Faith school fails ninth inspection in nine years

An independent faith school has failed a ninth consecutive inspection after Ofsted found it failed to meet independent school standards.

Talmud Torah Toldos Yakov Yosef (TTTYY), an orthodox Jewish school for boys in London, has been graded inadequate since 2014. The school has only once met standards since it opened in 2008.

The most recent report, published last week, was the fifth full inspection since 2014. Four additional monitoring inspections have taken place during that time period.

Secular curriculum planning "weak and underdeveloped"

In its report, Ofsted said the school does not ensure pupils have "appropriate time for the teaching of secular subjects", and only provides a "narrow" curriculum lacking in "coverage, sequencing, and coherence".

The thinking of school leadership on the secular curriculum is "weak and underdeveloped" and teachers do not receive routine training across secular subjects. Early years staff do not have the required experience to meet statutory requirements, Ofsted found.

Previous inspections reveal repeated failings relating to a narrow or limited curriculum:

• In 2014, the secular curriculum was "too narrow" and its teaching "inadequate". Teachers did not have "sufficient subject knowledge" for teaching the secular aspects of the curriculum.
• In 2017, Ofsted said the range of opportunities provided by the curriculum was "too narrow" to "prepare pupils adequately for their future lives", and that the "poor quality of teaching" resulted in "poor outcomes for pupils".
• In 2019, Ofsted again found the secular curriculum "too narrow", with "weak teaching and outdated or redacted printed materials" causing pupils to perform poorly. Other orthodox Jewish schools have been found to redact exam questions and classroom resources on the grounds of 'offence' to religious sensibilities.
• In 2021, the standard of teaching in the secular subjects was "weak" with little time allocated to the subjects by leaders. Ofsted found that leaders and teachers did not have the expertise to teach secular subjects to a good standard and did not have high expectations for pupils' achievement.

Social, cultural and relationships education

At its most recent inspection, Ofsted also found numerous failings relating to TTTYY's personal, social, health, and economic (PSHE) and relationships and sex education (RSE) curriculums.

Ofsted said that teaching at the school "does not actively encourage" pupils to respect people with "characteristics protected by law".

Pupils are not provided with opportunities to learn about "religions, beliefs and cultures" other than their own and "do not gain sufficient knowledge" to prepare them for life in modern Britain, Ofsted said.

Orthodox Jewish schools repeatedly flout their obligation to teach about how individuals are protected by law from discrimination on the grounds of characteristics including sexual orientation, gender reassignment, and religion or belief.

While the school does have a RSE policy, Ofsted found the curriculum programme to be limited and not compliant with statutory requirements.

Similar failings regarding the teaching of PSHE and RSE have been found by previous Ofsted inspections.

NSS: Religious indoctrination once again put ahead of education

Jack Rivington, campaigns officer at the National Secular Society, said: "The repeated failure of TTTYY to teach anything beyond a narrow religious curriculum shows that the school values indoctrination above the education of its pupils.

"To consistently fail to meet the independent school standards for over almost a decade also demonstrates a contemptuous and shameful attitude towards Ofsted and the law.

"Depriving children of their entitlement to valuable and important aspects of education limits their life opportunities and prospects. The government should not tolerate schools which fail to place the best interests of its pupils ahead of religious ideology."