Images of women were obscured or altered in reading books given to pupils at two orthodox Jewish schools in north London and children in one of them held “very narrow views about the role of women in society,” according to Ofsted inspectors.
Yetev Lev, which is one of the largest Jewish schools in Stamford Hill with 794 boys from three to 13, was criticised by inspectors for providing reading books in which “images of females had either been erased or radically changed”.
Leaders at the school “refused to allow pupils to talk to the female inspectors on a formal basis” and pupils had insufficient opportunities to interact with others “outside of their close community”. The school’s leadership told inspectors they had “no intention of providing pupils with experiences to enable them to acquire an appreciation of and respect for differences between people, based on culture, religion, sex and sexual orientation”.
Most lessons were taught in Yiddish. “This continues to impede pupils’ progress in basic literacy skills and their ability to speak, read and write in English,” said Ofsted.
Another boys’ primary in Stamford Hill, Beis Aharon, with 374 pupils aged three to 13, was also criticised by inspectors, who found that images of women and girls in short-sleeved clothing and children swimming had been obscured in reading books.
“The majority of pupils still express views about the roles of women and men that indicate that the school does not prepare them for the reality of life in modern British society. Pupils universally consider that the role of women is to ‘look after children, clean the house and cook’, while men go to work,” said Ofsted.
Only one hour a day was allocated to the secular curriculum, inspectors found.
“The social and cultural development of pupils still does not promote fundamental British values. While pupils are polite to visitors, they are still unable to show mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs because their knowledge of how people are different and of other faiths is very limited.” The word “Christmas” was crossed out whenever it appeared in a reading book being used in a Year 4 lesson.
There was no one available to comment at either school.
Rabbi Charley Baginsky of Liberal Judaism said: “This is not about Judaism, this is about being stuck in the 19th century. The trouble with promoting attitudes like this is that they risk making religion irrelevant to how we live today and bringing Judaism into disrepute.”
The best Jewish schools were “open, inclusive and modern”, she said.
