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Chasidic school increases time for secular studies to comply with Ofsted demands

Beis Aharon in Stamford Hill is meeting equality standards, inspectors report

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Blank checklist on the whiteboard with businessman hand drawing a red check mark in the check box

A Chasidic school in Stamford Hill has now met independent school standards it previously failed to meet, Ofsted said.

Beis Aharon, which has more than 280 pupils from the Belz community aged from three to 13, is now allocating more time to secular subjects after inspectors previously said it was teaching too little of them.

Ofsted noted improvements after “significant changes of leadership”.

Whereas the school had previously been criticised for teaching too little abut other faiths and cultures, inspectors found on a recent visit that pupils could talk about why Ramadan was important to Muslims and had learned about the different ways of commemorating the Chinese New Year.

In its latest report, the inspectorate observed that “the secular and Jewish curriculums are closely aligned to cover important aspects of equality and respect. As a consequence, aspects of equality and respect are emphasised through the Jewish curriculum.”

The school had “consulted with an external provider to teach statutory sex education for secondary-age pupils were any to be admitted to the school in future,” Ofsted said. “They have drawn up approaches to deliver this aspect of the curriculum in line with the Orthodox Jewish ethos of the school.”

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