A school which is refusing to teach children about LGBT issues should not be allowed to expand, Ofsted has said.

       Talmud Torah London, a fee-paying primary school in north London which serves the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, told inspectors that it has “no intention” of teaching pupils about those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

       The school, which caters to children aged between five and 11, is seeking to expand and teach children in Year Seven and Year Eight, the first two years of secondary school where children are aged between 11 and 13.

       All schools which wish to expand need to apply to the Department for Education (DfE) for permission. Ofsted is often commissioned by government officials to conduct an inspection of the school to assess its suitability for expansion.

       Inspectors visited Talmud Torah London and found that the school’s proposed curriculum and plans for teaching secondary school pupils are “likely to be suitable”.

       They noted in their report that: “The planned curriculum covers all the required areas of learning, including religious education, English, mathematics, science, computing, physical education, music, geography and history.”

       Secondary education plans fell short

       However, inspectors found that the proposed PSHE and Relationships and Sex Education lessons for secondary aged pupils fell short.

       The proposed Year Seven and Year Eight PSHE lessons included “the encouragement of respect for other people, including paying particular regard to most of the different protected characteristics people have, as identified in the Equality Act 2010”.

       However, inspectors said that Talmud Torah London’s leaders confirmed that “the school has no intention of ever referencing those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender as part of PSHE education or relationships education”.

       Ofsted inspectors concluded that the school is “unlikely” to meet the requirements of the Independent School Standards, and recommended the DfE reject its application for expansion.

       A spokesman for Talmud Torah London declined to comment.