Keser Torah Boys' School

Gateshead Jewish Primary School 18–19 Gladstone Terrace, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE8 4EA

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is a good school

 The governors and joint headteachers have a high ambition to drive the school forward and provide a good-quality education for pupils within a caring and respectful atmosphere.  Governors work closely with school leaders at all levels and so have a good understanding of the day-to-day running of the school. Governors ensure that all the independent school standards are met.  The headteachers and deputy headteachers work closely with all staff to ensure that they are taking effective action to improve classroom practice and pupils’ learning.  Pupils enjoy their learning, they are eager to learn and respond well to the needs of others.  Parents, staff and pupils hold the school and the leaders of the school in high regard and value the broad curriculum that pupils receive.  Teaching is effective and improving. As a result, pupils achieve well across a range of subjects in both the Kodesh (religious curriculum) and the Chol

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This is a good school

(secular curriculum).  Pupils have a firm grasp of right from wrong. They appreciate the rule of law, respect for others and the value of democracy.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Governors and school leaders do not always use all the information available to them to evaluate precisely enough the school’s performance and the impact of their actions.  Where teaching does not engage and challenge pupils sufficiently, occasionally they can become distracted.  Teachers do not always move on the learning of the most-able pupils swiftly enough, particularly in mathematics.  Pupils have too few opportunities to apply their understanding and tolerance of people from other faiths, cultural traditions and family backgrounds.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further accelerate the progress that the most-able pupils make, especially in mathematics, by: – raising expectations of what pupils can be expected to achieve by the time they are ready for secondary school – providing more opportunities for pupils to master key concepts and apply their learning across a variety of subjects and contexts – sharing the best practice seen in classrooms more widely.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen pupils’ personal development by identifying further opportunities for pupils to meet and learn with people from different traditions and backgrounds from the local and wider community.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the information provided to governors enables them to hold school leaders more effectively to account by: – sharpening the focus of performance information more keenly on the progress that all pupils and all groups of pupils are making – ensuring that the information on the progress pupils make is linked more closely to the priorities for improvement, and informs the decisions governors make more directly.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The two headteachers and the governors are clear about their values, their ambition for the school and their commitment to improve further. They ensure that all the independent school standards are met and have a sharp focus on ensuring that pupils gain the skills, attitudes and knowledge to prepare them for their next steps in education.  School leaders at all levels check on the quality of classroom practice and provide feedback and advice to teachers on a regular basis. Where they identify practice to be poor, they provide additional support and take robust action when the situation does not improve. As a result, teaching continues to improve across the school. However, leaders do not ensure that the quality of questioning and challenge to the most-able pupils in mathematics is sufficiently robust to ensure that they all reach their full potential.  Clear expectations of behaviour established and insisted on by leaders mean that pupils conduct

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

themselves well around the school.  Governors make sure that all checks and tests of equipment to ensure that it is safe are carried out in a timely manner. They ensure that the school site is well kept and that access points to the site and the school building are secure.  Leaders have developed a thorough and comprehensive curriculum. They strike a balance between the secular and religious curriculum that supports the aims of the school and ensures that pupils are ready for the next stage of their education. Leaders have identified skills and attitudes that are developed across both aspects of the curriculum. In addition to personal and spiritual development, pupils engage in critical, analytical and reflective thinking. Opportunities to engage in physical education, dance, creative activities are well supported by after school clubs.  School leaders have a well-developed programme of learning focused on healthy lifestyles and staying

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

safe. Anti-bullying programmes provide insight into what constitutes bullying and how to resolve situations when they arise. Pupils are less secure in their understanding of the various forms that bullying can take.  Pupils sometimes learn about different cultural traditions and faiths, and British values are promoted and celebrated across the school. Leaders use the range of pupils’ cultural and nationality backgrounds in the school to help bring this to life. Pupils have a keen understanding of respect and tolerance, democracy and the rule of law. Opportunities to practise these values in everyday situations are, however, limited.  Parents and staff hold the school in extremely high regard. Overwhelmingly, they value the quality of education provided and have a resolute trust in the headteachers and governors.  The governance of the school: – Governors know the day-to-day life of the school well because they have a regular presence in the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

school and have regular discussions with the headteachers. They are ambitious for the school, highly committed and are reflective of their need to improve further. They are aware of the demands of meeting their statutory duties held within the compliance regulations and work hard with their local community to address and move forward any issues sensitively. They are aware of the need to continue to do so. – Governors evaluate the impact of the school, supported by regular feedback from school leaders. Where issues are identified they take swift action. Governors check that planned actions take place in a timely manner and review the standards that pupils and groups of pupils achieve. The governors compare how boys and girls are doing, as well as the progress made by pupils who have special educational needs or disability. The information they are provided with, however, sometimes lacks precision about how well all pupils progress from their various starting points. As a consequence, this

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

hinders governors from forming a fully comprehensive view on the impact of actions taken by school leaders.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders ensure that systems are in place and checked regularly. The school’s safeguarding policy is available on request and is used with teachers and staff as part of their induction training. Staff know what to do if they have a concern about a pupil. School leaders ensure that pupils are prospering in a safe and secure environment. They check that only suitable adults work with pupils and that information is held and recorded properly. Staff are trained to check for signs of abuse, and where this is evident they act promptly. The school engages well with other agencies to help keep pupils safe. They learn from serious incidents elsewhere and review their own practice in light of their own experiences. For example, an incident involving the evacuation of the boys’ wing has led to new

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

policies and procedures in the school and the introduction of a ‘grab bag’ of essential items to ensure pupil safety, should such a situation arise again.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Effective action taken by senior leaders ensures that the quality of teaching has improved over time. The vast majority of teaching ensures that most pupils make good progress and achieve high standards.  Staff work hard to establish positive relationships built on respect and trust. Pupils feel secure in seeking help when needed. As a result, pupils enjoy their learning, respond well to direction from staff and settle quickly in lessons.  Pupils say they are eager to come to school. In lessons across both Kodesh (religious curriculum) and Chol (secular curriculum), pupils are highly engaged and enthusiastic to learn. This is because teachers bring energy and eagerness to the subject matter at hand and are effective in sharing this with pupils.  The teaching of letters and the sounds that they make (phonics) is systematic, regular and accurate. This enables pupils to quickly become effective readers and writers. This approach is used well by pupils in

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Key Stage 1 to tackle new or difficult words. The use of phonics is less secure in older pupils.  Teachers use their assessments effectively to support their planning. Assessments ensure that teachers have a secure understanding of what pupils can and cannot do. Teachers generally use this information well on a daily basis to identify those that need additional support or higher levels of challenge.  Teachers use questioning well to establish pupils’ understanding and identify any misconceptions. Errors are quickly identified and pupils are supported well by teachers and classroom assistants to move on with their learning.  Good teaching has most impact where opportunities for learning match pupils’ needs. Rapid progress is made where opportunities to solve problems and apply learning and skills in a new context are offered. For example, opportunities for extended pieces of writing in history help pupils apply their literacy skills

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

beyond their English lessons.  The teaching of writing, grammar, punctuation and spelling, along with handwriting, ensures that pupils are increasingly confident in the written form. They write at length and take pride in their work. Recent improvement can be seen in pupils’ work, but school leaders are aware that an even sharper focus on handwriting is required for pupils to exceed current standards.  More-able pupils are generally challenged well to achieve a deeper understanding and lower-ability pupils are supported to develop their basic skills. However, this practice is not consistent across all lessons. As a consequence, the progress pupils make in mathematics is not as strong as that seen for other subjects, especially for the most-able pupils in Key Stage 2.  The quality of advice given to pupils about what they need to do to improve their work is well established and effectively supports pupils’ learning. However, it varies from class to class, especially in mathematics

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

in Key Stage 2, where opportunities to extend and deepen pupils’ thinking are underdeveloped.  Support and guidance provided by teaching assistants helps individuals and groups of pupils to make good progress. A system of one-to-one individualised support programmes, reviewed on a daily basis, ensures that pupils and staff have a detailed view of the progress pupils make.  Teaching is, at times, exciting and inspirational. For example, inspectors witnessed French and physical education lessons that were highly engaging, challenging and exciting, where pupils were developing a real passion for the subject matter.  Pupils’ reading books are well matched to their reading level and pupils use a range of strategies to successfully read and understand unfamiliar texts. Pupils enjoy reading and have a range of books from a number of reading schemes to choose from.  Homework set supports pupils’ learning and is set in a wider context of additional learning for pupils,

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

including additional classes on Sundays. Parents recognise the value of homework and feel well informed about with the progress their child is making.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils say they feel safe in the school. They understand how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, including when potentially using the internet. For those pupils that do have access to the internet at home, the school provides additional support to families to ensure that further safeguards are in place.  A strong curriculum focus on spiritual, social, moral and cultural development ensures that pupils are resilient, and have a strong ethos of respect and tolerance of differences. Pupils are well prepared to contribute as active citizens within their own community. Pupils are aware of and celebrate individual uniqueness and some cultural differences but have few planned opportunities to put this understanding into practice.  Pupils demonstrate a good understanding of how to keep healthy, for example they can talk confidently

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Personal development and welfare

about healthy eating and why it is important.  Parents who spoke with inspectors and those who responded to Ofsted’s questionnaire overwhelmingly agree that the school keeps their children safe, bullying is rare and that pupils’ behaviour is good.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  The school’s religious ethos, underpinned by being respectful and tolerant of individual differences, is reflected in the quality of relationships between staff and pupils. A friendly and calm atmosphere pervades classrooms and everyone has a clear understanding of the behaviours expected of them. As a result, pupils have the confidence to raise questions if they feel unsure. Pupils say they feel safe in classrooms and at playtimes.  Adults, including midday staff, say pupils are polite, and ready to say their pleases and thankyous. In addition, they are considerate of each other. They support each other in lessons and when moving around the school, often holding doors open for each other. Pupils move around school in a calm and orderly manner. As a result, they are ready to start lessons promptly and settle to their work quickly.  Pupils say bullying is rare and demonstrate a good understanding of what constitutes unacceptable

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Behaviour

behaviour. A systematic anti-bullying scheme provides a focus for discussion of what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. As a result, pupils are secure in their understanding of what hurtful and inappropriate actions they may come across in school and in their local community.  Silly or unsuitable behaviour in and around the school is rare. Offensive language is not tolerated and incidents, though extremely rare, are dealt with promptly.  In lessons, pupils have good attitudes to their work and concentrate well. On the occasions where the planned learning is not well matched to individual’s needs, pupils’ work is occasionally interrupted by others and pupils can become distracted.  The school tracks each pupil’s attendance and follows up on absences, particularly if it extends beyond one day. This helps keep pupils safe. They check where any pupil leaving the school goes next to ensure that they do not go missing from education. As a result, attendance is good and no pupils are persistently

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils make good progress from their various starting points because of a well-planned curriculum and good-quality teaching, supported by pupils’ good behaviour and attitudes to learning.  Pupils progress equally well across a range of subjects. Their knowledge and understanding is improving in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. As a result they achieve good levels of attainment by the end of each Key Stage. Attainment in mathematics, although good overall, is sometimes limited by the expectations of what the most-able pupils can go on to achieve. As a result, a very small proportion of pupils do not achieve the higher outcomes of which they are capable.  Pupils start the school in Year 1 and arrive with a variety of starting points, but the vast majority are in line with age-related expectations. By the time they complete Key Stage 1 pupils have made expected progress and many have made better than expected progress. As a result, pupils are well prepared for

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Outcomes for pupils are good

their next steps in the school.  School records and the evidence seen by inspectors show that pupils are achieving age-related expectations in phonics by the end of Year 1 and those that need to catch up do so by the end of Year 2.  In Key Stage 2, pupils build on the strong foundation established in Key Stage 1. By the time they leave the school at the end of Key Stage 2, pupils are increasingly operating above age-related expectations. Pupils who need to catch up have begun to do so. As a result, pupils are well prepared with the skills, attitudes and understanding to access the religious and secular curriculum in secondary school.  Pupils make progress across English and mathematics typical of that seen nationally. The vast majority make expected progress and many make better than expected progress. Their progress in reading is a particular strength.  In mathematics, teachers do not challenge and deepen some of the most-able pupils’ understanding

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Outcomes for pupils are good

sufficiently or ask them to apply their skills in a wide variety of subjects and contexts. As a consequence, a small number of the most-able pupils do not make the rapid progress of which they are capable.  The school receives funding for pupils in receipt of statements for special educational needs or disability. The progress made by all pupils who have special educational needs or disability reflects that seen by other pupils in the school. They have equal access to good-quality teaching and interventions in a range of subjects.  Assessment across the Kodesh (religious curriculum) shows that pupils, boys and girls, make rapid progress and most are operating above the prescribed expectations by the time they leave the school.

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School details

Unique reference number 108416 Inspection number 10010417 DfE registration number 3906004

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School details

Type of school Jewish Charedi School status Independent school Age range of pupils 5–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 509 Proprietor Committee of Gateshead Jewish Primary school Chair Rabbi Silkin Headteacher Rabbi E Schleider and Mrs R Springer Annual fees (day pupils) Contributions Telephone number 0191 477 2154/0191 478 5841 Website NA Email address info@gjps.org.uk Date of previous inspection 5 March 2013

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Information about this school

 Gateshead Jewish Primary School is a larger than average primary independent day school.  It was opened in 1953 and serves the Orthodox Jewish community in Gateshead.  In accordance with the schools’ educational and religious principles, the school is conducted on two sites that provide separate provision for girls and boys.  There is one board of governors that oversees both sets of provision.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school receives funding for a number of pupils who have special educational needs or disability.  The school is shaped on Torah (Old Testament/Jewish Law) principles.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held discussions with governors (proprietors) and headteachers from both sites to check that the independent school standards are being met. Discussions were also held with other school leaders and staff to establish how well the school was operating, meeting the needs of the pupils and ensuring that safeguarding is secure.  Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classrooms and watched how well pupils behave and learn. Joint observations were held with a headteacher and a deputy headteacher.  Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work, held meetings with pupils and listened to some read.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviours and interactions around the school, in lessons and at playtimes.  Inspectors met with some parents at the start of the school day and scrutinised the 267 responses to the Ofsted questionnaire for parents.  Inspectors considered the views expressed in questionnaires returned from staff.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team examined a wide range of school documentation including the school’s own self- evaluation, information on the performance of teachers and pupils, information shared with the governing body, information on safeguarding and other key policies.

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Inspection team

Jonathan Brown, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Christine Inkster Her Majesty’s Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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