Charedi girls’ school rated outstanding by Ofsted

Ofsted reported, “The ethos of deep care and high ambition is threaded through all aspects of school life. Leaders have high aspirations to make sure pupils become active citizens of the world.”

Staff have “very strong subject knowledge” and all want their pupils to achieve their “very best — and pupils consistently do. They excel in their learning across the curriculum.”

Menorah promotes a love of reading, children are confident and articulate and in history showed in-depth knowledge such as “the causes of World War One, the Treaty of Versailles and the subsequent Great Depression in Germany”.

One parent told inspectors, “Overall this is a wonderful school, mirroring the ethics and values of its families and nurturing our children academically, physically and spiritually.” Many parents echoed the view.

Menorah’s chair of governors David Rosenthal said, “We are delighted with the results of the Ofsted inspection, as well as the glowing comments and feedback from the inspector. We are blessed with an outstanding leader in Mrs. Menczer and an exceptional team of staff, all working to achieve great results for the school.”

The results, he said, were “a true testament to the dedication, professionalism, and talent of everyone associated with the school. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to the parents for their unwavering support and partnership, which have been instrumental in achieving these remarkable outcomes.”

Meanwhile, the “exceptional” behaviour of pupils at Simon Marks Jewish Primary in Stoke Newington was singled out by inspectors, which rated the school as good overall.

Noting the “respectful” learning enviromment and ambitious curriculum, they said pupils try hard, produce good quality work and “are typically well prepared for the next state of their education”.

But they felt that in some subjects the most important material children needed to learn was not as well identified as in others.

Around half the school’s pupils come from other faiths.

Children looked forward to events such as the annual hamantaschen-baking at Purim to raise money for charity, Ofsted reported.

The school “swiftly and accurately identified” special educational needs, it said, while mental health was supported “through activities such as laughter therapy”.