Calls are growing for Jewish summer camps to be subject to Ofsted-style inspections to ensure safeguarding standards are met.

In a letter published in the JC this week, leading educator Laurie Rosenberg writes: “It is now time for the community to regulate the various camps to assure parents and carers that their children are safe”.

The proposal follows allegations from parents that two FZY camps were unsafe and disorganised.

Numerous parents expressed to the JC their “outrage” at the “prison-like, lawless” conditions of the camps, where they claimed that a lack of activities meant kids had “nothing to do”.

One parent said they felt “conned” over the £1,600 they paid for the 12-day camp. Meanwhile, one concerned Jewish father flew 360 miles by helicopter to collect his daughter and her friend from a FZY summer camp in Norfolk after complaints of “filthy conditions”, “lawless behaviour” and “safety concerns”.

Helicopter parent

The scenes at a bathroom of an FZY camp and right and a parent who evacuated his two daughters from the FZY Norfolk camp (Photo: Handout)

Rosenberg, a former head of Simon Marks Jewish Primary School and now a freelance educator, suggested that Pikuach, the Jewish schools religious education inspection body, could be expanded into the domain of camps.

He told the JC: “Pikuach has managed to change the way Jewish education is perceived by the community, so much so that now schools seek out the accolade.”

The educator, who founded Pikuach, said: “We need some kind of external moderation and evaluation [of camps] so parents can determine whether a place is somewhere they want to send their children.”

In the meantime, FZY youth leaders have hit back at the “grossly unfair” and “distorted” allegations that the camp was badly run and unsafe, claiming that chaos broke out due to  “a large number” of children behaving badly.

Poor behaviour included setting off smoke detectors in the middle of the night, intentionally flooding bathrooms and insulting camp staff, they said.

But one parent told the JC they were “flabbergasted and incensed” that FZY would “think to put the blame on the children”.

a16f80fa-02c7-43c5-a72e-358a01b546cd

The dirty state of the bathrooms at an FZY camp (Photo: Handout)

UJIA, which oversees many British Jewish youth movements, said it was “keen and committed to working with the youth movements we support to help them review existing procedures, achieve best practice and apply consistent standards around all areas of camp activity”.

Most childcare providers, including summer camps, that look after children under the age of eight are required to register with Ofsted.

The majority of residential Jewish camps are for children over the age of 11.