A Charedi primary school previously rated good has been told it does not meet independent school standards because it will not talk about families with same-sex parents.
Gateshead Jewish Primary School (GJPS) had technically been a co-educational school which taught boys and girls on separate sites.
But the school recently divided into two single-sex institutions after being told the previous set-up failed to comply with equality law. GJPS is now applying to use tthe name as the boys’ school.
According to a new inspection, GJPS leaders “do not feel that they are able to identify to their pupils groups of people who are gender reassigned or have sexual orientation other than heterosexuality, as this contravenes some aspects of the community’s Jewish faith.”
As a result, Ofsted said, “pupils are unaware that families may be made up of a range of different adults, including same-sex parents”.
Inspectors noted that boys learned about other religions and had links with a Catholic school in Carlisle. They also had links with a local non-denominational school with a large number of disabled pupils and had raised funds for it.
In other areas such as safeguarding and premises, GJPS met independent school standards.
But its refusal to talk about LGBT issues meant it was “unlikely to meet the requirements for a material change,” Ofsted said.
