Beis Soroh Schneirer

Inspection of Beis Soroh Schneirer Arbiter House, Wilberforce Road, West Hendon NW9 6AX

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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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 show high levels of kindness and respect to everyone around them. Relationships throughout the school are positive. Everyone works together as a team to make this school a happy and friendly place to be. Pupils are safe and well cared for.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils said that there are so many things they like about coming to school. They particularly like the way that teachers make learning fun and interesting. Pupils work hard in lessons and try their best. They listen carefully and like to join in with discussions and drama activities. Pupils achieve well. When the time comes, they are well prepared for the move to secondary school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All staff share high expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour. Pupils behave well and play their part in helping to sort out any minor disputes with their friends. Where bullying has happened in the past, pupils said that staff helped them to make it stop. Staff resolve incidents carefully and thoroughly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy helping leaders to make decisions about what happens in school. The school council representatives take on board everyone’s ideas. For example, following discussions with their peers, pupils introduced new litter bins in school. Leaders help pupils to learn about the world around them. Pupils are taught about different people within and beyond their community.

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better?

Leaders are ambitious for pupils’ achievement. Leaders have worked effectively to improve the quality of education since the previous inspection. Pupils achieve well throughout the school.

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better?

Leaders make sure that pupils learn to read fluently. Children in the early years begin the school’s phonics programme right from the start. Staff are well trained to help pupils to read and write using phonics. Staff choose books carefully so that pupils can practise using the sounds they have been taught. Pupils enjoy reading. They take books home regularly. Staff make the most of opportunities to read with and to pupils. Pupils especially like the high-quality class texts that leaders have introduced throughout the school. Leaders choose these texts carefully so that they match the subjects pupils are learning at the same time.

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better?

Pupils study a broad range of subjects. They enjoy learning. Pupils like the balance between religious studies in the mornings and secular subjects in the afternoons. Leaders make links between subjects to enhance pupils’ learning. For example, teachers of religious studies linked pupils’ learning about healthy lifestyles to what they were learning in science about tooth decay. Teachers who teach during both parts of the day meet in the middle to discuss pupils’ learning and welfare. This helps things to run smoothly between sessions. 5–7 July 2022 In most subjects, leaders make sure that pupils’ knowledge builds securely over time. For example, in mathematics, pupils’ understanding of number becomes increasingly sophisticated. They apply what they have learned previously to new tasks. For example, pupils in Year 5 used their prior knowledge of place value in order to solve calculations involving decimals. In reading, pupils applied their secure

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better?

knowledge of phonics to read new and challenging vocabulary in history. Children in the early years learn well. Staff are positive role models and encourage children to participate and explore things for themselves. For example, a group of children decided to use bricks and wooden planks to build a bridge. They found out that by adding more bricks to each side of their structure, the bridge would become higher and higher. Children in the nursery explored water, toy cars and slides. They worked out that by adding more water, the toy car could move faster down the slide.

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better?

However, in a few subjects, pupils do not consistently remember important subject content over time. For example, while pupils could recall the differences between life in Victorian Britain and life today, some pupils did not remember key dates or facts about that period in history. Pupils in Year 4 remembered experiments with torches where they learned about light and darkness, but they did not remember the meanings of the words ‘opaque’ or ‘translucent’, for example. This is because in some subjects leaders have not been precise enough about exactly what they want pupils to know and remember in each unit of work. Occasionally, staff do not check pupils’ understanding in lessons and this can sometimes lead to pupils getting confused or missing what they need to know.

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better?

Teachers work closely with teaching assistants to ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the support they need. Leaders ensure that pupils’ needs are identified accurately. Pupils who need to catch up, including in phonics, are given the right help at the right time. Staff in the early years prioritise children’s language and communication development. They are quick to identify when children need extra support, including from the school’s speech and language or occupational therapists.

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better?

Lessons are hardly ever disrupted. This is because pupils are motivated and keen to do well. They really like earning medals for good behaviour and learning. Pupils are especially proud when they are mentioned in the school’s ‘golden book’ in assembly.

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better?

Through religious studies, school assemblies and the school’s personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education programme, pupils learn the importance of respect and understanding. Pupils are taught about other faiths and cultures. Pupils learn about the laws of this country and how these are in place to keep everyone safe.

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better?

Staff enjoy working at this school. They support each other as a team. Staff said that leaders show kindness and understanding. Leaders make sure that those who are new to their careers are well supported.

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better?

The proprietor and governors ensure that the school meets all the independent school standards. They hold leaders to account and check that leaders’ actions are making a positive difference. They make sure that the statutory guidance is 5–7 July 2022 implemented for relationships and sex education (RSE). The school’s accessibility plan is in place to ensure compliance with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010. The school meets the early years foundation stage statutory requirements.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils feel safe in school. Staff take good care of pupils’ welfare. They know pupils well and are quick to spot if something might be of concern. Staff report any potential concerns to the leaders responsible for safeguarding. Leaders take these seriously. They meet regularly to discuss pupils’ circumstances. Leaders work with a variety of external agencies to keep pupils safe and to get parents and carers the help they need.

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Safeguarding

During the inspection, leaders put right some inconsistencies with their record- keeping arrangements. Leaders and governors now have systems in place to ensure that all records about pupils, including their welfare, are well organised and maintained.

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Safeguarding

The school does not have a website. Leaders therefore make sure that parents have hard copies of the school’s safeguarding policy. The policy complies with the latest legislation.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 In a few subjects, even though leaders have worked out what pupils need to learn and in what order, they are not precise enough about the most important subject knowledge pupils need to remember in each topic or series of lessons. This means that sometimes teachers overload pupils with too much information in a short space of time. This affects how well some pupils remember subject content. Leaders should make sure that all subjects are planned so that teachers know the most important subject knowledge pupils need to know and remember. They should check that pupils have remembered this over time.  Sometimes, staff do not use assessment carefully in lessons to check what pupils know and can do. Occasionally, they do not adapt tasks when necessary to address pupils’ misconceptions. Where this is the case, leaders should ensure that staff are well trained to make effective use of assessment to check pupils’

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

knowledge and understanding. They should ensure that staff routinely remember to adapt teaching, where necessary, to meet pupils’ needs and sort out any misconceptions. 5–7 July 2022

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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 . 5–7 July 2022

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School details

Unique reference number 131026 DfE registration number 302/6104

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School details

Inspection number 10226775 Type of school Other independent school

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School details

Date of previous inspection 18 to 20 June 2019

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Information about this school

 Beis Soroh Schneirer caters for girls aged two to 11. It has a Jewish religious ethos.  Since the previous inspection, a new headteacher of the Kodesh curriculum has been appointed. She took up her post in January 2022. She is the co- headteacher, alongside the headteacher of the secular curriculum.  The school’s previous standard inspection took place in June 2019.  The school has provision for two-year-old children.  The school does not make use of alternative provision. 5–7 July 2022  The school has exceeded the maximum number of pupils on roll that it is registered to admit. The school is registered for up to 300 pupils. At the time of this inspection there were 324 pupils on roll.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors 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

This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held meetings with the co-headteachers, deputy headteacher, chair of governors and proprietor.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, history and PSHE education. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans and pupils’ workbooks, and spoke to staff about some of the other subjects.  Inspectors met with the leaders responsible for safeguarding, reviewed the single central record of staff suitability checks and scrutinised the school’s safeguarding documentation, including records of concern. Inspectors spoke with staff and pupils to understand their views on the school’s safeguarding arrangements.  Inspectors toured the premises, spoke with leaders and reviewed a range of

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Information about this inspection

documents in order to check the school’s compliance with the independent school standards. Inspectors reviewed the responses to Ofsted Parent View and the staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Gary Rawlings, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sahreen Siddiqui Ofsted Inspector 5–7 July 2022 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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