LONDON, England, June 28, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – An Orthodox Jewish primary school is violating the law by not teaching three-year-olds about “gender reassignment” and “sexual orientation,” a government inspection determined.
Vishnitz Girls School teaches 212 girls as young as three and as old as 11. An unannounced May 10 government inspection determined it's not in compliance with 2010 “equality” legislation.
It's detrimental to the “spiritual, moral, social and cultural” development of children to not explain “gender reassignment” and “sexual orientation” to them, the report said. “The school’s approach means that pupils are shielded from learning about certain differences between people, such as sexual orientation.”
“Leaders and proprietors recognize the requirement to teach about the protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act 2010” but “acknowledge that they do not teach pupils about all the protected characteristics, particularly those relating to gender reassignment and sexual orientation.”
“This means that pupils have a limited understanding of the different lifestyles and partnerships that individuals may choose in present-day society,” the report concluded.
Vishnitz Girls School's mission, according to the report, is “to deliver a high-class education that is firmly based on the principles of the Torah and combined with a strong Chol curriculum to enable all pupils to become productive and upstanding citizens.”
The school does not have a website.
“This is a very stark example of the state imposing an LGBT ideology that is completely at odds with a school’s religious ethos,” Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, told LifeSiteNews. “This is a private Jewish school, for young girls. Yet it is being told that it must reinforce a view of the world with which it radically disagrees and which is damaging. The state’s education regulator seems to have little time for religious or parental freedom.”
A previous inspection found that the school didn't meet various regulations for independent schools related to water fountain labeling, lesson planning, and risk assesment.
The May 2017 report indicated the school had made necessary changes in most areas except for promoting homosexuality and transgenderism.
“During the [May] visit, leaders were not able to show that pupils are taught explicitly about issues such as sexual orientation,” the report complained. “This restricts pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and does not promote equality of opportunity in ways that take account of differing lifestyles.”
“Sadly, this is not an isolated case but part of a much wider trend. At Christian Concern, we are helping Christian schools facing very similar challenges, and through our Christian Legal Centre, we are, week by week, helping individuals who face similar clashes,” said Williams. “We need a movement of parents and citizens to stand up and confront this aggressive agenda.”
Vishnitz will have to close if it doesn't change, UK media and Gay Star News reported.