for September 2021, he said. “Conversations are ongoing and there is no certainly yet but we are ready to go if the decision can be made.”

JCoSS laid on a bulge class for 30 additional places in both 2017 and 2018.

According to projections from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research applications to state-aided Jewish secondary schools in North-West London should drop slightly from their predicated peak in 2020.