A Jewish school which has failed its Ofsted inspection amid criticism of how it redacts textbooks has claimed it is the victim of a secularist plot.
Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School in London was rated as inadequate by the inspectorate in a report which criticised the school for prohibiting pupils from learning key information.
Ofsted criticised the way the school redacted textbooks such as Sherlock Holmes and blanked out bare skin on photographs.
Howeber Theo Bibelman, the school’s chairman of governors has rejected the report’s findings and accused Ofsted of showing a “clear disrespect” for the Orthodox Jewish Community.
He said: “This report says more about Ofsted than it does about our school. Just a few months ago the Hackney Learning Trust, judged the school to be outstanding and praised us for many of the aspects now deemed by Ofsted to be below standard.
“Even a cursory reading of the report shows that Ofsted has downplayed our successes and academic achievements whilst showing a clear disrespect for the Orthodox Jewish community.”
Earlier this year the school complained to Theresa May about what it described as Ofsted’s “secularist agenda”, after facing two inspections within two weeks.
In a letter to the prime minister, the school’s principal, Rabbi Avrohom Pinter, complained about an Ofsted inspection carried out on 6 March, at which he says inspectors were “aggressively grilling my staff about every aspect of the education we are giving our students” - despite pupils’ above-average academic results.
He claimed inspectors “spent a disproportionate amount of time in the library analysing our approach to texts”.
The school said Ofsted had returned again two weeks later to carry out a section 5 inspection after the Humanist UK group raised concerns about the way the school redacted textbooks.
Mr Bibelman added: “It seems that unless we agree with secularist agenda of Ofsted London then we cannot comply with their inspection criteria.
“We are always striving to improve our school, and we continue to do so, but the nature of this inspection and the resulting report has led to us feeling part of a secularist plot. This inspection was never about us; it is about Ofsted using their unfettered powers to try to force faith schools to comply with their agenda or fail.”
An Ofsted spokesman said: “We placed this state school in special measures for reasons that are set out clearly in the inspection report.
“Ofsted inspects all schools against the same framework and standards. All schools have a duty to actively promote fundamental British values, provide a rich and broad curriculum and ensure that pupils are kept safe. That is what parents expect and the law demands.
“Faith schools are entirely at liberty to teach the tenets of their faith on social issues. However, they must also comply with the law and ensure that pupils are properly prepared for life in modern Britain. The vast majority of faith schools see no tension in doing this.”
The Ofsted report published today claimed the school does not prepare pupils well for life in British society.
It says: “Governors and the principal have enforced a policy of redacting texts which limits pupils’ knowledge and understanding.”
