Leeds Menorah School

Leeds Menorah School 399 Street Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS17 6HQ

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders and trustees have not ensured that all the independent school standards and safeguarding requirements have been met.  Recruitment checks for managers and leaders had not been completed and recorded.  Safeguarding is not effective. The safeguarding policy does not meet requirements. Staff have not received adequate safeguarding training. At the time of the inspection, risk assessments were incomplete.  The quality of teaching and learning has declined overall. This is because leaders, managers and governors have not carried out sufficient checks since the last inspection.  The school does not address all protected characteristics, in breach of the Equality Act 2010.  The school has no planned careers guidance programme for secondary pupils.  Staff have inconsistent levels of knowledge and understanding about the curriculum they are teaching. This limits the progress pupils could make if teaching were stronger, particularly in

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

the secular curriculum.  The school’s admissions register is incomplete.  School leaders, governors and trustees have not made adequate provision for the welfare needs of the children and pupils in the school.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Children and pupils make better progress in the early years and in key stage 1 than in other key stages.  Pupils’ behaviour is good and pupils say they enjoy coming to school.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school must take action to meet the requirements of the schedule to The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 and associated requirements. The details are listed in the full report.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Take effective and urgent action to safeguard pupils’ welfare by: – ensuring that all staff complete missed safeguarding training so that they fully understand the requirements of Keeping Children Safe in Education 2018 and the ‘Prevent’ duty (training in protecting children from radicalisation) – putting in place a medical room which meets the requirements of the independent school standards – making sure that all aspects of the early years safeguarding and welfare requirements are met by improving the quality of safeguarding practice across the school – updating the school’s safeguarding policy so that it reflects the requirements of the latest government guidance – making sure that the school’s admissions register is completed by ensuring that pupils’ destinations are recorded when they leave school – making sure that leaders and those involved in recruitment have completed training on how to thoroughly vet and check the suitability of new staff to work with children

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– carrying out the required checks on whether leaders and managers have been barred under section 128 of the 2008 Education and Skills Act – ensuring that a risk assessment policy is in place which is followed by all staff when completing risk assessments for school trips.  As a matter of urgency, improve the quality of leadership and management requirements by: – ensuring that pupils are taught to have a clear understanding of all aspects of the protected characteristics as defined by part 3 of the Equality Act 2010 – closely monitoring the quality of teaching and learning to ensure that staff plan learning effectively and have a clear knowledge of the subject that they are teaching – increase the role the trustee plays in holding other senior leaders to account and developing a vision for the school.  Improve the quality of teaching and learning and outcomes for pupils by: – improving the subject knowledge of some staff so that science and English can be

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

taught more effectively – ensuring that staff set work for older pupils that challenges most-able pupils to make the progress they are capable of, particularly in English and science – further developing and refining the system for assessing pupils’ progress so that pupils’ progress across the school can be more accurately measured – increasing staff expectations of the quantity of work that older pupils produce.  The proprietor must ensure that all of the independent school standards are met, as set out in the annex to this report.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The leadership is inadequate because leaders have not ensured that standards have been maintained since the last full inspection. As a result, the quality of teaching is poor in places and safeguarding is ineffective.  Senior leaders do not have a clear vision for moving the school forward and have not developed a system to evaluate the school’s performance against external measures. The school has no overall plan for improvement in place.  Senior leaders lack knowledge and understanding of the importance of carrying out checks to ensure that standards are met. A further issue was leaders’ understanding of the urgency required to put things right. For example, at the time of the inspection, the school did not have a medical room which met the requirements of the independent school standards. Leaders were aware of the need for a medical room to be in place but had not ensured that a suitable space was identified and resourced.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Similarly, the admissions register was incomplete as the destinations of pupils who had left recently were not recorded.  The headteacher carries out some monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning and is knowledgeable about where the quality of teaching and pupils’ learning are the strongest. Despite this, no action has been taken to improve teaching in areas where it is weakest, and pupils’ progress is slower than it should be.  The school is registered for pupils in key stage 3 and key stage 4. However, currently, only a small group of pupils are in key stage 3. School leaders have not put in place provision for careers advice and education for this group of pupils. Leaders are now aware of the need to do so but no formal plans are in place to meet this standard.  The school teaches both a secular and a Kodesh curriculum. Pupils are taught the Kodesh curriculum in the morning and the secular curriculum in the afternoon. Although leaders

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

have ensured that all required elements of the independent school curriculum are covered, the amount of time available for developing secular subjects is reduced, particularly in the winter, when Friday afternoon lessons are reduced in length. This, at times, impacts on the quality of learning in the secular curriculum, particularly lower down the school.  Overall, the curriculum enables pupils to experience some aspects of what is required for the effective preparation for life in modern Britain. For example, through discussions within the classroom in Kodesh classes and through studying projects on democracy, pupils learn how the democratic process works in modern Britain. However, pupils do not currently have sufficient opportunity to learn about public institutions and services. For example, pupils do not visit the library or the local council chambers. Senior leaders are aware of the need to ensure that pupils have more opportunity to engage with these

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

services but activities have not been planned.  Staff say they enjoy working at the school. They say that leaders show kind and caring attitudes towards their needs and ensure a work-life balance.  Parents and carers who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were all highly positive about the school. All were of the view that the school ensured that their children were safe and received a good education.

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Governance

 The school does not have a board of governors. The school has one trustee, who is also the proprietor. This model reduces the capacity of governance to hold leaders to account.  The trustee visits the school frequently and is responsible for several areas of the independent school standards, including areas where there are unmet standards. However, he does not hold the headteacher or deputy headteacher to account effectively for pupils’ progress or the quality of teaching and learning.  School leaders, including the trustee, have not ensured that all aspects of the independent school standards which refer to the protected characteristics have been met. For example, school leaders feel they are unable to discuss transgender issues and homosexuality with pupils for religious reasons. Leaders and the trustee are determined to make radical improvement to the school in order to ensure that all standards are met.

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Governance

Before the end of the inspection, key staff had been allocated roles and responsibilities designed to bring about improvement as soon as possible.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.  Over time, leaders have not ensured that staff understand safeguarding legislation. For example, the designated safeguarding leader (DSL) for the school had not carried out any of their required update training for the past three years until their very recent attendance at refresher training.  Staff had also not, until very recently, received relevant safeguarding training. This three- year gap in their training meant they had little understanding of current legislation or documentation from this period. At the time of the inspection, staff had just received some safeguarding training delivered by the DSL after his recent attendance at refresher training. This training focused on recent developments in safeguarding but did not properly address the other important changes in safeguarding practice that have been introduced in the past. The gaps in understanding of both staff and leaders have

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Safeguarding

contributed directly to the lack of effectiveness of safeguarding and limited the school’s ability to keep children safe.  Leaders and staff have not undertaken safer recruitment training. As a result, the quality of recruitment practices and evidence in staff files did not consistently meet requirements. For example, references were not in place in some files. This has placed pupils at risk.  The safeguarding policy is available to parents through an email link sent when pupils start school. However, during this inspection, the policy was found to be out of date and did not make mention of current legislation. The DSL reworked the policy so that, by the end of the inspection, it was closer to current requirements but still required further amendments.  The single central register was incomplete at the start of the inspection. Checks on whether leaders and managers had been barred from leading and managing schools had

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Safeguarding

not been carried out. Despite efforts made by the school during inspection, the register remained incomplete at the end of the inspection.  Risk assessments completed by staff for school trips were incomplete. Many did not assess specific risks and often relied too heavily on generic risk assessments provided by the settings visited.  The safeguarding and welfare requirements in the early years are not met because this stage was covered by the inadequate safeguarding practices and policies for the whole of the school.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Teaching and learning are inconsistent across the school. Staff do not always use the time available effectively and planned learning does not always match pupils’ needs. This is reflected in the inconsistent progress seen in pupils’ books.  Leaders do not acknowledge the existence of all protected characteristics and do not teach pupils to respect people of all protected characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. Leaders consider that this goes against their religious beliefs. In particular, the school does not recognise gender reassignment or those who identify as non- heterosexual. This is a breach of the Equality Act 2010 and discriminates against pupils who may themselves be homosexual.  Pupils overall make stronger progress in mathematics than in English and science. This is because teaching in mathematics is more clearly focused on meeting the needs of pupils. For example, pupils in key stages 2 and 3 were observed working on individual

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

programmes in mathematics which challenged the most able well.  Progress in English and science is weaker than in mathematics, particularly for older pupils. This is because staff subject knowledge is less secure and work set reflects this. Pupils in key stage 1 develop a love of reading and enjoy reading a variety of different books. Reading is developed effectively further up the school, although pupils are not always offered a wide enough range of books. For example, there were few modern non- Jewish texts available for pupils to read and enjoy.  The Kodesh curriculum is taught in the morning and pupils spoken to said that they enjoy learning Hebrew in this way. Observations of pupils working on the Hebrew alphabet in key stage 1 showed the strong progress made in moving from individual letters to introducing vowel sounds.  Teachers of both the Kodesh and secular curriculum are kind and caring. Pupils respond

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

well to their gentle, positive approach and demonstrate good attitudes to learning.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  School leaders have not ensured that safeguarding requirements have been met. As a result, leaders have not always ensured that pupils’ welfare needs have been taken fully into consideration.  During the inspection, many pupils readily spoke to the inspector, demonstrating confident and happy attitudes. All said they enjoyed coming to school and, in particular, enjoyed learning. Pupils spoken to showed mature attitudes to others in society and were keen to point out that the Torah promoted respect for all.  Pupils also commented that, on occasions, bullying behaviour can happen and that it is wrong. They were clear about what to do if it should ever happen to them. Other pupils said that there is no bullying in school because pupils ‘care about each other’.  This mature and positive attitude demonstrates clearly that pupils’ self-esteem and self-

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils show good attitudes to learning. They are very keen to begin school each morning, arriving with fresh-faced enthusiasm to start learning. The positive and helpful attitudes they show towards each other and to visitors also reflect positive behaviour.  Pupils move around the school calmly. They line up after break with little fuss and are keen to get back into school to learn. Lessons are calm, and pupils rarely disturb others’ learning. Younger pupils are equally calm and learn how to behave by the good example given by older pupils.  Pupils’ attendance overall is in line with that of other primary schools nationally. Absence levels are low.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Pupils make inconsistent progress from their starting points. This is because staff do not always have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve in the time available.  Pupils complete examples of national tests but not at the same time as other pupils nationally. Tests are marked by staff but results are not reviewed alongside others nationally in key stage 1 and key stage 2. This lack of national age-related comparisons for older pupils means that staff are not always aware that some pupils are behind others of a similar age and are unaware of gaps in their knowledge. As a result, standards in the books of older pupils are lower than could be expected for pupils of their age. Pupils in key stage 1 make stronger progress overall than other pupils further up the school. This is because work is more carefully planned around their individual needs.  Currently, there is only a small number of pupils in key stage 3. As they do not receive

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

careers guidance and the progress that they make is not as good as it should be, they are not well prepared for a move to the next phase in their education.

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Early years provision Inadequate

 The early years provision is inadequate because safeguarding procedures are not secure within the school. Some aspects of children’s welfare specific to the early years, for example the ratios of staff to children, are compliant in the Nursery and Reception.  Children in Nursery and Reception, observed during the inspection, related well to all adults. They settle quickly into the caring and nurturing environment of the early years, separating from their parents calmly each morning without a second thought.  Children follow the Kodesh curriculum in the Nursery in the mornings alongside Reception children. Opportunities to learn are well organised. For example, children were sorting feathers and beads to illustrate the importance of separating milk from meat.  Children in the Reception class learn the letters in the Hebrew alphabet through a phonics approach. They also learn English phonics in the afternoons, when they learn through the

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Early years provision Inadequate

secular early years curriculum. The early years lead is aware of the pressure to complete the requirements of the early years areas for learning in the time available and is working with the early years staff to identify areas where the Kodesh and early years curriculum overlap.  Despite the tightness of time available to teach the secular curriculum, last year, nearly all children achieved the early learning goals at the end of their Reception Year. This ensures that they make a smooth transition to Year 1.  Staff record the progress children make on small notes in the classroom which are then transferred to pupils’ files. The early years lead has a strong understanding of the early years requirements and has already delivered training to staff. As a result, the quality of assessment and recording by staff is effective.  The leadership and management of the children’s learning and development are good.

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Early years provision Inadequate

Senior leaders work closely with staff to ensure that children get off to a strong start. Parents spoken to support the work of staff and feel the quality of teaching and learning and children’s outcomes are very good.

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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

Annual fees (day pupils) £2,000 or donations

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School details

Website The school does not have a website

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19–21 July 2016

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Information about this school

 The school was last inspected in July 2016.  Since the last inspection, an early years coordinator has been appointed.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school has a Jewish ethos and teaches the Kodesh curriculum in the morning and a secular curriculum in the afternoon.  The school teaches pupils in two groups for some of the secular curriculum. Pupils and children in the Reception Year, Year 1 and Year 2 are taught together. Pupils in Years 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are also taught together for some subjects.  The school has been established for over 40 years with the same proprietor and headteacher.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector carried out a range of activities, including a tour of the school building to check the school’s compliance with the independent school standards, observing in lessons and looking at pupils’ books.  Meetings and discussions were held with members of the leadership team, members of staff, the chair of trustees and a group of pupils.  The inspector carried out an analysis of all documents required for the school to meet the independent school standards. These included the school’s curriculum policy, safeguarding documentation, health and safety documents and the school’s complaints policy.  The inspectors also took into account the feedback given by more than 24 parents who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.

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Inspection team

Marian Thomas, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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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[9]; – 2(2)(e) for pupils receiving secondary education, access to accurate, up-to-date careers guidance that- – 2(2)(e)(i) is presented in an impartial manner; – 2(2)(e)(ii) enables them to make informed choices about a broad range of career options; and – 2(2)(e)(iii) helps to encourage them to fulfil their potential;  3 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that the teaching at the school- – 3(c) involves well planned lessons and effective teaching methods, activities and management of class time; – 3(d) 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;

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

– 3(e) demonstrates good knowledge and understanding of the subject matter being taught; – 3(j) does not discriminate against pupils contrary to Part 6 of the 2010 Act[10].

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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)(iv) enable pupils to acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England; – 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 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils

 7 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that- – 7(a) arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school; and – 7(b) such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.  15 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that an admission and attendance register is maintained in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006[13].  16 The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that- – 16(a) the welfare of pupils at the school is safeguarded and promoted by the drawing up and effective implementation of a written risk assessment policy; and – 16(b) appropriate action is taken to reduce risks that are identified.

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Part 4. Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors

 18(2) The standard in this paragraph is met if- – 18(2)(b) no such person carries out work, or intends to carry out work, at the 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;  21(1) The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor keeps a register which shows such of the information referred to in sub-paragraphs (3) to (7) as is applicable to the school in question.  21(3) The information referred to in this sub-paragraph is- – 21(3)(a) in relation to each member of staff ("S") appointed on or after 1st May 2007, whether- – 21(3)(a)(iii) a check was made to establish whether S is subject to any direction made under section 128 of the 2008 Act or section 142 of the 2002 Act or any

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Part 4. Suitability of staff, supply staff, and proprietors

disqualification, prohibition or restriction which takes effect as if contained in such a direction.

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Part 5. Premises of and accommodation at schools

 24(1) The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor ensures that suitable accommodation is provided in order to cater for the medical and therapy needs of pupils, including- – 24(1)(a) accommodation for the medical examination and treatment of pupils; – 24(1)(b) accommodation for the short term care of sick and injured pupils, which includes a washing facility and is near to a toilet facility; and  24(2) The accommodation provided under sub-paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) may be used for other purposes (apart from teaching) provided it is always readily available to be used for the purposes set out in sub-paragraphs (1)(a) and (b).

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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; and – 34(1)(c) actively promote the well-being of pupils.

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Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010

The school did not meet the requirements of schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010 because the accessibility plan written by the school was out of date.

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the early years foundation stage

 3.2 Providers must take all necessary steps to keep children safe and well. 3.6 Providers must train all staff to understand their safeguarding policy and procedures, and ensure that all staff have up to date knowledge of safeguarding issues.  3.7 Providers must have regard to the government’s statutory guidance ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015’ and to the ‘Prevent duty guidance for England and Wales 2015’. All schools are required to have regard to the government’s ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ statutory guidance 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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the early years foundation stage

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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the early years foundation stage

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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the early years foundation stage

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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the early years foundation stage

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the early years foundation stage

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the early years foundation stage

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the early years foundation stage

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