Admissions

The next Open Morning for Parents will be on 18 November. For further details please click here. To advise us you wish to attend please e mail openmorning@jfs.brent.sch.uk  

 UPDATE ON JFS ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 2010

In view of the recent Court of Appeal ruling, JFS will no longer be able to give priority according to Jewish status.  Instead, the School will give priority to those who meet a religious practice test based on guidelines from the Chief Rabbi.  The basis of that test has now been agreed with the Schools Adjudicator. Those applicants wishing to be considered as priority applicants for available places will need to obtain a certificate establishing religious practice, based on the child's synagogue attendance, Jewish education and/or family communal activity.  This includes siblings and external applicants for Sixth Form places.  The form of that certificate can be seen by clicking here.  It will be seen that only synagogue attendance as from 1 September 2009 will be relevant.  Applicants are strongly advised to contact a synagogue as soon as possible to establish what they need to do to be able to demonstrate attendance and get the certificate signed.

The School wishes to make it clear that it is making this change only because it is advised that legally it has no option in the light of the judgement of the Court of Appeal but to abandon the principle of giving priority to those children who are Jewish according to the religious principles stated by the Chief Rabbi.  The School very much hopes that the Supreme Court will allow its appeal, so enabling the School to revert to the admission policy which the School considers to be appropriate, proportionate and necessary for it as an Orthodox Jewish school: that is, to give priority to those children who are Jewish according to religious principles stated by the Chief Rabbi, irrespective of the extent to which the applicants and their families practise their Judaism.  It should be noted that the certificate of religious practice does not confirm that the child is Jewish in accordance with Jewish law.