School in planning row wins praise from Ofsted

The school, which has 54 boys aged from five to nine, is seeking approval from the Department for Education to increase to 100 pupils and add classes for years five and six.

Ofsted said in its report this week that the new building had been “renovated to a high standard” and was “bright, spacious and airy”.

Renovations were “near completion. Leaders and governors are relentless in ensuring that any minor issues relating to safety are dealt with promptly by the builders”.

It said teaching plans for 10 to 11-year-olds were comparable to the aims of the national curriculum and overall the school was likely to meet equality requirements.

The school’s leadership was reviewing “how to ensure that older pupils are given appropriate experiences to develop their respect for families and households which differ to their own,” Ofsted said.

The school — rated good by Ofsted earlier this year — has said it will mount a legal challenge to the council’s decision.

As Hackney’s Charedi community is growing by around four per cent a year, finding space for schools to expand is a major issue.

While the inspection report included favourable comments about the building, an Ofsted spokesman explained this was “separate from planning and building control and would not have any bearing on planning and building control and vice versa”.

*A Satmar Chasidic boys’ school, Talmud Torah Yetev Lev in Salford, has passed its latest Ofsted check on safeguarding and premises.