Beis Aharon School

Beis Aharon School is based in Hackney North London and appears to be run by the Belz Haredi sect. The proprietor is listed as Belz Cheider Ltd.

Beis Aharon School is an Orthodox Jewish independent school for boys aged from 3 to 13 in Hackney. It has been described as a Charedi and ultra-orthodox school. The Ofsted report in 2016 found that the school held "very narrow views about the role of women in society" and revealed that the school had scribbled out women's faces in text books and refused Ofsted inspectors to speak to the children. All pupils speak Yiddish as a first language and Hebrew as a second language. Pupils speak English as an additional language."

“The majority of pupils still express views about the roles of women and men that indicate that the school does not prepare them for the reality of life in modern British society. Pupils universally consider that the role of women is to ‘look after children, clean the house and cook’, while men go to work,” said Ofsted. . Furthermore, Ofsted inspectors said its curriculum, taught in Hebrew, encouraged “cultural and ethnic insularity because it is so narrow and almost exclusively rooted in the study of the Torah”.

The school appears to be overseen by the Beis Aharon Trust, now the Beis Aharon Charitable Trust Limited. In the April 2016 case, Beis Aharon Trust v Secretary of State for Education the tribunal dismissed the appeal, "finding that the school failed to meet the necessary standards and that the Secretary of State's decision was lawful." The conclusion of the case was that, "The Tribunal upheld the Secretary of State's decision to cease admitting new students to Beis Aharon School due to its failure to meet the required standards. The school's deficiencies in curriculum, staff suitability, safeguarding policies, and failure to promote British values and diversity led to the dismissal of the appeal."

People

Directors

The proprietor of Beis Aharon School is Belz Cheider Ltd, a private company that was incorporated on 15 November 2020. The following are listed as Directors:

Name	Correspondence address	Role	Position	Date of birth	Appointed on	Resigned on	Nationality	Country of residence	Occupation
Saadia Grinfield	Chartwell Accountants, 47, Bury New Road, Prestwich, Manchester, England, M25 9JY	Active	Director	April 1983	15 November 2020	Present	Belgian	England	Company Director
Shalom Meyerowitz	Chartwell Accountants, 47, Bury New Road, Prestwich, Manchester, England, M25 9JY	Active	Director	August 1993	11 February 2024	Present	British	England	Company Director
Laurence Werjuka	Intermercantile House, 168 Granville Road, London, United Kingdom, NW2 2LD	Resigned	Director	October 1989	15 November 2020	11 February 2024	British	England	Company Director




• Laurence Werjuka is the Director of several companies that appear to provide child day-care activities. These include By Creche Ltd, Werton Group Ltd (14373938), Werton Woodside Park Ltd (14939355), Werton Belgravia Ltd(14939303), Werton Hampstead Village Ltd (15387883), Werton Golders Green Ltd (15386735), Werton Gateshead Ltd(15741384), Werton Edgware Ltd (15743294), Werton Menorah High Ltd(15937833). .

According to Ofsted, Werton Belgravia is responsible for Ohr Belgravia URN: 2748586, a Jewish nursery.

The Beis Aharon Charitable Trust Limited on Companies House lists the following as Directors:

Name	Correspondence address	Role	Position	Date of birth	Appointed on	Resigned on	Nationality	Country of residence	Occupation
Freida Lipschitz	86 Darenth Road, London, England, N16 6ED	Active	Secretary	15 October 2002	N/A	Present	British	England	Company Director
Mordechai Hersh Bard	40 St Kildas Road, London, N16 5BZ	Active	Director	November 1971	15 May 1995	Present	British	England	Company Director
Maharon Hoffman	66 St Kildas Road, London, N16 5BP	Active	Director	February 1975	18 July 2001	Present	British	England	Company Director
Joseph Lipschitz	86 Darenth Road, London, N16 6ED	Active	Director	April 1957	20 July 1992	Present	British	England	Company Director
Yossel Lipschitz	86 Darenth Road, London, N16 6ED	Resigned	Director	N/A	20 July 1992	15 October 2002	British	England	Company Director
David Frand	31 Heathland Road, London, England, N16 5PG	Resigned	Director	October 1942	20 July 1992	18 July 2001	British	England	Company Director
Abraham Arthur Spitzer	69 Fairholt Road, London, N16 5EW	Resigned	Director	May 1949	220 July 1992	21 July 19981	British	England	Company Director

Freida Lipschitz is the Secretary or Director of numerous companies. Most notably, she is the secretary of the Yad Vochessed Association Limited (05219183), Matonot Limited (00981941) and Grovepalm Limited(02863657). Joseph Lipschitz is also the appointed Chair of Matonot Limited and a trustee of Grovepalm Limited and Yad Vochessed Association Limited.

Matonot Limited (charity number: 1157859) seeks the "promotion and advancement of the religion, education and other charitable work professing and teaching the principles of traditional Judaism and the relief of poverty among poor persons."The total income for the financial year ending 1 October 2023 was £63,980.

Grovepalm Limited seeks to "advance religion in accordance with Orthodox Jewish faith and for such other purposes as recognised by English Law as charitable".

Yad Vochessed Association Limited seeks to "reduce poverty suffered by the Jewish community in the UK and overseas". In the financial year ending 01 October 2023, they had a total income of £2,354,855, of which £2.35m was in donations and legacies.. In 2014, The Charity Commission published inquiry reports into four charities who were under investigation as a result of double defaulting on their annual accounts and returns. Yad Vochessed Association Ltd was one of the organisations. The Charity failed to submit to the Commission annual returns, accounts and reports required for the financial years ending 30 September 2011 and 2012.

Trustees

Name	Role	Other Trusteeships
Mordechai Bard	Trustee	None on record
Yossel Lipschitz	Trustee	None on record
Aharon Hoffman	Trustee	None on record

The Trust's objectives are "(1) The advancement of religion in accordance with the Orthodox Jewish Faith (2) The relief of poverty (3) For such other purposes as are recognised by English Law as charitable".

Ofsted information

• Beis Aharon School
• URN: 131170 Other independent school
• Address 83-95 Bethune Road, London, N16 5ED
• Local authority Hackney (204)
• Headteacher/Principal Mr Shlomo Zalmen Kandler
• Age range 3 to 13
• Phase of education Not applicable
• School type Other independent school
• Gender of entry Boys
• ID URN: 131170, DfE number: 204/6398 UKPRN: 10018398
• Establishment status Open
• Admissions policy Selective
• Website Not recorded
• Telephone 02088028666
• Ofsted rating and reports: https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/27/131170
• Why the rating is not displayed
• Inspectorate name Ofsted
• Data from other services Not applicable
• Proprietor's name Belz Cheider Ltd
• Religious character None
• Religious ethos Orthodox Jewish
• Boarders No boarders
• Nursery provision Has Nursery Classes
• Official sixth form Does not have a sixth form
• School capacity Help with school capacity field 420
• Number of pupils 264
• Section 41 approved Not approved
• Open date 3 February 1997
• Reason establishment opened Not applicable
• Closed date Not recorded
• Reason establishment closed Not applicable
• Special classes Not applicable
• Number of pupils eligible for free school meals Help with number of pupils eligible for free school meals field Not recorded
• Percentage of children eligible for free school meals Help with percentage of children eligible for free school meals fieldOpens a dialog Not recorded
• Number of special pupils under a special educational needs (SEN) statement/education, health and care (EHC) plan 27
• Number of special pupils not under a special educational needs (SEN) statement/education, health and care (EHC) plan 65
• Date last changed/confirmed 24 April 2025
• At the same postcode Sir Thomas Abney School

Registration, enforcement and recent inspections

In June 2015 Ofsted reported that the school, then owned by the Beis Aharon Trust, was registered for pupils aged 3 to 12 but admitted 13-year-olds, "meaning that the school is in breach of its registration". The Charity Commission published a report on its inquiry into Beis Aharon Trust Limited (charity number 1010420) on 4 August 2014. The report was withdrawn in March 2019 under the Commission's policy of archiving inquiry reports after two years.

Ofsted reported in May 2023 that Belz Cheider Ltd had become the proprietor in February 2023 and that the school was "in breach of its registration because there are 282 pupils on roll", against a registered capacity of 243. In November 2023 the school still had 262 pupils on roll and had asked the Department for Education for a material change to its numbers. In June 2025 Ofsted judged the school good in every area and found that it met the independent school standards. It reported that the school was registered for pupils up to 13 but had no pupils above 11, that its early years provision was at 118 Bethune Road, opposite the main building, and that no fees were charged. The report named the chair as Aharon Hoffman and the headteacher as Shlomo Zalmen Kandler. The Department for Education's register records 280 pupils on roll against a capacity of 420.

Inspection history

Date	Inspectorate and type	Outcome
24 to 26 June 2025	Ofsted, standard inspection	Good
7 to 9 November 2023	Ofsted, standard inspection	Requires improvement
4 May 2023	Ofsted, additional (progress monitoring) inspection	Independent school standards checked were met
28 to 30 June 2022	Ofsted, standard inspection	Inadequate
2–4 July 2019	Ofsted, standard inspection	Requires improvement
15–17 May 2018	Ofsted, standard inspection	Requires improvement
19 July 2017	Ofsted, additional (progress monitoring) inspection	Not all independent school standards checked were met
2 March 2017	Ofsted, additional (progress monitoring) inspection	Not all independent school standards checked were met
22 September 2016	Ofsted, additional (progress monitoring) inspection	Not all independent school standards checked were met
10 May 2016	Ofsted, emergency inspection	Not all independent school standards checked were met
14 January 2016	Ofsted, additional (progress monitoring) inspection	Not all independent school standards checked were met
4 June 2015	Ofsted, additional (progress monitoring) inspection	Not all independent school standards checked were met
18–20 November 2014	Ofsted, standard inspection	Inadequate
8 November 2010	Ofsted, standard inspection	Satisfactory
17 November 2009	Ofsted, additional (progress monitoring) inspection	Progress monitoring visit
14-15 November 2007	Ofsted, standard inspection	Inadequate

The full list of reports is published by Ofsted.

Charities and companies

Beis Aharon Charitable Trust Limited (charity number 1010420; company number 02210554) was registered with the Charity Commission on 13 April 1992. It describes its activities as: "Education and promotion of the Jewish religion in accordance with the Orthodox Jewish Faith." In the financial year to 7 April 2025 it reported income of £1,524,836 and spending of £1,598,965, compared with £2,182,256 in the year to 31 March 2021. The register records that its latest submission was received late. The trustees listed on the register are Mordechai Bard, Aaron Hoffman and Joseph Lipschitz.

Beis Aharon TT Activity Centre (charity number 1127384) was registered with the Charity Commission on 6 January 2009. It describes its activities as: "To provide facilities for recreation and other leisure time occupation for children and young people." In the financial year to 31 March 2025 it reported income of £1,913,474 and spending of £1,936,971, compared with £971,450 in the year to 31 March 2021. The trustees listed on the register are Chaye Gitel Krautwirt, Sarah Marmorstein and Malky Sprung.

The charity Belz Cheider (charity number 1197134) was registered with the Charity Commission on 14 December 2021. In the financial year to 31 August 2025 it reported income of £1,593,965 and spending of £1,588,752. Its annual return for that year recorded £129,727 from government grants (1 grant). It reported 50 employees. The trustees listed on the register are Chaim Bard (appointed 19 July 2021), Joseph Paneth (appointed 19 July 2021) and Pinchos Englander (appointed 19 July 2021). The charity's registered objects include supporting and funding Orthodox Jewish schools, providing meals and help with transport to and from them, and providing kosher meals to people in need who are housebound.

Belz Cheider Ltd (company number 13019274) was incorporated on 15 November 2020. Its current director is Saadia Grinfeld (appointed 15 November 2020). Companies House lists Saadia Grinfeld (75–100% of voting rights, the right to appoint and remove directors) as a person with significant control.

Resources

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-aharon-trust-limited-inquiry-report

See also

• Jewish Schools in the UK