JFS (school)

This article is about the Jews' Free School. For the other school abbreviated to "JFS", see The John Fisher School.

JFS[1]
Location
The Mall

Kenton, Harrow
,
Greater London
,
HA3 9TE

England
Coordinates51°34′52″N 0°16′53″W / 51.58118°N 0.28135°W / 51.58118; -0.28135
Information
TypeVoluntary aided comprehensive
Religious affiliationModern Orthodox Judaism
Established1732 (1732)
Local authorityBrent
Department for Education URN133724 Tables
OfstedReports
PresidentLord Michael Levy
ChairMark Hurst
Head teacherDavid Moody
Years taughtYears 7-13
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment~ 2100 pupils
Average class size~ 300 pupils
HousesAngel   Brodetsky   Weizmann   Zangwill  
ColoursBlue, Yellow/Gold
NewspaperJFS Journal
Websitewww.jfs.brent.sch.uk

JFS (formerly known as the Jews' Free School[2] and later Jewish Free School[3][4][5]) is a Jewish mixed comprehensive school in Kenton, North London, England, founded in 1732. Amongst its early supporters was the writer and philanthropist Charlotte Montefiore.[6] At one time it was the largest Jewish school in the world, with more than 4,000 pupils.[7]

History

The school moved from Camden Town to a new site in Kenton in 2002 to represent the demand of London's Jewish population moving further out towards the suburbs. The school is within the jurisdiction of the London Borough of Brent, while its postal town is Harrow.

Staff

Headteachers

2021– Dr David Moody[8]
2021 Paul Ramsay (Acting Joint Headteacher)
Anna Joseph (Acting Joint Headteacher)[9]
2021 Martin Tissot (Interim Headteacher)[10]
2021 Sir Michael Wilshaw (Executive Headteacher)[11]
2018–2021 Rachel Fink
2018 Simon Appleman (Acting Headteacher)
2016–2017 Debby Lipkin (Executive Headteacher)
Simon Appleman (Acting Headteacher)
2008–2016 Jonathan Miller[12]
1993–2007 Dame Ruth Robins[13]
1985–1993 Josephine Wagerman OBE[14]
1973–1984 Leslie Gatoff[15]
1958–1972 Dr Edward S Conway[16]
1897–1907 Louis Barnett Abrahams[17]
1842–1897 Moses Angel
1832–1842 Henry A. Henry[18][19]
1732–1757 Oliver Lyons

Other staff

Houses and other traditions

JFS operates the house system and has four houses for organisational purposes. Students must wear a tie with stripes in their house colour.

House Named after Colour
Angel Moses Angel Red
Brodetsky Selig Brodetsky Blue
Weizmann Chaim Weizmann Green
Zangwill Israel Zangwill Yellow

Both Brodetsky and Zangwill were former students, Angel was a previous and long-serving headmaster and Weizmann, who has several links to the school, was the first President of the State of Israel.

Students are split into their respective houses for most classes in Years 7, 8 and 9 as well as inter-house competitions, such as football and basketball.

A tradition called "muck-up day" involves Year 11 students celebrating the last day of formal schooling before their GCSE examinations with various pranks. In May 2015 this descended into "a near-riot", with more than 300 pupils barred from the campus after a small minority spread foam, eggs, flour and dead chickens around the school. The police were called after some students broke through a security fence and let off fireworks, but no arrests were made.[20][21]

Academic results

In 2007, 53% of the school's attempted GCSE exams received grades of A* or A.[22] In 2012 JFS was at the top of the School League Tables for GCSE in Brent and its A-Level results were the best of all the mainstream Jewish schools.[23]

In 2024 at GCSE level, 95% of students passed both English and Mathematics, and 48% of all grades were a ‘Grade 7’ or above. 30% of all grades were a ‘Grade 8’ or above.[24]

Awards

The school won a Wellbeing at School Award in 2021.[25]

Controversy over admissions criteria

Main article: R(E) v Governing Body of JFS

In October 2006, a Jewish father made enquiries with the United Synagogue as to whether his son, born to a mother who had been converted to Judaism under the auspices of the Masorti (Conservative)[26] denomination, could convert under Orthodox auspices for entry to JFS in September 2007. He was advised the process could take several years and that such applications to JFS are very rarely successful given that the school is highly oversubscribed. He applied for his son but did not declare to the school's admissions board the mother's conversion history.

By April 2007, he had not supplied JFS with the requested information, and the school advised him that, being oversubscribed that year, it was unlikely his son could be offered a place. He then unsuccessfully appealed for reconsideration of his application.[27]

In July 2008, the father sought to prosecute JFS on the grounds of racial discrimination, but High Court judge, Mr Justice Munby, ruled against him, holding JFS' selection criteria were not intrinsically different from Christian or Islamic faith schools and their being declared illegal could adversely affect "the admission arrangements in a very large number of faith schools of many different faiths and denominations".[28]

The Court of Appeal, however, in June 2009 declared that JFS, under the Race Relations Act 1976, had illegally discriminated against the child on grounds of race. They ruled that the mother's religious status, and thus her child's religious status, had been determined using a racial criterion rather than a religious criterion.[29][30] The school subsequently issued revised admissions criteria based on religious practice including synagogue attendance, formal Jewish education and volunteering.[31][32] JFS and the United Synagogue appealed to the Supreme Court, with the support of the Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.[33] On 16 December 2009, the UK Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal's ruling.[34][35][36]

Alleged 2026 anti-Semitic incident

In March 2026, Norfolk Police initiated a hate-crime investigation following an under-15 football match between JFS and Thorpe St Andrew School in Norwich during the quarterfinal round of a national tournament, in which antisemitic slurs such as "Dirty Jews" and "Go back to the gas chambers" were said to have been shouted from the stands at players by a crowd that consisted primarily of supporters of the Norwich school.[37][38][39][40] Later the same month, the police reported that they had not been able to verify the allegations, and were not taking further action.[41]

Notable former pupils

References

  1. ^ Nicola Woolcock (27 October 2009). "Jewish school JFS in Supreme Court to deny it broke law by turning boy away". London: TimesOnline.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2009. JFS, formerly the Jewish Free School, which is heavily oversubscribed,...
  2. ^ "Jews' Free School journal – The Jewish Museum". Jewishmuseum.org. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Jewish Free School, Camden Road, Camden LB". Discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. January 1973. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  4. ^ Cherry, B.; Pevsner, N. (2002). London: North. Pevsner: Buildings of England. Yale University Press. p. 358. ISBN 978-0-300-09653-8. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  5. ^ Buck, N.; Gordon, I.; Hall, P.; Harloe, M.; Kleinman, M. (2013). Working Capital: Life and Labour in Contemporary London. Taylor & Francis. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-136-47778-2. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Montefiore, Charlotte Simcha". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/105616. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ^ Miller, Helena; Grant, Lisa D.; Pomson, Alex (2 April 2011). International Handbook of Jewish Education. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9789400703544.
  8. ^ "New JFS head with zero tolerance for ill-discipline". Thejc.com. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  9. ^ "JFS appoints acting joint heads as search for full-time hire stepped up". Jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. 11 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Catholic schools chief made JFS interim head". The Jewish Chronicle.
  11. ^ Ferrer, Richard (7 June 2021). "Former Ofsted chief to become new JFS headteacher". Jewishnews.co.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  12. ^ Oryszczuk, Stephen (20 September 2016). "Ex-JFS head made new London School of Jewish Studies chief". Jewish News. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Dame Ruth Steps Down As JFS Head". Archived from the original on 18 February 2012.
  14. ^ Later elected first female president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Rachel Sylvester (17 July 2000). "First woman elected to lead Jewish board". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  15. ^ Jonathan Goldsmith left in 1975 and Gatoff had been there two years by then
  16. ^ Conway, E.S. (1983). Comprehending Comprehensives: The J.F.S. Experience. Woburn Press. ISBN 978-0-7130-4008-1. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  17. ^ "Jews' Free School - The New Headmaster". The Jewish Chronicle. 10 December 1897. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  18. ^ "Henry Abraham Henry: Rabbi and Schoolmaster". The Jewish Chronicle. No. 1929. London. 23 March 1906. pp. 27–28.
  19. ^ Levy, Matthias (1897). The Western Synagogue: Some Materials for Its History. London: G. Barber. p. 51.
  20. ^ Freeman, Simon; Moore-Bridger, Benedict (8 May 2015). "300 pupils are sent home after exam day 'riot'". London Evening Standard. p. 21.
  21. ^ Name withheld (14 May 2015). "School mayhem was exaggerated". London Evening Standard (Letter to the editor). p. 59. ... it was no more than five or so students out of three hundred ...
  22. ^ "JFS Home". Jfs.brent.sch.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  23. ^ "Secondary school league tables in Brent". BBC News. 21 March 2012.
  24. ^ "Exam Results | JFS". My Site. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
  25. ^ Rocker, Simon (15 February 2021). "JFS wins wellbeing award". Jewish Chronicle.
  26. ^ Romain, Jonathan (27 October 2009). "JFS puts faith schools in the dock". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  27. ^ Graham Tibbets, "Boy refused admission to leading Jewish school was 'not victim of racial discrimination'", The Daily Telegraph, 3 July 2008
  28. ^ R(E) v Governing Body of JFS [{{{year}}}] EWHC 1535 (Admin) (3 July 2008)
  29. ^ "Jewish school admissions unlawful". News.bbc.co.uk. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  30. ^ R(E) v Governing Body of JFS [{{{year}}}] EWCA Civ 626 (25 June 2009)
  31. ^ JFS (28 August 2009). "JFS – Admissions". Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  32. ^ "Admissions Year 7 | JFS". Jfs.brent.sch.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  33. ^ Simon Rocker, "JFS: What's Next?", Jewish Chronicle, 3 July 2009
  34. ^ "Jewish school loses places fight". BBC News. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  35. ^ R(E) v Governing Body of JFS [2009] UKSC 15
  36. ^ "The UK Supreme Court Dismisses the Jewish Free School Appeal". Humanrightsinireland.wordpress.com. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  37. ^ "Police investigate antisemitic chants at school football match". BBC News. 6 March 2026.
  38. ^ "Police investigate alleged anti-Semitic abuse at school football match". The Telegraph. 6 March 2026.
  39. ^ "Thorpe St Andrew School face antisemitic abuse questions", Eastern Daily Press, March 9, 2026. Accessed March 15, 2026. "An under-15 team from the Jewish Free School (JFS), in London, were playing in a national cup quarter-final at Thorpe St Andrew School when the shocking scenes unfolded. JFS pupils claim they were told to 'go back to the gas chambers' and were called 'dirty Zionists' by the crowd, which was said to be mostly comprised of pupils from the Norfolk school."
  40. ^ Burrows, Tom. "Police investigating report of antisemitic hate crime at English school’s under-15 game", The New York Times, March 7, 2026. Accessed March 15, 2026. "Police are investigating following a report of a hate crime during a football match involving Britain’s largest Jewish school in a national tournament.... The alleged incident happened on Thursday, March 5, when they played in an away game in the quarter-final stage of the English School’s under-15 competition against Thorpe St Andrew School, based in Norwich.... They shouted throughout the game. They were saying 'go back to the gas chambers', 'dirty Jew' and 'Zionist', she claimed."
  41. ^ Cunningham, Alice; Wittenberg, Daniel (19 March 2026). "No evidence of antisemitism at school match, says Norfolk Police". BBC News. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  42. ^ Stephen Inwood (2005). City of cities: The birth of modern London. London: Pan Books. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-330-43457-7
  43. ^ Interview: Gina Bellman, The Jewish Chronicle, 17 January 2014
  44. ^ Doherty, Rosa (4 June 2018). "Love Island's Jewish contestant Eyal Booker's brother tells all". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020.
  45. ^ Simon Rocker (11 February 2010). "Bibi and the boy wonder". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  46. ^ Sherer, Cyril. "General Morris (2 Gun) Cohen, a personal recollection by his cousin Dr Cyril Sherer", Jewish East End of London. Accessed March 15, 2026. "Enrolled at Jews Free School, he played truant. By the time he was ten he was a petty thief, pickpocket, even a prize-fighter under the name of “Cockney Cohen” which is where he got his broken nose."
  47. ^ a b Silver, Craig. "Furman’s flying for Smith and McCoist", The Jewish Chronicle, April 24, 2008. Accessed March 15, 2026. "Born in Cape Town, Furman grew up in Edgware, Middlesex, and was a JFS schoolfriend of Maccabi Herzliya starlet Josh Kennet."
  48. ^ Freedland, Michael. "Interview: Maurice Glasman", The Jewish Chronicle, June 30, 2011. Accessed March 15, 2026. "This is still the honeymoon period for the JFS old boy who is enjoying the novelty of having been in Ed Miliband's first list of peerages."
  49. ^ Singer, Saul Jay. "The Jewishness And Zionism Of Samuel Gompers", The Jewish Press, August 17, 2022. Accessed March 15, 2026. "Gompers attended the Jewish Free School on Bell Lane, where he was an excellent student, but his formal secular education ended at age 10 when his financially distressed father removed him from school to serve as an apprentice to a shoemaker."
  50. ^ Dysch, Marcus (13 January 2011). "Will the real Ted Baker step forward". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  51. ^ Ingham, Tim (14 December 2017). "David Joseph: 'We creatively empower our artists globally. I'm proud of that.'". Musicbusinessworldwide.com. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  52. ^ "From the archive: The Drapers Interview with River Island founder Bernard Lewis". Drapersonline.com. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  53. ^ "Player profile: Steven Reingold". CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  54. ^ Lester, Paul (20 February 2014). "Rothman reaps rewards for brushing up on his Grammar". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  55. ^ Brookes, Jason; Bielby, Matt (May 1993). "Superplay interview: Jez San, Argonaut". Super Play. United Kingdom: Future Publishing.

Further reading

  • Black, Gerry (1998). A history of the Jews' Free School, London, since 1732. Tymsder Publishing ISBN 978-0953110407.
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