UK Edition
Private religious school fails third Ofsted inspection because it does not teach about LGBT issues
A private Jewish girls' school which teaches children aged up to 8 has failed three Ofsted inspections because it does not teach pupils about homosexuality or gender reassignment.
Vishnitz Girls School, an Orthodox school in Hackney, north London, failed its third inspection last month after inspectors found that it does not give pupils "a full understanding of fundamental British values".
The inspection, the third made less than a year, found that pupils "are not taught explicitly about issues such as sexual orientation".
"This restricts pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and does not promote equality of opportunity in ways that take account of differing lifestyles."
The report suggests that the school is aware that its policy does not fulfill equality laws.
It adds that school leaders "recognise the requirement to teach about the protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act 2010.
"However, they acknowledge that they do not teach pupils about all the protected characteristics, particularly those relating to gender re-assignment and sexual orientation.
"This means that pupils have a limited understanding of the different lifestyles and partnerships that individuals may choose in present-day society."
The school, which has 212 pupils, and charges annual fees of £5,200, was praised in other areas, including teachers' "good subject knowledge and high-quality classroom resources".
It had improved in areas including safeguarding and leadership since the last inspection, but failed because it had not changed its stance on sexuality.
Private schools that do not meet Ofsted's requirements must improve or face closure by the Department for Education.
Religious groups criticised the decision, which they said limited religious freedom.
Gill Robins, of campaign group Christians in Education, said in a blog post that the decision showed that "the Equality Act is actually hierarchical, with sexual orientation and gender reassignment at the apex of the Act.
"All equalities are equal, but some equalities are more equal than others."
She criticised also the closure threat: "It doesn’t matter how good your school is in all other respects – simply refusing to teach very young children about gender reassignment will lead to your closure.
"That is the possible outcome for not only this school, but other Jewish schools which refuse, as a matter of faith, to teach about LGBT issues."
But campaigners for secularism raised concerns that the school had failed three inspections and remained open.
Jay Harman, educations campaign manager at Humanists UK, told Schools Week, which originally reported on the Vishnitz School inspection, that "proper sanctions must be implemented" on schools which repeatedly failed to meet the required standards.
The education newspaper mentioned another Jewish school in Hackney, Bnos Zion of Bobov, which failed for making “no reference to protected characteristics for sexual orientation and gender reassignment”.
It said six other religious schools had also failed inspections in recent weeks.
In February the National Secular Society wrote to the Department for Education stating that children in some faith schools are "prepared only for life in insular religious communities and left ill-equipped for life in modern Britain".
In response Lord Nash, parliamentary under secretary of state for the school system, said the department for education "will not hesitate to take action" on schools which fail equality requirements.
This action can include removing a school from the register, which will lead to its closure.