Getters Talmud Torah

School progress monitoring inspection report

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Getters Talmud Torah 86 Amhurst Park, London N16 5AR

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Main inspection findings

Part 1. Quality of education provided Paragraphs 2(1), 2(1)(a), 2(1)(b)(i), 2(1)(b)(ii), 2(2)(a), 2(2)(d), 2(2)(d)(ii), 2(2)(e), (2)(e)(ii), 2(2)(h), 2(2)(i), 3, 3(a), 3(b), 3(c), 3(d), 3(e), 3(f), 3(g), 3(i) and 4  The inspections in March and May 2016 identified many standards that were not met. The school drew up an action plan for improvement in response to the reports. This was evaluated in October 2016 and judged to require improvement. Insufficient information was provided to inspectors during this inspection to enable them to evaluate whether the standards were met. Therefore, the requirements for each paragraph, and in turn the standards, continue to remain unmet. Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils Paragraph 7, 7(a) and 7(b)  The inspections in March and May 2016 identified that the school did not carry out checks for teacher prohibition orders or retain any information about staff applications,

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Main inspection findings

employability history, disqualification by association, or medical checks. The action plan did not fully address these requirements. However, this inspection has confirmed that the school has completed the teacher prohibition order check for the one member of staff eligible, and now retains appropriate recruitment records. Nevertheless, scrutiny of the single central record of recruitment checks shows that leaders have not completed the prohibition orders checks for all staff involved in ‘teaching work’ or for those engaged in a ‘management role’ (also known as section 128 checks). These requirements relate to the Secretary of State’s most recent statutory guidance, ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE), September 2016, with which the school is not compliant.  The school’s child protection and safeguarding policy was reviewed and updated in December 2016. Although the school does not have a website, this policy and all other

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Main inspection findings

required policies are available from the school office upon request. The policy refers to the latest KCSIE guidance. The proprietor and two senior leaders completed specific update training relating to KCSIE on 30 November 2016. All staff received their updated KCSIE training on 27 December 2016.  The requirements for this paragraph are not met. Paragraph 16, 16(a) and 16(b)  The emergency inspection in May 2016 identified that, although the headteacher stated that risk assessments of the premises were undertaken daily, no written evidence for the assessments was submitted to inspectors. The action plan stated that all risk assessments are recorded in full. During the inspection, a small sample of risk assessments was examined. All showed that appropriate actions are taken to reduce risks and help ensure that pupils are kept safe. The requirement for this paragraph is now met.  Not all the requirements for this part are met.

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Main inspection findings

Part 4. Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors Paragraphs 18(1), 18(2)(b), 21(1), 21(3), 21(3)(a)(iii) and 21(3)(b)  The inspections in March and May 2016 identified that the school did not carry out checks for teacher prohibition orders when appointments for teaching posts were made. The action plan states that prohibition checks have now been undertaken with subsequent adjustments to the single central record of recruitment checks. This inspection has shown that the school has completed the teacher prohibition order check for the one member of staff eligible at the time of the last inspection. However, it has not completed the prohibition orders checks for all staff involved in ‘teaching work’ or those engaged in a ‘management role’ (also known as section 128 checks). These requirements relate to the Secretary of State’s most recent statutory guidance, ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE), September 2016. The requirements for this

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Main inspection findings

paragraph are unmet.  Not all the requirements for this part are met. Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools Paragraph 34(1), 34(1)(a), 34(1)(b) and 34(1)(c)  The proprietor and leaders have made little progress towards meeting the unmet independent school standards.  The headteacher was not able to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the school had made progress in addressing the unmet standards relating to Part 1, the quality of education provided. Therefore, the requirements for this part continue to be unmet.  Some aspects have been successfully addressed. They relate to pupils’ welfare, health and safety and the suitability of staff, supply staff and the proprietor. Overall, however, inspectors found that the requirements for these two parts remain unmet.  Insufficient information was provided to inspectors during this inspection to enable them to evaluate if leaders have good enough knowledge and understanding of their roles and

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Main inspection findings

responsibilities to ensure that pupils’ well-being is secured and promoted well.  Much work is still needed to ensure that all the requirements of the independent school standards are met consistently.  The requirements for this part are not met. Statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage  The inspections in March and May 2016 identified that the school did not comply with several requirements specified in the early years framework. The evaluation of the school’s action plan carried out in October 2016 stated that ‘the action plan makes no reference to this unmet requirement.’ During this inspection, insufficient information was provided for inspectors to enable them to evaluate this part. Therefore, the school continues to not comply with the requirements of the early years foundation stage.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school does not meet the requirements of the schedule to The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements that were checked during this inspection. This included the standards and requirements that the school was judged to not comply with at the previous inspection. Not all the standards and associated requirements were checked during this inspection.

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The school does not meet the following independent school standards

Standards that were not met at the previous inspection and remain unmet at this inspection  Ensure that a written policy on the curriculum, supported by appropriate plans and schemes of work, is drawn up and implemented effectively (paragraph 2(1), 2(1)(a)).  Ensure that the written policy, plans and schemes of work take into account the ages, aptitudes and needs of all pupils, including those pupils with an education, health and care plan (paragraph 2(1), 2(1)(b)(i)).  Ensure that the written policies, plans and schemes of work do not undermine the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs (paragraph 2(1), 2(1)(b)(ii)).  Ensure that the written policies, plans and schemes of work give pupils experience in linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, human and social, physical and aesthetic

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The school does not meet the following independent school standards

and creative education (paragraph 2(1), 2(2)(a)).  Ensure that the written policies, plans and schemes of work provide personal, social, health and economic education which encourages respect for other people, paying regard to the protected characteristics set out in the Equalities Act 2010 (paragraph 2(1), 2(2)(d), 2(2)(d)(ii)).  Ensure that the curriculum includes appropriate careers guidance for pupils receiving secondary education, access to accurate, up-to-date careers guidance that enables them to make informed choices about a broad range of career options (paragraph 2(1), 2(2)(e), 2(2)(e)(ii)).  Ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to learn and make progress (paragraph 2(1), 2(2)(h)).  Ensure that all pupils are prepared effectively for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in British society (paragraph 2(1), 2(2)(i)).  Ensure that teaching enables pupils to acquire new knowledge and make good progress

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The school does not meet the following independent school standards

according to their ability so that they increase their understanding and develop their skills in the subjects taught (paragraph 3, 3(a)).  Ensure that teaching fosters in pupils self-motivation, the application of intellectual, physical and creative effort, interest in their work and the ability to think and learn for themselves (paragraph 3, 3(b)).  Ensure that teaching involves well-planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time (paragraph 3, 3(c)).  Ensure that teaching shows a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainments of the pupils, and ensures that these are taken into account in the planning of lessons (paragraph 3, 3(d)).  Ensure that teaching demonstrates good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter being taught (paragraph 3, 3(e)).  Ensure that teaching utilises effectively classroom resources of a good quality, quantity

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The school does not meet the following independent school standards

and range (paragraph 3, 3(f)).  Ensure that a framework is in place to assess pupils’ work regularly and thoroughly, and that information from that assessment is used to plan teaching so that pupils can progress (paragraph 3, 3(g)).  Ensure that teaching does not undermine the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs (paragraph 3, 3(i)).  Ensure that a framework for pupil performance to be evaluated, by reference to the school’s own aims as provided to parents or national norms, or to both, is in place (paragraph 4).  Ensure that arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school, and that such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State (paragraph 7, 7(a) and 7(b)).  Ensure that no member of staff carries out work, or intends to carry out work, at the

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The school does not meet the following independent school standards

school in contravention of a prohibition order, an interim prohibition order, or any direction made under section 128 of the 2008 Act or section 142 of the 2002 Act, or any disqualification, prohibition or restriction which takes effect as if contained in either such direction, including the date on which each such check was completed (paragraph 18(1), 18(2), 18(2)(b)).  Ensure that the proprietor keeps a register which shows that a check was made to establish whether each member of staff is subject to any direction made under section 128 of the 2008 Act or section 142 of the 2002 Act or any disqualification, prohibition or restriction which takes effect as if contained in such a direction (paragraph 21(1), 21(3), 21(3)(a)(iii) and 21(3)(b)).  Ensure that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent

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The school does not meet the following independent school standards

school standards are met consistently, fulfil their responsibilities effectively and actively promote the well-being of pupils (paragraph 34(1), 34(1)(a), 34(1)(b) and 34(1)(c)).

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The school now meets the following independent school standards

 Ensure that the welfare of pupils at the school is safeguarded and promoted by the drawing up and effective implementation of a risk assessment policy; and appropriate action is taken to reduce risks that are identified (paragraph 16, 16(a), 16(b)).

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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 Orthodox Jewish primary school

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School Details

Annual fees (day pupils) No fees charged

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School Details

Date of previous standard inspection 9−11 December 2014

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Information about this school

 Getters Talmud Torah is an independent, strictly orthodox Jewish day school for boys.  The three core values upon which the school was established, and continues to operate, are its unconditional adherence to the Torah, the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) and the Mesorah (Received Tradition of Education).  The Kodesh (Jewish) studies are taught in Yiddish. Chol (secular) studies are taught in English. The headteacher reported that from 9 January 2017, parents had decided that their children would receive their Chol education at home and only attend Kodesh lessons in school.  The school is open six days a week, Sunday to Friday afternoon, for 43 weeks per year. The Chol curriculum is available for all classes for up to three and a half hours per day. All other teaching time is devoted to the Kodesh curriculum.  There are 35 children in the early years. They are in two classes and are taught mainly in

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Information about this school

Yiddish. All children attend full time and none is in receipt of public funding.  There are no pupils with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care (EHC) plan. A very small minority of pupils have been identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities.  The school was last inspected in December 2014 when its overall effectiveness was judged as inadequate. Since then, the school has received two progress monitoring inspections, in September 2015 and March 2016. In May 2016, the school received an unannounced emergency visit. All three inspections judged that the independent school standards were not met. The school drew up an action plan for improvement in response to the reports. This was evaluated in October 2016 and judged to require improvement.  The school does not make use of any off-site training.  The school does not have a website but parents can obtain all the required policies from

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Information about this school

the school office.  There were no responses to the Ofsted online survey (Parent View).

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out at the request of the registration authority for independent schools. The purpose of the inspection was to monitor the progress the school has made in meeting the independent school standards and other requirements that it was judged not to comply with at its previous inspection.  The inspection was carried out without notice.  The inspectors were asked to report against the requirements contained within Parts 1, 3, 4 and 8 of the independent school standards.  This is the third progress monitoring inspection to judge whether the school has met all the independent school standards.  During this inspection, the headteacher did not cooperate fully with requests made by the inspectors, for instance in relation to the conducting of interviews with staff and pupils.  The head of Chol was not available until late afternoon, and the headteacher indicated that this member of staff held all the documentation relating to the Chol curriculum.

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Information about this inspection

Therefore, as insufficient evidence was provided for inspectors, they were unable to assess progress in relation to the unmet standards in Part 1.  The headteacher informed inspectors that he would only be available until 1.00pm, due to a prior travel commitment. Inspectors were only able to review and scrutinise key documents and policies, including the single central record of employment checks and those related to safeguarding and child protection, and the unmet standards highlighted in Parts 3 and 4.  The school requested that the inspection be deferred, which was not granted.

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Inspection team

David Scott, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Janet Hallett 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

Parent View 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 visitwww.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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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