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June 26, 2017 3:01 pm
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UK Haredi Elementary School Fails Government Inspection for Not Teaching About Sexual Orientation, Gender Reassignment

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avatar by Rachel Frommer

A past Pride Parade in Jerusalem (illustrative). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

A haredi elementary school in London has failed an inspection for the third time because it does not teach students about sexual identity and gender reassignment surgery.

Vishnitz Girls School — which has over 200 students aged three to eight — was written up by the non-ministerial Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) for lacking a curriculum on “developing respect and tolerance for those who may have protected characteristics as set out in the 2010 Equality Act,” which named nine  protected identities, including gender reassignment and sexual orientation.

The Oftsed report, released earlier this month, claimed that students were “shielded from learning about certain differences between people, such as sexual orientation,” which “restricts pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and does not promote equality of opportunity in ways that take account of differing lifestyles.”

“As a result, pupils are not able to gain a full understanding of fundamental British values,” Oftsed investigators wrote.

Inspectors did praise Vishnitz for the quality of the education, as well as the “school’s culture…clearly focused on teaching pupils to respect everybody, regardless of beliefs and lifestyle.”

An Ofsted spokesperson said, “Children living in England deserve the best — the law expects schools to demonstrate that they are encouraging pupils to take a respectful and tolerant stance towards those who hold values different from their own.”

UK private schools that do not meet Oftsed requirements must implement changes or risk being closed.

The school could not be reached for comment.

Last month, as the Jewish Chronicle reported, two haredi girls’ schools in the Stamford Hill area received positive reports from Ofsted. Inspectors wrote the students were being prepared for lives as “responsible and active citizens in modern Britain.”

“Underpinned by their religious ethos and belief that all people are created in a godly image, leaders actively encourage pupils to respect everyone without exception,” inspectors wrote.

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