Jewish free schools are on schedule

Mr Kessler, a former chairman of Simon Marks Jewish Primary, said the school had welcomed government rules which stated 50 per cent of free school’s intake must not be based on faith.

“This will be the first cross-communal primary school, where we welcome every Jewish child. We are pleased some non-Jewish children will attend because we like the idea our children are educated with some children of other faiths.

“But this will not be some sort of ‘Judaism-lite’ – we will make sure that kashrut and observance are up to orthodox standards.”

“We know that Michael Gove wants this school to succeed, we keep being told we are ahead in the planning stages than other schools.”

Adam Dawson, who is leading the group for the primary school in Mill Hill, said: “We are absolutely on target. From what I am aware only five schools are at the same stage as us. We will have a full business plan and admissions procedure written by the end of November, and we hope to secure the site by then as well. Then at the beginning of December we will start advertising for staff.”

The school has been working closely with Michele Bazak, the retired head of Hertsmere Jewish Primary School.