The Education Secretary Gillian Keegan visited a north London Jewish secondary school on Monday in a demonstration of solidarity that included her entire ministerial team.
Menorah High School for Girls was one of at least five Jewish schools in London that closed last Friday in the wake of Hamas calls for a global “day of rage”.
For the Department for Education’s top brass all to go to a single school on the same day was a “pretty unprecedented visit”, said the chairman of the school’s governors, David Landau, who also heads the strictly Orthodox educational representative organisation Chinuch UK.
Accompanying Keegan were ministers Nick Gibb and Robert Halfon, along with parliamentary under-secretaries Baroness Barran and David Johnston. In an 80-minute meeting with rabbis and Jewish school representatives, they were told of increased anxiety within the Jewish community as well of incidents of antisemitism experienced within educational institutions over the past week.
They also heard calls for a crackdown on those who express support for terrorism and for strengthening education in schools about antisemitism.
Explaining the decision to close Menorah, Landau said the school had been concerned about someone doing “something horrendous and stupid” in response to the Hamas call.
Keegan was at times tearful during the meeting, which was followed by a tour of the school led by sixth-formers.
She said afterward: “The terrorist atrocities carried out against the people of Israel are horrifying. I, along with all of my ministers, met with Jewish community and education leaders at a school today to offer our support and discuss what more we can do to ensure all children and young people feel safe at school.
“Respect and tolerance are fundamental British values and any threat or act of antisemitism is utterly unacceptable."
The state-aided strictly Orthodox school has consistently been one of the country’s top-performing schools in terms of academic progress made by pupils from entry to GCSE.
Part of its building was used as a bunker by Winston Churchill when he led Britain’s resistance to the Nazis in the Second World War.
Rabbi David Meyer, chief executive of the Jewish schools network PaJeS, who attended the meeting, said: “It was heart-warming to see the genuine care and support shown by the Secretary of State and her ministerial team.
"They were clearly deeply troubled that the Jewish community is feeling threatened and that this has resulted in school closures and a drop in attendance for the many schools that remained open.
"Their concern extended to the safety of Jewish students in mainstream schools.”
He added, “There can be no question that it is unacceptable that in 2023 Jewish students are threatened into hiding their Jewish identity. We look to the government to ensure there is a no tolerance policy towards antisemitism and in emphasising the fact that supporting Hamas is a criminal offence and actionable under the Prevent Agenda.
"We would also urge that all schools are directed to teach about the evils of antisemitism, and ensure that it is an aspect included in Ofsted inspections.”
Last week, 2,500 parents registered for a PaJeS digital session on how to support children during the war in Israel.
