London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS)

London School of Jewish Studies, 44a Albert Road, Hendon, London NW4 2SJ

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Inspection judgements

Primary and secondary age-phase combined

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education and training Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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What is it like to be a trainee at this ITE provider?

Leaders have a passion for preparing trainees for a career in teaching, both in schools with a Jewish ethos as well as those with no religious character. Leaders welcome trainees of all faiths or none to train with them. They ensure that trainees experience three contrasting placements during the course, including at least one in a non-faith setting.

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What is it like to be a trainee at this ITE provider?

Trainees hold the courses in high regard. They feel well supported by leaders and course tutors at the centre, including with well-being. Trainees appreciate the small size of LSJS, especially the close contact that they have with their tutors. For example, trainees meet with course tutors weekly. They like how this enables regular opportunities for discussion and reflection on their practice, including, for example, in early reading. Programme leaders also keep in regular contact with partnership schools and share the content of the ITE curriculum with school-based mentors. However, leaders’ approaches to mentoring are not consistently applied across all subjects and phases. This makes it more difficult for some trainees to apply the centre-based training to their experiences during school placements.

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What is it like to be a trainee at this ITE provider?

The ITE curriculum supports trainees well to develop the professional knowledge and skills required to teach in their subject and phase. Trainees are taught about keeping pupils safe, managing pupils’ behaviour and how to adapt teaching for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Trainees revisit this subject content during the course so that they develop their knowledge well. Trainees particularly value visiting a special school to increase their understanding of how to teach pupils with SEND.

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Information about this ITE provider

◼ The provider currently has 16 primary trainees and 11 secondary trainees. ◼ The primary phase has trainees on the School Direct (salaried) route and the school- centred initial teacher training (SCITT) route. Both routes lead to the award of qualified teacher status. Trainees completing the SCITT route also complete the Postgraduate Certificate of Education awarded by the University of Roehampton. ◼ Trainees in the secondary phase are all on the School Direct (salaried and non- salaried) route. ◼ School Direct trainees in the primary and secondary phases can choose to complete the Postgraduate Certificate. awarded by Middlesex University. ◼ The provider also offers the assessment-only route. There were no candidates on this route at the time of the inspection. ◼ The provider has 12 partnership schools in the primary phase and five partnership schools in the secondary phase. Secondary trainees are currently placed in four of the

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Information about this inspection

◼ The inspection was carried out by three of His Majesty’s Inspectors. ◼ Inspectors met with the director of degrees and teacher training programmes, the senior research fellow, the secondary programme manager, the primary programme manager, the primary school direct programme manager, the assessment-only manager, the academic registrar and members of the trust body. ◼ Inspectors held meetings with trainees, early career teachers, school-based mentors and course and subject tutors. ◼ Inspectors reviewed the provider’s documentation, including information related to improvement planning, curriculum content and compliance. ◼ Inspectors reviewed the responses to the trainee survey and the staff survey. ◼ Inspectors spoke to 10 primary trainees and seven secondary trainees. ◼ In the primary phase, focused reviews were conducted in early reading, mathematics, history and physical education. In the secondary phase, focused reviews were

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Information about this inspection

conducted in chemistry, mathematics and religious education. Other aspects of the ITE curriculum were also considered as part of this inspection. ◼ Overall, inspectors visited three primary and three secondary placement settings.

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better?

Leaders have designed an ambitious ITE curriculum for both primary- and secondary- phase trainees. Leaders’ expectations are high. This is clear in their curriculum thinking, which is based on making sure that all trainees are both well equipped for and enthusiastic about their future in the teaching profession.

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better?

The curriculum incorporates in full the core content framework (CCF). For example, trainees are signposted to wider professional reading materials that are selected to reinforce essential ideas about teaching. Leaders’ work to weave the CCF purposefully through the curriculum is well established in the primary phase but is less well embedded in a few subjects in the secondary phase. This can affect how well secondary trainees are able to deepen their knowledge. That said, subject leaders’ expertise means that secondary trainees are supported sufficiently well to develop their understanding of how to teach their chosen specialisms. Programme leaders collaborate closely with tutors and mentors to check on trainees’ progress and how well the curriculum is working. Leaders and tutors know when to step in and support trainees who are finding things difficult.

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better?

The ITE curriculum is taught weekly at the centre by experienced and knowledgeable staff. Trainees benefit from well-sequenced sessions on professional behaviours, curriculum and pedagogy. Alongside this, they receive subject-specific sessions tailored to their phase and subject specialism. Leaders have designed these two aspects of the programme carefully and coherently, making sure that trainees link curriculum content in professional studies to what they learn about teaching a subject. As a result, trainees readily build on and apply what they learn during their practice in schools.

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better?

Leaders have organised the curriculum so that trainees revisit their learning at regular intervals. Trainees’ understanding in key areas, such as adaptive teaching and how pupils remember knowledge, is progressively increased and embedded. For example, trainees learn first about how to identify pupils with SEND and their needs. They then use this as a basis for learning how to adapt their teaching to meet these needs, including subject- specific approaches. Leaders also make sure that the centre-based curriculum builds on content delivered in partnership with universities, for instance on behaviour management.

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better?

For primary trainees, centre-based training includes a sharp focus on teaching early reading, including the essential role of systematic synthetic phonics (SSP). Trainees are taught the key principles behind SSP and how to apply these in the classroom. Centre- based sessions revisit this learning throughout the course. Trainees become confident and knowledgeable in their approach. They are supported to use their understanding very well, including in delivering the SSP programmes used by their placement schools.

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better?

Leaders have designed a programme that provides school-based mentors with comprehensive information about the content and delivery of the ITE curriculum. School- based mentors can attend specific training on what their role entails, as well as meetings on developments to the ITE programme. Leaders also communicate with school-based mentors regularly. Some of these approaches that underpin the school-based mentoring programme are not fully established. At times, this leads to trainees receiving inconsistent levels of support. Occasionally, feedback to trainees is not relevant and meaningful, and results in them being unsure about what they need to work on. Leaders are rightly prioritising actions to improve their quality assurance of the mentoring programme.

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

◼ In some subjects in the secondary phase, a few aspects of the CCF are less well embedded into the planned ITE programme. While subject leaders have the expertise to typically fill any gaps in the programme, the planning and delivery of the curriculum are not sharply focused on cumulatively developing trainees’ knowledge of teaching their subject. Leaders should continue their work to ensure that the CCF is fully embedded in all subjects. ◼ Leaders’ quality assurance systems are not sufficiently robust to ensure that trainees routinely receive clear and effective support from the school-based mentoring programme. This means that not all trainees receive the same level of high-quality guidance, including on which parts of their knowledge and practice they need to work on. Leaders should ensure that quality assurance approaches are improved. They should use the information that they obtain from quality assurance to strengthen

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(Information for the provider and appropriate authority)

trainees’ experience of school-based mentoring.

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comply with the ITE compliance criteria?

◼ The primary and secondary combined phase meets the DfE statutory compliance criteria.

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comply with the ITE compliance criteria?

◼ Leaders ensure that the assessment-only route complies fully with requirements.

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ITE provider details

Unique reference number 70090 Inspection number 10281868

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ITE provider details

This inspection was carried out in accordance with the ‘Initial teacher education inspection framework and handbook’.

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ITE provider details

This framework and handbook sets out the statutory basis and framework for initial teacher education (ITE) inspections in England from September 2020.

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ITE provider details

Type of ITE provider School-centred initial teacher training Phases provided Primary and secondary combined Date of previous inspection 2 July and 12 November 2018

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Inspection team

Mark Smith, Lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Annabel Davies, Team inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Guy Forbat, Team inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Annex: Placement schools

Inspectors visited the following schools as part of this inspection:

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Name URN ITE phases

Eden Primary School 136808 Primary Edgware Primary School 101277 Primary Wolfson Hillel Primary School 146663 Primary Hasmonean High School for Girls 147238 Secondary The Jewish Free School 133724 Secondary Yavneh College 136922 Secondary Kisharon School 135747 Secondary 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 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Name URN ITE phases

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Name URN ITE phases

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Name URN ITE phases

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Name URN ITE phases

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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