A Jewish school in Sydney’s east broke basic child protection rules, used an unaccredited teacher and was headed by a man now deemed unfit to run a school, a tribunal has ruled.
Yeshiva College Bondi’s registration appears set to be formally cancelled in the next four weeks, forcing about 56 students from kindergarten to year nine to consider schooling elsewhere, after a NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision this week.
The college, whose historical practices were subject of criticism in 2016 during the institutional child abuse royal commission, had been under the microscope since 2019 when the NSW Education and Standards Authority uncovered multiple compliance issues.
Despite NESA’s increased attention, the school repeatedly fell short of basic requirements, such as ensuring staff had valid working with children check clearances.
One person taught Jewish studies classes despite lacking NESA accreditation and a WWC clearance while another teacher didn’t have their WWC clearance verified until their fourth week at the school.
These failings indicated that the school had until July 2021 been “putting the safety of children at risk”, the tribunal found, upholding NESA’s decision to cancel Yeshiva’s registration.
Meanwhile, annual child protection training at times referenced outdated laws and almost half of the 25 staff members involved in child-related work in 2021 missed the training.
Read the article by Luke Costin in The Canberra Times.