Independent Jewish Day School

Inspection of Independent Jewish Day School 46 Green Lane, Hendon, London NW4 2AH

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement

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The headteacher of this school is Yosh Radomsky. The school is part of the Independent Jewish Day School Academy Trust. The school is a single academy trust and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Rachel Stafler. 8 and 9 July 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff and pupils embrace the school’s values of ready, respectful, safe, and kind. Their strong relationships and mutual respect create a warm and welcoming community. Everyone feels valued at this school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

High expectations are set for pupils’ attainment and behaviour. Pupils achieve well. Their behaviour is exemplary. Pupils love talking about their learning and how much they enjoy their lessons. They value having a trusted adult they can turn to if they have any concerns or worries. Pupils feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from the extensive offer which promotes their wider interests. They develop their talents and interests well through public speaking, delivering assemblies and music performances. Through the school’s own award for leadership, skills, character, and personal growth, pupils support people at home and in their community. These experiences and their charity action projects equip pupils exceptionally well for the future.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school encourages pupils’ understanding of diversity excellently. Pupils value assemblies, where the school celebrates festivals of their own and different faiths. They are strong representatives of their inclusive school. Pupils’ care for others is highlighted by their extensive community work, such as collecting donations for the food bank. Their enthusiasm for helping others shines through their conversations.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has significantly reviewed and improved its curriculum. They have designed a curriculum that is both broad and ambitious. The school identifies the important skills and knowledge that pupils need to secure. Content is taught in a logical order, from early years onwards, ensuring that new learning builds on what has gone before. Pupils achieve above the national average in national tests.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Staff help pupils to remember essential knowledge. They use appropriate strategies to check what pupils know and remember. Staff encourage pupils to express their learning, for example, through discussion. Sometimes, pupils’ written responses do not reach the same high standards. This leads to some variation in the quality of pupils’ written work.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Reading is a priority in the school. Children start to learn to read as soon as they enter in the early years. Staff receive regular phonics training. This equips them well to deliver the phonics programme with precision. Pupils practise their reading regularly with books that match the sounds they are learning. If pupils fall behind with their reading, staff give them support to catch up quickly.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

From early years, routines are established and followed. This supports children to develop their independence. Staff work with children well. There is a focus on communication. This helps children to develop their language and numeracy skills well. While most children are curious in their learning, sometimes the choice of curriculum activity does not 8 and 9 July 2025

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engage some children fully. This results in some variability in their concentration and listening skills.

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The school accurately identifies the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff make well-considered adaptations to the curriculum to enable all pupils to benefit. Pupils with SEND enjoy participating in all aspects of school life.

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Pupils have incredibly positive attitudes towards their learning. They are extremely proud of their work. Close working relationships between staff and pupils mean there is a buzz of learning together. Pupils cooperate and support each other very well with their learning, sharing ideas. At breaktimes, their behaviour and interactions create warmth and harmony. The school has robust systems in place to track attendance. It works closely with families to overcome any barriers.

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Personal development is at the heart of the school’s work. The well-designed programme enables pupils to learn how to keep themselves healthy and about positive relationships. They also learn how to stay safe on and offline. Pupil voice underpins the programme. Their confidence to raise questions and share their curiosity is exceptional. This contributes to their impressive character building. The school equips pupils to a high level for life in modern-day Britain. Pupils take on many leadership roles, including eco, art and computing ambassadors, house captains, and school councillors. They carry these out diligently, supporting each other and contributing to the wider community. Pupils enjoy the wide range of educational visits linked to their learning. For instance, the environment centre for science, museum visits in history and area competitions, for instance in art and in computing.

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The school ensures that staff receive effective support. This includes making sure staff have the knowledge to teach the curriculum as intended. Staff value this support and appreciate how the school considers their workload and well-being. Those responsible for governance fulfil their statutory duties effectively. They know the school well and understand how to work well with the school. Parents highly value the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The expectations for writing are not consistently high in some subjects across the curriculum. This means that the quality of work pupils produce is sometimes not to the standards expected of them. The school should ensure that high expectations enable pupils to develop their writing in line with the same high standards across the curriculum. 8 and 9 July 2025

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 Sometimes, the design of activities in early years does not help children to deepen their curiosity and engagement with learning. This limits some children’s concentration during their learning. The school should ensure that activities and implementation of the curriculum foster children’s high standards of engagement.

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How can I feed back my views?

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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 8 and 9 July 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 7 and 8 December 2022, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Independent Jewish Day School converted to become an academy in February 2012.  There has been a change of headteacher since the last inspection. The current headteacher was appointed in September 2023.  The school has a Jewish religious character. The school’s most recent section 48 inspection took place in April 2024. ◼ Leaders do not currently make use of any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 8 and 9 July 2025

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspectors met with the headteacher and other senior leaders. The inspectors met with leaders with responsibility for safeguarding, behaviour, attendance, pupils’ wider development and the early years.  The lead inspector met with the chair of the trust and members of the local governing body.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: mathematics, early reading, design and technology and history. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors also sampled the curriculum in some other subjects.

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff, and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors considered the respective responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for parents, staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Janice Howkins, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Shriti Bellare Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 July 2025

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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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