Yesodey Hatorah School

Inspection of Yesodey Hatorah School 2–4 Amhurst Park, Hackney, London N16 5AE

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and all adults have high expectations of pupils and want them to succeed. Skilled teachers have strong subject knowledge and use their training well. Teachers plan interesting activities for pupils and produce high-quality resources. Leaders communicate effectively with parents and carers so that they can support their child’s learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoyed the whole-school projects about South Africa and Ireland. Teachers planned these carefully, combining history, geography, art and culture. In the South Africa week, pupils learned about the indigenous people and art of South Africa as well as the history of apartheid and Nelson Mandela. However, in some subjects, the range of topics covered is not broad enough.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Pupils and staff are enthusiastic about the new behaviour points system. Pupils understand it and it motivates them to think about their behaviour and improve it.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that bullying sometimes happens, but they often confuse this with arguments over football or other disagreements. Records indicate that bullying is rare. Leaders take effective action if it does happen. Pupils are happy and safe. They develop strong relationships with adults and each other. Pupils work well together in classes.

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better?

Although girls and boys are segregated for all lessons and social activities contrary to the Equality Act 2010, leaders have improved the school since the previous inspection. Leaders from the boys’ and girls’ sections of the school now work together more closely than in the past to plan subjects. There is an energy and sense of purpose throughout the school. Leaders say they will continue to work together after the boys’ and girls’ sections begin to operate as two separate registered schools. Leaders’ plans to register the boys’ and girls’ sections of the school as two separate single-sex schools are well advanced.

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better?

Phonics teaching in Reception and Years 1 and 2 is effective. Leaders have visited other schools to see best practice, and use it in this school. Teachers have strong subject knowledge and plan lively activities for pupils. Pupils learn to read confidently. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get help to keep up. Adults listen to pupils read regularly.

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better?

Staff use their strong links with parents to support pupils’ reading. Pupils are given different sounds to practise each week. Leaders have made sure that parents know how to pronounce the letter combinations.

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better?

Pupils in Reception and Years 1 and 2 develop a love of reading. These pupils have access to a wide range of reading books. Staff make themed book corners, such as 5–7 November 2019

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‘the rainforest’ and ‘a bakery’, to capture pupils’ imagination and interest. The range of fiction narrows as pupils move up through the school. Boys in the secondary school and key stage 2 struggle to name the texts they are reading. The library lacks a wide range of modern and classic fiction for older pupils. Pupils’ achievement in reading is below average at the end of Year 6.

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Pupils do better in mathematics. Teachers structure work so that pupils can build on what they already know. This is not the case in all subjects. In history, in addition to Jewish history, pupils study only the World Wars and their aftermath during the twentieth century from Year 6 upwards. They do not cover a wide range of historical contexts.

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In the senior school, the range of subjects remains too narrow. Consequently, pupils cannot gain the GCSE qualifications they need for further study. In 2019, pupils took up to five GCSEs, including biblical Hebrew. There were very few entries for English and not all pupils took mathematics. Science and geography are only taught in Years 7 and 8. The careers programme for secondary pupils is improving. Pupils contribute well to discussions in classes. Leaders make sure that teachers know how to support pupils with SEND to access subjects. They make sure that information about a pupil is transferred when pupils move from one section of the school to another.

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The Kodesh (religious education) curriculum provides for pupils’ spiritual and moral development. For example, pupils can recall the story of Abraham and Sarah, reflecting on their faith and questions about right and wrong. Pupils learn to develop empathy and can think about what the story means for their own lives. Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to learning. Teachers plan a wide range of trips and visits, including to the London Wildlife Trust and local museums. Pupils perform plays for elderly people.

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Leaders offer citizenship education in the senior school and current affairs sessions in the primary school. Pupils learn about democracy, manifestos and elections through their own pupil parliament. In Reception, children learn about the royal family and the Mayor of London. Pupils, including in Reception, learn about different cultures. They learn about religious dress and to respect other faiths.

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Leaders have not ensured that the school meets all the independent school standards. Pupils are not taught about the full range of protected characteristics, even in the GCSE citizenship course where it is part of the examination board specification. Leaders claim that they do meet the standards. They say they teach about respect in a general way. They said that pupils learn about different sorts of families. Leaders described single parent families and families headed by a mother with a grandmother as examples. These examples are not sufficient to demonstrate that pupils know about all the protected characteristics.

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The school complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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Governors want to make sure that pupils are prepared for life in modern Britain, but within their own faith. Governors recognised these weaknesses in the breadth of the 5–7 November 2019

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curriculum and the GCSE offer. They have taken action to improve leadership and teaching and to extend the range of subjects. Governors have appointed more specialist subject teachers.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff have regular training and know what to do if they are concerned about a pupil. Leaders take effective action to support pupils in need of help. They communicate with external agencies and follow up any actions. Leaders’ record-keeping is well organised and thorough. Governors are trained and oversee safeguarding effectively. Pupils say they feel safe and learn how to stay safe through assemblies and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education classes. Older pupils know how to stay safe online.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 In the senior school, the range of subjects is limited. Leaders have started to address this, and the range of GCSE courses is growing, but it is not yet broad enough. As a result, pupils do not gain the qualifications they need to prepare them for further study and employment. Leaders should ensure that pupils study and take examinations in a broad range of GCSE subjects.  There is also narrowing within subjects. Pupils do not cover a wide range of topics and contexts in science, citizenship and history. For example, pupils studying GCSE citizenship should be able to study the complete specification. Pupils do not gain the knowledge and understanding they need for academic success. Leaders should have high expectations for pupils’ learning in each subject area. The curriculum planning for each subject should be as ambitious as the aims listed in the national curriculum.  Pupils, particularly in the boys’ section, do not read a wide range of books. This

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

means that pupils do not develop a love of reading and practise reading. This restricts pupils’ opportunities to gain knowledge across the curriculum. Leaders should ensure that all pupils read a broad range of literature, fiction and non- fiction. This should include modern and classic fiction.  Leaders should ensure that respect for all groups of people is actively promoted, paying particular regard to all the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010.  Leaders should follow up the final remaining issues, with the Department for Education (DfE), so that the boys’ and girls’ sections can be registered and begin to operate as two single-sex schools. This will ensure that the school is compliant with the Equality Act 2010, by ceasing the unlawful segregation of pupils by sex. 5–7 November 2019

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 5–7 November 2019

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School details

Unique reference number 100287 DfE registration number 204/6072

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School details

Inspection number 10125100 Type of school Other independent school

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6–8 November 2018

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Information about this school

 Yesodey Hatorah School is an independent Orthodox Jewish day school in the London Borough of Hackney. The school caters for boys aged five to 16 and girls aged five to 11.  The school’s last standard inspection took place in November 2018, when the school was judged to require improvement. Independent school standards in parts 1, 2 and 8 were unmet. The school had a progress monitoring inspection in June 2019, when some of the unmet standards were met.  The school operates a policy of segregation by sex across the early years, key stage 1 and key stage 2 because girls are taught separately from boys. Boys do not have access to the library facilities in the girls’ section and girls do not have access to the facilities in the new building. Girls and boys do not have 5–7 November 2019

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opportunities to learn together in classes or socialise with each other at breaktime and lunchtime. The policy constitutes direct discrimination contrary to the Equality Act 2010. Leaders’ plans to register the boys’ and girls’ sections of the school as two separate single-sex schools are well advanced but had not been finalised at the time of the inspection.  A new headteacher for the boys’ primary school and a headteacher for the boys’ senior school have recently been appointed.  The boys’ school site has an entrance on Amhurst Park at the school’s registered address. The girls’ school site has an entrance at 153 Stamford Hill, Hackney. The senior boys’ school uses Sobell Leisure Centre in Islington for physical education.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection 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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Information about this inspection

The school has failed to meet the independent school standards. These are the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 I held a telephone conversation with the headteacher and the school’s consultant regarding the quality of education. We held additional discussions on site with the headteachers of the boys’ and girls’ primary sections, the boys’ senior school and other senior and subject leaders.  We focused deeply on reading, mathematics, PSHE education and history. We visited classes, looked at pupils’ work, met with pupils and held discussions with teachers and subject leaders.  We met with safeguarding leaders and scrutinised case files and the school’s record of pre-employment checks on staff. We talked to pupils about how safe they feel. I held a telephone conversation with the Hackney designated officer for safeguarding.  I met with four members of the governing body, including the chair of governors, representing the proprietor.  We reviewed a range of documentation, including curriculum plans, teaching

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Information about this inspection

resources and records of safeguarding and behaviour.  Governors ensured that we could talk to pupils about an agreed range of topics. These topics were: subjects; behaviour; bullying; the wider curriculum; safeguarding and reading. We also asked pupils about careers in the senior school. We did not talk to pupils about the protected characteristics. 5–7 November 2019

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Inspection team

Janet Hallett, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Alison Moore Ofsted Inspector 5–7 November 2019

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

 2(2) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(1)(a), the matters are: – 2(2)(d) personal, social, health and economic education which: – 2(2)(d)(ii) encourages respect for other people, paying particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the 2010 Act.  3 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that the teaching at the school: – 3(j) does not discriminate against pupils contrary to Part 6 of the 2010 Act.

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Part 2. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils

 5 The standard about the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at the school is met if the proprietor: – 5(b) ensures that principles are actively promoted which: – 5(b)(vi) encourage respect for other people, paying particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the 2010 Act.

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

 34(1) The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school: – 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently; – 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently. 5–7 November 2019

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