Charedi boarding school pupils ‘not fully prepared for life in modern Britain’
Gateshead Jewish Boarding School “requires improvement” because it fails to meet standards relating to teaching of personal, social and health education (PSHE.)
Students at an Orthodox boarding school in Gateshead are “not fully prepared for life in modern Britain”, according to a report by Ofsted.
Gateshead Jewish Boarding School “requires improvement” because it fails to meet standards relating to teaching of personal, social and health education (PSHE.)
According to the school inspectorate’s report this week, following a November visit, “there are policies and learning plans in place for PSHE and relationships and sex education (RSE)”, but this does not include educating about all “protected characteristics”. Protected characteristics relate to someone’s identity, such as gender, sexual orientation, religion or marital status.
The all-boys school, which has 119 pupils aged 10-16, has the provision for PSHE “woven throughout the Kodesh (Jewish studies) and secular curriculums” according to the report, and students “learn about themselves and the world in which they live”.
However, while “pupils respect people who are different to them and know about other cultures and faiths”, Ofsted said they “are not.. taught about all of the protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010”. It added: “This means they are not fully prepared for life in modern Britain.”
The report said the school’s safeguarding arrangements were “effective” and ranks pupils’ ‘behaviour and attitudes’ as “outstanding.” It praised the school’s “ambitious curriculum”, the quality of education and personal development as ‘good’, and said staff “support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities well”.
But Ofsted said the school’s leadership “requires improvement”, and teachers “do not get much professional development or time to discuss their practice with other teachers”.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
