A Times article which named Rosh Pinah as the school seeking the highest contributions from parents was misleading, the Edgware primary said.

Rosh Pinah asked parents to give £1,260 per pupil each year, topping the list of 700 schools that responded to Freedom of Information requests from the newspaper.

The article reported that schools were increasingly turning to parental support to help with equipment and the upkeep of premises as state funding dropped.

Donations to Rosh Pinah went towards running costs, the curriculum, Jewish students and security, the Times explained.

But Andrew Rotenberg,  Rosh Pinah’s chairman of governors, said the impression was “misleading” because only a small number of Jewish schools were included in the newspaper’s sample.

“In fact, voluntary contributions from our parents are comparable to those of other Jewish voluntary-aided schools," he said. "Many Jewish schools seek a much larger amount. Rosh Pinah’s voluntary contributions have been consistent over the past decade subject to inflationary adjustments.”

Voluntary contributions, he said, allow us to keep our children safe and maintain the high standards our families have rightly come to expect.”

 But the article, he added, did “serve as a useful reminder of the importance of voluntary contributions to Jewish schools”.

Jewish schools have long relied on parental donations to fund religious studies - but other schools have increasingly been asking parents to help meet their budgets.