4:46pm Monday 8th February 2010
By Kevin Bradford
AN ORTHODOX Jewish school for disabled children has been told to consider improving the way it integrates religious and secular teaching.
A report into the independent special needs school, Kisharon, based in Finchley Road, Temple Fortune, has been released by the education watchdog Ofsted following and inspection last month.
It states that the school provides “a satisfactory quality of education” and pupils make “satisfactory progress” through a “multidisciplinary and holistic approach” in both kodesh (religious studies) and chol (secular work).
The published report adds: “Overall, the school provides a satisfactory quality of education. The quality of the curriculum provided by the school is satisfactory.”
Inspectors noted that the school, which caters for children aged four to 19 with moderate to complex special needs, does have a “strong emphasis on personal development”.
Teachers were praised for creating a “warm, caring atmosphere that complements a real learning environment” and it was recognised that there was a “very good relationships between staff and children”.
The £21,897 to £33,631 a year school has 26 students on its roll who suffer from learning disabilities and physical disabilities, and the report said those pupils “are stretched according to their abilities in a genuine effort to enable them to reach their potential and make positive contributions to Jewish communal life”.
Four recommendations were made to the school, which although are not required to be followed through by regulations, Ofsted officers believe heads may want to consider the points to allow for improvement and development in the future.
One of the points suggests developing “the whole-school curriculum to meet the needs and interests of pupils from the full range of learning disabilities and to maximise opportunities for the integration of kodesh and secular learning”.
Other guidance includes developing outdoor opportunities for younger pupils and monitoring their progress more closely.
School Principal Rabbi Yitzchak Freeman said that increasing numbers of applications from have meant the school has recently invested heavily in specialist resources, and Ofsted said a “new refurbishment, including the installation of a lift, has made a tremendous difference to pupils’ lives.
“Every effort has been made to meet pupils’ individual needs and within a few months, pupils have benefited hugely in terms of both academic and personal development,” the report added.
Rabbi Freeman said the school will take on board the recommendations and added: “This is a report that we can be proud of, but we are not complacent and it challenges us to continue as what the inspector termed a ‘greatly improving school’, developing and raising standards still further.”
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