Family & Education

JFS announces amended feeder school plan

A controversial proposal to give priority to two Jewish primaries has been changed after parental protest

February 26, 2020 14:00
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1 min read

JFS is to press ahead with plans to give priority to two of the Jewish primaries closest to it - Sinai and North-West London Jewish Day School.

But taking note of parental opposition to the idea, it will cap the priority places at 26 from Sinai and nine from NWLJDS.

Under the change, which will come into effect for entry in 2021, JFS will scrap the 10 places previously reserved for children who lived closest to the school.

Around 1,400 people signed a petition in protest against the feeder school plan.

But it is unlikely to have great impact on the allocation of places, since last year 43 children went from Sinai and nine from NWLJDS to JFS.

The two primaries are both located in the same borough as JFS, Brent.

Announcing the results of a consultation on the change, the school said “offering priority on a capped basis to other Brent Jewish schools is an appropriate step both in terms of recognising where we are located but also taking steps to preserve both the character and future numbers of the school”.

Taking account of responses both for and against the change, it said “the  capped priority recognises the strength of feeling on both sides.

“The capped numbers have been arrived at following careful analysis of the data in terms of historic numbers of non-sibling applicants from those schools, places offered and places accepted.”

The cap on priority places would  “allay fears that significant numbers of places might essentially be put aside for the feeder schools and also limit any unintended consequences should those schools expand”.