Faith school where women are banned from wearing trousers becomes state funded

[ArabellaSaurus]

https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2025/09/faith-school-which-bans-women-wearing-trousers-becomes-state-funded

'The National Secular Society has expressed alarm that a London faith school which bans women from wearing trousers and penalises families who attend non-kosher restaurants will now be funded by the state.
Nancy Reuben Primary School re-opened as a voluntary aided (VA) state school this month, after operating as an independent school for 26 years. Its decision to join the state sector follows the Government's move to charge VAT on independent school fees.'

'Women may not wear trousers, mini skirts, shorts, low necklines or sleeveless tops
The school's dress code for parents and visitors says men "must have their head covered at all times" and women "must wear skirts of knee length (a maximum of 2" above is acceptable)". It says trousers "may not be worn" by women.
Additionally, women must cover their underarms and may not wear cap sleeves. Women may not wear clothes with necklines lower than "4 fingers from the collar bone" either "in front or back of the garment".
Trousers are permitted for aupairs and nannies but they may not wear mini skirts, shorts, plunging necklines or sleeveless tops.'

Well most Jewish people indeed identify as white as I have shown by data and we know that people who appear white get preferential treatment (do I need to post stats on racism here too?!) until they are known not to be white and/or Christian.

Regardless, I am not going to argue with anyone who has fully European heritage and sees themselves as white.

Do they know how you really feel about "them" though? Much better to save that for an anonymous internet forum.

And repeatedly spouting reductive opinions like Most Jewish people do identify as white, even when they could choose something other than white. That is proven by statistics to back up your own tropey prejudices about "white Jews" receiving special treatment belies a more complex reality in a country where the majority Jewish population is Ashkenazi. From the 2021 Census:

5.Reported ethnic groups and religions
Jewish ethnic group write-ins
People who identified as Jewish through ethnic group only were most likely to provide a write-in response under the high-level "White" group (54.9%). This was followed by the "Any other ethnic group" (33.6%). Just over one-tenth (10.5%) provided a write-in under "Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups". Lastly, 0.9% provided a write-in under "Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African: African".
Considering people who identified as Jewish through both religion and ethnic group, 49.6% provided a write-in under "Any other ethnic group" and 48.5% under the high-level "White" group.

Reported ethnic group for people who identified as Jewish through religion only
People who identified as Jewish through religion only were most likely to identify their ethnic group using the "White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British" tick-box (82.9%). Just over one-tenth (10.9%) provided a write-in response under "Any other White background".

If there was a specific "Jewish" tick box for ethnicity included on forms- which there mostly isn't- I wonder if the statistics would look quite different.

@LoftyRobinmost things you have said though are your opinion. A group of people who you seem to chose to work with or they ‘seek you out’ seem to bother you that much that you have come onto a thread about schooling to state they get preferential treatment and you consider their practices ‘full on’ when it’s a choice to send your children there (knowing what they will ask of you) I think it’s respectful if you are choosing to visit there for whatever reason.

it’s also- personally- the way you have chosen to say and frame things. If I knew someone has strong set religious beliefs would I complain when they were allowed to leave to adhere to those beliefs. Have you raised the fact you disagree? Nope. They aren’t flights of fancy they are things they have done their whole lives. And yet you seem to have written repeatedly why these things bother you- like the ‘white’ thing. It does smack of prejudice.

I am not the only one who has noticed it either. So what does that tell you? Is it the fact you think Muslims get a harder ride on this?

You've no idea what people's heritage is or how they identify unless they tell you.

Yes I posted this! They are more likely to identify as white than anything else. I'm not sure what you're arguing here?

And yes, they know how I feel about them when I am giving them the holistic, individualised care that they require. That's why they request me again and again. That's why when I do have a stint in community, it is in our catchment area with the most Hasidic Jewish people. I'm currently involved in research looking at if and why this community have more successful rates of VBAC.

I have worked with Mavar to ensure that we understand how to help families who are OTD.

Honestly, you don't know what you are talking about at all.

Yes and people tell us in data. We wouldn't know that most Jewish people identify as white unless they both identified as Jewish and white somewhere that we collect data. That is obvious.

Why does this fact trouble you so?

Whoosh. So fixated on the "whiteness" of Jewish people to the exclusion of all else.

And honestly, this is just the work edition of "Some of my best friends are Jewish".

Urgh, I didn’t want to comment on anything you wrote but I have to. Again, because it obviously wasn’t clear the first two times I explained it, there isn’t a suitable option for Jews because we are a race, not a specific colour. Jews are originally from Judea in the Middle East, so not white. Uk Jews don’t have an option for “Jewish” so they have to tick something else. Usually, because many uk Jews came from Eastern Europe, they know that they are perceived as white so they tick white, other. It’s not right or fair that there is no other option, but that’s why the statistics show this as being the majority choice. There isn’t a brown option, or a Jewish option. Anyway, I don’t understand why that matters. I also don’t understand why you felt pressured to release orthodox mothers before other mothers to accommodate Shabbat requirements. You could have said no! As you rightly pointed out, there’s no reason other than their religious needs to make concessions for them. They don’t live in a Jewish country, therefore you can say no. Either they stay until the end of Shabbat or they leave when you say they leave and deal with it. Your resentment is based on you feeling that these women were entitled, because their religious beliefs meant they couldn’t travel over Shabbat. You either happily try to help, or you refuse and then don’t feel resentment. I understand your issue with them, as I’ve already stated on this thread, the orthodox community are a pain in the ass! But that doesn’t justify your obvious bias, borderline hatred against them.

This is a Jewish school. Sounds like an anti-semitic attack tbh. Mind, I don't see how the school is able to enforce any of this!

Faith schools are adhering to a faith so they also adhere to dress codes according to that faith. They’re asking for visitation dress modestly whatever that means, but they can’t and shouldn’t enforce it. Personally if I’m visiting a Muslim school to pick up a child and I’m wearing shorts and a vest, then that’s my right. However I probably would try to respect their culture within their faith environment. That’s all.

Schools are not public spaces, they can stop you from entering.

Religion should have no place in any state funded institutions.

The particular school being talked about here happens to be a sefardic school (for Jewish kids of Middle Eastern/North African heritage) founded by Iraqi Jews.

So they probably wouldn't describe themselves as white.

I am not very familier with this particular school, although I think I know one family who sent their kids there and they are what I would describe as modern Orthdox (engage fully with the secular world eg send to university, go to theatres, and have professional jobs, but also keep Torah and mitzvot)

Very very different to Hasidic Jews in Stamford Hill.

As an ashkenazi Jew, I hate filling out forms. Makes me feel horrible. There is no space for me to fill out. I happen to have white non-Jewish ancestry on one side so I do tick white but I don't think Jews are 100% white. (In the same way Irish Travellors are not 'white', or Irish immgrants to the US 100 years ago.)

I often write other and Ashkenazi Jew (this is especially relevant for medical forms I feel)

I am not sure how we would go about that @CurlewKate. Even in the area I teach in there are lots of faith schools (and they are popular) with religious ethos. Do you think they should all go? As far as I know even the ones partially funded by the diocese have some state funding.

If you mean CoE or Catholic schools then these are denominational schools. Other ‘generic’ state schools are non-denominational Christian schools.

I hear you. But if that would be the case then so many accommodations would have to be made for children from specific religious backgrounds. I’m not sure how one would do that in a diverse society.

You don't know what someone's 'heritage' is just by them ticking a box.

("I'm not going to argue with someone who's heritage is totally European")

@CatchingtheCati was more addressing how that works in practice as in so we have no religious/ denominational/ non denominational schools? Especially when these schools are popular for those reasons. Eg my parents sent me to a faith school (as there was none for our religion in the area) purely as it was a faith school.

I get what you are saying though.

Of course Robin is also using the word " white" as a pejorative, and as an indicator of intersectional 'privilege' rather than intersectional 'oppression'.

@Shortshriftandlethalespecially if the boxes you can tick are limited.

I'd say most Jewish people identify as Jewish...but there usually isn't an appropriate box to tick. It is others who are choosing, for whatever reason, to classify Jewish people as white - usually for political reasons, or from an incomplete set of assumptions about 'identity' and an essential misunderstanding of Jewish culture and the Jewish diaspora,

If people want specific accommodations that can’t be fitted into a normal school day/year then you set up a private school.

European Jews - let’s say Eastern European because Western European Jews tend to be Sephardic - may be from Eastern Europe, but their ancestors were from the Middle East. There aren’t really suitable boxes to tick for Jews because you can be a brown Yemenite Jew, or a Black Ethiopian Jew, or Sephardic in which case there isn’t an adequate description on the census for this.