An independent faith school has told Ofsted religious restrictions on curriculum coverage are “non-negotiable”.
Bnois Jerusalem Girls School, an orthodox Jewish school in London, does not teach aspects of science which do not “align” with its religious ethos, according to an inspection report published last month. For example, the school does not teach reproduction to secondary pupils.
The curriculum does not cover statutory content around intimate relationships, including topics such as “consent”, “harassment” or “abuse”. Jewish counter-extremism group Nahamu has demonstrated how the lack of relationships and sex education (RSE) in strictly orthodox Jewish schools means engaged couples may not be ready for sexual relations and may lack knowledge of consent, abuse and rape.
Pupils do not learn about people of different cultures, customs and traditions in “any detail” and “are not taught about religious festivals apart from their own”.
Schools are required to promote equality and pupils’ understanding of the protected characteristics outlined in equality law, including sexual orientation and religion or belief. Many Jewish schools do not fulfil these requirements because they have religious objections to teaching about LGBT people and exposing children to different religions.
Ofsted said that whilst leaders have designed a curriculum which is “consistent with the school’s religious ethos”, the curriculum is “narrowed in ways that could put pupils at increased risk of harm” and “limit the contribution to society that pupils are able to make”.
Bnois Jerusalem has not been judged to be of an acceptable standard since 2018, with the Government issuing a statutory notice in 2021 after the school was found teaching creationism as science and refusing to enter pupils for GCSEs.
Despite this, Ofsted found that whilst older pupils follow GCSE courses, they still do not gain “formal, recognised qualifications in school”. Pupils instead complete internal examinations using GCSE papers which are marked by external professionals.
Inspectors noted the school made clear it has “no plans” to change its view on not teaching about the protected characteristics, same sex relationships and different types of family.
Ofsted were also blocked by the school from speaking to pupils about the protected characteristics.
Orthodox Jewish schools frequently ignore Ofsted’s findings. In October, Talmud Torah Tiferes Shlomo told Ofsted that it “cannot, and will not” teach legally mandated content which conflicts with its religious ethos.
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National Secular Society spokesperson Jack Rivington said: “If ignoring the law is ‘non-negotiable’ for religious groups, then they should not be responsible for managing a school. School standards exist to ensure the rights and wellbeing of children are protected – they must be robustly enforced at all schools, no matter their religious character.
“Preventing children from sitting recognised qualification upends a key purpose of education – to expand opportunities and life prospects. As this report illustrates, some faith schools actually seek to do the opposite, controlling and limiting children’s future choices.
“Independent faith schools frequently show disregard, if not contempt, for Ofsted’s recommendations and school standards generally. Failures at schools with a religious character should be no more tolerated than they would at a nonreligious school.”