Council approves Jewish school

The Leeds Jewish Free School (LJFS) scheme in Alwoodley, Leeds, has been given the go-ahead by city council planners, it was announced yesterday.

Now the £3.1m project’s main contractor, Wates Construction, is due to begin work on site later this month.

The new 1,044 sq m school will be beside the existing Brodetsky Primary School. It will be the first Jewish secondary free school in the UK, providing 175 places for children in years seven to 13.

The first pupils will enrol this September, with the project as a whole due for completion in February next year.

The Leeds Jewish Free School Trust’s chair, Councillor Dan Cohen (Con, Alwoodley), said: “The directors of LJFS have worked extremely hard to develop their vision and plans for the new school ... and are delighted to see their vision come to fruition.

“The new school will provide the community not only with a state-of-the-art facility delivered by our construction partner Wates, but also an outstanding education experience for the young people of Leeds.”

David Price, business unit director for Wates Construction in Yorkshire, added: “We have an excellent site team in place to progress the works efficiently.”

Jewish families in Leeds who want their children to have a faith-based secondary education currently need to send them on long daily round trips to places such as Manchester.

The new school, which will be open to students of all faiths, will boast facilities such as a drama studio and food technology classroom. It will also have open-plan teaching spaces and top-quality information technology provision.

Free schools can be set up by parents, teachers, charities, businesses, universities and trusts as well as religious or voluntary groups, but are paid for by taxpayers.