Leeds Menorah School

399 Street Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS17 6HQ

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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 Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is a good school

 Pupils make good progress in both the Jewish and the secular curricula. Their progress in learning to read and write in both English and Hebrew from a very early age is impressive.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. Their commitment to learning is exemplary. They engage in all activities with boundless enthusiasm.  The school’s care and welfare provision is outstanding in ensuring that pupils are safe. Pupils care well for their friends who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Teaching and assessment are good. Pupils benefit from well-planned individual activities to make good personal progress. The work of teaching assistants is very effective.  Leaders and managers reflect their faith by setting high expectations of academic progress and personal development. This enables the school to meet its aims.  Provision in the early years foundation stage (EYFS) ensures that children make good progress, both in

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This is a good school

the areas of the curriculum and particularly in learning to read and write in both English and Hebrew.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ progress in mathematics is not consistently good throughout the school.  Marking of pupils’ work does not give sufficient guidance on how to improve.  There is no common framework for recording and analysing pupils’ progress.

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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?

 Raise standards in mathematics so that more pupils leave the school having made at least good progress.  Ensure that pupils’ progress is assessed in a more consistent way to ensure that leaders and trustees have the most accurate overview of pupils’ progress.  Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring a consistent approach to marking which helps pupils to improve.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The proprietor has ensured that the school meets all the independent school standards.  The Leeds Menorah Trust, acting as the proprietor, supports and monitors the work of the school by holding leaders and managers to account for their actions. This trust links the school to the synagogue and ensures that the school’s aims are met. Parents praise the work of the trust.  Leaders and managers have developed a caring and supportive learning environment through their own example and inspired positive relationships throughout the school.  Leaders and managers have ensured that delegated funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and children in the EYFS is effectively applied. They ensure that pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are effectively supported to enjoy a full learning experience.  Leaders and managers are aware of the school’s strengths and areas for development. They have high

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

ambitions for everyone in the school.  The secular curriculum (Chol) fully meets the areas of learning specified in the independent school standards and provides pupils with appropriate experiences. In addition, pupils make progress towards the school’s aim of their becoming observant Jews through the religious studies (Kodesh) curriculum.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is effectively ensured through the school’s Kodesh curriculum and citizenship programme, which teach self-confidence and self-esteem through the many lessons of right and wrong to be found in the Bible.  The citizenship programme ensures an understanding of British values, such as the project to apply democratic principles to choose an improvement project for the school. The school helps pupils to understand the dangers of extremism. Pupils learn to respect members of all faiths and all cultural groups.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Leaders ensure the good quality of teaching and learning by regular monitoring and access to in-house development programmes.  The school is fully aware of pupils’ achievement by comparing starting points with current attainment levels. However, procedures from subject to subject are not consistent and may not be understood by, for example, a receiving school and do not give leaders and trustees the best overview of pupils’ progress. Leaders and managers have yet to consider a model of assessment without levels.  Leaders create and support an atmosphere of calm and respect for others which fills the school and results in pupils’ outstanding behaviour and mutual support.  Leaders and managers ensure that appropriate policy and practice provide for the welfare, health and safety of pupils.  The school is based in a modern well-equipped building. There is a wide range of facilities, including grass

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

and hard-surface outdoor space with activity equipment. Ample teaching rooms of various sizes are appropriate for the intended activities and the size of pupil groups.  The governance of the school The school has no governing board. The trustees are regularly in school and hold leaders and managers to account for the efficient running of the school. The trustees are aware of the school’s strengths and areas for development and ensure that the school is effective in meeting its stated aims.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The single central register fully meets the regulations. All staff and volunteers are included.  The school’s safeguarding policy meets requirements and is sent to all parents and prospective parents.  All staff have signed to confirm their reading of ‘Keeping children safe in education’.  Leaders and staff have a good awareness of how to ensure that pupils are kept safe. The designated

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

leader has current training at the appropriate levels in safeguarding procedures and has delivered training to all staff.  Pupils’ awareness of e-safety is promoted both at school and by parents at home.  Pupils are successfully guided to understand risks and report inappropriate behaviour.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The teachers of both the Kodesh and Chol curricula plan lessons appropriate to pupils’ prior attainment which enable them to make good progress. Teachers have little need to reinforce the need for concentration and commitment to learning because of pupils’ outstanding behaviour.  Pupils’ good progress is ensured because teachers create good relationships which successfully encourage pupils to have positive attitudes to learning.  Parents are very full of praise for the work of the school for their children. As one parent commented, ‘the key advantage is ‘individualisation; in small classes and sustained even when classes are put together’.  Teachers demonstrate good subject knowledge and use teaching styles which encourage pupils’ active participation and challenge them to succeed.  Teachers’ marking of pupils’ work lacks rigour. It consists largely of ticks and routine praise but does not challenge pupils to improve.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Teachers ensure that all pupils read accurately and often fluently, show good understanding and make reading a valuable part of their learning. They benefit from learning phonics and tackle more difficult blends with confidence.  Alongside progress in English, pupils are also taught successfully to make impressive progress in reading and writing Hebrew.  Pupils are developing the self-esteem and self-confidence to meet the challenge offered by their teachers. Much of the Kodesh curriculum involves chorusing, singing and relating stories. Teachers inspire their pupils to take part in these activities with great enthusiasm.  Parents receive a comprehensive annual report. The school contributes reports to all formal reviews, as necessary.  Teachers support pupils’ progress in literacy and numeracy across the curriculum by introducing key words and calculations into other subjects. The use of computing skills to support learning in other

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

subjects is also good. Children in the EYFS were learning Hebrew by matching letters on screen.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.  Pupils are safe in a very caring environment. They care for one another and for the adults who care for them.  Pupils are successfully guided to eat healthily. They understand the value of exercise and enjoy active ways to enjoy their breaks. They understand how to keep themselves safe and speak readily to adults about things which concern them.  There is very little bullying and any that does occur is always well managed by staff following the teachings of their faith.  Fire safety is ensured by good policy, regular evacuations, efficient provision of equipment and pupils’ awareness. First aid provision is administered by suitably trained adults. Activities both in and out of school are subject to risk assessment.  Pupils’ good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is supported by the expression of the

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Personal development and welfare

school’s founding principle of peace and harmony.  It is well supported by the school’s citizenship curriculum, which includes a wide range of activities, such as projects to consider and appreciate the many cultural groups living in Leeds and a project on human rights. Pupils show respect for people of all cultures, both in school and in the community.  Pupils recently held an election to support a project called ‘taking responsibility’, based on identifying and leading an imaginary improvement for the school.  The school provides pupils with experiences to ensure that they understand the role of public institutions such as the armed forces, the fire service and the police.  An understanding of right and wrong is an essential element of the Kodesh curriculum, and the impact of pupils’ learning is clearly visible in their relationships with adults and other pupils.  ‘Team of the month’ is celebrated in assembly by identifying pupils who have cared for others.

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Personal development and welfare

 In keeping with the belief that Judaism is not radical, the school contests any mention of extremism.  Pupils are well supervised at all times, in the classroom, in free time and at handover to and from their parents.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  Attendance is high. There are no persistent absentees and no unauthorised absence. Pupils come to school full of enthusiasm, many running across the playground to get there. A parent commented, ‘They are excited to come to school.’  Pupils approach the school day with infectious enthusiasm which permeates throughout all their activities.  Pupils respect all adults and other pupils, and work and play harmoniously together.  Their enthusiasm for learning makes a valuable contribution to the good progress they make.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils enter the school in the EYFS, mostly through the nursery. A small proportion have English as an additional language. Standards in the early learning goals reported at the end of the current Reception Year vary and represent good progress from the range of starting points.  From key stage 1, pupils make good progress in English, learning to read fluently and write with increasing accuracy. In English, by the end of key stage 2, all pupils make the nationally expected levels of progress and most exceed them.  Outcomes for pupils in mathematics vary and are not consistently good throughout the school. For example, half of the current Year 6 pupils have made progress which meets or exceeds national expectations. However, pupils in Year 4 have all exceeded expected progress levels.  All pupils make impressive progress in the Kodesh curriculum. They become fluent readers and writers of the Hebrew language and learn prayers, stories and songs, at least meeting the standards required for

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Outcomes for pupils are good

their age.  Pupils make good progress in other areas of the Chol curriculum through projects which include a number of subjects such as history, geography and science.  Literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT) contribute to learning across the Kodesh and Chol curricula.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make particularly good progress from their own starting points The most able pupils are challenged to be inquisitive and to extend their learning, for example by discussing the roots of both English and Hebrew words.  Pupils are preparing a play which tells a story from the history of their faith of the construction of the temple in the desert out of Egypt. Their performance is full of self-confidence and team-work as they support each other.  The school has successfully met its aims, as pupils are developing as committed members of the Jewish

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Outcomes for pupils are good

community and leave Leeds Menorah School equipped to benefit from the next stage in their lives. A parent commented that her son is ‘ready for secondary school’.

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Early years provision is good

 The school meets the national standards in respect of the early years.  Children enter the early years provision at a range of levels and include a small number with English as an additional language.  In 2016, the school has reported that children made expected progress, with half reaching a good level of development. This represents good progress from a wide range of starting points.  Leaders and managers have carried out formal checks of teaching.  Personal development, behaviour and welfare are outstanding in the early years provision. Children develop self-confidence through opportunities to learn independently.  The use of the outdoor area is very effective. Children play well together, develop friendships and experiment with new activities.  Children are making good progress in reading, writing and number. During the early years, they make good progress in reading and writing Hebrew as the basis for Kodesh, which will form a major part of

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Early years provision is good

their curriculum from Year 1.  Effective partnerships with parents are in place. Parents bring their children to school, engage with staff and praise the school’s work.

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School details

Unique reference number 108110 Inspection number 10012883 DfE registration number 383/6099 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. Type of school Orthodox Jewish School status Independent school Age range of pupils 3–16 years Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 29 Number of part time pupils 8 Proprietor Leeds Menorah School Tryst Chair Rabbi J Refson Headteacher Mrs E Refson Annual fees (day pupils) £5.000 Telephone number 0113 269 7709 Website n/a Email address jrefson@gmail.com Date of previous inspection 23–25 April 2013

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Information about this school

 Leeds Menorah School is an independent Jewish day school for boys and girls aged from three to 16 years of age.  Current pupils will attend the school until the end of Year 6 when most will go on to secondary schools in larger Jewish communities.  The school was established in 1978 and moved in 2004 to its present location adjacent to the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Synagogue.  There are 29 pupils on roll. There are 12 pupils in the EYFS who are supported by nursery funding.  Four pupils have English as an additional language.  The school no longer maintains a separate secondary school for girls, although there are cases of older pupils in the school following a primary curriculum.  The school’s aim is to produce educated and well-adjusted observant Jews who will become an integral part of, and contributors to, modern society.  The school was last inspected in April 2013.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out with one day’s notice.  The inspector checked the school’s compliance with the independent school standards.  He viewed the school’s policies, and examined schemes of work and other relevant documentation. He considered pupils’ assessment records, scrutinised a selection of pupils’ work and heard Year 1 pupils read.  The inspector observed lessons covering both the Kodesh (religious studies) and the Chol (secular) curricula in all age groups and activities and spoke with pupils during these observations.  The inspector observed assembly, Davening (prayer), and a rehearsal for the forthcoming play depicting a story from the history of the Jewish faith.  The inspector met with the proprietor, the headteacher, the head of the Chol curriculum and the teacher responsible for the EYFS.  The inspector analysed staff questionnaires. He also took account of a high level of response to Parent

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Information about this inspection

View, Ofsted’s online survey. He spoke with parents who brought their children to school.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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