By Sheila Mckenzie
A Jewish school has come under fire for issuing own-brand qualifications instead of ‘uncensored’ GCSEs.
Orthodox Jewish school Bnois Jerusalem Girls School in Stamford Hill, London was condemned for making pupils sit qualifications of “no value” resulting in the school issuing its own certificate because leaders would have to break exam rules and “censor” GCSEs, The Eye Of Media.Com has heard.
Bnois Jerusalem Girls School, in Hackney has been exposed after an inadequate rating by Ofsted in a report published today which also found creationism being taught in science lessons. Jewish parents in the community have condemned the watchdog’s findings, in an unjustified protest against what is seen as an interference in the affairs o faith communities
Inspectors concluded that the 840 pupils at the school do not take qualifications at the end of key stage 4 “because leaders would have to contravene the examination regulations in order to censor the examination papers”. This is because “leaders have limited the scope of the curriculum to make it fit with Orthodox Jewish teaching”. Text, photographs and illustrations in geography textbooks were redacted, Ofsted found, while the school library only has books in Yiddish.
The school had issued its own certificates using internal past-paper questions. Ofsted said “these have no value outside of the community. Pupils do not have access to meaningful qualifications and so they are not prepared for life in modern Britain”. In a scathing criticism against the school, Ofsted said:
”Creationism is “taught in geography and science”, which is “not appropriate”, and pupils “do not learn anything about the scientific theories about the origins of life”.
Megan Manson, a spokesperson for the National Secular Society spokesperson, said it was a “particularly appalling example of a school prioritising religious teachings over pupils’ education and welfare.”
“Teaching creationism as science, censoring resources, and depriving children the chance to gain qualifications and even communicate in English is utterly inexcusable. Fundamentalist religious zealotry should never be allowed to run roughshod over children’s basic rights in this manner.
”While the school had made improvements particularly in maths and careers education since being rated inadequate two years ago, its leaders had “limited the scope of the curriculum of the curriculum to make it fit with Orthodox Jewish teaching,” Ofsted reported.
Ofsted that pupils lead “very sheltered lives [and] would feel intimidated by talking to strangers… Similarly, they say that parents do not want their children to take external qualifications and that parents want younger pupils to learn to read using ‘look and say’ methods.” Ofsted found pupils are “not prepared for life in modern Britain” as “not only do they not obtain any qualifications, they have limited or no knowledge of other cultures and faiths”. They also criticised leaders for giving “undue weight to the views of parents in their decision-making”.
The watchdog previously raised issues with the lack of GCSEs during an inspection in 2018 when the school was rated ‘inadequate’.
Earlier this year think tank Policy Exchange criticised the watchdog for straying beyond official guidance and “seeking to create its own education policy” in its approach to faith schools. It stated if parents of faith “feel their children cannot receive an education that respects their belief in regulated schools, they are more likely to seek out alternative unregistered provision, where they will be more vulnerable to radicalisation”.
But Ofsted said: “We want schools to achieve good results by doing the right things . . . We’ll continue to celebrate excellence in all types of school and to recognise academies and faith schools for exercising their freedoms in the best interests of their pupils.”
Armhust Park Holdings ltd was fined £6,000 in 2013 after neighbours bitterly complained that a building was being used to accommodate pupils in cramped’ conditions at Bnois Jerusalem School, which was using a three-storey house as extra classrooms.