It is with immense pride that we are publishing the outcome of the recent ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate) inspection, which took place over 3 days in December 2019.

The Inspection was a Focused Compliance and Educational Quality Inspection. ISI is similar to Ofsted, in that it reports to the Department for Education on the extent to which schools meet statutory requirements. It upholds rigorous standards for Independent Schools. ISI provides objective, reliable reports on the quality of schools and makes the information available publicly to parents, government, and the wider community. In this way, it helps schools, their staff and governors/proprietors to recognise and build on their strengths and to identify and remedy any deficiencies.

For the focused compliance section of the report, the inspectors report as to whether the school has ‘met’ or ‘not met’ the required statutory standards. In all 8 areas that are required to be inspected Kerem MET all of the standards.

The Education Quality Inspection assesses the quality of the school’s work. It focuses on the following two key outcomes: - The achievement of the pupils, including their academic development; and - The personal development of the pupils.

Inspectors must use one of the following ISI descriptors for each category: ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘sound’ or ‘unsatisfactory’. We are thrilled to let you know that Kerem has been found to be EXCELLENT in each area inspected. This is a truly outstanding achievement and reflects the hard work and dedication of our staff.

This is a wonderful recognition of our fabulous school and its community and acts as a fantastic launch pad as Kerem embarks on the next step on its journey. 

Here a few highlights and headline comments:

All groups of pupils … achieve very well and make excellent progress relative to their starting points.

Pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding are highly developed, due to the high expectations and challenge provided by staff.

Pupils are excellent communicators, and they are articulate and confident when speaking, both to their peers and to visitors to the school.

Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning, and considerable willingness to participate across all areas of learning.

Pupils have very well developed self-awareness, self-confidence and resilience for their age through exceptionally positive and well-developed relationships with staff.

Pupils demonstrate excellent collaborative skills to achieve common goals and solve problems.

Pupils show an advanced sense of moral understanding and, as a result, behaviour is exemplary.

Pupils have a strong appreciation of their own culture and that of others, and they show considerable sensitivity towards those less fortunate than themselves.

The overall achievement and attainment in the Early Years Unit (EYU) is outstanding across all areas of learning. …This outcome is a consequence of strong individualised support and highly focused approach from an early age with reading and writing in both English and Modern Hebrew (Ivrit) which engages the interests of children.

A good range of clubs, both before and after school and at lunchtimes, have contributed significantly to pupils’ achievements because of the high quality coaching, dedication of staff and the strong commitment from school leaders and governors to the activities provided. School teams have achieved considerable success across a range of sports.

Pupils’ knowledge skills and understanding are highly developed, due to the high expectations and challenge provided by staff. In the EYU, children engage wholeheartedly in their learning as highly caring staff take account of children’s personal interests when planning how the curriculum will be covered.

Children in the EYU, demonstrated excellent speaking and listening skills….

Pupils of all abilities, including those with SEND, EAL and the most able, make significant progress in literacy, numeracy and science due to high expectations from teachers, who ensure work is matched to pupils’ differing abilities and provide appropriate verbal feedback.

Pupils possess excellent numeracy skills as teachers provide a range of opportunities for pupils to apply them across the curriculum.

Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning, and considerable willingness to participate across all areas of learning. They engage keenly with their learning because staff have high aspirations for all pupils to do the best they can.

Pupils make excellent progress as they naturally support each other during lessons without prompting from the teacher.

Pupils have excellent self-awareness, self-confidence and resilience for their age.

Pupils of all ages are open, confident and friendly, which has a very positive influence on how they conduct themselves in school.

Pupils’ self-esteem is developed through the staff’s highly effective use of encouragement and praise, and through strong pastoral support tailored to pupils’ individual needs.

Pupils understand that they can approach members of staff for help and advice at any time and do so with confidence.

Pupils demonstrate excellent collaborative skills to achieve common goals and solve problems. This is because the school encourages play as soon as they enter the EYU, so that by the time they move up the school these skills are well advanced.

Pupils show an advanced sense of moral understanding. They have a clear understanding of the difference between right and wrong. As pupils move up the school, they demonstrate an increasing ability to reflect maturely on the morality of modern society.

Pupils’ exhibit outstanding behaviour across all ages and ability groups. Their high levels of tolerance and consideration for others is due to the high expectations and standards set by staff in line with the school’s Jewish values.

Pupils’ spiritual awareness is excellent. They have a strong appreciation for their own culture and that of others, and they show considerable sensitivity towards those less fortunate than themselves.

We are delighted that the hard work of so many people has been recognised and would like to thank the staff for their commitment and dedication and the Governing Body who, as volunteers, put in a huge amount of work behind the scenes.