Faith schools fail inspections for eight years running

The National Secular Society has called for government action after recent reports revealed two faith schools have failed inspections for eight years.

Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School and Beis Trana Girls' School, both Jewish independent schools in Hackney, London, were given an 'inadequate' rating by Ofsted in their latest inspections according to reports published yesterday.

Neither school has been judged to be of an acceptable standard since 2014.

In 2020 the NSS wrote to the education minister calling for the Department for Education to act on independent faith schools which consistently fail Ofsted inspections due to the imposition of religious ideology on the curriculum and management.

Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School

Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School, which teaches boys aged 5-13, has not been rated higher than 'inadequate' since 2014, when an emergency inspection was held due to "concerns about the provision made for pupils' welfare, the quality of the curriculum and teaching and pupils' progress".

In its most recent inspection in June, Ofsted found the majority of the school day is allocated to Jewish religious studies and is not taught in English.

The inspection report said school leaders "have not prioritised the secular curriculum sufficiently" and staff "do not have time to teach secular subjects in sufficient depth". As a result, pupils' knowledge in these subjects is "poor".

Some subjects in the secular curriculum are taught during religious education, but this has "very little structure or coherence".

Personal, social and health education (PSHE) is taught through religious education, and "tolerance of, and mutual respect for others are not encouraged" because pupils are taught "extremely limited" details about beliefs and cultures other than their own. School leaders "do not ensure that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain", inspectors said.

In relationships education, pupils are not taught that "others' families may look different from their own families". According to the report, leaders requested that inspectors "did not ask certain questions about relationships education", and a member of school staff was present whenever inspectors spoke with pupils.

Schools are required to promote equality and pupils' understanding of the protected characteristics which are outlined in law. But many Jewish schools fail to do so because they have religious objections to teaching about same-sex relationships.

Inspectors also found staff "do not develop pupils' English language skills well enough" and pupils "struggle to understand when lessons are taught in English".

Beis Trana Girls' School

Inspectors found pupils at Beis Trana Girls' School, who are aged 3 to 16, achieve "very few formal or recognised qualifications by the time they leave the school".

This "limits their readiness for the next stage of their education, employment or training".

The inspection, which took place in July, also found older pupils did not have access to a "wide enough range of information to make informed decisions" about their future careers.

Although school leaders had produced an "appropriate" policy and curriculum for relationships and sex education, this has not been fully implemented in the secondary phase of the school. Secondary-age pupils are not taught about "the different types of relationships that people may have and the legal rights of those with protected characteristics". Inspectors were asked not to speak with secondary-age pupils about this aspect of the curriculum, the report said.

Inspectors also found leaders "have not fulfilled their statutory safeguarding responsibilities relating to pupils leaving the school roll". This puts pupils at risk of going missing from education, including being illegally educated in an unregistered school.

NSS: Pupils' options outside religious communities "extremely limited"

NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: "It is of serious concern that failing independent faith schools are permitted to continue operating despite inspection after inspection finding little to no progress.

"Both schools have failed to meet standards for eight years because they prioritise religious ideology and inculcation ahead of children's education and wellbeing.

"As a result, pupils at these schools will find their options beyond the narrow confines of their religious communities extremely limited.

"All children, regardless of their religious or cultural background, should be entitled to an education that maximises their future opportunities and their individual potential. The Department for Education must ensure any school that is not prepared to do this cannot continue to operate."

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