Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School warned against ‘slapping’

Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School. Photograph: Benjamin Mortimer

An ultra-religious independent Jewish school has been warned not to use slapping as a punishment after an emergency Ofsted inspection ordered by the Department for Education (DfE).

Children at Stamford Hill’s Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz School, which educates boys aged five to twelve from the strictly observant charedi community, told inspectors of “incidents where a teacher had given a small ‘slap’ with the hand”, adding that this was sometimes threatened as a punishment.

Ofsted’s report requires that in future “no form of corporal punishment is used or threatened” at the school.

Child protection certificates for senior staff were out of date on the day of the inspection and the school lacked detailed child protection policies.

“Staff were not able to explain in detail what to do if a pupil disclosed any concerns or showed signs of abuse”, inspectors added.

Children had a “very limited understanding of other cultures and faiths” and “only a sketchy understanding of public institutions and services in England”.

The report also describes teaching at the school as ‘inadequate’.

Abraham Jacobson, a Lib Dem councillor for Cazenove ward and a prominent member of the Stamford Hill Jewish community, said he was surprised by the report.

He said: “It’s a long-established school with a good reputation. I’m sure they will take on the inspection’s findings and act on those findings. Every Jewish school has a no-slapping policy. There is no corporal punishment in Jewish schools.”

Ofsted’s report also said pupils use of a “steep metal fire escape” to access the playground was “potentially unsafe”.

The school’s headteacher Rabbi Samuel Hoffman did not reply to a letter offering him the right of reply.

Independent schools such as Talmud Torah Chaim Meirim Wiznitz are not required to teach the National Curriculum and strictly religious Jewish schools in Stamford Hill have been the focus of concern from the DfE for a number of years.