Ofsted criticises Stamford Hill Jewish school for failing to teach about same-sex orientation

Pupils leave after the school day at Talmud Torah Machzikei Hadass. Photograph: Hackney Citizen

An Orthodox Jewish school in Stamford Hill is failing to meet Ofsted standards by refusing to teach its pupils about different sexual orientations.

Talmud Torah Machzikei Hadass school came under fire last year for threatening not to accept children if their mothers drove cars – something the school eventually u-turned on.

Now, following the schools watchdog’s most recent visit in May, it has emerged that boys at Talmud Torah Machzikei Hadass school are being “shielded from learning about particular differences, such as sexual orientation”.

The Orthodox Jewish school caters for 627 pupils who range from age three up to 16, and had previously been rated by Ofsted as “good”.

The ethos of the Belz Chasidic school is based on its founding principle of ‘unconditional adherence to the Shulcan Aruch (code of Jewish law)’.

Commenting on this, Ofsted stated: “In practice, across the curriculum this means that the explicit teaching of all the protected characteristics, specifically those that relate to gender or sexuality, is avoided.”

However inspectors also noted that the school teaches pupils to respect everybody, regardless of difference. Pupils were observed being taught about a reference in the Torah to the equality of men and women, and how this was a basic human right.

Ofsted said that the school’s owners and leaders also recognise the requirement to consider the ‘protected characteristics’, which include sexual orientation, set out in the Equality Act 2010, and are in talks with government officials about this.

But inspectors expressed concern that whilst the school acknowledges it does not teach pupils explicitly about all the protected characteristics, it does not intend to, and so the related standards continue to be unmet.

The Hackney Citizen contacted Talmud Torah Machzikei Hadass to ask about Ofsted’s findings but the school declined to comment.