Four Gateshead schools serving the Orthodox Jewish community have been served with warning notices by the Department for Education (DfE) after being rated by Ofsted, the schools regulator, as requiring improvement. They could, as a last resort, lose their independent status.
A common factor in all the schools’ adverse inspection reports concerns their teaching, or failure to teach, about legally protected characteristics such as sexual orientation and gender reassignment.
In three cases the schools were found to be following the wishes of parents or their wider community in not teaching the protected characteristics and in one other case a school was reported to be refusing to teach about various other forms of sexuality as well.
Though all the schools are praised for some aspects of their work, sometimes in glowing terms, two of them have been told by Ofsted that because of their failure to teach about all nine protected characteristics they are not preparing their pupils for life in modern Britain.
The protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
The four schools, which together have over 1,000 pupils, are Gateshead Jewish Boarding School and Ateres Girls School, which are secondary schools, Keser Girls School, which is a primary, and Cheder School, which teaches pupils aged between 3 and 16.
They are on a list of 200 schools throughout England to have been served with warning notices published by the DfE in April but which dates back to 2018. North East Bylines has examined only the cases of the four Gateshead schools, which are now preparing action plans to address the issues raised by Ofsted.
Cheder School
The first of the Gateshead schools to be issued with a notice was the Cheder School, which was educating 350 boys aged between 3 and 16 when it was given a standard inspection on 6-8 July 2022. After commenting on various aspects of the education provided, the Ofsted reports states:
“Leaders refuse to teach pupils about sexual orientation, gender reassignment, or lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans. Pupils do not understand that these groups of people are protected by law. The relevant school standards are not met.
“Leaders have withdrawn the sex education part of the relationship, sex education and health education for every pupil, due to parental request. However, the school’s remaining relationships education does not meet the requirements of the end-of-secondary statement with regard to teaching about sex, gender and sexual orientation.”
The Ofsted report on Cheder School was published on 18 November 2022 and a warning notice issued to the school on 23 November.
Ateres Girls High School
Second to get a notice was Ateres School, which had 252 girls aged 11-16 when it was given a standard inspection on 12-14 July 2022. Its quality of education was rated as good and behaviour and attitudes were described as outstanding. However, the Ofsted report adds:
“The proprietor and school leaders follow the wishes of parents by not making pupils aware of two of the protected characteristics. They make some provision in the sex education element of the relationships and sex education (RSE) curriculum. However, the RSE curriculum is not planned in line with statutory guidance issue by the DfE. The curriculum does not encourage respect for all of the protected characteristics. As a result, pupils do not have the opportunity to explore the features of stable and healthy same-sex relationships”.
Pupils do not, for example, learn about sexual orientation, different types of relationships and vocabulary such as “consent” and its implications: “Leaders must ensure that the curriculum is planned and taught so that pupils are fully informed and that these [teaching] documents contain all the elements as required by law.”
The Ofsted report on Ateres School was published on 29 December 2022 and a warning notice issued to the school on 4 January 2023.
Gateshead Jewish Boarding School
Gateshead Jewish Boarding underwent its most recent standard inspection on 2-4 November 2021, when there were 113 boys aged 10-16 on the roll.
It was rated as good for quality of education and personal development, and outstanding for behaviour and attitudes. But leadership and management were said to require improvement. Some aspects of the school received glowing praise, but the Ofsted report noted:
“[L]eaders have not ensured that pupils are taught about the protected characteristics of sexual orientation and gender reassignment. This is limiting pupils’ understanding of the legal rights of people with protected characteristics and not preparing pupils fully for life in modern Britain. Leaders should ensure that pupils develop an understanding of, and respect for, all nine of the protected characteristics as defined by law”.
Inspectors returned to the school on 30 November 2022 to carry out an additional inspection, but found that protected characteristics were still not being taught as required:
“Following [the 2021] inspection, school leaders met with their community more widely to discuss the approach they intended to take. Leaders considered whether to prepare a curriculum offer that made reference to specific protected characteristics that were not taught at the last inspection. It was intended to allow parents and carers to opt out of this. However, they felt that this approach did not align with their cultural beliefs.”
The standard inspection report was published on 17 January 2022. The additional inspection report was published on 9 February 2023 and a warning notice issued the same day.
Keser Girls School
Keser School had 420 girls aged 5-11 on the roll when it underwent a standard inspection on 8-10 November 2022. Behaviour and attitudes were rated as good but in other respects the school was found to require improvement. Among other findings, Ofsted reported that:
“Leaders do not teach or actively promote the protected characteristics of civil partnerships or religion. As a result, pupils do not have any understanding of how people with protected characteristics are protected by the law. This means that pupils are not being fully prepared for life in modern Britain.”
Independent schools regulations
Ofsted told North East Bylines that it is not necessarily the case that these schools would lose their status as independent schools as a result of the warning notices. That would be a matter for the DfE.
The regulator added:
“The DfE’s guidance on the independent schools standards (ISS) sets out that independent schools must make pupils aware of protected characteristics in ‘an age-appropriate way’.
“Our guidance about inspecting the teaching of protected characteristics highlights that if an independent primary school does not teach about LGBT relationships it will not automatically be judged to fail the relevant standards. However, this is provided that it can satisfy inspectors it has still fulfilled the requirements of the DfE’s statutory guidance on Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education.
“If it cannot do this, if for example it has failed to consult with parents, inspectors will normally judge that the school has failed to meet the relevant standards.
“Our guidance also sets out that if an independent secondary school does not teach about LGBT relationships it will not be meeting the expectations of the DfE’s statutory guidance.
“State schools, whether they are local authority maintained or academies run by a trust, are subject to the same statutory guidance as independent schools.”
Last resort
Under the DfE’s Independent Schools Regulatory and Enforcement Action Policy Statement, enforcement action can be taken if a school which does not meet the ISS fails to produce an action plan, or has a plan rejected, or fails to comply with a plan, or has an extended period of non-compliance with the ISS standards.
Enforcement could take the form of removal of the school from the independent schools register, which would have the effect of requiring it to cease operating as an independent school, or imposing restrictions such as requiring part of the school to cease operating or barring the admission of new pupils.
“Removing a school from the register is however very much a last resort, when the Department considers that no other form of enforcement would meet the concerns” says the Policy Statement.”
Under the DfE’s published policy, independent schools that are failing to meet the ISS must produce an action plan setting out how they will improve in a certain timeframe. Failure to improve could result in enforcement action which could mean the school would close if it is proportionate.
If an independent school is closed down by the DfE pupils are supported to go to another school. One of the factors the government considers when taking enforcement action is information about alternative places for pupils.
The DfE told North East Bylines: “Under the Equality Act all schools are actively required to promote our shared values including individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs.
“Independent schools are also required to meet the ISS at all times and where schools fail to meet the standards, they can be subject to further inspections and enforcement action.”
Council and schools
The four schools discussed are independent and the ultimate responsibility of “proprietors”, not the local authority. However, Gateshead Council told North East Bylines:
“The council is aware of the ongoing situation between four independent schools in our area, which have received ‘Require Improvement’ ratings by Ofsted on behalf of the DfE which commissioned the inspections.
“As independent providers of education, the schools are working directly with the DfE on improving their Ofsted ratings, including by providing action plans and the steps taken to improve the standard of education provided, and to meet the ISS.
“The high standard of education of all children and young people in Gateshead is of upmost importance and we continue to offer support to the independent schools and the DfE where appropriate.”
None of the school proprietors has responded to approaches by North East Bylines.
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