Beis Ruchel D'Satmar London

Inspection of Beis Ruchel D’Satmar London 117 Stamford Hill, London N16 5RS

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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No

17 to 19 June 2025 SENSITIVE-OFSTED USE ONLY

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy here. At breaktimes, they play joyfully, solve puzzles and put on performances for others to enjoy. Pupils treat each other kindly. They share the playground with great care and consideration for each other’s space. Pupils behave responsibly and respectfully.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a caring school. In the early years, pupils settle into school routines quickly when they join. This is because the school fosters nurturing bonds between staff and pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is high ambition for pupils’ academic achievement. Mostly, pupils achieve well in their chosen GCSE subjects by the time they leave the school. However, in some cases, the curriculum is not as ambitious. This means that some pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school wants the best for pupils’ futures. Secondary-age pupils receive appropriate information about the range of educational and employment options open to them when they leave the school. However, the school does not teach pupils all the information required to ensure they are well prepared for life in Britain.

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better?

The school provides Jewish studies and secular curriculum subjects during the school day. The secular subjects offered are broadly in line with the national curriculum. In some subjects, the curriculum sets out the essential knowledge and skills for pupils to know and remember appropriately, and teachers design activities that support pupils to learn effectively. Staff carry out precise checks on what pupils know and remember. Teachers use these checks to identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge successfully.

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better?

In other subjects, the curriculum does not set out as precisely what pupils should learn from the early years onwards. Links with previous learning are unclear. Consequently, teaching and checks on learning do not focus on the most important subject knowledge pupils need to secure. Sometimes the tasks pupils complete do not support pupils to learn important knowledge and connect information to previous learning. Where this is the case, misconceptions and gaps in knowledge are not identified and corrected effectively.

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better?

Following the previous inspection, the school has rightly placed a high priority on early reading. In the early years, to instil a love of reading regularly, the school encourages children to explore books and listen to stories. The school has invested in a structured programme to teach phonics. Some teaching staff receive training to implement the approach. Staff check the sounds that pupils know. Pupils read books in school and at home, aligned precisely to their phonics knowledge. However, the phonics programme is not taught consistently well. Pupils do not get sufficient opportunities to practise new sounds orally. Staff do not routinely correct pupils’ 17 to 19 June 2025 SENSITIVE-OFSTED USE ONLY

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better?

errors. As a result, from the early years onwards, pupils do not gain the skills needed for fluent reading as quickly as they should.

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better?

The early years curriculum meets the statutory requirements of the early years foundation stage (EYFS). The curriculum includes appropriate content to support children’s learning and development. However, the early years does not support children’s communication and language development routinely well. This is because teachers do not emphasise important vocabulary effectively and expect children to use it. Opportunities to encourage speaking through high-quality interactions with school staff are sometimes missed.

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better?

Early on, the school identifies pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school makes extensive use of the expertise of external professionals to support pupils with SEND. This includes using therapists to support pupils and advise teachers on ways to adapt their teaching to meet pupils’ needs. Adaptations to teaching and resources are effective in ensuring that pupils with SEND learn the curriculum alongside their peers.

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better?

Pupils are committed to their learning. From the early years, pupils are attentive and concentrate in lessons. In the early years, children learn secure routines to help them settle into school quickly. The school records pupils’ attendance closely. It works productively with pupils and their families to address any concerns about absence.

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better?

In many ways, pupils are prepared for life beyond the school. From the early years onwards, pupils are taught about morals and the importance of treating others respectfully. In the early years, children are taught to cooperate and share resources and learning spaces. Through the curriculum, pupils learn about the harms of discrimination and inequality. Pupils are taught to reflect on their emotions and how their actions may affect others. The school promotes pupils’ self-confidence and responsibility in a range of ways. For example, pupils in Year 11 lead the annual school show. Pupils take on the responsibility for allocating production, marketing and performance roles to their peers and younger pupils.

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better?

The school teaches pupils some information about cultures and traditions in various countries. However, the school does not prepare pupils fully for life in Britain, and some aspects of the school’s provision do not meet statutory requirements. For example, the school encourages respect for other people in a generic way and does not enable pupils to acquire an appreciation of other cultures present or other religions and beliefs than their own. Similarly, pupils are not taught about the legal rights of people protected under the Equality Act 2010 at a timely point. All parents of secondary-age pupils exercise their right to withdraw their children from sex education. However, the school’s programme for teaching relationships education does not include all the content required, including about families, respectful relationships and being safe, which includes the concepts of consent, exploitation and abuse.

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better?

17 to 19 June 2025 SENSITIVE-OFSTED USE ONLY

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better?

Typically, the proprietor has adequate oversight of the school. The proprietor delegates some responsibilities to an appointed board of governors and leaders. Together, they ensure that the school complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010, which focuses on accessibility for disabled pupils in schools. They ensure that safeguarding is given high priority. The school also ensures that the statutory requirements of the EYFS are met.

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better?

Leaders’ regular engagement with staff means that staff workload is taken into account when decisions are made. However, historically and currently, the proprietor and school leaders have taken the decision not to adhere to some statutory regulations. For example, the school chooses to exclude statutory content from the curriculum. The school operates beyond its registration agreement. Therefore, the school fails in its responsibility to ensure that the independent school standards (the standards) are met consistently and securely.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 The provision for early reading and language development is not sufficiently rigorous. For example, planned opportunities to develop young children’s spoken language are not maximised. Similarly, the school’s chosen phonics programme is not implemented with precision across the school. Consequently, pupils, including in the early years, are not fully supported to develop into confident and fluent readers. The school should ensure that the early years curriculum and chosen phonics programme are implemented securely to develop pupils’ early spoken language and reading fluency.  In some subjects, the curriculum does not precisely set out what pupils should learn. This means that teaching and assessment are not focused sufficiently on the most important subject knowledge pupils need to know. As a result, the tasks that pupils complete sometimes lack ambition, and pupils do not develop detailed knowledge across the curriculum. From the early years onwards, the school

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

should ensure that curriculum thinking identifies the important concepts that pupils need to learn and the order in which they should be taught. The school should also ensure that the activities teachers set enable pupils to secure their knowledge effectively and that assessment is used well to identify and correct misconceptions.  Secondary-age pupils do not receive relationships education in line with statutory requirements. Secondary-age pupils are not encouraged to respect all other people who have protected characteristics and acquire an appreciation for the cultures and beliefs of others. Consequently, the school does not meet all the standards. The school should ensure that all aspects of relationships and sex education statutory guidance are followed, including teaching about the rights 17 to 19 June 2025 SENSITIVE-OFSTED USE ONLY

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

and responsibilities regarding equality, and that pupils are taught about other religions and cultures, so the school complies with all the standards consistently and securely.

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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. 17 to 19 June 2025 SENSITIVE-OFSTED USE ONLY

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,042

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School details

Email address mainoffice@satmarschool.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14 to 16 November 2023 17 to 19 June 2025 SENSITIVE-OFSTED USE ONLY

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Information about this school

 This is an Orthodox Jewish day school registered for girls aged two to 11 years old. The school admits pupils up to 16 years old and has done so for a number of years. Therefore, it continues to operate in breach of its registration agreement with the Department for Education.  At the time of the inspection, there were no two-year-olds on roll.  The school is located at 117 Stamford Hill, London, N16 5RS.  Following the previous standard inspection, a progress monitoring inspection was conducted. The progress monitoring inspection took place in May 2024.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.

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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

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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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

 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the proprietor, the headteacher and other senior leaders.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, science, history and personal, social and health education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  When inspectors spoke to pupils, the school requested that inspectors did not speak to them about protected characteristics, other religious traditions or sex education. During meetings with pupils, the headteacher was either in the room or standing in the open doorway. Overall, inspectors were satisfied that the information gathered throughout the inspection enabled them to gain a fair

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Information about this inspection

reflection of pupils’ views about behaviour, well-being and learning.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and 17 to 19 June 2025 SENSITIVE-OFSTED USE ONLY

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Information about this inspection

considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  To check compliance with the standards, inspectors reviewed documentation and toured the premises.

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Inspection team

Andrea Bedeau, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Aliki Constantopoulou His Majesty’s Inspector 17 to 19 June 2025 SENSITIVE-OFSTED USE ONLY

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Part 1. Quality of education provided

 2(1) The standard in this paragraph is met if- – 2(1)(a) the proprietor ensures that a written policy on the curriculum, supported by appropriate plans and schemes of work, which provides for the matters specified in sub-paragraph (2) is drawn up and implemented effectively; and  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; – 2(2)(i) effective preparation of pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in British society.  2A(1) The standard in this paragraph is met if the proprietor- – 2A(1)(d) in making arrangements for the purposes of paragraphs (a), (b) or (c), has regard to any guidance under section 80A of the Education Act 2002 that applies in relation to the provision of education by maintained schools.

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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(a) actively promotes the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs; – 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. 17 to 19 June 2025 SENSITIVE-OFSTED USE ONLY

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

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