Talmud Torah Tiferes Shlomo

Inspection of Talmud Torah Tiferes Shlomoh 1 Danescroft Avenue, London NW4 2NB

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to belong to this school. They told us they feel lucky to have teachers who know how to make lessons interesting and fun. This means they enjoy school a lot.

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What is it like to attend this school?

What really stands out at this school is pupils’ impeccable attitude to learning. They told us that they relish the opportunity to live up to teachers’ high expectations. Leaders give them the confidence to realise they can achieve anything they want.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn about and remember how people from different faiths and cultures have helped define the British way of life. This enables them to respect the beliefs and views of others. Leaders deliberately plan opportunities for pupils to broaden their experiences beyond their immediate neighbourhood and community. Pupils enjoy and remember the wide range of visits the school lays on. For example, pupils told us how much they had learned about life in the Royal Navy during a recent visit to HMS Belfast.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils told us they feel safe in school and that teachers deal effectively with bullying. They say this is rare but also know what to do if they feel concerned about how another pupil is treating them. Parents and carers agree that their children go to school happy and come home enthused by their day.

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better?

Senior leaders are ambitious, knowledgeable and effective. They have improved the school since its last inspection. They ensure that all the independent school standards are met. They have a plan for accessibility to the premises and to information.

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better?

Pupils achieve well and produce good-quality work across a range of subjects. They benefit from lessons in all the areas of study required by the independent school standards. The plans teachers use for most subjects explain what is to be taught clearly. These plans are set out in an order which helps pupils build up their knowledge and understanding.

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better?

Leaders make sure teachers check how well pupils are learning and remembering what they want them to know. For example, we saw pupils’ work in mathematics which shows how well they can remember and apply previously learned skills.

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better?

In Kodesh religious lessons teachers make sure pupils know enough to move on to more advanced studies. They help anyone who is finding this hard to catch up. In some other subjects, what leaders want pupils to learn is not as clear. Leaders have also recently completely revised the programmes of study for some subjects such as history. This means it is still too early for leaders to tell whether these revisions are improving the quality of pupils’ work. 11–13 February 2020

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Reading is taught systematically from the start of the Reception Year. Teachers understand the agreed approach to helping pupils learn phonics. Leaders make sure teachers have the necessary resources and training to ensure that their skills remain strong. This leads to pupils achieving well in reading. Those who need to catch up are being well supported to do so. Older pupils have good knowledge which helps them to understand what authors mean in their writing. Pupils enjoy characters in fiction such as Winston Smith in George Orwell’s ‘1984’.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) enjoy the same interesting and effective lessons as other pupils. Leaders keep a close eye on how teachers adapt activities so that these pupils produce high-quality work. Parents told us they really appreciate how far staff go to help their children enjoy school and achieve well.

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The early years leader checks that children learn to use a pencil comfortably and develop their handwriting. She involves parents in gathering examples to decide how well children are doing. There are very clear ways used to record and communicate children’s learning between staff and parents. The early years were the last to move into the new premises. Leaders are making up for the currently underdeveloped outdoor area by taking children out of school more. They have well-considered plans for further developing the premises and a suitable timescale to get this done by.

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Pupils enjoy their responsibilities and take them seriously. They feel they have a real say in decision-making. For example, older pupils have redesigned the breaktime table tennis rota to make sure everyone gets a fair chance to enjoy this activity. Leaders make sure pupils learn about how the law protects people with particular characteristics from discrimination. Pupils learn about different types of families and have links with a school that specialises in educating disabled pupils.

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Careers advice is impartial, skilfully sequenced and imaginatively put in place. For example, leaders used the recent redevelopment of the premises to introduce pupils to the wide range of careers in the construction industry. Teachers help pupils learn more about how to use the internet safely as they get older. Pupils learn how they give permission to website owners for the use of their personal data.

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Pupils behave well in lessons because they know teachers are on their side and take their views into account. In the early years behaviour is not over-managed, so children can be themselves and adults can learn from their ideas and views.

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Teachers feel well supported in their work. They appreciated it when leaders extended pupils’ breaktime from ten to 15 minutes. This helps with their workload and means pupils return to their next lesson more ready to learn.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 11–13 February 2020

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Leaders make sure pupils receive prompt help when concerns arise about their well- being. Leaders have a well organised and thorough overview of the safety of their new premises. Staff understand the way leaders train and support them to identify and report concerns.

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There are thorough arrangements in place to make sure everyone, including new staff, keep up with changes to statutory safeguarding guidance. Pupils and their parents are confident that leaders know how to keep everyone safe.

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Leaders know there may be gaps in the experiences and knowledge of pupils in keeping themselves safe. They make sure teachers carefully plan lessons to help fill these gaps.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Leaders have not identified what they want pupils to learn and by when precisely enough in some subjects. They have only very recently revised programmes of study in some subjects, such as history. It is too early to tell the impact this has had on pupils’ learning. Leaders should make sure programmes of study for all subjects identify exactly what pupils are expected to learn in each year group. They should continue to closely monitor the impact of these changes and ensure that they are leading to pupils learning and remembering more.  Leaders have not finished ensuring that the premises are used well to support pupils’ learning. For example, there are few effective opportunities for children in the early years to develop their skills outdoors. Leaders should ensure that their proposals to improve this provision are completed promptly.

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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 are the provider and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 11–13 February 2020

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School details

Unique reference number 131121 DfE registration number 302/6106

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School details

Inspection number 10092472 Type of school Other independent school

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School details

Date of previous inspection 31 October–2 November 2017

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Information about this school

 Talmud Torah Tiferes Shlomoh School is an independent Orthodox Jewish day school for boys.  The school is registered for pupils between the ages of three and 15 years.  The school moved to its new site at 1 Danescroft Avenue, London NW4 2NB on 4 November 2019.  The school does not use any off-site educational provision for pupils.  Pupils study Jewish religious studies (Kodesh) in Yiddish and pupils also learn Hebrew. The secular curriculum is taught in English. 11–13 February 2020

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 The school’s last full inspection was in November 2017, when it was judged to be inadequate.

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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 meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 We held discussions with the headteacher, the head of religious studies and the deputy headteacher.  We met with a representative of the school’s governing body.  We reviewed a wide range of documents related to safeguarding and risk assessment.  During this inspection we conducted deep dives into the subjects of reading, mathematics, history and personal, social, health and economic education.  We spoke with parents at the beginning of the school day and considered written responses to the online Parent View questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Andrew Wright, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jason Hughes Ofsted Inspector 11–13 February 2020

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to 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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